WTK: Is RW/RP single coil really necessary

[colt933]

All:

I'm replacing 3 classic stacks with 3 SSL-1s in my strat, I have a standard 5-way switch, and my question is this:

Do I REALLY need a RW/RP pickup in the middle, or can I just reverse the white and black wires on a regular SSL-1 to achieve about the same effect for the middle pickup in switch positions 2 and 4?

Thanks for looking.

 

[jeremy]

Re: WTK: Is RW/RP single coil really necessary

no you do not need a rw/rp but you dont want to switch wires either.

you can use a normal single coil in the middle and it will sound fine but you want to wire it normally. if you reverse the hot and ground wire you will be out of phase with the other two pups. by using a rw/rp pup in the middle the combined positions 2 & 4 will be humcancelling, if you use a normal pup they will not be.

reversing the polarity (rp) you are out of phase with the other pups, by reversing hot and ground wires (rw) you are out of phase again which is back in phase. the tone is basically the same either way but there is no 60 cycle hum (or 50 hz if you are outside the usa)

 

[colt933]

Re: WTK: Is RW/RP single coil really necessary

Thanks for the fast reply.

Here's a follow-up or two:

By not using an RWRP would I still get that Dire Straits quack tone but without hum cancellation?

Would this be more what a vintage strat with a 3-way switch would sound like with the switch in-between positions?

 

[Kosh Naranek]

Re: WTK: Is RW/RP single coil really necessary

By not using an RWRP would I still get that Dire Straits quack tone but without hum cancellation?

Would this be more what a vintage strat with a 3-way switch would sound like with the switch in-between positions?

You'd get the quack. And yes, it would be without hum cancelling. If you play clean or with a moderate overdrive, that might not be a problem.

I have read that a RWRP middle pickup actually diminishes that nice quack when you use it with the bridge or neck pickup. I'm not that much of a Strat tone cork sniffer, so I probably couldn't tell the difference unless you brought me two identical Strats with identical pickups, one having a RWRP, one not and I tried them through the same amp. Maybe someone else can comment some more on that.

And yes, that is what an old Strat would have sounded like with the switch put in one of the in between positions.

 

[uOpt]

Re: WTK: Is RW/RP single coil really necessary

Some say you get better sound with same polarity on all pickups, and that is even when not in a notch position, when the middle pickup is not in use.

I could imagine some truth in it because the total magnetic field over the pickguard is shaped differently.

If you have three normal pickups it is:
N N N
S S S

If you have a RWRP middle pickup it looks like this:
N S N
S N S


Obviously the shape of the magnetic field will be different, insteap of three even "bubbles" centered on the three pickups you get two bubbles, basically a bow from neck to middle and another bubble from bridge to middle. I can make a drawing if required.

Whether this effect is strong enough to lead to an audible difference or not is a matter of faith or going through great lengths of A/B tests with recordings, something I didn't do.

But if there is an effect, it will be there even if the middle pickup is not in use.

 

[jeremy]

Re: WTK: Is RW/RP single coil really necessary

But if there is an effect, it will be there even if the middle pickup is not in use.

right

 

[uOpt]

Re: WTK: Is RW/RP single coil really necessary

One quick'n'dirty test to determine whether there can be any effect is run a neck pickup with no magnets, while a middle pickup with magnets is mounted.

If the size of the magnets' field effective area extends all the way from the middle to the neck pickup then you would get some sound in that neck pickup.

If it is dead quiet it is almost impossible that the field reshaping is audible.

 

[colt933]

Re: WTK: Is RW/RP single coil really necessary

Thanks for the great responses!

You have answered my questions.

 

[uOpt]

Re: WTK: Is RW/RP single coil really necessary

I made some recordings of this:
https://forum.seymourduncan.com/showthread.php?t=155563