Antiquity P90 set RWRP = out of phase?

[whatthe]

I just installed a set of antiquity p90 in my hamer. To my surprise the middle pickup selector position gives me out of phase hollowed sound. I then serached the web and found nothing except for the description in seymour duncan web thay says the set are wound RWRP. Are they meant to sound out of phase of is my wiring whack? My hamer is just 1 vol 1 tone and a 3 way switch.

[beaubrummels]

Welcome to the forum.

Hmm, I thought reverse wound AND reverse polarity just makes it hum-cancelling in the center, not out of phase? You could try swapping hot and ground on one of them and see if it's hum cancelling in the center position.

[Mincer]

If they are out of phase and not ordered that way, sometimes we have had people on the forum that complained about this. It could have been accidently wired that way from the factory- it can happen. These pickups are built by humans, not machines, so while rare, it can happen. Have you switched the phase back yourself?

[Clint 55]

Yep, there's only 1 way to wire them stock, and they're supposed to be in phase in the middle position. So this would point to a wiring error during manufacturing if you didn't f anything up. You can fix it yourself if you want to go into the pickup or I'm sure you could exchange it.

[Ascension]

If they are out of phase and not ordered that way, sometimes we have had people on the forum that complained about this. It could have been accidently wired that way from the factory- it can happen. These pickups are built by humans, not machines, so while rare, it can happen. Have you switched the phase back yourself?

Yep I have a Perpetual Burn now that was reverse wired at the factory like that, it's rare but does happen. A RW/RP pickup should wire normally and be in phase.

[skelt101]

It might be easier to rotate the magnets in one of the pickups to bring the middle position back in phase.

[GuitarDoc]

Either rotating the magnet or reversing the wiring (not both) in one of the pups will change the phase.
The easiest thing to try to fix it would be to reverse the connections of the black and green wires of one of the pups...leaving the magnet the way it is so you don't have to get into the pup.

[Clint 55]

They have 1 conductor braided, so switching the mags would be easiest.

[GuitarDoc]

They have 1 conductor braided, so switching the mags would be easiest.

Oh yeah. I didn't read the post carefully enough. My reply was just generic for SD pups.

So it is possible that the factory wired them correctly but installed the magnets incorrectly. Typically, in a set of P-90s the bridge pup will have the south poles of the magnets in and the neck will have the north poles in.

OP, before you do anything, test the polarity of the magnets in each pup. This can be done without undoing anything or even taking them out of the guitar. If you don't have a polarity tester you might try using a compass or another magnet. If both pups have the same polarity, that could be the problem.

I recently bought a set of P-90s where the polarity of both pups is the same and I'll need to do some modification before installing them. (The resistance of both pups is about the same, so I expect that the seller sent 2 of the same pups and called it a "set").

[Mincer]

Sometimes, if the pickup was bought used, it could have been ordered like that, or the previous owner needed to flip a magnet to make their wiring work. It is much less common as a mistake from the factory, but we've seen it a few times on the forum over the years.

[GuitarDoc]

Good point Dave. I agree. The OP didn't mention whether he bought the set new or used, or from a dealer or somewhere else. Or if he bought the 2 pups separately and put them together as a "set" himself (this could have given him 2 of the same polarity pups). I guess even if he bought it from a dealer, it could have been a return after the previous owner had flipped the mags.

A lot of possibilities how this could have happened, but the solution remains the same (unless he bought them from an authorized dealer and decides to return them).

[whatthe]

Thsmks for the replies. I did bought them used as a set. Im still deciding whether to do something about it or leave it as is. I kinda dig the middle out of phase sound and i can make them in phase by turning the volume on either the bridge or neck slightly. I dont understand the theory behind that but it only sounds out of phase in some volume balance setting between the neck and bridge volume.

[Mincer]

Maybe add a switch so you can have both sounds?

[whatthe]

Maybe add a switch so you can have both sounds?

I dont think i want to drill another hole on the guitar. Im more a home player so im quite happy with the volume knob play to get the normal in phase tone. I was just wondering if my wiring was what causing the out of phase tone. I dont have deep understanding on wiring and how it would affect the sound other than 50s vs modern wiring. I did wired it the way it was wored originally with the original seymour duncan p90 that came with the guitar and it was not out of phase. So i guess its the antiquity that was acting out of phase. I thought all rwrp makes out of phase sound like in strat pickups set.

[Clint 55]

Rwrp makes the 2 pickups in phase and hum cancelling. Someone assembled the pickups wrong, either the wiring or the mags.