Turn/rotate pickup? I'm curious..

Re: Turn/rotate pickup? I'm curious..

I honestly can't think of anything more to add to what Zhang said^ :lmao:
 
Re: Turn/rotate pickup? I'm curious..

Okay, that's enough -- if you think all that butter will get you free pickups, forget it!
 
Re: Turn/rotate pickup? I'm curious..

Hi: Just wanted to get opinions on the rotated pickup thing (180'). I built a custom body and miscalculated the pickup location for the bridge pickup. Long and short of it is that the bridge humbucker pole-pieces (adjustable) are about an inch from the bridge where the amount of vibration would be weak. I have the height adjusted so I get a decent volume however if I rotate it the adjustable pole-pieces will the poles be in a better position for string vibration, what are your thoughts, would this warm up the bridge pickup with a little more tone and volume?

Thanks
 
Re: Turn/rotate pickup? I'm curious..

Its only the height under the strings and the alignment that is important. The further from the bridge saddles you go, the more the string vibrates....not less. And the warmer it gets. And if you have a humbucker, you do realise both coils are picking up signal....and its the slug coil that tends to be slightly stronger in that regard.
 
Re: Turn/rotate pickup? I'm curious..

I am just gonna jump to the end.
I turn almost every pickup 180 degrees so the bridge slugs are closest to the bridge. Neck slugs closest to the neck, so the NECK SCREWS can be closer to the bridge, radiussed to be brighter that way. They are NOT out of "phase". The slugs are stronger as they are short, so they have more pull, (magnetism) therefore in my case the p'up's are always brighter as well as strong. I radius the slugs on the Hybrid (especially), the Jazz, and a couple others where the pickup is too far from the bridge. But most folks don't go that far. It is easy.
The 59/Custom Hybrid has MOST of the strength on the slug, while most p'up's are fairly even, bobbin to bobbin. When I turn my Hybrid 180 this pickup is perfect - for me - the slugs are so strong the guitar gets much clearer, brighter, and I like that. It also is strong at 11.5K or resistence, and is so strong I don't need to radius those slugs.
I use very large bottom strings, so this way by turning the screws (now facing the neck) into the p'up (bridge p'up) I can lose a lot of boominess with the screws down on the low end of my pickups. I have been doing this for 50 years, no joke. I get no reaction when I try to help with this idea. Either I am ignored, no one likes it, is too much trouble, no one believes me, etc. My guitars always, always sound better to me this way. My feelings are NOT hurt. But I am a ghost when I bring this up & l do not know why, especially on the Hybrid. The p'up cover still fits over the p'up slugs if so desired.
If you have any questions, pm me, I'll give you my #. Northwest area, 1pm till 10pm. Any day.
I am correct in what I say, for me. If something is confusing, either I made an error, or I did not properly lay it out.
Thanks for reading,
Steve Buffington
 
Re: Turn/rotate pickup? I'm curious..

I am just gonna jump to the end.
I turn almost every pickup 180 degrees so the bridge slugs are closest to the bridge. Neck slugs closest to the neck, so the NECK SCREWS can be closer to the bridge, radiussed to be brighter that way. They are NOT out of "phase". The slugs are stronger as they are short, so they have more pull, (magnetism) therefore in my case the p'up's are always brighter as well as strong. I radius the slugs on the Hybrid (especially), the Jazz, and a couple others where the pickup is too far from the bridge. But most folks don't go that far. It is easy.
The 59/Custom Hybrid has MOST of the strength on the slug, while most p'up's are fairly even, bobbin to bobbin. When I turn my Hybrid 180 this pickup is perfect - for me - the slugs are so strong the guitar gets much clearer, brighter, and I like that. It also is strong at 11.5K or resistence, and is so strong I don't need to radius those slugs.
I use very large bottom strings, so this way by turning the screws (now facing the neck) into the p'up (bridge p'up) I can lose a lot of boominess with the screws down on the low end of my pickups. I have been doing this for 50 years, no joke. I get no reaction when I try to help with this idea. Either I am ignored, no one likes it, is too much trouble, no one believes me, etc. My guitars always, always sound better to me this way. My feelings are NOT hurt. But I am a ghost when I bring this up & l do not know why, especially on the Hybrid. The p'up cover still fits over the p'up slugs if so desired.
If you have any questions, pm me, I'll give you my #. Northwest area, 1pm till 10pm. Any day.
I am correct in what I say, for me. If something is confusing, either I made an error, or I did not properly lay it out.
Thanks for reading,
Steve Buffington

I believe you, Steve. It's just that all of my pickups have rails or two rows of hex screws and balanced coils so I find this info genuinely interesting but not personally useful. But I have filed it away in my brain for potential future use. I hope that makes you feel less ignored? (Not kidding)
 
Re: Turn/rotate pickup? I'm curious..

Lol. I followed your advice, Steve, and turned a bridge pickup around with the screws towards the neck. I like it, it gives a rounder sound.
 
Re: Turn/rotate pickup? I'm curious..

Dave Locher, Clint 55 -
Thank you guys. I needed to get that off my chest, but not in a way that is childish, or "mommy, my friends won't play with me" kind of narcissistic, thin skinned babyish way. So yeah, even on a Jazz bridge, when turned, and the bobbins are equal strength, I can make a low string have more definition by lowering the screw, and a thin sounding string, like the high E string, I tend to make the screw even with the slug. It is so much easier to sculpt a sound with the screws that way. I must admit, I do feel less ignored. Thanks for saying so.
Well, I am just relieved that it makes sense to you, whether it is what you want or not.
Sincerely,
Steve Buffington
 
Re: Turn/rotate pickup? I'm curious..

Hey Steve,

I too do not ignore your posts. I rarely comment on them because I also have known these characteristics/facts about pups for such a long time that I just put that info into my memory bank as "common knowledge" expecting that everyone else probably knows this as well.
 
Re: Turn/rotate pickup? I'm curious..

GuitarDoc,
No kidding, good to know. I think it's time I shut up about it then. With the slugs (especially the bridge) closest to the bridge I really have a much easier time getting the balance I want string to string. Those slugs add so much extra mid/highs for me I guess I was trying to save the world a little too hard, eh?
Thanks guys. Shuttin' up about it now.
Steve Buffington
 
Re: Turn/rotate pickup? I'm curious..

Lol. I followed your advice, Steve, and turned a bridge pickup around with the screws towards the neck. I like it, it gives a rounder sound.

I wonder how many JBs might have been saved by this? (Rhetorical Q)
 
Re: Turn/rotate pickup? I'm curious..

THere is 2 types of phaseing- mechanical, and electronic, physcally moving the pickup is going to be the mechanical type.
The reasone I know this, is because once I replaced a magnet backwards, and the pups were out of phase- once I put it back in correctly, all was well. I didn't change any of the wiring.

This is because you flipped the magnet, which changes the polarity. This is not "mechanical" because if you just spin the whole pickup, the polarity relative to each coil is not changed -- screws still north, slugs still south, and it will not be out of phase with the other pickup.

Tone? Assuming the coils are evenly wound and the screws are more or less flush with the surface of the bobbin, the difference on spinning the pickup 180 degrees would be negligible. If you have the screws raised, spinning the bridge pickup would increase the mids and lows; spinning the neck pu would give the pickup slightly more of a Strat neck/middle tone than the traditional woody/flutey tone (kind of like a neck pu on a 24-fret guitar).

If your bridge pickup sounds shrill and brittle to you, before buying a new pickup (yes, even from me), maybe try spinning the pickup 180 and raising the screws. It may well solve the problem.
 
Re: Turn/rotate pickup? I'm curious..

Zhangliqun -
Is it not true, with an uncovered pickup (in my case the bridge pickup) that a radiused set of slugs closest to the bridge would be louder and a bit thicker sounding (per thickness and shortness of slug) than a radiused set of screws nearest the bridge? The screws have less magnetism according to everything I have ever read since I have been here, due to their shear length, less metal from threading and the screw slot taking magnetism away and dispersing it all the way to the bottom of the screw?
I am speaking here of bobbins of the same strength, like a Jazz or a Seth. People talk of cutting their screws off at the bottom so as to make he screws stronger all the time. For this post let's ignore unbalanced pickups like the obvious Hybrid. Yes I am picky and I do hear the difference.
One main advantage that I get is that this way, as I use fairly light tops and very heavy bottom strings is I can lower the screws for the bottom E, A, D, strings into the pickup and still keep the strong slug closest to the bridge, thereby giving me more high end, and less boominess. I leave the high E flush, the B down two turns, and the G screw 3 turns (give or take). It is a hassle time wise, so I wouldn't bother if I didn't hear it. Thanks for reading.
Fan of your knowledge,
Steve Buffington
 
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