Use of a Bridge Pickup in the Neck Position

[dd842]

Hi gang,

I had recently installed a pickup from the bridge position of one strat (a Fender MIM strat) into the neck position of another strat (a Fender MIKorea Squier strat).

Afterwards, I noticed that when the the neck only pickup was selected, it sounded much better than before , but I also noticed that when the neck/middle pickups were selected in position 4 it sounded weak and tinny (I do not recall if it also had before surgery ).

I had read that this could be an indication that the neck pickup was installed backwards … but that seems odd to me …

I can see flipping a coil, head over heels, having an impact on things, but my hesitation in understanding a backwards pickup is that the wire is wrapped continuously around the coil … what difference could it make if you rotate the coil around to face the other way?

Clockwise is clockwise, whether it's lunch-time or dinner-time ... isn't it?

So, is there any truth to what I had read? If so, can someone explain it to me, please?

Thanks,
Dan

[JohnH]

Its probably out of phase. If so, you only hear a difference when combined with another pup, ie in position 4. This could happen even if you carefully matched the wires for that neck pup to correspond to how it was wired in the first guitar, if the magnets were reversed between the two guitars. If it is a simple pup with two similar wires, just reverse the wires and it should be fine. If it is a single wire inside a braided screen, or two wires inside a screen, let us know.

John

John

[dd842]

johnh said:

Its probably out of phase. If so, you only hear a difference when combined with another pup, ie in position 4.

Yup, you got it!

..... If it is a simple pup with two similar wires, just reverse the wires and it should be fine.

Thanks, John.

It looks pretty much like this:



It has one white and one black wire.

To clarify, do you mean to reverse the (white) signal and (black) ground, or to reverse the two ends of the thin wire winding around the coil (or do the white and black wires connect solely to the winding anyway, in which case it doesn't matter)?

Dan

[gitpiddler]

Hey Dan- you could use a magnet to check the polarity of the polepieces on both pups. they should be opposite from neck-middle (& mid-bridge). that combined with outaphase sig wires is what cancels noise in positions 2&4 and HB's. its low voltage, experiment. Cheers, Mark

[JohnH]

Should be no need to touch the pup itself, or its fine windings. Just swap the black and white wires with respect to the places they connect to the switches / pots.

John

[dd842]

Thanks, John - I've never looked inside a pickup to know if it is that straightforward.

Mark, thanks for the input and welcome to the forums. I did spoil one pickup a while back, and I do intend to experiment with it ... but I have yet to take it apart as I found it makes a totally awesome fridge magnet.

Dan

[ChrisK]

I can see flipping a coil, head over heels, having an impact on things,

A most intuitive and accurate perspective.

but my hesitation in understanding a backwards pickup is that the wire is wrapped continuously around the coil … what difference could it make if you rotate the coil around to face the other way?

None, unfortunately, clockwise isn't counter-clockwise.

The (connected) wire winding direction, the magnet polarity, and the direction of string vibration all contribute to the electrical phase of the generated signal. The first is the easiest to change and the last is near impossible.

Since you may or may not care about hum-canceling pickup combinations, JohnH is most correct in that a simple reversal of the pickup leads will indeed suffice.


For best (long-term) results, I endeavor to stay out of the insides of my pickups. Not everyone has had the best of luck when therein.

[dd842]

chrisk said:

I can see flipping a coil, head over heels, having an impact on things,

A most intuitive and accurate perspective.

Thank you, Chris. I appreciate that.

Since you may or may not care about hum-canceling pickup combinations, JohnH is most correct in that a simple reversal of the pickup leads will indeed suffice.

I just did it, as a matter of fact. Much fuller and richer output in position number 4 (neck and middle).

If I am correctly inferring what you are correctly implying, yes, the hum-cancelling was indeed diminished in position 4. It now sounds about the same as 1, 3 & 5.

For best (long-term) results, I endeavor to stay out of the insides of my pickups. Not everyone has had the best of luck when therein.

Touche! ;D

Did I mention I got a cool fridge magnet out of the deal?

Thanks again, Chris and John.

Good and helpful advice, as always.

Dan