RW/RP and tone

Oquedo

Oquedo

New member
Hello there.
I have a doubt, hope anyone can help.

Do reversed wound and reversed polarity afect the quality of the tone of a single coil pup? the question applies both for mixed or single middle position.
and if so how would it affect the sound aside the hum cancelling?

:thanks:
: private:
 
Re: RW/RP and tone

Maybe.

I doubt it, but some people think so.

I'd be curious to know what people like Seymour or Lindy Fralin think...
 
Re: RW/RP and tone

Well to me, IMHO It always sounds like the blanket effect... I lose the highs... drives me nuts!
I can't do it... so I prefer the non traditional route and go noiseless...
Which is another discussion altogether...
But Yes... I notice a difference... don't like it!
.
 
Re: RW/RP and tone

It depends what you mean. You said "mixed," and that that would mean is the 2nd and 4th positions wouldn't quack anymore, if the middle were wound like the bridge and neck.
It'd sound more like the way 2 humbuckers sound in the middle position.

If you mean "by themselves" then the above answers are pretty much right. It'd be like plugging something in the wall socket upside down....no real difference. But like Lew said...MAYBE a tone conoisseur could tell.

I bought a set of SSL-1 from some dork who didn't inform me that the middle wasn't rw/rp, and was so p1ssed off. The pickups sounded good, but my notch positions were gone. I sold the middle and replaced it with the right one.
 
Re: RW/RP and tone

This should really be a FAQ.

Nobody went through the trouble of actually measuring it yet.

But in theory the magnetic field between the pickups can be dramatically changed.

With no RP you have all norths up, so you get three magnetic fields with peaks above the pickups.

With RP in the middle you have north up in the neck but south up in the middle and north up in the bridge again, and that can - theoretically - re-shape the field. Instead of three sharp peaks you get two wide bubbles. If so, that would be a dramatic sound change since you now pick up from a wider field and get more induction from the long harmonics.

I can make a drawing if needed.

Having said that, chance are that they are too far apart to make an audible difference.

I plan to actually test this before ordering the forum pickup. I sure don't want to be stuck with a RWRP if they suck.
 
Re: RW/RP and tone

Gearjoneser said:
You said "mixed," and that that would mean is the 2nd and 4th positions wouldn't quack anymore, if the middle were wound like the bridge and neck.
It'd sound more like the way 2 humbuckers sound in the middle position.
Click to expand...

You don't need an RW/RP middle to make it quack in positions 2 and 4. Vintage Strats, like those played by Knopfler and Clapton in the 70s for example, have plenty of quack and they had all pickups wound the same. The 2 and 4 positions weren't part of the original Strat design - it was just something players discovered, that if they stuck the old 3-position switch so that two pickups were on they got that quack tone. All the RW/RP middle pickup does is make positions 2 and 4 humbucking. There is a debate about whether RW/RP affects the tone in other ways - some claim to hear it, some don't.
 
Re: RW/RP and tone

I plan to actually test this before ordering the forum pickup. I sure don't want to be stuck with a RWRP if they suck.
Click to expand...

Me neither, please let me know if you do test it.
 
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