pickup help??? searcy

[pete c]

i got and up date the dogs fine, the vet threw out my parts.

[pete c]

but on the upside i have learned quite a bit about pickups from this.

[pete c]

oh the vet said he saw four picks in the x-ray of his intestinal track, he figured the dog would pass them ok

[Searcy]

So if I understand this correctly a hum bucker would be setup in the following manner to produces the fattest sound with the least amount of "Hum"

 

- Slug Coil wrapped in either clockwise or counterclockwise orientation.

- Screw Coil wrapped the opposite direction of whatever the slug coil was wrapped

- Slug coil has magnet underneath with north pole facing to the slug pole pieces

- Screw Coil has magnet underneath with south pole facing to the screw pole pieces

 

This is the traditional setup for Gibson style humbucking pickups.

 

Correct so far? I assume it doesn't matter what direction of winding and or orientation of the magnet as long as you maintain the " opposite " orientations between the coils?

 

Correct

 

 

If I am correct the bobbin windings being opposite would put the signal out of phase and the magnet polarity would put the signal back "in phase" as we wouldn't want an out of phase signal for a fat tone???

 

Not really. This is where things become counterintuitive mostly because of our misuse of terminology in regard to pickups. A properly constructed humbucker must be built with the coils connected in series and out of phase. That's the way you will get big fat tone. If the coils are connected "in phase" the pickup will cancel a huge amount of the strings signal along with the 60 cycle hum (50 cycle for those in the UK and other places in the non US). "In Phase" is bad. We have gotten confused on this over the years because people will often describe the thin, nasely tone the a Phase Switch on a guitar produces as an "out of phase" sound. What they mean is that the coils are now improperly phased and they should be calling it the "in phase" sound.

 

Now, let's look at magnetic phasing for a second. If take a two humbucker guitar like a Les Paul and flip the magnet in one of the pickups you will have a situation where each pickup will sound great on it's own but when both pickups are on full you will get a thin "in phase" sound. Peters Greens famous Les Paul was said to have been set up this way and was responsible for his unique tone. This can also be done electrically by putting in a phase switch that puts one pickup out of phase with the other. See my earlier post for a drawing of what that looks like.

 

By wiring the pickup in series we are doubling the output signal?

 

Uuummm, Yes... although it may not sound twice as loud to your ears. The 2 and 4 positions on a typical Fender Strat connects the two coils together in parallel. Wiring in a switch that connects the pickups together in series is a way cool mod for a Strat and will give you more output and some fun new tones to play with.

 

 

Does that cover it all?

 

I'll answer anything I can.

[Andy R]

So if I understand this correctly a hum bucker would be setup in the following manner to produces the fattest sound with the least amount of "Hum"

 

- Slug Coil wrapped in either clockwise or counterclockwise orientation.

- Screw Coil wrapped the opposite direction of whatever the slug coil was wrapped

- Slug coil has magnet underneath with north pole facing to the slug pole pieces

- Screw Coil has magnet underneath with south pole facing to the screw pole pieces

 

This is the traditional setup for Gibson style humbucking pickups.

 

Correct so far? I assume it doesn't matter what direction of winding and or orientation of the magnet as long as you maintain the " opposite " orientations between the coils?

 

Correct

 

 

If I am correct the bobbin windings being opposite would put the signal out of phase and the magnet polarity would put the signal back "in phase" as we wouldn't want an out of phase signal for a fat tone???

 

Not really. This is where things become counterintuitive mostly because of our misuse of terminology in regard to pickups. A properly constructed humbucker must be built with the coils connected in series and out of phase. That's the way you will get big fat tone. If the coils are connected "in phase" the pickup will cancel a huge amount of the strings signal along with the 60 cycle hum (50 cycle for those in the UK and other places in the non US). "In Phase" is bad. We have gotten confused on this over the years because people will often describe the thin, nasely tone the a Phase Switch on a guitar produces as an "out of phase" sound. What they mean is that the coils are now improperly phased and they should be calling it the "in phase" sound.

 

Now, let's look at magnetic phasing for a second. If take a two humbucker guitar like a Les Paul and flip the magnet in one of the pickups you will have a situation where each pickup will sound great on it's own but when both pickups are on full you will get a thin "in phase" sound. Peters Greens famous Les Paul was said to have been set up this way and was responsible for his unique tone. This can also be done electrically by putting in a phase switch that puts one pickup out of phase with the other. See my earlier post for a drawing of what that looks like.

 

By wiring the pickup in series we are doubling the output signal?

 

Uuummm, Yes... although it may not sound twice as loud to your ears. The 2 and 4 positions on a typical Fender Strat connects the two coils together in parallel. Wiring in a switch that connects the pickups together in series is a way cool mod for a Strat and will give you more output and some fun new tones to play with.

 

 

Does that cover it all?

 

I'll answer anything I can.

 

I think I see what you mean about in phase/out of phase. Tell me if this is more accurate:

 

I was thinking in terms of audio or speaker phase where you have one speaker pushing out and one speaker pulling in which would be sonically "out of phase" and creates a thin tone due to frequency canceling.

 

Pickup "Phase" would be in terms of AC where you have 1 coil that is creating a sign wave that cycles positive and negative. So if both the pickups were "in phase " they would be essentially generating the same sign wave and cycle. So by having them out of phase one pickup is generating a positive voltage while the other pickup would be generating a negative voltage during the cycle ?????