2 brand new SD humbuckers out of phase??

Mike Honcho

New member
I just had a Custom and a Pearly Gates installed in my new Les Paul. The tech (a guy with 15+ years experience) installed them. Everything works great except he told me that one of the magnets is most likely flipped the wrong way which causes an out of phase issue in the middle position.....these are covered pickups so I'm not sure how easy it is to get in there and flip the magnet and to find out which pickup is it?
He reused the wiring plugs from the factory installed 57's.

Any thoughts?
 
Re: 2 brand new SD humbuckers out of phase??

It's certainly possible to flip a magnet in a pup with a cover, I've done it myself. If so, the cover probably shows some signs of being removed and resoldered. Were they new pickups, or had they been recycled from elsewhere?
 
Re: 2 brand new SD humbuckers out of phase??

Swap the green and black wires around on one of the pickups, I doubt the mags have been flipped if they are new, most likely he mixed up the green and black wires on one pickup
 
Re: 2 brand new SD humbuckers out of phase??

It's certainly possible to flip a magnet in a pup with a cover, I've done it myself. If so, the cover probably shows some signs of being removed and resoldered. Were they new pickups, or had they been recycled from elsewhere?

Pickups are brand new.
 
Re: 2 brand new SD humbuckers out of phase??

Swap the green and black wires around on one of the pickups, I doubt the mags have been flipped if they are new, most likely he mixed up the green and black wires on one pickup

He said he tried several different combinations after discovering the issue, and he offered to fix the issue when I get it rewired with new pots and what not, but it still seems a little weird it would come like that from the factory, but mistakes do happen I suppose.
 
Re: 2 brand new SD humbuckers out of phase??

He said he tried several different combinations after discovering the issue, and he offered to fix the issue when I get it rewired with new pots and what not, but it still seems a little weird it would come like that from the factory, but mistakes do happen I suppose.


Even if one of the magnets is flipped, switching the green and black wires on one of the pickups would put them back in phase in the middle position.
 
Re: 2 brand new SD humbuckers out of phase??

Ah I see what he's done, he's spliced the Seymour duncan pickups to the Gibson pickup wires. Apparently now Gibson uses different colour codes for the bridge and neck pickups so your guy has matched them both to the same old Gibson code resulting in out of phase middle position.

Stunning guitar btw :)

Edit- more info here
And here
 
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Re: 2 brand new SD humbuckers out of phase??

Ah I see what he's done, he's spliced the Seymour duncan pickups to the Gibson pickup wires. Apparently now Gibson uses different colour codes for the bridge and neck pickups so your guy has matched them both to the same old Gibson code resulting in out of phase middle position.

Stunning guitar btw :)

Edit- more info here
And here
Thanks for your help....and for the compliment. I am liking the guitar a lot.

-Ryan
 
Re: 2 brand new SD humbuckers out of phase??

No problem :) How comfortable are you with a soldering iron? You could fix it in like 2 minutes. I'm guessing you're not very comfortable or you would have done the original work yourself? I would just leave it for now if you are replacing the pots soon anyway, just wire it as you would and it will be in phase again as long as you don't flip a magnet.
 
Re: 2 brand new SD humbuckers out of phase??

Just my 2 cents here, you can easily find the info on Duncan's website for cross referencing Duncan to pretty much any other pickup makers wiring. If you pay anyone to work on your guitar and they aren't getting it right the first time and haven't taken the time to make sure they get it right before they give your guitar back to you, you should probably consider doing it yourself and save your money. Wiring pickups is actually VERY easy as is just about any other process to set up your guitar. Anything other than say dressing frets or structural neck/body or finish repairs can be done in your home with simple tools in very little time.

I just had a Custom and a Pearly Gates installed in my new Les Paul. The tech (a guy with 15+ years experience) installed them. Everything works great except he told me that one of the magnets is most likely flipped the wrong way which causes an out of phase issue in the middle position.....these are covered pickups so I'm not sure how easy it is to get in there and flip the magnet and to find out which pickup is it?
He reused the wiring plugs from the factory installed 57's.

Any thoughts?
 
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