Single coil modding

[koshikas]

Re: Single coil modding

Well, I managed to pry the ceramic off of the neck pickup and replace it with an A5. I didn't do the middle because I had to rout away some of the material of the bobbin in order to get the wider A5 to sit flush with the metal pole pieces. I held it in place with some super glue gel. This actually allows me to compare the two. The A5 does have less output, but it's still useable. I left the Dimarzio in the bridge, because after having the guitar sit idle for more than a year, I really just wanted to get it up and running.

i m wondering whether u got this right; see bar magnets for humbuckers have different magnetic orientation to those ceramic bar magnets u get on cheap single coils.

so u might be having a weak magnetic field if the magnetic field (poles) are perpendicular and not along the slugs of the single coil

 

[DreX]

Re: Single coil modding

The A5 does have less output, but it's still useable.

How's the dynamics / attack / feel? With weaker magnets paired with hotter coils I've sometimes found the attack to be... saggy... or chewy, for a lack of better terms.

 

[DreX]

Re: Single coil modding

i m wondering whether u got this right; see bar magnets for humbuckers have different magnetic orientation to those ceramic bar magnets u get on cheap single coils. View attachment 57150

so u might be having a weak magnetic field if the magnetic field (poles) are perpendicular and not along the slugs of the single coil

You're right. I have no reason to doubt you, but I tested with a magnetometer just for fun, and the center of the flat side of the humbucker magnet is dead, getting stronger as you move away. In a way, that makes the single coil experiment all the more interesting. What effect does it have on inductance to have a positive field on one side of the coil and a negative on the other? I wonder how it would sound with a ceramic bar instead of AlNiCo.

A couple neodymiums can change the polarity of the AlNiCo bar, but... you'd need a couple neodymiums.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Single coil modding

i have a fast track 2 in the neck of a hamer chapperell and it sounds pretty damn good. i have it wired to a series/parallel switch. most of the time i keep it in parallel fo rhythm work and clean sounds but for an over driven solo the series mode sounds awesome. very fat without being overly muddy.

I like jeremy's post about the Fast Track 2. In fact, I was just about to say that if you decide to put the Fast Track 2 in the neck, you may want to wire it parallel or have a switch so you can change from series to parallel. Should sound awesome in the neck if wired parallel.

 

[Demanic]

Re: Single coil modding

As it happens, I do have the Fast 2 wired to a switch so I can change it from series to parallel. If I were ever to move it to the neck, I would leave it wired that way. I also have a switch that allows me to have it on when the main 5 way is in positions 4 and 5.
Koshikas, I thought about that when I installed it, but I have taken a different approach to that problem. Elsewhere on the forum I saw a thread about double thick alnico magnets. I was at first going to try that out in a JB I have in another guitar, but I though that it would be simpler to try it on the single coil neck pickup that I just modified. So tonight I pulled the pickguard and aligned the other A5 magnet with the north facing the same direction and then stuck it to the other magnet. I put a couple of strips of tape on it to keep it from getting knocked out of place if I bumped the guitar around, but let the magnetism act as the main force holding them together. It has noticeably more output now, though still not as much as the middle pickup with the ceramic. I figure I'll give it a few days to let the field settle in. However the tone as it is now is significantly sweeter than the ceramic, though not with as much bass. Position 4 with just the two combined sounds quite full though, and it is hum cancelling. Things get really interesting when I add the bridge pickup in. In all, I would say that the various tones are all quite useable. As soon as I get a chance, I'll record some sound clips.

 

[SpareRibs]

Re: Single coil modding

Hello,
Try changing the capacitor to .1 that will take some of the brittle single coil sound out.