Is it possible to put pickups in rotated the wrong way?

**sleepy_monkey** · #1 05-14-2008, 09:15 AM

This might sound like a dumb question...but, last night I took my pickups out of my Hamer Cruise and I think I installed one of them opposite to how it came out.....as far as rotation. When I plugged it in and played it, it didn't sound near as good as it did...so...they only thing I can think of is that I put the side of the pickup that should be under the 1st string under the 4th string.

Will that make a difference?

Mushroo · #2 05-14-2008, 10:03 AM

Can you be more specific about what's wrong with the sound, ie too quiet, trebly, distorted, etc?

Without more info, I would guess either 1) the pickups are not the right height (easy to fix), or 2) you switched the leads on one of the pickups so that they're now out of phase (thin, trebly sound when both pickups are on).

**sleepy_monkey** · #3 05-14-2008, 10:08 AM

Mushroo, I didn't take any of the wires off at all...I just pulled them out of the cavities b/c I ordered some copper foil and just wanted a heads up of what I would have to do...so nothing was disconnected.

The tone sounds like it has less low end...so maybe I just need to adjust the height of the pups? I just wasn't sure if the pups were supposed to go in a certain way or if it just didn't matter. ??

Mushroo · #4 05-14-2008, 10:14 AM

Gotcha, then it's probably not the wires--maybe it's the foil!

I *think* most pickups are symmetrical, so flipping it wouldn't make a difference, but it is certainly worth flipping it back around if you're concerned about it, won't hurt anything, right? Usually the wires are attached at one end of the pickup, and that side goes closer to the G string. Don't know about your bass specifically.

More likely it's a pickup height issue, check out the stickies at the top of the Setup forum for some tips. It really can make a difference in the sound.

T-Bird · #5 05-14-2008, 10:19 AM

Hi, sleepy_monkey.

I'd be willing to bet also that the height is just different.

The orientation of the magnetic field does matter if there's more than one pickup and they're close to each other (Think Gibson Les Paul Black Beauty gtr).

The interference does cause cancellations and phase problems across the frequency spectrum, but either the fields have to be strong (ceramic magnets), or extremely wide by design.

I had to put the Model One "upside down" into my Epi T-Bird to get the fields correctly aligned.

Regards.
Sam

**sleepy_monkey** · #6 05-14-2008, 10:21 AM

Awesome, thanks guys...the shielding isn't in there yet, so I know that isn't the issue..probably just need to lift the pups as you said. I probably just need to take it in and get it set up after I put the foil in it.....

Mushroo · #7 05-14-2008, 10:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by T-Bird

The orientation of the magnetic field does matter if there's more than one pickup and they're close to each other (Think Gibson Les Paul Black Beauty gtr).

The interference does cause cancellations and phase problems across the frequency spectrum, but either the fields have to be strong (ceramic magnets), or extremely wide by design.

Hi T Bird, I am trying to educate myself on this topic... isn't the orientation of the magnetic field on a J bass pickup perpendicular to the string, either straight up and out of the body (towards the audience) or back into the body? Therefore, rotating the pickup 180 degrees would not change the orientation?

I get how it might make a difference with the Model One, since it has two coils, but not with a J pickup.