Bridge pickups in the neck??

[Sleeping Martyr]

In installing a new Kent armstrong P-90 in the neck of my SG I found out that the FRED that was in there had been installed upside down by the tech. Is this right?? if you're to put a non-neck model in the neck do you have to flip it around?? ALSO Should I flip the Anderson p-90 around?? its like a phat cat and i don't know if you flip around a phat cat or not when you put a bridge in the neck, help??

 

[sufferinrewind]

Re: Bridge pickups in the neck??

In installing a new Kent armstrong P-90 in the neck of my SG I found out that the FRED that was in there had been installed upside down by the tech. Is this right?? if you're to put a non-neck model in the neck do you have to flip it around?? ALSO Should I flip the Anderson p-90 around?? its like a phat cat and i don't know if you flip around a phat cat or not when you put a bridge in the neck, help??

The FRED is fine in either position. Most DiMarzio pickups aren't made for any position in particular, but you can put them in either, like the FRED, PAF Pro, PAF, Air Norton, PAF Joe, even the Super Distortion.

If you're worried that it sounds bad because it's installed backwards, just turn it around.

 

[frankfalbo]

Re: Bridge pickups in the neck??

The reason for flipping is two-fold. 95% of the time, it is so that when you coil cut the pickup, the active coil is in the physical location that you prefer. So if you want the single coil toward the neck, or toward the bridge, you may find that in order to remain in phase with the other pickups you might have to flip it around.

The Fred is a slightly different beast in that it has two different coils. They are not exactly the same. One is overwound vs. the other. So technically, if you flip this pickup around even in humbucking mode, the tone will change a little. It is not as dramatically mismatched as a Steve's Special, Megadrive, or Drop Sonic. But it's enough that I can hear a difference when I flip it in the bridge position. I've never tried flipping it around in the neck position, and it's been awhile since I've heard it as a neck pickup.

 

[Sleeping Martyr]

Re: Bridge pickups in the neck??

What about a phat cat/Armstrong p-90?? will fliiping it make a difference???

 

[sufferinrewind]

Re: Bridge pickups in the neck??

What about a phat cat/Armstrong p-90?? will fliiping it make a difference???

No. It's only got 1 coil. The thing with some humbuckers is that they have mix matched coils, coils that are wound different from each other, and so the direction you install it in will make a difference in the tone. Some say the difference is big, some say it isn't.

 

[daemon barbeque]

Re: Bridge pickups in the neck??

I used Fred B on Neck ,and now i use a DDb on Neck.
The neck PU's are mostly little "higher" in tone ,and more tamed in ouput ,since the string vibration is higher on neck position.
But the "matching" is a matter of taste.And you can allways adjust the height of the Pu to later output problmes.Or maybe you can love the extra 5 Db ,when you play the leads with Neck PU.It's all a matter of taste.

I tried fred in 2 directions.And it makes difference.I used it mostly flipped ,and it gave me more grind .But Pu's with "twin" coils would not change the tone if they used flipped.Since both coils react in the same way.