Lakland bridge pu replacement now neck pu problem

[MartinH]

I have a Lakland 55-02 with barts. I replaced the bridge pu with a Nordstrand MM5.2. It was the first time ever I did a pu replacement and it went well. But, when I blend both pu's the sound of three strings (B E A) disappears. The only thing I can think of is that the bart is a split-coil so a part is out of phase now. Is this true?

Thanks, Martin

[jgsbass]

Reverse the leads, its out of phase

[MikeT]

You might have to get a new neck pickup or put the old bridge back in. I'm pretty sure you're right that the neck is out of phase because of the split coil. You can try reversing the leads, but I think it'll just put the d and g out of phase. I had the same thing happen to my 5502 when I switched out the bridge for the nordstrand like you did. I ended up putting in a nordy neck pickup though, and it sounds great, so I'd go that route if I were you.

[MartinH]

Well, the neck pickup was a splitcoil. I now have a NJ5 neck pickup and it works (and sounds!) great.