why can't I remember...?

[Blue Calx]

Ok, shorting the red and white wires to ground cancels out which coil, north or south?

Shorting them to hot cancels out the opposite, I just can't remmber which is which.

 

[Chaos]

Re: why can't I remember...?

Shorting red & white should cancel the adjustable coil. (black=signal, green=return)
You can also short the fixed coil by grounding black and green (red=signal, white=return)

 

[Artie]

Re: why can't I remember...?

Shorting red & white should cancel the north / adjustable coil. (black=signal, green=return)
You can also short the south / fixed coil by grounding black and green (red=signal, white=return)

Thats correct, but I've always assumed that the term "north" refered to the coil closest to the neck, so that shorting the red/white of the bridge pup would cancel the "south" coil.

Either way, that is essentially correct, short red/white to ground for the stud coil of either pup to be active, and short red/white to "hot" for the adjustable coil of either pup to be active.

 

[Chaos]

Re: why can't I remember...?

I've seen sites with conflicting info concerning what is north vs. south...

Thats correct, but I've always assumed that the term "north" referred to the coil closest to the neck, so that shorting the red/white of the bridge pup would cancel the "south" coil.

The adjustable coil is usually the closest to the neck (or facing out) which would make the adjustable coil = North using this logic (as originally stated) Shorting red & white would then turn off the north or adjustable coil.

However, this site lists SD pickups with the adjustable coil = south… :smack:
pickup wiring color codes

Now that everyone's confused, it’s probably easier to refer to the coils as ‘slug’ or ‘screw’ since there seems to be no consistency when using the terms north & south.

 

[tone4days]

Re: why can't I remember...?

hmmm, i thought north/south had to do with the magnet orientation

i thought that in a standard magnet orientation (non-flipped), the screw coil was on the south side and the slug coil is on the north side (note that this terminology allows us to use the same words when talking about bridge or neck pups) ...

to get humcancelling, you always need a north coil and a south coil ... this is why you have to flip one magnet in order to get inners and outers to work ...

i thought that in a normal orientation, the screw coil is black/white and the stud coil is red/green

so shorting red/white to green kills the stud coil and activates the screw coil and shorting red/white to black ills the screw coil and activates the stud coil

or is some or all of this wrong?

 

[tone4days]

Re: why can't I remember...?

bump for comment .. artie, thoughts? ... others? ...

 

[Artie]

Re: why can't I remember...?

hmmm, i thought north/south had to do with the magnet orientation

i thought that in a standard magnet orientation (non-flipped), the screw coil was on the south side and the slug coil is on the north side (note that this terminology allows us to use the same words when talking about bridge or neck pups) ...

to get humcancelling, you always need a north coil and a south coil ... this is why you have to flip one magnet in order to get inners and outers to work ...

i thought that in a normal orientation, the screw coil is black/white and the stud coil is red/green

so shorting red/white to green kills the stud coil and activates the screw coil and shorting red/white to black ills the screw coil and activates the stud coil

or is some or all of this wrong?

This can get confusing. I have always assumed that in a dual-humbucker equipped guitar, the screw coils were on the outside. So one is reversed from the other. All SD diagrams have this orientation. Shorting the red/white wires to ground definitely gives you the stud coil active. (Adj. coil off.)

So, if you short both pups wires to ground, you'ld have both inner coils active. And vice-versa.

 

[tone4days]

Re: why can't I remember...?

i JUST NOW FINALLY found my reference material on this topic of north/south polarity ... SD pups normally have the screw coils on the south polarity and the stud coils on the north polarity ... and yes, the screws coils are to the outside

t4d

 

[tone4days]

Re: why can't I remember...?

...So, if you short both pups wires to ground, you'ld have both inner coils active. And vice-versa.

correct, sir ... but they would not be humcancelling (because they'd both be the same polarity) unless you do a magnet flip, right?

then, does that hum cancelling also require a wiring change (to get the 'reverse wind' part)?

cheers
t4d

 

[Chaos]

Re: why can't I remember...?

i thought that in a normal orientation, the screw coil is black/white and the stud coil is red/green

Just the opposite.
Cut from http://www.seymourduncan.com/website/support/faqdescr.shtml#coiltap


"What are your humbucker wiring color codes?
All Seymour Duncan humbuckers with four-conductor hookup wires incorporate a standard wire color code.
Green = beginning of adjustable coil
Red = finish of adjustable coil
Black = beginning of stud coil
White = finish of stud coil"

Also from http://www.seymourduncan.com/website/support/seymours_q_and_a_3.shtml#198

"The polarity of a pickup is determined by the magnetic polarity of the polepiece and the winding direction of the coil and how the beginning and finish wires of the coil are connected." ...so polarity can differ between manufacturers depending on construction. It appears that SD considers the stud coil to be North (contrary to my first post) However, wiring information is still correct.

Edited first post to remove north / south references to avoid confusion.

 

[tone4days]

Re: why can't I remember...?

ah - perfect, chaos - thanks for the correction