Reversing direction of guitar pickups and/or changing pot values.

Brian Dean-O

Brian Dean-O

Inspired
I am a serial pickup changer, always have been but I've only ever just bought new ones when I decide I'm not happy with the ones I have so I've never tried reversing the pickup's direction or swapping positions though I know it's a thing. I'm looking for more information about what exactly reversing the direction of a pickup accomplishes tonality wise.
I currently have a SD Pegasus in the bridge and SD Sentient in the neck.
The Pegasus pickup in the bridge is overall nice I like the tone for the most part but I would like to warm/fatten it up a bit as it tends to range from overly trebly and sometimes kind of thin
I will be doing a string change later this week (I have to wait until at least Wednesday because the only guitar store in town that carries the strings I'm currently using is closed until then because they're at some guitar show in Arlington). I think it would be easy enough to unmount the pickup and flip it around to see what happens but I figured it couldn't hurt to ask first if anyone here has any experience with doing so so I might know what to expect or if it's even worth trying.
Maybe I should just opt for trying a different tone and/or volume pot after all as I've heard that that can warm up/fatten up a pickup's tone. You guys think that's more up the alley of what I'm wanting to do or would reversing it be worth a shot?
Thanks all.
 
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Brian Dean-O said:
I am a serial pickup changer, always have been but I've only ever just bought new ones when I decide I'm not happy with the ones I have so I've never tried reversing the pickup's direction or swapping positions though I know it's a thing. I'm looking for more information about what exactly reversing the direction of a pickup accomplishes tonality wise.
I currently have a SD Pegasus in the bridge and SD Sentient in the neck.
The Pegasus pickup in the bridge is overall nice I like the tone for the most part but I would like to warm/fatten it up a bit as it tends to range from overly trebly and sometimes kind of thin
I will be doing a string change later this week (I have to wait until at least Wednesday because the only guitar store in town that carries the strings I'm currently using is closed until then because they're at some guitar show in Arlington). I think it would be easy enough to unmount the pickup and flip it around to see what happens but I figured it couldn't hurt to ask first if anyone here has any experience with doing so so I might know what to expect or if it's even worth trying.
Maybe I should just opt for trying a different tone and/or volume pot after all as I've heard that that can warm up/fatten up a pickup's tone. You guys think that's more up the alley of what I'm wanting to do or would reversing it be worth a shot?
Thanks all.
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I used to do that on my Gibsons. Makes for a mellower tone, with pickups that have a "main" coil, by moving it further from the bridge.
 
As far as changing the pot value, I think, and I could be wrong on this, but I think you can estimate how it would sound by using a 1st order low pass with the parametric EQ block (the filter block doesn't have 1st order). I know the Guitar Freak spreadsheet (by Antigua, if I remember correctly) from the GuitarNutz2 forum will show you actual graphs of the same pickup loaded with different value pots. You could maybe approximate that with the parametric EQ once you see the major changes.

But in the meantime I would lower the screws in your pickup; that will soften the highs, and you can see if that might be enough. I use to raise the screw coils on neck humbuckers to make them brighter.

Another thing to try is to lower the pickup overall. This will of course lower the output, but, for a pickup that's so hot anyway, that might even yield a more articulate but fatter tone.

Good luck however you go about it!
 
Reversing the orientation of a humbucker can have a tonal impact but not always. Some will brighten up, others will sound a bit darker. Only way to know is to try it.

As far as the volume/tone pots, you could put a resistor across the outside lugs (parallel) to reduce the overall resistance. To get @ 300K ohms from a 500K ohms pot, use a 750k ohm resistor. Using a resistor of equal value in parallel will cut the resistance effectively in half.
 
JoKeR III said:
Reversing the orientation of a humbucker can have a tonal impact but not always. Some will brighten up, others will sound a bit darker. Only way to know is to try it.

As far as the volume/tone pots, you could put a resistor across the outside lugs (parallel) to reduce the overall resistance. To get @ 300K ohms from a 500K ohms pot, use a 750k ohm resistor. Using a resistor of equal value in parallel will cut the resistance effectively in half.
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I was thinking of that, but with a trimpot instead so you could just set the resistance, but that would change the taper, wouldn't it?
 
Thanks all.
Here’s where I’m at, any thoughts…
I think I’m going to try an EQ pedal to get rid of undesired frequencies at least before changing/adding/removing any electrical components in the guitar itself because overall I really like the pickup. I’ll also might tryout a magnet swap with a couple different magnets. As far as the EQ goes I know I have EQ in the Fractal and I already make use if it but if I change it globally I’d have to then try to undo those changes in my main presets that I have so far that I’m really happy with the way they are. With a separate EQ pedal either ran up front before the FM3 or in the FM3s effects loop I can dial in a global change like I would typically like but be able to just step on it to turn it off on presets where I don’t want it, there are lots of presets as well that even on factory settings I actually have to do the opposite and turn up the treble and so maybe I’m being too picky lol.
 
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Brian Dean-O said:
Thanks all.
Here’s where I’m at, any thoughts…
I think I’m going to try an EQ pedal to get rid of undesired frequencies at least before changing/adding/removing any electrical components in the guitar itself because overall I really like the pickup. I’ll also might tryout a magnet swap with a couple different magnets. As far as the EQ goes I know I have EQ in the Fractal and I already make use if it but if I change it globally I’d have to then try to undo those changes in my main presets that I have so far that I’m really happy with the way they are. With a separate EQ pedal either ran up front before the FM3 or in the FM3s effects loop I can dial in a global change like I would typically like but be able to just step on it to turn it off on presets where I don’t want it, there are lots of presets as well that even on factory settings I actually have to do the opposite and turn up the treble and so maybe I’m being too picky lol.
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Oh I wasn't thinking of a global thing, but just to use an EQ block that you save to your block library and just load when you need it. It's something you'd probably want to tweak with each preset anyway.
 
If your pickup has symmetrical coils and the pole pieces are also the same turning it around makes no difference at all . BUT most humbuckers have a slug side and a screw side so that is a small difference when flipped . Many modern pickups also have different winds on each coil and it is these that change the most when you rotate them.
Pots;
Volume.
You should use 500KA for volume but that ranges from 450k to 550k in reality. Take a meter to the shop and cherry pick the value that suits your needs. The higher the value the brighter. If you drop to 250k it can sound choked as well as dull so I don't recommend it. Tapers should be log (Ka audio) unless you only play clean and then a custom taper will give a smoother roll off but as soon as you add gain they start to act far less useful.
Tone ;
You can use a 250ka for this but I don't see any reason not to stick with 500ka or near, a good high voltage PIO cap is worth it because it doesn't kill all the top immediately giving you a long usable roll off. The high voltage part seems to help typically 600v, it really shouldn't make a difference but you can easily rig up a test tone with a couple of crock clips and swap between caps. Try it you can easily tell the difference.
A good quality tone control is a very useful thing and I also like to NOT have a treble pass on my volume because I like the slight loss of treble at 7 on a strat in particular. For a humbucker I just like 50's wiring instead .
 
I don’t see how this makes sense and I feel silly but yesterday I did a string change/cleaned and oiled fretboard etc… and now the shrillness is significantly decreased even though it sounds much brighter… I wonder if the nice new strings are just playing a trick on my ears last night or if the strings having been a few months old somehow was causing unpleasant harsh trebly overtones as it appears. I’ll get to play more tonight and at a higher volume than last night to see if I still think so.
 
Brian Dean-O said:
I don’t see how this makes sense and I feel silly but yesterday I did a string change/cleaned and oiled fretboard etc… and now the shrillness is significantly decreased even though it sounds much brighter… I wonder if the nice new strings are just playing a trick on my ears last night or if the strings having been a few months old somehow was causing unpleasant harsh trebly overtones as it appears. I’ll get to play more tonight and at a higher volume than last night to see if I still think so.
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Are you sure the strings you had on were not fake? I am seeing some very convincing looking (but shit sounding) Ernie Balls at the moment.IMG_3041.jpeg
The only thing to tell on these is the size of the serration on the ends of the pack is too large. Everything else look right.
 
Andy Eagle said:
Are you sure the strings you had on were not fake? I am seeing some very convincing looking (but shit sounding) Ernie Balls at the moment.View attachment 128624
The only thing to tell on these is the size of the serration on the ends of the pack is too large. Everything else look right.
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Yeah I’m sure, I’m not using Ernie Ball.
I haven’t cranked it up yet since the string change but I will tonight. I was just wondering if anyone else ever noticed unpleasant harsh trebly overtones when your strings get worn out and dirty like after a few months of playing every day for hours.
 
Brian Dean-O said:
Yeah I’m sure, I’m not using Ernie Ball.
I haven’t cranked it up yet since the string change but I will tonight. I was just wondering if anyone else ever noticed unpleasant harsh trebly overtones when your strings get worn out and dirty like after a few months of playing every day for hours.
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It's usually the opposite, old string are dead and dull. Never heard of them getting brighter, and I can't think of a mechanism by which that would happen.

Captain obvious I know, but still.
 
I can totally see old strings having a high end harshness that goes away when you put on new ones. I think, especially if the strings get dirty in a particular area that makes them vibrate in a way emphasizing overtones that are harsh and overpowering overtones that are pleasing, you change the timbre of the string to make it technically darker in overtones you want, but more sibilant, if you will, in the overtones you don't.
 
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