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.
Antiquity P90 set RWRP = out of phase?
- Thread starter whatthe
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beaubrummels
Well-known member
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.
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.
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
OH THE DOUBLE THICK GLAZE!
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
Well-known member
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.
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.
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.
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").
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.
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).
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).
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.
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.
Turning the volume down on one pup doesn't put them "in phase". Being out of phase is a physical/mechanical condition concerning how 2 pups are related to each other. To be OOP, either one pup has the reverse wiring of another or it has reverse magnetic polarity of the other. The effect is a cancellation of certain frequencies of waves which is most effective when the two pups are contributing equally to the total output of the sound (the "volume balance" that you refer to). If you reduce the signal of one of the pups there will be less cancellation of those specific frequencies and the "sound" will become more "normal", like just playing one pup, but the two pups are still OOP. Like if you switch to either the neck or the bridge pup it will sound like the normal neck or bridge pup even though your two pups are still OOP.
You don't need to drill any holes to add a switch to toggle between in phase and out of phase. You can just replace one of your volume controls with a push/pull pot. When in the normal "down" position you will be in phase. When you pull the volume knob up, it will actually reverse the wiring of one pup so you will actually be out of phase. Simple. And then you will have both tones available.
Good idea with the push pull pot. Can you point me to any online resources to do this?
Artie
Peaveyologist
Artie
Peaveyologist
Oops. Yup. That will be more difficult.
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