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Post by duendeyerbero on Jan 27, 2009 18:02:10 GMT -5
Hi, I followed this method in order to figure out the color code of a humbucker pickup (the neck from a ibanez RG): www.projectguitar.com/tut/pickupwiring.htm This pickup has 5 leads: Brown, orange, white, blue and black. My question is, when this person says the pickup is in phase, does he has the hot lead attached to the hot lead of the dc voltmeter? Or does he has the negative or end lead attached to the hot lead of the dc voltmeter???  Thanks!  |
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Post by newey on Jan 27, 2009 18:33:23 GMT -5
Phase is only an issue between 2 (or more) coils, whether they're 2 coils in a single humbucker, or 2 single coil pickups. It is meaningless to speak of a single coil being "in phase"- "in phase" with respect to what?
It doesn't matter which way the leads are hooked up; what matters is that both coils give the same result when tested in the same manner. In his test, he tests one coil and reads positive with the screwdriver on, negative when he pulls off. He (arbitrarily) calls that "in phase". When he tests the other coil, he gets the opposite result, meaning it is out-of-phase with respect to the first coil, so he switches the 2 wires around, bringing that coil into phase with the first one.
Based on the notations on his diagram, he is calling the wire which reacts positively on the test, and which is connected to the red wire on his meter, as the "+", and the other one he calls "-", but the designations are meaningless so long as he tests (and designates) the other coil in the same manner.
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Post by duendeyerbero on Jan 27, 2009 18:41:16 GMT -5
Ok, I see, "phase" is not the right word for it, got it.
So, it doesn´t matter wich wire I use as star or finish, as long as my choices don´t provoque an out of phase situation between the two coils? It´s just that I tought this finish-start issue was something essential to the final outcome.
Thanks newey!
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Post by newey on Jan 27, 2009 19:05:02 GMT -5
Exactly. The designations of "start" and "finish" are likewise arbitrary. They are only a means of ensuring correct phasing between 2 or more coils or other objects in your signal chain. A guitar pickup generates an AC current; it (well) alternates between "signal" and "return" several times a second, depending on the frequency of the vibrating string. So your signal is your return, and vice versa, over time.
I'm no expert on this stuff, and this may be grossly oversimplified, but the best way to think of "phase" is to imagined a sine wave. It has crests and troughs in the wave. Now, imagine we superimpose another sine wave on top of the first. The crests and troughs might match up with those of the first sine wave; if they do, we say that they are "in phase" (the word "congruent" also comes to mind, but I'm not sure that's the correct terminology).
Or, the 2 waves might not match up; the trough of one might be at the crest of the other, and vice versa. These waves would be "out-of-phase". They also tend to cancel each other out, meaning, in a guitar circuit, a weak signal.
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