Reversed / out of phase questions

[man_in_a_blackbox]

I have 2 Strats and a mixture of pups from S.Duncan & Fender. Somehow I am not happy with the way the 3 pups act with each other. In both cases I have the more powerful Stack pup from Seymour at the bridge but the original pups from Fender are just as loud if not louder! I have a sneaky feeling the pup is out of phase / wired in reverse. I read the FAQ here on this and I think I nailed this by revesing the green and black wires on my s.duncan - now the 'between' setting on my 5-way selector switch gives me a real chinky quacking sound - yet I am no longer sure if the Seymour pup is now weaker...

Q. Can a single pup be wired that I do not get the full power and it sounds weak on its own or is it just my imagination..?

 

[Artie]

Re: Reversed / out of phase questions

A "stack" pickup is one of the few singles that can be wired "wrong" to produce a weaker output. I believe, that for normal output you connect it like a humbucker: green to ground, red/white together, black to out.

But there's also a "power-boost" mode. Trouble is, since I traded off my stack, I don't have that little piece of paper that show which wires you switch to get that mode. Its somewhere posted here in the forum. If you do a search for posts made by Butch Snyder, I believe you'ld find it.

 

[Artie]

Re: Reversed / out of phase questions

Here's the thread and pic:

https://forum.seymourduncan.com/showthread.php?t=28585

That shows a Tele pup, but the wiring is the same.

 

[man_in_a_blackbox]

Re: Reversed / out of phase questions

Hi Artie2,

thx for the info. but I think all your switch does is switch off/on one of the stacked rows - which is cool because you can then drop down from the 'humbucker mode' you mentioned (which is the max. you can get as it has both stacked rows on) - my problem is my recollection of how loud it was before I reversed green and black...

I also have a straight SSl-3 which just has white and black - so my question now covers that one too - is there a difference in loudness if the 'in & out' cables are simply reversed?

 

[Artie]

Re: Reversed / out of phase questions

thx for the info. but I think all your switch does is switch off/on one of the stacked rows

Actually, that "mod", (which is from SD, btw), is to reverse the phase of one coil relative to the other. In "normal" humbucking mode, one coil is out-of-phase to the other. With that mod, you bring it back in to phase, which makes it more powerful, while losing the noise-cancelling mode.

I also have a straight SSl-3 which just has white and black - so my question now covers that one too - is there a difference in loudness if the 'in & out' cables are simply reversed?

No. Since a pickup is an AC generator, absolute phase is irrelevant. Phase is only an issue relative to another coil. (That coil could be the other coil in a humbucker or stack.)

 

[man_in_a_blackbox]

Re: Reversed / out of phase questions

Aha! Thanks! Now I understand. The mod is interesting as I do not care too much about hum-reduction... I think I will give that a try.

Thanks again - brett

 

[Artie]

Re: Reversed / out of phase questions

You know . . . I could kick myself. I had a stack for awhile, back when I was searching for the "perfect" middle Strat pup, and I traded it off before I thought to try that "mod". I just didn't think about it. :blackeye: