DiMarzio Experts - which way to align two humbuckers?

stubhead

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I have a Blaze 7 for my bridge pickup, and a PAF 7 for the neck pickup. Normally, I would just assume that the wire coming out of the bottom should be closest to the wiring hole, towards the control cavity. However, DiMarzio makes the same PAF's for bridge and neck. In order to get the adjusting screws on the neck PAF to be closest to the fingerboard, as seems normal, I have to align the PAF "upside down", with the wire coming out from the bottom further away from the control cavity. Check? Is this the right thing to get a normal, in-phase combination? DiMarzio's site is uninformative on this particular question, and of course I'm trying to put this together on a weekend when their phone & email are dead to the world.... :help:
 
Check the magnetic poles. AKAIK, the pole (N or S) closest to the bridge should be the same as what's closest to the fingerboard.
 
Stub,

If you are refering to which way the pickup is oriented in the rout...it dont matter. Ive done this with the neck pickup in my hamer to see if coil tap/split sounds any different...it didnt and I didnt feel like switching it back. wireing stayed the same just flipped the pickup around and screwed it back onto the pickup ring and then onto the guitar. A friend pointed out after seeing my guitar that Peter Green did this whith his guitar.

Brian
 
I figured it probably wouldn't, but... I'm wiring each pickup to a six-pole switch, and I sure would hate to end up with an out-of-phase sound (and have to RE-wire a mini.... :sad:) The neck PAF is going to a have an on/on switch choosing series/parallel, and the (more powerful) bridge pickup is going to have an on/on/on choosing series/single/parallel. My old scalloped-neck "tele" has a five-way Superswitch that lets me choose any coil combination for the bridge humbucker - 1st coil, both in-series, both parallel, both out-of-phase, 2nd coil. This is then combined through concentric volume/tone/ controls and a three-way with a single coil Strat neck pickup. Obviously, on that guitar each single coil of the bridge pickup is going to combine with the single coil neck in different ways.

But on my new one, the neck pickup is always going to be a series or parallel humbucking signal, so it shouldn't matter if the center-switch-position single coil from the bridge is the north or south coil, right? I use the blended pickup positions a whole lot, and vary the volumes - the old Allman/Page thing you know (creak, creak, creak). I do still need to find a schematic for the internals of a six pole, on/on/on mini, so I can wire it to choose the bridge pickup's single coil furthest from the bridge - that's the one that sounds best on my tele, where I can choose either. (Anyone with a reference for said schematic, chime right in.... I have one for the wiring, but I need one that shows where the internal bridges are made inside the switch. :help: thanks!)

:hello2: :toothy10: :blob7:
 
doesn't matter, err really only matters if you really care about exactly which coil you tap and if it's humbucking when matched to another tapped pup. 

the phase is determined by magnetic polarity(does not change buy spinning the pup around) and winding direction from hot to ground or how ever you want to look at it. rotating the pickup around wont change that either.

the adjustable coil will be the same magnetic polarity on both pups. at least it will be from the factory.

by six pole do you mean a switch with six lugs? :icon_scratch: :icon_scratch: these are two pole switches. use the duncan diagram below and substitute the dimarzio color code into it.
this will make the north poles active when split, the non adjustable ones, just orient the adjustable ones near the bridge.

http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wiring-diagrams/schematics.php?schematic=series_spl_parallel-w-phase

http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wiring-diagrams/schematics.php?schematic=color_codes

also ignore the phase switch entirely as it is incorrect! this method would switch the phase of the whole pickup to be match with another pickup but it would turn the backplate that's there for shielding and if applicable, the cover into an antenna! seymour must be going senile as i know he knows better from reading is Q and A section.

i am not an expert on dimarzio's pup's/wireing sugestions,if you use a diagram with the wire's arranged other than the way duncan would suggest it is possible you will get an out of phase neck pup to the bridge, as humbuckers can be wired a # of ways. i'd use the duncan diagrams for this too, also the magnet can be turned around as an easy after the fact fix for phasing.

hint the neck switch wirring will look exactly like the one for the bridge pup, only difference is the switch itself!

if you decide to get two on-on-on switches instead for tapping the neck then you will want to do some swapping of wires in the diagram, it wont be out of phase but it will buzz with both single coils. in this case you'd swap north-start and south-finish, and swap south-start and north-finish, this would make the south pole active when split with the same polarity as the other pickup.
 
Thanks DiMitri, it turns out I had it figured correctly anyway - I'd just hate to have to DE-solder a bollixed-up six-LUG switch.... :laughing7:

I used this diagram to get at the function of the switch:
http://www.stewmac.com/freeinfo/Electronics/Switches/i-1228.html

and this one to understand why (DPDT Diagram D):
http://www.1728.com/guitar.htm

It must've been hell to wire guitars weirdly before the internet came along, you would've actually had to be smart, instead of just persistent.... :hello2:
 
stubhead said:
It must've been hell to wire guitars weirdly before the internet came along, you would've actually had to be smart, instead of just persistent.... :hello2:

That holds true for a LOT of things.  :icon_thumright:
 
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