Lets Finally Solve the Polarity/Wind Direction Issue

[Kent S.]

Re: Lets Finally Solve the Polarity/Wind Direction Issue

I have the Brosnac book, could you mention some other good ones?

I never read anything by him, or done more than thumbed thru a few similar books ... they all had the same info pretty much.
As far as guitar electronics books ... just pick one, dime a dozen so to speak. The problem doesn't appear to be finding a better book (as most seem to show the same stuff), apparently it's about understanding what's in them.
Stew-Mac's site has everything needed to know about humcancelling issues ... Under it's free info sheets, it's on there somewhere under *free info sheets*.

 

[skyydogg01]

Re: Lets Finally Solve the Polarity/Wind Direction Issue

wow, this is all good stuff

can i recommend this thread as VAULT MATERIAL?

i think you guys are in the process of writing the pickup swappers bible

 

[Randomtask]

Re: Lets Finally Solve the Polarity/Wind Direction Issue

Yup. I had to do that with my Surfers/Ant I Custom bridge, and last night, I had to do it with my Chubtone 63's, after adding a Chubtone El Gordo bridge. I Emailed him back and suggested that since he's a new custom winder, it'd be in his best interest to make ALL of his pickups jive together. SD doesn't do it because Seymour's goal was to make the 50's and 60's strat pickups TRUE to exact vintage specs. We can blame Leo Fender for that mess!

:smack:
It's me . . .
The guy who makes Chubtone Pickups.
I did mis-label the neck and mid the set I sent to you - My bad.
But my pickups all work together. (Unless I am doing a 50s model) the Neck and Bridges have south polarity, and the mids have North polarity and opposite winding direction (i.e. RWRP). I only have one winder, and I do my bridges and necks on one side and mids on the other. The wires are color coded on the mid in the opposite order.

You guys have probably already discussed it, but pickups can be put out of phase even if they are the same winding direction and polarity by swapping the hold and ground wires (This is not the same as RWRP). This is sometimes done on sets that don't have RWRP middle. There are variations between manufacturers as to winding direction and which wire is ground. That is where you run into issues between brands.
On vintage style single coils, different people mark different wires for ground.
This is not set in stone though. If there is a problem, try switching the leads.

Someone mentioned checking for polarity. By placing two pickups top-to-top, you can tell if they are different polarity if they attract to each other.
(By the way, never force together pickups that are repelling). This doesn't tell you the winding direction though. So to give you a general idea, on a RWRP setup, the bridge an neck should repel when put together, and the mid should attract to the bridge and neck. Once that is determined, if the in-between positions still sound wrong, try switching leads. You want to start with th e correct polarities first.

So long story short - my bad. Had a bad cold and labled pickups under the spell of NyQuil. :32: Sorry !

 

[BlueGuitar]

Re: Lets Finally Solve the Polarity/Wind Direction Issue

:Someone mentioned checking for polarity. By placing two pickups top-to-top, you can tell if they are different polarity if they attract to each other.
(By the way, never force together pickups that are repelling). This doesn't tell you the winding direction though...

With traditional strat and tele pickups a visual inspection can usually indicate the winding direction. Follow each thin coil wire from the eyelet and one of them is usually in-line with the outside of the coil and the other is in-line with the inside of the coil. I can imagine situations in which this might not be true (like if one of the coil wires got hung up) but it has always worked for me and my guitars.

BTW before reversing the two leads I will check first for any shorts between the coil and the pole pieces.

P.S. I've heard great things about your pickups!

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Lets Finally Solve the Polarity/Wind Direction Issue

Hey, Random Task (Mike Gray of Chubtone Custom Pickups) Welcome to the forum.

Just so you know, this is a guy who has strat pickups down to an exact science!
I've got my sunburst/rosewood strat setup with his 63's and El Gordo bridge. This is a set that would bring tears to the eyes of many a blues player. Truly great pickups that nail the SRV/KWS/J. Mayer type vibe. As a fan of Surfers and Fat 50's, the Chubtone 63's are definitely in the same class. Truly a joy to play on.