Winter Build Off 2022 - HRP6

[5tring]

I am using one-and-a-half P pickups, I am worried about it so the spare half will live in this hidey-hole:

Any electromagnetism boffins out there can tell me if it matters that the ‘spare’ pickup is rotated 90 degrees from a humbucking perspective?

 

[Reedt2000]

Do you need the other half a pickup? I'm no electronic expert by any means, but I think you could just cut one of the coils off (assuming each coil will be responsible for a pair of strings?)

I usually ask people like @AudioTaper 'bout stuff like this.

 

[MPU]

At least there’s no need for magnets in the dummy coil. Position makes no difference.

 

[NKBassman]

I am using one-and-a-half P pickups, I am worried about it so the spare half will live in this hidey-hole:

View attachment 4570407

Any electromagnetism boffins out there can tell me if it matters that the ‘spare’ pickup is rotated 90 degrees from a humbucking perspective?

That's an idea! I can't answer your question about the rotation of it, but my guess would be that it probably doesn't matter. The extra half is essentially acting as a dummy coil and I wouldn't think that the orientation would matter as long as it's away from the strings, or remove the magnets as MPU suggested.
Alternatively, there are some P pickups out there where each half is hum-bucking on its own. The Dimarzio Split P DP127 is the first one that comes to mind. But you'd have to buy two whole ones and remove half of one. Maybe not the most efficient solution, unless you were planning on doing another similar build in the future maybe .

Do you need the other half a pickup? I'm no electronic expert by any means, but I think you could just cut one of the coils off (assuming each coil will be responsible for a pair of strings?)

I usually ask people like @AudioTaper 'bout stuff like this.

The two halves of a P pickup act together to cancel hum (same as two side by side coils on a typical humbucker). So with three halves, the humbucking aspect isn't there anymore and I suspect you'd end up with noise.

 

[TerribleTim68]

I just wanna know if we can call it a Pp.

 

[Reedt2000]

That's an idea! I can't answer your question about the rotation of it, but my guess would be that it probably doesn't matter. The extra half is essentially acting as a dummy coil and I wouldn't think that the orientation would matter as long as it's away from the strings, or remove the magnets as MPU suggested.
Alternatively, there are some P pickups out there where each half is hum-bucking on its own. The Dimarzio Split P DP127 is the first one that comes to mind. But you'd have to buy two whole ones and remove half of one. Maybe not the most efficient solution, unless you were planning on doing another similar build in the future maybe .


The two halves of a P pickup act together to cancel hum (same as two side by side coils on a typical humbucker). So with three halves, the humbucking aspect isn't there anymore and I suspect you'd end up with noise.

I don't know, run 2 in-phase, the 3rd out, seems like it should work. The first two acting as one half of the P pickup, the 3rd the other half?

 

[NKBassman]

I don't know, run 2 in-phase, the 3rd out, seems like it should work. The first two acting as one half of the P pickup, the 3rd the other half?

I don't know enough about it to really argue a case one way or the other, so I'm stepping out of this discussion and waiting on an answer from someone who can speak confidently about it. In my mind the first two halves would cancel, and the third half would be left uncancelled and imparting hum on a signal like any other single coil would. Same as in a PJ bass where the P pickup cancels it's own hum, but the bridge J single coil still hums when both pickups are on.

The dummy coil idea should work, though. It's not super common but it is for sure a thing that some people do. Serek offers it as an option with their single coil pickups.

 

[dwizum]

In order to be humbucking you need an even number of coils, wired half reverse from the other half.

In order to have a good signal, any coils with magnets in them need to have polarities reversed for the half that are wired differently.

If you have coils that are JUST for humbucking, they don't need magnets, and the only requirement is that they're wired in a way that keeps the numbers balanced.

In summary: Your three "speaking" pickups on the front should have two in one magnetic polarity and the third opposite. The one odd coil with opposite magnetic polarity should be wired backwards from the other two. The dummy coil in the hidey hole on the back should be wired in a way that matches the odd single coil on the front of the bass, and it should have no magnets in it.

 

[Max Bogosity]

Three thumbs up for the reverse staggered triple P pickup.

If it works the way I think it works, it’s important that the axis of the dummy coil is pointed in the same direction as its mate so it receives the same incoming noise, but it doesn’t matter if it is rotated about its axis, so you should be fine.

 

[AudioTaper]

Do you need the other half a pickup? I'm no electronic expert by any means, but I think you could just cut one of the coils off (assuming each coil will be responsible for a pair of strings?)

I usually ask people like @AudioTaper 'bout stuff like this.

What @dwizum said...

I'm also always in the 'let's wire it up on a piece of scrap and see what happens' camp.

 

[5tring]

I just wanna know if we can call it a Pp.

Call it what you want, you already ruined the original name on page 1

 

[5tring]

I don't know enough about it to really argue a case one way or the other, so I'm stepping out of this discussion and waiting on an answer from someone who can speak confidently about it. In my mind the first two halves would cancel, and the third half would be left uncancelled and imparting hum on a signal like any other single coil would. Same as in a PJ bass where the P pickup cancels it's own hum, but the bridge J single coil still hums when both pickups are on.

The dummy coil idea should work, though. It's not super common but it is for sure a thing that some people do. Serek offers it as an option with their single coil pickups.

yes I’m certainly not claiming it as an original idea, but I couldn’t tell you where I got it from.

in the back of my mind I’m thinking I saw a ‘Scott’s bass lessons’ video where he showed a bass with a humbucking dummy coil, but don’t quote me on it

 

[TerribleTim68]

Call it what you want, you already ruined the original name on page 1

This one has been fun so far! By the end it'll be known as the "Herpes Simplex 6 Pp".

 

[TerribleTim68]

I will say tho, the "triple" reverse P is very cool. I'm hoping you figure out how to make it work. My Neanderthal brain thought that if the outer ones were wound "forward" and the middle one "reverse", why wouldn't it work?

 

[Slidlow]

yes I’m certainly not claiming it as an original idea, but I couldn’t tell you where I got it from.

in the back of my mind I’m thinking I saw a ‘Scott’s bass lessons’ video where he showed a bass with a humbucking dummy coil, but don’t quote me on it

Alembics used noise cancelling air core coils on some models. Not sure if they were the first to use them but they are the first I heard of.

 

[dwizum]

Allow me to quote,

a bass with a humbucking dummy coil, but don’t quote me on it

There have been at least a handful of basses with dummy coils. Sometimes totally separate from the pickup as you're doing here, and other times built into the case with the pickup itself (i.e. the Ibanez ATK pickup).

I've also heard, at least once, that Alembic have used them.

 

[RichterScale]

Are there P pups available that are split/2 coils in each individual pup?

 

[dwizum]

Yes there are at least a couple vendors making P's with two coils in each. The ones I've seen are blade style, side by side, like a little humbucker with each coil under both strings. I haven't seen anyone doing a P style with each string having it's own coil but I wouldn't be surprised if they're out there.

 

[Flamingo21]

My Neanderthal brain thought that if the outer ones were wound "forward" and the middle one "reverse", why wouldn't it work?

I thought that's how Stratocasters work.

 

[zorgzorg2]

With 3 pickups on at the same time, with one reversed, its going to be 2 against 1 for the noise, so still audible.