high dc resistance for neck?? opinions?

I

ISHIELDS

New member
hello all.....i am swapping out pickups (hopefully) this weekend in a guitar and ran into a snag....maybe? the neck pickup i was sent(in a package labeled "neck" pickup, actually has the resistance of the corresponding bridge pickup; so, i think it is obvious that i was sent a bridge pickup in neck pickup packaging.

the resistance for the neck pickup i was wanting to use is supposed to be 8.56, the pickup i got reads 11.44, which is almost exactly what the bridge model is supposed to read. i should probably just send it back and get teh pickup i was trying to get, but i can't help but wonder what this beast would sound like in the neck? also, it is a stacked humbucking single coil(dimarzio injector)


any thoughts? will this high resistance be too loud or sound awful...or would it sound great?



thanks in advance!
 
ISHIELDS said:
hello all.....i am swapping out pickups (hopefully) this weekend in a guitar and ran into a snag....maybe? the neck pickup i was sent(in a package labeled "neck" pickup, actually has the resistance of the corresponding bridge pickup; so, i think it is obvious that i was sent a bridge pickup in neck pickup packaging.

the resistance for the neck pickup i was wanting to use is supposed to be 8.56, the pickup i got reads 11.44, which is almost exactly what the bridge model is supposed to read. i should probably just send it back and get teh pickup i was trying to get, but i can't help but wonder what this beast would sound like in the neck? also, it is a stacked humbucking single coil(dimarzio injector)


any thoughts? will this high resistance be too loud or sound awful...or would it sound great?



thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

Hi,

Generally speaking, DCR is not always due to more turns of wire: it can simply be due to a thinner wire gauge, creating more resistance for the same number or turns. And for a same number of turns, the use of a thinner wire can actually give a lower output, precisely because the wire is more resistive...

That's why DCR is not really meaningful, especially with stacked humbuckers whose second coil is there to cancel the noise and not to hear the strings : a DiMarzio HS-3 measures almost 24k and has an "official" output of 93mv (quieter than any regular Strat SC).

Regarding the Injector's, now: the bridge one is rated by DiMarzio @ 185mv. The lower DCR neck model, at 160mv. Both are therefore hotter anyway than the 120 or 130 mv of an average Strat single coil. I guess that an Injector B set slightly lower under the strings would do the same job than a neck one, albeit probably with a wee bit darker sound - the mv rating published by DiMarzio suggesting a higher inductance for the bridge injector and inductance being one of the really important factors with pickups (beside magnetism, of course): my 12k (!) Jackson J200 stacked humbuckers measure the same inductance than a Fender Custom 69 and sound accordingly in neck / mid positions. :-)

Now the choice is yours. But for the record, I've more than once mounted bridge PU's in neck position without real issues. And vintage guitars built when pickups were not yet calibrated often host hotter PU's in neck or mid positions than in the bridge slot.


FWIW. HTH. Do what you want and be happy. :-)
 
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GuitarStv said:
Some people like them, but I find high output neck pickups tend to be muddy and undefined.
Click to expand...

I have the same opinion. High output pickups do not work in the neck for what I do. Saying that generally I won't used anything over 9 K in the neck but have used a few bridge models in the neck in the 8 K range with success. It all depends on the pickup.
Any pickup will be louder in the neck than the bridge and for me to much output in the neck looses definition and also can easily throw the balance off between a neck and bridge setting. As an example I really like the Dimarizo Liqufier that is mostly used in the neck in the bridge but find it to hot and muddy for me in the neck.
 
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freefrog said:
Hi,

Generally speaking, DCR is not always due to more turns of wire: it can simply be due to a thinner wire gauge, creating more resistance for the same number or turns. And for a same number of turns, the use of a thinner wire can actually give a lower output, precisely because the wire is more resistive...

That's why DCR is not really meaningful, especially with stacked humbuckers whose second coil is there to cancel the noise and not to hear the strings : a DiMarzio HS-3 measures almost 24k and has an "official" output of 93mv (quieter than any regular Strat SC).

Regarding the Injector's, now: the bridge one is rated by DiMarzio @ 185mv. The lower DCR neck model, at 160mv. Both are therefore hotter anyway than the 120 or 130 mv of an average Strat single coil. I guess that an Injector B set slightly lower under the strings would do the same job than a neck one, albeit probably with a wee bit darker sound - the mv rating published by DiMarzio suggesting a higher inductance for the bridge injector and inductance being one of the really important factors with pickups (beside magnetism, of course): my 12k (!) Jackson J200 stacked humbuckers measure the same inductance than a Fender Custom 69 and sound accordingly in neck / mid positions. :-)

Now the choice is yours. But for the record, I've more than once mounted bridge PU's in neck position without real issues. And vintage guitars built when pickups were not yet calibrated often host hotter PU's in neck or mid positions than in the bridge slot.


FWIW. HTH. Do what you want and be happy. :-)
Click to expand...

Spot on here!
 
freefrog said:
Regarding the Injector's, now: the bridge one is rated by DiMarzio @ 185mv. The lower DCR neck model, at 160mv. Both are therefore hotter anyway than the 120 or 130 mv of an average Strat single coil. I guess that an Injector B set slightly lower under the strings would do the same job than a neck one, albeit probably with a wee bit darker sound - the mv rating published by DiMarzio suggesting a higher inductance for the bridge injector and inductance being one of the really important factors with pickups (beside magnetism, of course)
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I've got an Injector set in one of my guitars . . . and would definitely not want to swap the bridge into the neck. The neck is borderline not bright enough and even with a 500k tone pot it's straddling the line between single coil and humbucker tone wise.
 
No way to tell. Just have to try it and see. What anybody here likes has no bearing on what you will like. I've used a Norton and a JB in the neck position and loved both of them for everything from clean jazz to funk to metal. Definitely not muddy or undefined. I'm probably an outlier here but still, just try things and see what happens. You also have pickup height and volume controls to mess with.
 
GuitarStv said:
I've got an Injector set in one of my guitars . . . and would definitely not want to swap the bridge into the neck. The neck is borderline not bright enough and even with a 500k tone pot it's straddling the line between single coil and humbucker tone wise.
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I've no direct experience myself with these pickups, so, thx for sharing.

That said, the sound of passive pickups is so dependent on other parms... I remember to have transplanted a neck PU from my LP (where it was way too dark) in a PRS copy where it was perfect. Not to mention how tone can change according to resistive load, stray capacitance of wiring + cable and input impedance of pedals/amp... Tonal results can be surprising sometimes. :-)
 
High output neck can be great for playing single note lines and "singing" melodies. It's not my thing, but it can work for some people
 
As others have said, DCR isn't a reliable gauge for output.
But if the pickup you got is way off the published spec for that model, I'd exchange it.
 
I have owned a few and played other guitars with the Duncan Distortion Mayhem set in them. I thought the Distortion Neck pup sounded pretty damn good honestly. I was very surprised.
 
The best answer to your questions is..."it depends".

It depends on the specific pup,
It depends on the guitar that it's going into,
And it depends on what you like

I've used lots of bridge pups in the neck with absolutely great results...even some pups as high as 12k. A stacked single coil pup at 11.44k is not so high, actually. A lot of that resistance is from the inactive coil.
 
Soooo, I went on and gave the mislabeled pickup a shot in the neck position. High end was VERY articulate and clean...shred lines on the d-high e were magnificent; but, anything in the lower register was muddy garbage. As well, the pickup may be defective as it was anything but "humbucking". After removing the pickup, I contacted the vendor as they would probably want to know....and they are sending me the correct (I hope this time) neck pickup and I can't wait; I'm sure that a nondefective neck version of the injector will sound incredible for what I want to use it for!
 
Not sure it was defective given the huge discrepancy from normal spec.
IMO more likely it was an entirely different model that simply got mislabeled.
Either way, glad you're getting the correct one.
 
I have to say, I've never used a high DCR neck pickup that I liked. It might be good at one or two things, but those weren't things I tried or would have liked or used.
 
eclecticsynergy said:
Not sure it was defective given the huge discrepancy from normal spec.
IMO more likely it was an entirely different model that simply got mislabeled.
Either way, glad you're getting the correct one.
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thanks!

the reason i think it is defective is i couldn't get it silent, no matter how i wired it...BUT, i think it is no coincidence that it has the same dcr as the bridge model injector.....MAN, i hope the neck model will have all those nice traits that this one has....and be clear on the low end...it will be perfect for what i play on this instrument
 
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