SE Custom 24 Pickups Phase

[thegummy]

Are the pickups on the SE Custom 24 wired "out of phase" so that when the coil tap is active and the switch is in the middle position it would give a similar sound to a Strat on the 2nd and 4th positions?

 

[jimistephen]

I don't think so, but could be wrong.

 

[garrettb]

No. The screw coils will be active, so the middle is more like a Tele middle position. You can change the wires around so that the slug coils are active, which will give you a more quacky middle position. The trade off is the individual split positions sound different (each will sound a little more like a middle pickup).

And just to clarify, phase is not a factor in the 2 and 4 positions of a Strat. It's all about the coils' proximity to each other.

 

[thegummy]

No. The screw coils will be active, so the middle is more like a Tele middle position. You can change the wires around so that the slug coils are active, which will give you a more quacky middle position. The trade off is the individual split positions sound different (each will sound a little more like a middle pickup).

Thanks and that has also answered something else I've never been sure of - which of the coils are active in coil tap mode. I thought it must be the screw ones because when I adjusted the screws the effect was still heard when coil tapped but wasn't 100% sure.

And just to clarify, phase is not a factor in the 2 and 4 positions of a Strat. It's all about the coils' proximity to each other.

Thanks for this also. I had always thought it was to do with phase and hear a lot of people talk about it in that way. So the phase is just the reason that it bucks hum in those positions.

 

[garrettb]

Thanks for this also. I had always thought it was to do with phase and hear a lot of people talk about it in that way. So the phase is just the reason that it bucks hum in those positions.

They are hum canceling because they are reverse polarity and reverse wind. They are in phase (unless wired otherwise, on purpose or by accident).

A good article from Seymour Duncan:
http://www.seymourduncan.com/blog/the-tone-garage/pickup-polarity-and-phase-made-simple

For two single coil pickups to be in phase, both the magnet polarity and the wind direction have to either be identical, or opposite. In other words, two pickups with the same wind and polarity will be in phase, and so will two pickups that have opposite polarity and wind. If the two pickups have the same wind but different polarity, or the same polarity but different wind, they will be out of phase with each other.

To expound on that, the two pickups with same wind and polarity will be in phase, but not hum canceling (old school Fender way). When one is reverse wind and reverse polarity from the other, they are in phase and hum canceling.

The "quack" from 2 and 4 is due to frequency cancellation from the location of the pickups relative to each other. When pickups are out of phase, there is much more frequency cancellation and drop in output.

Clear as mud, right?

 

[Russell Crea]

Are the pickups on the SE Custom 24 wired "out of phase" so that when the coil tap is active and the switch is in the middle position it would give a similar sound to a Strat on the 2nd and 4th positions?

Split, It sounds more like a tele mid position. But if you simply flip the pickups still in the mounting rings 180*, it sounds more like a strat. It also improves the split tone of the bridge alone.