HELP - SD Tele pickup magnet polarity

Z

zepsongs

New member
Anyone happen to know the magnet polarity of Seymour's telecaster neck pickups? I found an old Florance TE-59 in my parts drawer (counter-clockwise wound, south up magnet) and I'm looking for a good matching neck pickup, north up clockwise wound (in phase & hum canceling).

I just don't understand why they provide every other spec under the sun but magnet polarity. Knowing this helps us mix & match pickups. Buying a crap ton of pickups just to test the magnets is not the solution. LOL

Thanks in advance guys!!
 
Hey thanks for resonding. I do understand the concept of RW/RP. However, that doesn't mean that all RW/RP pickups are North up. It just means that the RW/RP pickup needs be the exact opposite of the other pickup(s) to be in phase and hum cancelling. The magnet direction is entirely up to the maker. For instance, in the blog post above, they talk about Nashville tele combinations. In order to be noise cancelling with the middle pickup, the neck and bridge would have to be the opposite of the middle but the same polarity and wind direction with each other in order to be in phase and hum cancelling with the middle. If used without a middle pickup, they would be in phase but not hum cancelling.

See here - Seymour Duncan Out Of Phase Pickups | Seymour Duncan

So clearly Seymour makes some pickups with different facing magnets however, nowhere does he mention which direction his magnets are facing for each pickup. THIS is the information I need. I was hoping someone with a tele had a polarity tester or a compass and could check to see what direction the magnets of the neck pickup are facing since Seymour doesn't see fit to provide this information.

Thanks!!
 
From the article, sounds like most Fender-type singles from Duncan default to the 50's formula of south up top going, with the cited exceptions. My teles are all in storage, so I can't check. I do know my Antiquities are hum-cancelling in the middle, which would mean my '55 Antiquity neck is RWRP for Duncan, which means the neck is north up top coming. I don't have an array of Duncan Tele neck pickups to check the others, however.
 
zepsongs said:
So clearly Seymour makes some pickups with different facing magnets however, nowhere does he mention which direction his magnets are facing for each pickup. THIS is the information I need. I was hoping someone with a tele had a polarity tester or a compass and could check to see what direction the magnets of the neck pickup are facing since Seymour doesn't see fit to provide this information.

Thanks!!
Click to expand...
Agree with you. I'm just saying in the specific case of the SSL-2 RW/RP and other RW/RP Neck pickups on the blog page, they are "North UP".

I also understand you would like the magnetic polarity specified on the official product info, so you don't need to trust the internet.
 
Last edited:
zepsongs said:
Anyone happen to know the magnet polarity of Seymour's telecaster neck pickups? I found an old Florance TE-59 in my parts drawer (counter-clockwise wound, south up magnet) and I'm looking for a good matching neck pickup, north up clockwise wound (in phase & hum canceling).

I just don't understand why they provide every other spec under the sun but magnet polarity. Knowing this helps us mix & match pickups. Buying a crap ton of pickups just to test the magnets is not the solution. LOL

Thanks in advance guys!!
Click to expand...


Buy a $6 tester and you don't need anyone's specs. You can check it yourself in less time than it takes to look it up. Or spend BIG and get the $10 Schatten Polarity Checker lol
 
Wound_Up said:
Buy a $6 tester and you don't need anyone's specs. You can check it yourself in less time than it takes to look it up. Or spend BIG and get the $10 Schatten Polarity Checker lol
Click to expand...

The tester I have. It's the pickups I need. Buying one of each just to test it is not within my budget. LOL That's why I was hoping those in the community could test theirs for me. :-)
 
Teleplayer said:
Agree with you. I'm just saying in the specific case of the SSL-2 RW/RP and other RW/RP Neck pickups on the blog page, they are "North UP".

I also understand you would like the magnetic polarity specified on the official product info, so you don't need to trust the internet.
Click to expand...


beaubrummels said:
From the article, sounds like most Fender-type singles from Duncan default to the 50's formula of south up top going, with the cited exceptions. My teles are all in storage, so I can't check. I do know my Antiquities are hum-cancelling in the middle, which would mean my '55 Antiquity neck is RWRP for Duncan, which means the neck is north up top coming. I don't have an array of Duncan Tele neck pickups to check the others, however.
Click to expand...

Does anybody trust the internet these days? LOL Anyway, from the pickups I was able to test Fender is indeed North up, as is David Allen, and apparently Florance as the bridge is South up. However, Fralin, RocketFire and Pickup Wizard are all South up. So far we have a 50/50 split. Waiting on my buddy to test his Lollars but to be honest, i was kinda hoping that SD would be North up, especially the Antiquity II as I think it might be a good match. Thanks!!
 
I posted a thread a few weeks ago, where I showed a map reading compass next to pickups. A regular SD single coil is "south up" meaning the points north end of the compass will point towards the pickup. Explanation: the planet's south magnetic pole is actually closer to its geographic north pole.

For RWRP pickups the reverse is true. They are reverse wired (more often than reverse wound) and reverse polarity, making them come back into phase by adding two 180 degree phase shifts, but the current induced by hum sources is in the opposite phase still, making the use of one regular pickup and one RWRP in combination action hum canceling.

For humbuckers, laying the compass on top of the humbucker should have the magnet pointing to the south pole of the flat, poles down the long edges, magnet.

Regular SD single coil:

20220210_083912.jpg

RWRP single coil:

20220210_083918.jpg

Humbucker - on SD pickups the screw coil is normally the south:

20220212_090918.jpg
 
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