Installing a pickup upside down

[Tanqueray]

Hi, I'm new to this board so please forgive me if this has been asked already.

I recently acquired a set of Alnico II Pro Slash pickups for my Les Paul and I was curious about whether or not flipping the neck pickup upside down (so the white bobbins on both pickups are facing each other) will cause any noticeable change in tone.

Thanks!

[rumblebox]

Re: Installing a pickup upside down

only if you have the screws raised a lot.

[AlexR]

Re: Installing a pickup upside down

I had sudden visions of the legs poking out the surround from the title.

^ +1. The pickup will sound the same if the screws are flush, but raising the screws will tend to increase the magnetic field above that coil, meaning you'll pick up more signal from that coil. If the coil changes in position with relation to the bridge, then it will see a different part of the string. The flipped bridge pickup will get slightly thicker and midsy, the neck will get slightly sharper.

[Johnny the Kid]

Re: Installing a pickup upside down

I only notice it when you flip a pickup around then coil split it, just because of where the slug coil is now placed. But I don't have any coil split capable guitars, so I don't really know anything else other than that.

[Tanqueray]

Re: Installing a pickup upside down

Thanks for the replies. I've never raised the pole screws on any of my pickups, and this particular pickup has a single conductor so it can't be split. Sounds like I won't have any issues.

[DeanSweden]

Re: Installing a pickup upside down

spint around + poles facing down = AWESOME!

[astrozombie]

Re: Installing a pickup upside down

Just try it out, I'm always messing with the polepieces on my pickups to see how the sound changed, you can't hurt anything.

[Blues_SG]

Re: Installing a pickup upside down

Practically it will make no difference if the pickup is leveled (parallel) to the strings...
The only case where it makes difference is if You disassemble the pickup an turn the small bar 180 degrees... only in this case You get the Peter Green tone when You select both pickups, as only then thy are "wired" out of phase.

Teoretically there could be a small difference since the two magnetic fields of the two pickups will inreract with each other, but I think that they are too far from each other, and no human can percive that change.