Attention Tech Weenies - pickup question!!

shredd

Hi guys - I've been researching the 'net for more info on this and I'm not getting clear answers. So I thought why not be a lazy spud and get my brilliant friends to help me out?
Here's what's going on: I have a Jackson guitar with an S-S-H config'n. The H in the bridge is staying, but I'm replacing the mid and neck SC's. I have two Ibanez S1's from two different RG's I'm gonna use, as I suspect they're better than the stock ones from the Jackson.
I'm trying to find out something about the impedance of the pups, and if it might dictate which position they're in. If they're the same, that's easy; if not, would the lower-ohms one go at mid or neck spot? How many ohms difference would make them sound different - is 1 or 2K a big difference, or not? How much makes a real difference?
And what situation makes 250K or 500K pots an issue? (the ax currently has a 500/500 volume/tone setup)
Also - I've stumbled on writings that in the \"modern\" era, ax's with a mid SC have it reverse-wound, reverse-polarity. What the h+ll is that all about, and how does it affect how I wire in these new pups??
Help out a clueless brutha!
Of course if you really wanna help me out, FedEx me your gorgeous, hor-nee single neighbor. I'll just buy a new guitar. 8)

philflood

Hey shreddster,

In general, the lower ohm pickup goes further up the neck. So, the higher resistance of the two gets put into the center position. The reverse polarity thing gets into the physics of soundwaves, where if you have two equal waves coming out of two sources, they will cancel each other out. IF one of the pickups is not reverse wound, theory goes, when you have the selector switch set for both to be active, you will notice a decrease in volume due to this effect of the waves canceling each other out. The reverse wind theory puts the waves out of phase which each other, so that one is at its peak while the other is at its lowest point. This effectively negates the ability of the waves to cancel each other out, and your g-tar sounds sufficeintly loud at all pickup choices. At least, that how it was explained to me.

To check the resistance of the pickups, you just need a standard multimeter, on the ohms setting. Connect the positive probe to the end of one lead, and the negative probe to the end of the other lead, and record you reading. Don't bother finding factory specs on the pickups, because they all tend to vary somewhat from what is claimed.

The pot will have an impact on the overall adjustability of the tone. The volume pot can be either a 250 or 500K, but if you are replacing them, you want to find ones that have an audio rather than linear taper. On the tone pot, its really a matter of finding what works best with the capacitor that you are using, and, in the end its going to be up to your ears. When you turn the tone pot from zero to maximum, if you notice very little variance in tone, you want to try the other choice.

shredd

\philflood\ wrote:

Hey shreddster,

In general, the lowSNIPchoices. At least, that how it was explained to me.

Whatsup 'flood...thanks for the straight explanation. I was reading a lot of confusing stuff around the 'net!
I won't be changing pots, unless the pups require it. The guitar sounds fine. I just wanna try to get the pups in the positions they'll sound best.
SOO - if I understand correctly - the middle SC should be out of phase with the Bridge AND Neck pups. Hence the \"reverse wound\" thing. Now...can you (or anyone) tell me...is there a way to determine which way a pup is wound?
AND...if neither of the two S/C pups I have is 'reverse' wound, can I \"reverse\" the phase by wiring it pos>neg and neg>pos?

And - more importantly - how do I get Kate Hudson to return my phone calls?? :?

philflood

Shredd - I don't know of any way to tell if it is reverse wound, just by looking at it or putting it on a meter, since resistance doesn't have a polarity. Yes, you can make it \"out of phase\" just by switching the wires. The humbucker doesn't present that kind of issue, since it is already wired with the two coils out of phase with each other. If you are planning on having a coil tap with the humbucker, then, yes, you would have the same issues to consider. So if you had the volume drop when you were in the middle/hum position and the coil tap was active, you would then want to tap the other coil instead - if that makes sense.

groovy

Neck pickups have their poles closer together than Bridge pickups

Distance between centre of the extreme screws = 1 11/16th on Neck

2 inch on bridge P/U for a \"Gibson\" type pickup.

shredd

\groovy\ wrote:

Neck pickups have their poles closer together than Bridge pickups

Distance between centre of the extreme screws = 1 11/16th on Neck

2 inch on bridge P/U for a \"Gibson\" type pickup.

Hm. My bridge HB is exactly that - 2\" between pole peices on each end. But none of my guitars have ANY pups w/ the pole pieces spaced 1-11/16. Are you using a \"special-ed\" guitar? 8)