A new (used) guitar and a Dimarzio pickup problem!

GrooveHT

GrooveHT

New member
Gents,
A few weeks ago, I picked up this guitar from a TGP forumite:

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Fantastic guitar, built from USACG parts, with Dimarzio Virtual P-90, Virtual Solo, and Area T. Here is the problem; the bridge pickup sounds very good, bridge plus middle and middle as well, but when I get to the neck plus middle position, there is a volume drop and it gets REALLY thin. To me, it sounds like the description of out of phase pickups, but I don't think that I've encountered that issue before, so I'm not sure. The neck pickup alone sounds much as you'd expect a P-90 style pickup to sound, so it's not just a bad pickup. I haven't taken the pickguard off yet, although that is on the way shortly, but I can't imagine the previous owner wired up the three Dimarzio pickups differently, as all of the color codes on the pickups are the same. Any other suggestions?

Also, I think the pickup arrangement presents a slight issue with choice of pots; I believe 250k pots are currently installed, but the neck pickup seems a bit dark. Anyone have suggestions on a good volume/tone setup for mixing P-90s with single coils?
 
Re: A new (used) guitar and a Dimarzio pickup problem!

Do you have a problem when you use the neck pickup alone? if you dont then its a phase issue for sure and flipping the hot and the ground should cure it. Wouldnt be the first time ive seen someone fubar wiring codes.

For pots I would be inclined to try 330's or try just 1 500 in your volume pot and keep the 250k tone.
 
Re: A new (used) guitar and a Dimarzio pickup problem!

Maybe take the neck off the tone circuit, and just have b and m attached.
 
Re: A new (used) guitar and a Dimarzio pickup problem!

Edge: No issues with the neck solo, just neck + middle; I'll be going under the hood tonight or tomorrow, so I can tell you better then!

Thanks for the advice on the tone guys, was sort of thinking of the 300k but wanted to bounce it of some more knowledgeable folks. Appreciate it! Don't know that I'm sold on the previous owner's choice of Virtual Solo on the middle pickup also, and I have an Area 58 that I might be able to swap in to give it a little more legitimate cluck!
 
Re: A new (used) guitar and a Dimarzio pickup problem!

Simple phase reversal issue.

Rearranging the hot and ground conductor wires is one solution. The alternative would involve repositioning the magnet(s) inside the Virtual 90.
 
Re: A new (used) guitar and a Dimarzio pickup problem!

+1 for neck being out of phase. I've done both electronic and magnetic phase reversal. I would see whether it's wired correctly at the moment - if you don't intend to ever take it out of that guitar, then flip the wiring as described above. If it's possible that you'd switch it elsewhere, then flip the magnet.


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Re: A new (used) guitar and a Dimarzio pickup problem!

Agree - that sounds like an out of phase issue. And it's not so uncommon as you may think - I had it with a Breed neck and an Area 67 in one guitar. Using the suggested color code resulted in an out of phase tone. BTW that is a very cool looking guitar.
 
Re: A new (used) guitar and a Dimarzio pickup problem!

I also think it's phasing. I would not do any pot changes. Fix a problem by making one change at a time, or you will never know what change had what effect. I have a low cost tool worth buying if you do pickup installs a lot. It shows magnet polarity instantly. I get pickups faults with random magnet swaps. Usually in instruments purchased used at a good price. http://www.stewmac.com/Pickups_and_Electronics/Pickup_Winding/Magnet_Polarity_Tester.html . At $11 it removes doubt with no more guessing.
I also have a homemade rig I plug into a multimeter for measuring polarity as well as field strength to detect incorrect magnet types in pickups.
I get many guitars to fault find where the owner changes a pickup and replaces the wiring color for color, rather than following the instructions that came with the pickup. I don't get many magnet swaps. When I do it's usually when alnico 2 and 5's are swapped, and the owner doesn't or can't check polarity. Hence the little tool and diy field strength meter
 
Re: A new (used) guitar and a Dimarzio pickup problem!

Guys, quick update; flipped the red and green leads on the neck pickup, and presto change-o, neck plus middle sounds much better! Not quite a strat, but definitely strat-ish, and good in it's own right, which is what I really wanted! Good call on everyone's part. In other news, the one thing I don't like about the STP style body is the routing and control config; buttpainy because of the route AND control cavity!
 
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