Pickup orientation - does it matter?

[tonynoriega]

I recently installed a set of DP123 DiMarzio pups on my Jazz bass and just noticed that the bridge pickup is installed reversed from the neck pup. The Dimarzio logo is facing the neck and not the bridge. Does it matter? If not, I'll leave it. Yeah, I know, I know....where was my brain that day?!?

[SGD Lutherie]

No. As long as they are playing in phase with each other you are fine.

If the bass sounds thinner with both pickups on than flip the one around. Each half of the pickup is opposite magnetic and electrical polarity.

[walterw]

huh?

physically flipping one around shouldn't change anything.

the coils aren't out-of-polarity with each other like on the old fender/suhr jazz pickups with the big magnets; those had the same magnetic polarity, but reversed wiring on the two coils, so they actually output reversed signal from each other.

[SGD Lutherie]

Originally Posted by walterw

huh?

physically flipping one around shouldn't change anything.

the coils aren't out-of-polarity with each other like on the old fender/suhr jazz pickups with the big magnets; those had the same magnetic polarity, but reversed wiring on the two coils, so they actually output reversed signal from each other.

Yeah, I was thinking about P bass pickups. Some times you have have them and half is out of phase with a Jazz at the bridge.

But I figured it wouldn't matter, kind of like with a regular humbucker.