Middle pup question

tonechaser

tonechaser

New member
I'm getting ready to replace the pickups in my nighthawk reissue and was wondering if when you split the coils on a humbucker to make them singles do you still need to use a R/W single in the middle for the 2+4 positions. Also I'm thinking of using a JB in the bridge (have to choose between that and the 59), five-two in the middle, and a SM-2 mini in the bridge. Anybody out there have any comments or suggestions on the pup combo?
 
Re: Middle pup question

depending on which coil is active when you split it it may not need a RW/RP middle

lets say for example:
if you have a SD JB bridge , some SD single middle, and the wonderful SD Jazz neck

all are north start
and the single is south polarity

so
in bridge split+middle you have the south coil active
black is hot - red/white to ground makes slug coil active
slug is north

the single is south

everything is fine

in the neck position
same thing happens

everything still hum canceling in the "in-between" positions

where you would get into trouble is mixing pickups as the Fenders are south start
and would have the polarity a bit skewed
its still do-able
just have to move some wires round
or flip the magnets in the Duncans


ok and for the record here is the link to the site where I get the polarity and start finish info from
 
Re: Middle pup question

You don't need to at all. My set of CS69's in my Strat don't have a RW middle. You still get the out of phase positions in 2 and 4 but they're just not noise cancelling.
 
Re: Middle pup question

+1 to Toast. I think reversing the middle only gets rid of hum. The tone will be the same. But then, might as well get rid of the noise too. Follow ehdwuld's advice and you should be ok.
 
Re: Middle pup question

Thanks for the info, I just wanted to try and keep noise down it's hard enough when you start with it quiet.
 
Re: Middle pup question

It depends on which coil you get when you split. Most buckers these days are Screw=South/Slug=North. Most Strat sets are bridge and neck are South and middle (RWRP) north. So if you want the slug coil on single coil mode, you probably don't want an RWRP middle. If you want the screw coil and single coil mode, then you do want RWRP.

As long as you know the middle pu and the single coil from the bucker are opposite polarity, it's just a matter of reversing the leads on the middle if they're out of phase.
 
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