R
Rouse
Guest
I have a set of Lollar Blondes, they are flat poled. The backplate won't work with a reverse-wound middle. Would it work if I just flipped the middle pickup upside down?
R
Rouse
Guest
AutoBat said:
Would it have any impact on sound?
AutoBat
Hero Member
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- 3,589
(this is assuming you're wired with a traditional 5 way pup selector)
In order for it to cancel the hum in switch positions 2&4 (Neck + Middle & Middle + Bridge) you'll need the magnets to be opposite.
Flipping your middle pup may or may not cause your sound to be desirable. I've never physically wired them this way, so the amount of difference *you* will notice may vary.
It could be annoying as all get out, it may be barely noticable.
If you are able to swap the magnet the other direction, then the polarity problem will vanish.
This is how I see it, I'm not an electrical man by nature, so I urge a second opinion on these matters.
In order for it to cancel the hum in switch positions 2&4 (Neck + Middle & Middle + Bridge) you'll need the magnets to be opposite.
Flipping your middle pup may or may not cause your sound to be desirable. I've never physically wired them this way, so the amount of difference *you* will notice may vary.
It could be annoying as all get out, it may be barely noticable.
If you are able to swap the magnet the other direction, then the polarity problem will vanish.
This is how I see it, I'm not an electrical man by nature, so I urge a second opinion on these matters.
Funky Phil
Senior Member
- Messages
- 324
The important thing here is that the backplate cancels hum in all positions by mixing in out of phase hum.
So if you have a RWRP middle pickup, which cancels hum in positions 2 and 4, with the backplate 2 and 4 will have hum.
So if you have a RWRP middle pickup, which cancels hum in positions 2 and 4, with the backplate 2 and 4 will have hum.
The only way to get it to work would be reversing both the winding and the polarity of the pickup (in other words you'd have to take the entire pickup apart and rewind it)
FYI you can easily create your own noise cancelling coil based on the same principles as suhr's backplate. In most cases you will get better results than using their backplate because you can make the coil bigger when you aren't limited to fitting it within the size of the backplate.
Here is the patent document that describes how to build the coil, its rather simple. Essentially all you need is magnet wire and electrical tape to make one, basically it is just a large 'pickup' wound in the opposite direction of your other pickups (and with no magnets of its own). Because it is large and not wrapped around magnets it picks up very little if any noise from the string vibrations, but it still picks up the 60hz hum from the environment.
http://www.wikipatents.com/US-Patent-7259318/magnetic-pickup-device-for-a-stringed-musical-instrument-with-large
Despite what Suhr would have you believe in their marketing, in practice this type of system does alter the sound of single coils slightly (ie some desirable frequencies will be eliminated along with the hum). However, it does perform better than stacked humbuckers like the DiMarzio area series, and much better than a standard humbucker.
image of this type of system in an LP, white electrical tape wrapped around magnet wire (from the patent holders website, he sells coils in any shape you want http://www.ilitchelectronics.com)
FYI you can easily create your own noise cancelling coil based on the same principles as suhr's backplate. In most cases you will get better results than using their backplate because you can make the coil bigger when you aren't limited to fitting it within the size of the backplate.
Here is the patent document that describes how to build the coil, its rather simple. Essentially all you need is magnet wire and electrical tape to make one, basically it is just a large 'pickup' wound in the opposite direction of your other pickups (and with no magnets of its own). Because it is large and not wrapped around magnets it picks up very little if any noise from the string vibrations, but it still picks up the 60hz hum from the environment.
http://www.wikipatents.com/US-Patent-7259318/magnetic-pickup-device-for-a-stringed-musical-instrument-with-large
Despite what Suhr would have you believe in their marketing, in practice this type of system does alter the sound of single coils slightly (ie some desirable frequencies will be eliminated along with the hum). However, it does perform better than stacked humbuckers like the DiMarzio area series, and much better than a standard humbucker.
image of this type of system in an LP, white electrical tape wrapped around magnet wire (from the patent holders website, he sells coils in any shape you want http://www.ilitchelectronics.com)
Funky Phil
Senior Member
- Messages
- 324
That http://www.ilitchelectronics.com looks very interesting...thanks for the link 
The important thing is the magnetic polarity. The polarity of the pickup can be reversed by swapping the wires. It doesn't really matter which wire is the start of the winding and which is the finnish and most popular humbuckers a are wound in the same direction.
To answer the question though. If the pickup uses rod magnets like a tradittional fender then flipping it upside down will in fact give you the oposite magnetic polarity. If there are bar magnets that run perpendicular to the pole pieces then it will not change the polarity.
Once upside down the relative winding direction will be revered so there is no need to swap the wires. So yes. If there is a way to fit the wires into the pickup covers once upside down then it wild work. Ill let you figure out how to mount it though.
Alternatively If you get a 4 pole switch then you can have the dummy coil active in positions 1,3,5 with 3 having reverse polarity. Positions 2,4 will be naturally hum cancelling
To answer the question though. If the pickup uses rod magnets like a tradittional fender then flipping it upside down will in fact give you the oposite magnetic polarity. If there are bar magnets that run perpendicular to the pole pieces then it will not change the polarity.
Once upside down the relative winding direction will be revered so there is no need to swap the wires. So yes. If there is a way to fit the wires into the pickup covers once upside down then it wild work. Ill let you figure out how to mount it though.
Alternatively If you get a 4 pole switch then you can have the dummy coil active in positions 1,3,5 with 3 having reverse polarity. Positions 2,4 will be naturally hum cancelling
