Whole Lotta Bridge Sounds Parallel/P90'ish

S

SavageRiffer

New member
I bought a Whole Lotta set about a week ago. Something I noticed about it is that it has to be set fairly close to the strings or it starts sounding like it's wired in parallel or sort of P90'ish. It loses a lot of bass if it is not closer to the strings than I would normally put it. Luckily, it does not cause much string pull. However, it only sounds good close to the strings. I checked my wiring and everything is good. Like I said, it works fine and sounds good as long as it's fairly close to the strings. I got a Whole Lotta set when they first hit the market but sold that guitar soon after, and I do not remember how I set it up back then. In any case, I'm not new to the pickups. What do you think? Should I maybe send the bridge in for replacement?
 
Re: Whole Lotta Bridge Sounds Parallel/P90'ish

SavageRiffer said:
I bought a Whole Lotta set about a week ago. Something I noticed about it is that it has to be set fairly close to the strings or it starts sounding like it's wired in parallel or sort of P90'ish. It loses a lot of bass if it is not closer to the strings than I would normally put it. Luckily, it does not cause much string pull. However, it only sounds good close to the strings. I checked my wiring and everything is good. Like I said, it works fine and sounds good as long as it's fairly close to the strings. I got a Whole Lotta set when they first hit the market but sold that guitar soon after, and I do not remember how I set it up back then. In any case, I'm not new to the pickups. What do you think? Should I maybe send the bridge in for replacement?
Click to expand...

I had a set of WLH and they lasted a week
Just sterile and nothing like i thought they'd sound
Replaced them with Pearly Gates and couldn't be happier
 
Re: Whole Lotta Bridge Sounds Parallel/P90'ish

SavageRiffer said:
I bought a Whole Lotta set about a week ago. Something I noticed about it is that it has to be set fairly close to the strings or it starts sounding like it's wired in parallel or sort of P90'ish. It loses a lot of bass if it is not closer to the strings than I would normally put it. Luckily, it does not cause much string pull. However, it only sounds good close to the strings. I checked my wiring and everything is good. Like I said, it works fine and sounds good as long as it's fairly close to the strings. I got a Whole Lotta set when they first hit the market but sold that guitar soon after, and I do not remember how I set it up back then. In any case, I'm not new to the pickups. What do you think? Should I maybe send the bridge in for replacement?
Click to expand...

Can you verify that it is working with a meter? Have you tried to wire it directly to a jack to see if there are any other issues?
 
Re: Whole Lotta Bridge Sounds Parallel/P90'ish

After spending a few more days with these pickups, it doesn't seem like anything is wrong with the pickup. I think it just needs to be fairly close to the strings. I wish the bridge had a little more low end so it would be more versatile for heavier styles, but it's great for solos and rock. I put it into a strat I reliced so it has that classic rock kind of theme, so the pickups compliment the look.

AJK1 said:
I had a set of WLH and they lasted a week
Just sterile and nothing like i thought they'd sound
Replaced them with Pearly Gates and couldn't be happier
Click to expand...

The PG is one of my favorite pickups, but I already have a PG, CC, and AII Pro set in some of my guitars. These pickups are pretty good, just not used to pickups that are so picky about string height.

Mincer said:
Can you verify that it is working with a meter? Have you tried to wire it directly to a jack to see if there are any other issues?
Click to expand...

That was one of the first things I did, getting 8.7.
 
Last edited:
Re: Whole Lotta Bridge Sounds Parallel/P90'ish

Coil wired in phase? That would give a thin sound, whilst also still giving a correct DCR reading?
 
Re: Whole Lotta Bridge Sounds Parallel/P90'ish

As stated in my opening post, the wiring is correct. There is only a 2-way toggle for bridge and neck pickup and a single volume control, so there is no coil-tapping or anything else going on. It's as straightforward as you can get. I checked the DC resistance before I installed the pickups. Like I said, it sounds right when the pickup is fairly close to the strings - probably about 2 stacked heavy picks distance between the bridge pickup and the strings.
 
Re: Whole Lotta Bridge Sounds Parallel/P90'ish

SavageRiffer said:
As stated in my opening post, the wiring is correct. There is only a 2-way toggle for bridge and neck pickup and a single volume control, so there is no coil-tapping or anything else going on. It's as straightforward as you can get. I checked the DC resistance before I installed the pickups. Like I said, it sounds right when the pickup is fairly close to the strings - probably about 2 stacked heavy picks distance between the bridge pickup and the strings.
Click to expand...

Yep. But still good to check the solder joints. That sounds like a classic symptom.

Another possible cause could be if there's just a strand of some wire touching the shield or other ground.
 
Re: Whole Lotta Bridge Sounds Parallel/P90'ish

SavageRiffer said:
As stated in my opening post, the wiring is correct. There is only a 2-way toggle for bridge and neck pickup and a single volume control, so there is no coil splitting or anything else going on. It's as straightforward as you can get. I checked the DC resistance before I installed the pickups. Like I said, it sounds right when the pickup is fairly close to the strings - probably about 2 stacked heavy picks distance between the bridge pickup and the strings.
Click to expand...

It's not impossible that a pair of wires ended up the wrong way round in the factory, so even though it appears wired correctly, one coil could be wrong. Although you've not wired it for splits, you could do so to test each coil, and see what that sounds like.
 
Re: Whole Lotta Bridge Sounds Parallel/P90'ish

They are one of the lowest output humbuckers S.D. make. They will interact with a high-headroom amp poorly, unless you really crank it. Try them through a Princeton or Deluxe, hit hard, and they'll sound great IMO.
 
Re: Whole Lotta Bridge Sounds Parallel/P90'ish

Description sounds like the coils are in parallel maybe or magnet doesn’t have a full charge. Incorrectly wired from the factory? Or rare occurrence where the magnet has lost some charge somewhere along the line? Was it a new pickup or second hand? Exposed to anything that could demagnetize it?

I would exercise the return policy and try a second just for sanity. WLH are great sounding and can be moved near or far from the strings to tune the EQ without dramatic change in output like described.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top