ODD PICKUP ?

[helmi]

i'd like some opinions on this subject. in a normal dual humbucker configuration, on the neck pup the screws face closer to the neck, and in the bridge pup, they face closer to the bridge. will turning these around, facing the neck pup screws towards the middle, and so forth with the bridge pup screws toward the middle, effect the tone, and to what degree?

 

[Deleted member 2284]

Good question.

It might.

For one, the pole pieces are different - some are slugs, some are screws, and the screws might be closer to or farther from the strings.

But pole piece adjustments aside, underneath the slugs is a piece of wood or maybe plastic, whereas under the screws are a metal bar connecting them. That must change the magnetic field somewhat. Furthermore, some pickups are asymmetrically wound, so that would also be a factor.

So I am going to say "yes", but the change in tone might be minuscule bordering on the academic, or it might not. I have no personal experience to say either way

 

[gush]

I turned the bridge around on my Ce24 just to try it. Somebody on here mentioned doing that to fine tune Humbucker but I dont like what it does when I split that pickup it's going back the other way

 

[shinksma]

My Cu24, bought used, had the neck pup reversed that way. I swapped it around because it didn't "look right", but also to see if there was a tonal difference. Nothing that I registered. In theory it could have a minor effect, as Michael_DK mentioned, because you are changing how the pup polepieces interact with the string. But I think adjusting your tone and/or volume knob even just a tiny bit will have a much larger effect.

YMMV, IMHO.

 

[wardog]

My 2 cents. yes it will change the tone. It is a matter of screw post placement along the length of the string. as you move from the neck to the bridge your tone will move from more of a bass sound to a tremble. More vibration to less vibration at the bridge, Second, it depends on the pickups themselves. How they are constructed. Case in point, some of Prs bass pickups have the magnet flipped to work with a specific switch selection style. (magnetic fields changes and stuff).

If I am off, someone please chime in.

 

[Deleted member 2284]

Wardog: Yeah, the more vibration/less vibration holds true - for practical purposes, this would matter most if the screw pole pieces are either raised or lowered. Say if you want to thicken your bridge pup tone, one way to do it might be to mount the pickup so that the screws are toward the headstock rather than the bridge, then RAISE the screws and LOWER the pickup as a whole. And vice versa for thinning. Secondly, flipping the magnet changes the magnetic field, yes, and interaction with other pickups, but that is a different thing - there, you would flip it end over end rather than rotate it. If that makes sense.

Shinksma: glad to see someone mention the tone/volume knobs!!! Also don't forget you amp has knobs as well... There's so much debate about (arguably) minuscule adjustments like PiO caps vs orange drops, Cryo-treated hex-core magical cables versus just plain good quality cables, etc etc... When those knobs are really where it is at. For the record, I will put orange drops in my LP soon, but I do it because it's fun to tweak stuff and gives a warm fuzzy feeling inside. I don't expect the sound to change in any way I care about. Even if I like to pretend so

 

[Deleted member 2284]

And that last post is not in any way a dig against anybody, although it might sound like it.

 

[Rider1260]

I did it on my SCT it did ( does ) make a small different somewhat brighter and more open also helped the split tone.