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Balanced Pickups, Question

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MWoody
Posted 2008-10-13 8:03 PM (#16657)
Subject: Balanced Pickups, Question



Joined:
December 2003
Posts: 13996

Location: Upper Left USA
Having spent a long time out and earning back my right to use a Soldering set I want to run an issue by yous guys and girls.

I come by several ebay pickups and most of which have little or no identification. I do, however have a basic multitester and can read the DC resistance on pups.

In the last few installs I have had issues with getting major out put from the Neck pup and minimal from the Bridge pup. I thought that the higher resistance (hotter) pup should go to the Bridge since it gets less vibarion.

Can somebody shed some light on the subject for me please?
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FlicKreno aka Solid Top
Posted 2008-10-13 8:31 PM (#16658 - in reply to #16657)
Subject: Re: Balanced Pickups, Question


Joined:
April 2006
Posts: 2491

Location: Copenhagen Denmark
MWoody : " In the last few installs I have had issues with getting major out put from the Neck pup and minimal from the Bridge pup. I thought that the higher resistance (hotter) pup should go to the Bridge since it gets less vibarion. "

The higher resistance would indicate more windings of the coil , therefore it should have more output , however , it depends on the input imp. of the amplifier , an impedance mismatch would result in loss of signal strength , another thing , as we can see , the bigger coil is a stronger motor , and will need more " fuel " , in this case stronger string -movement .

Vic
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an4340
Posted 2008-10-13 9:16 PM (#16659 - in reply to #16657)
Subject: Re: Balanced Pickups, Question


Joined:
May 2003
Posts: 4389

Location: Capital District, NY, USA Minor Outlying Islands
In the two guitars I've made, and the one I've upgraded, all teles, the neck pups have less henries and the bridge more. I always put the hotter pup in the bridge. I've found the distance from the strings to be really important. Closer ='s more output. I wish I was more scientific about this, but it seems to work. I've always bought both pairs from the same company, either seymour duncan, dimarzio or bill lawrence (I think he has another name now, like wilde or something like that.) For the lawrences and the duncan's I got emails telling me the pups would match. With dimarzio I got lucky.

Maybe a call to the place where you bought the pups could let you know what's going on.
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an4340
Posted 2008-10-13 9:27 PM (#16660 - in reply to #16657)
Subject: Re: Balanced Pickups, Question


Joined:
May 2003
Posts: 4389

Location: Capital District, NY, USA Minor Outlying Islands
PS And I just re-read the post. I meant to say contact the manufacturer. And further = less.
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BruDeV
Posted 2008-10-13 9:52 PM (#16661 - in reply to #16657)
Subject: Re: Balanced Pickups, Question


Joined:
January 2003
Posts: 1498

Location: San Bernardino, California
1) If the bridge is a humbucker and the coils are out of phase, you'll get lower output and the sound will be really treblely (is that a word?).

2) The strength of the magnet(s) also affect the amount of output.

3) I've had pickups with an intermittent open wire, but still had some output.

4) Resistance is not always directly related to output. The smaller the wire the higher the resistance. The number of windings is the thing. The more windings the higher the output.
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2ifbyC
Posted 2008-10-13 9:54 PM (#16662 - in reply to #16657)
Subject: Re: Balanced Pickups, Question
Joined:
December 2006
Posts: 6268

Location: Florida Central Gulf Coast
I'm not sure if this will help anyone, but here goes...

Think of electricity as water:

hose length & diameter = wire resistance/impedance
water flow = amperage
water pressure = voltage
water volume in a fixed time = wattage

I know this is over simplified, but it should give a common element to relate to.

Next we'll get into inductance, capacitance and frequency/phase... :D
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BruDeV
Posted 2008-10-13 9:57 PM (#16663 - in reply to #16657)
Subject: Re: Balanced Pickups, Question


Joined:
January 2003
Posts: 1498

Location: San Bernardino, California
Pickup book
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FlicKreno aka Solid Top
Posted 2008-10-13 10:35 PM (#16664 - in reply to #16657)
Subject: Re: Balanced Pickups, Question


Joined:
April 2006
Posts: 2491

Location: Copenhagen Denmark
Okay , so I over-simplified things , forgot a bunch of questions , such as ,..Singlecoil or Stacked HB or Parallel HB , should have asked if PU`s are the same , but that book looks good , might be the answer for yer quest to better sonics.. :)

Vic

..nice explanation Iffy , ..and the volume -pot. is like a faucet.. :cool:
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2ifbyC
Posted 2008-10-13 10:45 PM (#16665 - in reply to #16657)
Subject: Re: Balanced Pickups, Question
Joined:
December 2006
Posts: 6268

Location: Florida Central Gulf Coast
Originally posted by HumblePie aka Solid Top:
..nice explanation Iffy
I'll leave the tone controls to you...

:D
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MWoody
Posted 2008-10-13 10:58 PM (#16666 - in reply to #16657)
Subject: Re: Balanced Pickups, Question



Joined:
December 2003
Posts: 13996

Location: Upper Left USA
I reversed the pickups and it is still weak on the Bridge pup.

So I tried something else, I gave it a Cat Scan:




Still no answer...

But I did post pictures in an Album.
Nintendo Viper

From the outside the two pups look the same. One is a 4 wire and the other is a 2 wire. For out-of-phase I'll go back and switch my two outies but I think that one is a counterfit of the made in Korea Artec.

Go figure...
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2ifbyC
Posted 2008-10-13 11:07 PM (#16667 - in reply to #16657)
Subject: Re: Balanced Pickups, Question
Joined:
December 2006
Posts: 6268

Location: Florida Central Gulf Coast
That git has 'cat scratch fever'.
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FlicKreno aka Solid Top
Posted 2008-10-13 11:17 PM (#16668 - in reply to #16657)
Subject: Re: Balanced Pickups, Question


Joined:
April 2006
Posts: 2491

Location: Copenhagen Denmark
Originally posted by 2ifbyC:
That git has 'cat scratch fever'.
:D :D

Nice pictures , I grew up with cats and dogs , hens , rabbits and even a porcupine , brings back memories... :)

Vic

Are ye getting that book .. can I borrow it.. :)
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MWoody
Posted 2008-10-14 11:52 AM (#16669 - in reply to #16657)
Subject: Re: Balanced Pickups, Question



Joined:
December 2003
Posts: 13996

Location: Upper Left USA
"I reversed the pickups and it is still weak on the Bridge pup."

That is now the Neck pup although it made it a little closer to even.

On the Retro Viper I reversed phase on one of the pickups but no improvement.

I think my issues come from having too many pups of unkown origin so I went and ordered pups from the original place.

I would love to have a bucket full of Viper pickups!
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