Why Aren't 2 Conductor Pickup Wires Twisted?

[Zerberus]

Re: Why Aren't 2 Conductor Pickup Wires Twisted?

Twisted pair works when both wires carry the same signal. The noise picked up along the journey is cancelled (due to being out of phase with each other) when the signal from the two wires is summed back together.

The black wire on signle coil is your ground and white is hot. In other words, they are not carrying an identical signal. Thus twisted wire is pointless.

Actually, they are carrying the same signal, just out of phase. A Pickup is, basically, a small, magnetically driven AC generator.

Like Frank, I twist them when I remember to, and it helps a wee bit, but it`s definitely not the first place to start on a strat, Tele or other "60 hz Hummingbird".

 

[robrob2]

Re: Why Aren't 2 Conductor Pickup Wires Twisted?

Twisted pair works when both wires carry the same signal. The noise picked up along the journey is cancelled (due to being out of phase with each other) when the signal from the two wires is summed back together.

The black wire on signle coil is your ground and white is hot. In other words, they are not carrying an identical signal. Thus twisted wire is pointless.

If you really wanted, a twisted pair - both connected to hot - might cancel some noise. But, like the guys before said, a pickup is 1/4 mile of antenna...what's 4-5 more inches?

Yea, I agree, dotsdad is wrong here. Twisted pair was invented to use with two conductor telephone wire which works almost exactly like a pickup's leads--they both have a hot wire and ground wire. If twisting doesn't work then tell DiMarzio--their unshielded humbucker wire is twisted from the factory.

 

[dotsdad]

Re: Why Aren't 2 Conductor Pickup Wires Twisted?

Twisted pair works in balanced transmission. Guitar signal is unbalanced. Google it doodz!

 

[robrob2]

Re: Why Aren't 2 Conductor Pickup Wires Twisted?

The guitar output is unbalanced, but a pickup coil with its two identical wires is a perfect example of a balanced line. After all, the two wires from a pickup coil are two ends of the same wire--it can't be any more balanced than that. A pickup coil's two wires are the same type and have the same impedance so they are by definition a balanced line.

A single coil pickup is similar to an amateur radio loop antenna. The antenna can use a balanced line ladder wire output which would be similar to a pickup's leads, or use a balun (balanced-unbalanced) transformer to connect the balanced antenna to an unbalanced coax cable (unbalanced because the center conductor and outer metal sheath are two dissimilar conductors with differing impedance).