Humbuckers - coils "inside" or "outside"?

[ThreeChordWonder]

My HH Strat has a Trembucker in the bridge and a Jazz in the neck.

My HSS Strat has a 59/Custom Hybrid in the bridge position. I am minded to put a trembucker in its place. I can either keep an HSS configuration or move the 59/Custom to the neck position. My body routings will allow that.

The slotted poles on the Trembucker are nearest the bridge, the slotted poles in the Jazz are nearest the nut. So the slotted poles are both on the "outside". *

My 59/Custom Hybrid, currently in the bridge position on my HSS Strat are also on the "outside". If I move that pickup to the neck position, keeping the pickup the same way round, the south coil will end up on the "inside", however.

I believe the slotted poles are for the "south" coils.

Is there a good technical reason why the south coils should be the furthest apart or is this just aesthetics?

One other question,, we'll two really- is it easy / safe to swap the plastic covers around and if so where can I get new ones?

* The slotted, exposed, poles on the original, factory fitted, covered pickups on my my SG are also on the "outsides" .

 

[jeremy]

the pole pieces to make a bit of difference but with the hybrid, the big difference is which coil is active. the custom coil or the 59 coil. there are no rules as to what needs to be where

 

[ThreeChordWonder]

the pole pieces to make a bit of difference but with the hybrid, the big difference is which coil is active. the custom coil or the 59 coil. there are no rules as to what needs to be where

Thought as much.

Thanks.

 

[beaubrummels]

FWIW, splitting to screw coil on most Duncans I've tried sounds a bit like a weak P90 or really punk garage grunge single coil. Splitting to slug on the Custom series sounds like a Fender Strat single coil, particularly if the screw is nearest the bridge and the slug is toward the neck. Puts the slug in a great spot to almost get a quack all by itself (think like Eric Clapton's Lay Down Sally type of tone.). But I don't know what a 59/Custom sounds like in the neck position, either split or full humbucker. I would think you'd need a really hot but articulate bridge to go with it.

 

[Clint 55]

The south poles face outside so the 2 humbuckers can be constructed and wired identically, have the screws facing out, and have them be in phase with each other.

 

[ThreeChordWonder]

^ I don't think phase has anything to do with the position. If it did, simply moving the humbucker from the bridge to the neck would alter its phase, surely?

 

[ThreeChordWonder]

FWIW, splitting to screw coil on most Duncans I've tried sounds a bit like a weak P90 or really punk garage grunge single coil. Splitting to slug on the Custom series sounds like a Fender Strat single coil, particularly if the screw is nearest the bridge and the slug is toward the neck. Puts the slug in a great spot to almost get a quack all by itself (think like Eric Clapton's Lay Down Sally type of tone.). But I don't know what a 59/Custom sounds like in the neck position, either split or full humbucker. I would think you'd need a really hot but articulate bridge to go with it.

The default is to split to the north (slug pole) coil - red and green grounded, black hot, white grounded. Doesn't matter whether that's in bridge, neck or even middle.

From S-D's own description:

When split, you get the Custom’s 7k coil for a more distinct single coil sound.

I don't know.

I'm just thinking "what will I do with a leftover humbucker if I replace it with the trembucker equivalent- and is it even really worth it?"

Even if I swap it out, I'll probably stick to the HSS configuration and just sell the old one on eBay.

 

[Mincer]

The Hybrid in the neck would be very powerful, but I think it could be wired in parallel and work pretty well. What don't you like about it in the bridge?

 

[Clint 55]

^ I don't think phase has anything to do with the position. If it did, simply moving the humbucker from the bridge to the neck would alter its phase, surely?

Yes that's right. I must not have explained myself well enough. You asked why south always faces out. Neck and bridge humbuckers are constructed and wired identically, they're just oriented opposite. If you held everything the same and changed the polarity of one of the magnets, the 2 hums would be out of phase.

 

[ThreeChordWonder]

The Hybrid in the neck would be very powerful, but I think it could be wired in parallel and work pretty well. What don't you like about it in the bridge?

Just looks wrong.

And I'm bored.

 

[Mincer]

Just looks wrong.

And I'm bored.

So this has nothing to do with the sound?

 

[beaubrummels]

The default is to split to the north (slug pole) coil - red and green grounded, black hot, white grounded. Doesn't matter whether that's in bridge, neck or even middle.

From S-D's own description:

When split, you get the Custom’s 7k coil for a more distinct single coil sound.

I don't know.

I'm just thinking "what will I do with a leftover humbucker if I replace it with the trembucker equivalent- and is it even really worth it?"

Even if I swap it out, I'll probably stick to the HSS configuration and just sell the old one on eBay.

I'm well aware of how the default split works. What i was telling you was what the sound is like if you decide to split to one coil or the other. You don't have to split to slug, that is just the default it was designed for.

In addition, where the individual coil sits along the string does affect what it sounds like when split, so position does matter. If you rotate the humbucker so the slug is nearest the bridge, it will sound different when split than when it's in the normal orientation of being toward the neck. And if you put it in the neck, it's going to sound different again. Personally, I would never put a 59/C in the neck, and if you're doing it just because you're bored ... I guess you can enjoy the experiment; though I doubt it will be a useful result. But who knows, maybe it could work for you. Try it.

 

[eclecticsynergy]

Using the Hybrid in neck position, I'd be tempted to mount it with slug coil toward the fretboard.
I bet it would split to something pretty close to the magical Strat neck tone.
And if it's too loud when unsplit, you could run it in parallel as Mincer suggested.

If you used series/split/parallel switching you could still have the series mode on tap for leads.
It would require an on-on-on mini toggle, rather than a push-pull. But in a Strat that's easily done.

 

[ThreeChordWonder]

What happens if I play it left handed then?

 

[ThreeChordWonder]

Ordered an all black TB-16 this morning.

Should be here Sunday.

I had forgotten I had trimmed the lead on the zebra 59/Custom as it seemed ridiculously long as supplied. It's long enough to use in the bridge of a Strat, but not full length. The sheathing has a couple of soldering iron scars too.

If anyone wants it, however, make me an offer.

 

[beaubrummels]

You can always buy a small amount of 4-conductor wire and extend the leads back to factory length.

 

[ThreeChordWonder]

Looked at that. The "inside" ends are pretty well buried, and I'd probably mess up 4he soldering anyway.

What I could do, were I that sort of person, is to splice in some new 4+1 cabling in under the cover. But I'm not that sort.

 

[Clint 55]

Did you buy a 2nd pickup cuz you can't replace a hookup lead?

Fwiw - if anyone needs 4+1 4 conductor hookup cables, midi cables are exactly that. Though they aren't the exact Duncan colors.

 

[ThreeChordWonder]

No, I bought a new pickup because I wanted a trembucker.

I'm just not the sort of person who sells cr#p to unsuspecting punters on Fleabay or reverb or wherever.

Anyway. I just finished splicing in a new lead. I bought the 4+1 shielded cable on fleabay a while back..

All good except the bar magnet fell out and now it's in upside down or back to front. According to my compass, anyway.

Once it's sorted it'll go in a drawer for the next project.

 

[GuitarDoc]

The south poles face outside so the 2 humbuckers can be constructed and wired identically, have the screws facing out, and have them be in phase with each other.

That has nothing to do with phase.