Guitar pickup wiring questions (many!)
Brian Hook
Okay, I'm still on my quest for the 4 Fender Lace Sensor pickup loaded
Strat from Hell. I've managed to send it to a tech who seemingly botched
the job (humming in all positions), and have since taken the onus upon
myself to wire the damned thing myself.
Now, that's where I'm starting to have problems. :-( Okay, I have four (4)
Fender Lace Sensor single coil pickups. They have orange and white wires.
I want a very simple setup:
HB - SC - SC
I want the 5-position switch to work as expected.
Now, the first big trick is wiring the HB. As I understand it, a typical
humbucker consists of two single coils wired out of phase with each other.
Is this what reverse winding does? Or do they swap the wires? Or both?
My current setup is like this:
-----
| | (Orange wires)
___ ___
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
--- ---
| | (White wires)
Gnd Output
This, to me, implies series connection, out of phase. I get output, which
is good, but it is very very very very weak. Now, if I reverse the wires
on the 2nd single coil (i.e. swap Output with the line coming from the
first single coil), I get more output but a LOT more noise. I mean, an
unbearable amount of noise. This is bothersome.
So, which is correct? The weak sounding one with no noise, or the
extremely noisy one with better sound? Does anyone have a schematic for
the Jeff Beck Strat or a Strat Plus Deluxe Ultra?
Should I say "fuck it" and buy a DiMarzio Dual Sound or Bill Lawrence
XL500? Is getting two Lace Sensors to sound like a humbucker a dream?
*fume*
Thanks for any help,
Brian
PS Why do people use reverse wound pickups? Can't the same effect be
achieved by swapping the leads on the pickup?
--
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gary_watts
: Now, the first big trick is wiring the HB. As I understand it, a typical
: humbucker consists of two single coils wired out of phase with each other.
: Is this what reverse winding does? Or do they swap the wires? Or both?
: My current setup is like this:
: -----
: | | (Orange wires)
: ___ ___
: | | | |
: | | | |
: | | | |
: | | | |
: | | | |
: --- ---
: | | (White wires)
: Gnd Output
: This, to me, implies series connection, out of phase. I get output, which
: is good, but it is very very very very weak. Now, if I reverse the wires
: on the 2nd single coil (i.e. swap Output with the line coming from the
: first single coil), I get more output but a LOT more noise. I mean, an
: unbearable amount of noise. This is bothersome.
You need a reverse wound reverse polarity (RWRP) coil for the second coil.
Otherwise you get the above.
: PS Why do people use reverse wound pickups? Can't the same effect be
: achieved by swapping the leads on the pickup?
You have changed the phase not the polarity.
Gary Watts
robert ryland
>From: b...@beach.cis.ufl.edu (Brian Hook)
>Subject: Guitar pickup wiring questions (many!)
>Date: 18 May 1994 10:51:32 GMT
>*fume*
>Thanks for any help,
>Brian
a humbucking pickup works because you have two coils connected in series (
although i've wired a switch in my guitar so that you can have them in
series,parallel, or a single coil ..... very useful!). one of the two coils
must be wound in the opposite direction than the other (which is equivilent to
reversing the hot and ground wires except in terms of shielding) which will
cancel out the 60 hz magnetic interference which is picked up by any coil of
wire. this would also cancel out the signal picked up from the strings (or
almost all of it, the two pickups are "looking" at the stings at slightly
different places). in order to still pick up the strings, the polarity of the
magnet in on of the coils is also reversed. switching the polarity of the
magnet doesn't affect the polarity of the interference but it does switch the
polarity of whats picked up by the strings. so the interference has been
inverted once ,by reversing the coil direction, and is canceled when you add
the two coils, while the string signal is inverted twice, by the coil
direction and the magnetic polarity, so the two coils add in phase giving all
the string signal without the interference (neat trick).
i think fender has reverse wound reverse poled lace sensor, but in theory the
lace sensors are pretty quiet any way so it may not be necessary. since you
had humming in all positions after the first guy screwed with it , i think
there is probably a grounding problem.
hope it helped
rob ryland
i have no sig, but if i did it would be much, much cooler than yours!
Mark Weikinger
These articles have been extremely interesting. I have humming problems too.
I have 3 SingleCoil(SC) in my
strat and the middle one was out of phase (the wires black/white were swapped
compared to the others). So while I was experimenting a little I put it back
into phase, which gives me a neat sound, but no it hums in all 5 positions,
whereas it only hummed in 1 3 and 5 with the original wiring. Does anybody
know which is the right way to wire a strat ???
could i add a "blind" sc out of phase to eliminate the humming (if yes where
should i put it ???) If its only the coils that pick up noise could i use a
single (i mean one coil only) coil anywhere in the guit ?
if anybody has answers please post or mail ... thanks in advance...
:> i have no sig, but if i did it would be much, much cooler than yours!
this "no sig" is really cool !!!
______ __
/ \_/ * ) Mark Weikinger
| / !!!!
| * * { []__[] |||||||||||||||||||||[::::]
| * * (__/ \ !!!!
\_______/ \___) zcfr...@rpool1.rus.uni-stuttgart.de
TKHO...@miamiu.bitnet
but I think I can fix it. I need to know what kind of glue I can use to glue th
e the piece that goes ontop of the neck (under the strings). Additionally, how
do I fix a small crack in the interior of the violin? -Dylan
Dave Golber
The fingerboard: use hide glue. To make it easy on yourself, get
the kind that comes pre-mixed in a bottle. Sears has a version of it.
For the fingerboard, thin the glue down with water - maybe about one part
water to two parts glue. Use just a little bit.
The point of hide glue is that it comes off easily. Traditionally,
one NEVER uses any other kind of glue on a fiddle.
Cracks is harder.
Dave Golber
Toby Koosman
the humidity must be low enough so that it will cure correctly. It is,
however, strong enough to be substituted for granular hide glue if it is used
before its expiration date and if the humidity is less than 50% while it is
drying. Once it is dry, the glue line is resistant to weakening from humidity
but the granular form is more resistant. The things to consider before using
pre-mixed hide glue are: the instrument's pedigree, the humidity in your area,
and whether the part you are gluing is meant to be taken apart in the future
for repair. Since people that play, make, and repair are conservative about
an instrument's care, do not use pre-mixed hide glue on a sweet-voiced
hand-made instrument. If you live in a tropical or temperate rain-forest, do
not use the pre-mixed form. If you are setting a neck, installing end or
corner blocks, or repairing linings, use the granular form of hide glue.
Since you are gluing on a fingerboard, the pre-mixed form is okay provided you
consider the information above.
posted by Toby Koosman for Dean Turley
Toby Koosman tako...@utkvx.utk.edu
University of Tennessee
Knoxville, Tennessee USA
David Van Zandt
<In article <TKHO...@MIAMIU.BITNET> writes:
<>Dear netusers: I inherited my granddad's old fiddle. [...]
<>I need to know what kind of glue I can use to glue [fingerboard and] a
<The fingerboard: use hide glue. To make it easy on yourself, get
<the kind that comes pre-mixed in a bottle. Sears has a version of it.
<For the fingerboard, thin the glue down with water - maybe about one part
<water to two parts glue. Use just a little bit.
<The point of hide glue is that it comes off easily. Traditionally,
<one NEVER uses any other kind of glue on a fiddle.
I would not recommend prepared liquid hide to glue the fingerboard to
the neck because (in my experience, sigh) it is not strong enough. Use
only strong, fresh hide glue prepared from dry granules. Make sure the
surfaces are clean first. Basically hide glue is used any time any thing
is glued on a violin.