PG bridge///4 or 2?

dlc1953

New member
Saw a post awhile back where someone thought the 2c PGb had better tone than the 4c.As a general rule I think 42g wire gives a thicker tone to a pickup.And the 4c PGb's Ive tried do sound kinda'thin' not much fullness. So can the 2c with the 42g ,solve that issue you think. I do really like the increase of Treble on it,over the Seth.
 
Re: PG bridge///4 or 2?

People at SD have led me to believe that if there is a difference that it is negligible. As in, get out the measuring equipment to tell for sure.




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Re: PG bridge///4 or 2?

Interesting.

I recently worked on a Les Paul which the owner wanted me to return to stock. He'd put in all modern wiring, coil tapping tone controls and had installed a pair of 4C Alnico 2 Pro humbuckers.

I replaced every inch of wiring from head to toe with Gibson vintage style braided shielded cable.

And I took each pickup apart and replaced the 4 conductor cable cable with the same vintage style single conductor shielded cable Gibson would have used in the 1950's.

When I was done the guitar felt tighter and more solid plugged in.

I suppose you could say thicker.

But it was more of something that I sensed than actually heard or could prove.

I did prefer the way the guitar responded, sounded and felt after I was done but who knows?

Could have all been in my imagination.
 
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Re: PG bridge///4 or 2?

I have always been a believe in that two conductor pickups sound better than 4C. I can't explain why, but I just prefer their tone.
 
Re: PG bridge///4 or 2?

I can't remember which winder I asked[might have been Dave-Zhang] but they said folks think 42 delivers a thicker tone.Probably splittin hair's. But I was also thinking, an unpotted PG b might change things up a little??
 
Re: PG bridge///4 or 2?

I have always been a believe in that two conductor pickups sound better than 4C. I can't explain why, but I just prefer their tone.

The red/white wires, traveling down through the shielded cable, exhibit some degree of capacitance to ground. Wouldn't be much, but even a few picofarads might be audible in a delicate pickup signal. The 2-conductor wouldn't have that capacitance at all.
 
Re: PG bridge///4 or 2?

Regarding the OP's question... Do not confuse AWG #42 wire with the 4c and 2c conductor cables. Both versions of the PG are wound with #42 PE wire.

B
 
Re: PG bridge///4 or 2?

The red/white wires, traveling down through the shielded cable, exhibit some degree of capacitance to ground. Wouldn't be much, but even a few picofarads might be audible in a delicate pickup signal. The 2-conductor wouldn't have that capacitance at all.

This makes me confused.

:)

Because afterall them wires in 4C pickups are quite thin, no? So, when we connect the red to the white, the signal passes additionally in series all the way the red and white (as you say). The black is ok (meaning that there is no additional length involved), yet uses a thin wire. But the green used for grounding concerns a longer (and thin wire) as opposed to the braided grounding no? The grounding with braided cables are shorter, no?

Could it really be the case that the capacitances are different? If so, VOW you know...

:)

Then again the impedance is quite high, no?

B
 
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Re: PG bridge///4 or 2?

The center conductor, of a 2-c, would have some capacitance to the shield. The 4c, with its red/white run, just adds one more. The amount would be tiny. I'm grasping at straws here to try to explain why a 2c would sound different than a 4c. It may all be placebo. :)
 
Re: PG bridge///4 or 2?

Cool...

:)

I really would be amazed if there is a real difference when comparing the same pickup with 2c vs. 4c cables.

B
 
Re: PG bridge///4 or 2?

I think we should ask Eric Johnson to be sure….


Yeah - this is imaginary if you ask me.
a) If there is a difference, it is engineering/technically measurable, but it is not practically psycho-acoustically audible
b) The only way is to blind test a bunch; I seriously bet you can't pick them.
 
Re: PG bridge///4 or 2?

The only real difference I could think of is dependent upon the length of the wire. Instead of an extremely short length of wire connecting the two coils in a humbucker in series that same series connection has to travel all the way down the length of the entire cable. This could pose some sort of almost impossible to measure difference in the phase relationship between the two pickups.

Of course I could also just be talking completely out me arse. I'm sure somebody with more knowhow could tell if I'm right or wrong. LOL
 
Re: PG bridge///4 or 2?

There is no difference in actual tone between braided leads and five-wire leads. Anything you hear different is in your head. And anything that can possibly be measured different (and it really can't be with the precision of commonly-used instruments), is audibly imperceptible.
 
Re: PG bridge///4 or 2?

As long as you're talking pg, I love the split sound I get in the bridge. It has a surprisingly pleasant quack.
 
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