Unoriented magnet caused out of phase

[Stavrose]

Hi all,

can I please get your advice.

i bought a brand new matched set of 59 Humbuckers for my 2016 SG standard. Before fitting them for the first time I swapped the bridge magnet for a UOA5. I followed the instructions very carefully and I’m positive that I put the new mag in correctly in terms of polarity. BUT after finishing the job, the middle position sounds thin and low output so I assume the pickups are out of phase. So frustrating!

what did I do wrong? Are unoriented mags fitted differently to standard oriented mags?

thanks for any advice!

Stavs

[ragamuffin]

Sounds like you just put the magnet in facing the wrong way; I've done the same thing in a magnet swap before. Nothing special about unoriented mags that would cause them to be out of phase.

[Demanic]

Or you put the magnet in fine and wired the pickups wrong.

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[Teleplayer]

You can check with a magnetic compass to see if its right. The slug poles should attract the South needle on the compass.

[Stavrose]

Thanks for the responses! I now know the problem, the YouTube video I followed is incorrect. Infuriating. https://youtu.be/ZIfwn47hK9M - (from 6 mins) you can see how he explains polarity and how to replace the magnet with correct polarity. The way he replaces the magnet in the video is the wrong way around causing the out of phase in the middle position. Grrrr!

[Teleplayer]

At 9:45, its explained how to to install the magnet - actually backwards. Oops!

[eclecticsynergy]

Pain in the ass. But fairly easily remedied.

Is the vid a recent one? Has somebody let that YouTuber know his instructions are wrong?

[Stavrose]

Pain in the ass. But fairly easily remedied.

Is the vid a recent one? Has somebody let that YouTuber know his instructions are wrong?

it’s been up on YouTube for 4 years and yes some of the comments warn that the advice is incorrect, but he either doesn’t read the comments or he thinks he’s right or he just doesn’t want to edit/remove the video. I could think of a few good words to describe this guy but I‘m going to refrain!

[JB_From_Hell]

Before you “fix” it, try playing in the middle position and rolling one of the volumes back a little. It’ll vary the degree of how out of phase it is, and lots of cool tones can be found.

[jeremy]

thats true, but ive never been happy with being stuck with that sound. i like the normal, in phase middle sound. having a phase switch on a lp is cool though

[Stavrose]

Before you “fix” it, try playing in the middle position and rolling one of the volumes back a little. It’ll vary the degree of how out of phase it is, and lots of cool tones can be found.

Thanks for this but I wasn’t really feeling it. Much happier now that I turned the magnet around..

[Mincer]

Make sure that you leave a comment on the video kindly explaining that it is wrong.

[Demanic]

What do you think about the 59b with the new magnet?

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[blueman335]

I use UOA5's in bridge '59's to take off the excess high end and fill in some mids, along with getting the sonic texture of an unoriented magnet. Big improvement to my ears. It's the magnet that should have been in the Vintage Blues set. A stock '59B with 500K pots is pretty thin and bright.