Pickup polarity check

[ThreeChordWonder]

I took these pictures this morning for a thread on strat-talk.com, but they're a useful reminder here.

The neck pickup is a Seymour Duncan SSL-1, normal polarity, which, on a SD pickup means "south up". Sure enough, the red (points north) end if the compass points towards the pickup.

The middle pickup is a Seymour Duncan SSL-1-RWRP, i.e. reversed, "north up" polarity. Here the red end of the compass points away from the pickup.

And remember folks, on Earth, the north (positive) pole of the Earth's magnet is in fact at its South geographic pole. A compass needle sure enough indicates North, but if you put a compass needle near a bar magnet, it points AWAY from the north (positive) pole of the bar magnet.

 

[Mincer]

Always a great reminder!

 

[GuitarDoc]

A simple way to check your single coil pups. Good reminder there.

 

[ThreeChordWonder]

Works on humbuckers too.

This is an SD TB-14, so the screw coil is the south, and the red part of the needle points to it.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Yep, of course.

 

[Wound_Up]

I just picked up a magnet polarity tester from Philadelphia Luthier Tools or whatever the place is called, IIRC. Not the Schatten polarity checker but it functions exactly the same. I wasn't willing to pay $tew Mac for one because they rip people off on most of what they sell.

And they rip off ANYONE that buys on Amazon by charging $10 in shipping on each single item you buy. Buy 4 things? You're paying $40 extra on Amazon. All, because it's on Amazon. They lie and claim it's "free shipping" all the while they've actually just added $10 to the price of EVERYTHING they sell on Amazon. Buy 10 things on Amazon and you'll pay, $100 more than buying them on their website.

If they're THAT willing to rip us off, they won't be getting my money. Ever.

I dont have an agenda. I'm just aggravated about how badly they rip off this community and it gets me re-aggravated every time I bring them up.

 

[ThreeChordWonder]

Join Amazon Prime. It's 15 bucks a month so if you make more than two purchases a month you win.

 

[GuitarDoc]

I just picked up a magnet polarity tester from Philadelphia Luthier Tools or whatever the place is called, IIRC. Not the Schatten polarity checker but it functions exactly the same. I wasn't willing to pay $tew Mac for one because they rip people off on most of what they sell.

And they rip off ANYONE that buys on Amazon by charging $10 in shipping on each single item you buy. Buy 4 things? You're paying $40 extra on Amazon. All, because it's on Amazon. They lie and claim it's "free shipping" all the while they've actually just added $10 to the price of EVERYTHING they sell on Amazon. Buy 10 things on Amazon and you'll pay, $100 more than buying them on their website.

If they're THAT willing to rip us off, they won't be getting my money. Ever.

I dont have an agenda. I'm just aggravated about how badly they rip off this community and it gets me re-aggravated every time I bring them up.

Then don't bring it up...you owe it to your heart to stay calm.

You're a little confused about what "rip off" means. Amazon charges a merchant to sell on its site. StewMac is just recouping that cost. Otherwise StewMac would lose money by listing their products on Amazon. But you still have a choice: buy from StewMac directly and get the free shipping that they advertise (not a rip off); or buy from Amazon and pay the extra $ that Amazon charges StewMac (again, not a rip off).

Yes, StewMac's prices are higher than Philadelphia's because of their quality and service. They guarantee their stuff and stand behind that guarantee by allowing you to return (with free return shipping) anything you don't like. That can be expensive, so they charge you a bit more to pay for that "service" and peace of mind.

There is nothing unusual about that business model.

PS, I buy from Philadelphia Luthiers. They are an excellent company with excellent products at a reasonable price.

 

[ThreeChordWonder]

Buy a regular $10 compass from a local store.

 

[solspirit]

Then don't bring it up...you owe it to your heart to stay calm.

You're a little confused about what "rip off" means. Amazon charges a merchant to sell on its site. StewMac is just recouping that cost. Otherwise StewMac would lose money by listing their products on Amazon. But you still have a choice: buy from StewMac directly and get the free shipping that they advertise (not a rip off); or buy from Amazon and pay the extra $ that Amazon charges StewMac (again, not a rip off).

Yes, StewMac's prices are higher than Philadelphia's because of their quality and service. They guarantee their stuff and stand behind that guarantee by allowing you to return (with free return shipping) anything you don't like. That can be expensive, so they charge you a bit more to pay for that "service" and peace of mind.

There is nothing unusual about that business model.

PS, I buy from Philadelphia Luthiers. They are an excellent company with excellent products at a reasonable price.

You trust guys from Philly?

Hahaha. JK

 

[solspirit]

Buy a regular $10 compass from a local store.

Yup

 

[GuitarDoc]

You trust guys from Philly?

Hahaha. JK

Yeah. Is that naïve of me?

 

[68Kustom]

So what's the top coil on a stacked Strat unit? South up?