1/2 Humbucker - dry run

[Tim Mason]

A little sunday tinkering, i thought you guys may find this interesting, going for silky smooth highs and snappy lows by creating 2 half buckers

The original idea was to have 4 mini coils side by side but before i get to having them made up and getting around the coil space issue, i'll be running a dry run by pulling 3 slugs and screws from each pickup (SD JB/Jazz), not quite the same but its trial and error at this stage and should give some indication as to how the idea will pan out without spending any cash.

[Tim Mason]

Now to throw them in the Geetar, with a phase switch, why not

[Nick]

So in order to get the silky highs & snappy lows you are putting one pup on each set of strings to allow you better control of their individual outputs? (Not questioning your idea just trying to get a grip on the concept). Be interested to hear the results, any chance of doing a bit of a youtube clip or recording?

[Tim Mason]

Sorry Nick, a bit vague, yeah thats the idea

Ill see what i can do for a clip but protools is down and it looks like ill be needing a new disk, I have no idea where the old disk is to re-install. Just about to plug her in after a coffee. Looks like something from mad max alrightLOL

[simso]

Mmm, where does one start.

By removing 3 "slugs" from the bobbin, youve merely created a point for interference pickup, the area where the slugs are now missing are not being influenced by a magnetic field any more, that lack of influence area is the same as running 300meters of unshielded wire.

The result obtained from this scenario youve undertaken, is far different to wrapping 3 slugs

[Tim Mason]

WOW I really like it! I might spend a week playing around but some great new sounds available.... i dont think a new pup is needed, removing the poles/screws works well

Maybe a seperate tone control for each pup to broaden the options but for now im pretty amazed. Not everyones cup of tea but i can chug the lows while running smooth melody with zero icepick in the highs, exactly what i was after.

Not too hard to do, try it out if your confident enough, you can always put the slugs/screws back in and heat the wax a little if you want get back to specs, repot at the most.

The now filthy Ibanez

[Tim Mason]

Mmm, where does one start.

By removing 3 "slugs" from the bobbin, youve merely created a point for interference pickup, the area where the slugs are now missing are not being influenced by a magnetic field any more, that lack of influence area is the same as running 300meters of unshielded wire.

The result obtained from this scenario youve undertaken, is far different to wrapping 3 slugs

Yes, it is a little noisy, but not that much to be honest (i keep learning science is often different from the real world). This is a cash free dry run, Ill give it a month of messing about and decide weather its worth having this set up wound properly, im not a big fan of the JB either but its better this way, i think the Duncan the Jazz is nice for a modern neck pup.

Ill try my hardest to get a clip up for you guys tomorrow, im sure there is something i can find round here

[simso]

i keep learning science is often different from the real world

Nope, science is merely a way to explain the real world phenomenon when it happens, most times science only comes into play retrospective to something bad happening.

There is a lot happening when working with magnetic fields and induced electrical voltages, most people simply do as you referred in an earlier post, they wind the coil with no real understanding of whats happening other than ""that works"".

[Tim Mason]

Yep, although some things just work regardless of the theory behind it, sometime they really dont

In this case, success Ill wire it up in series tomorrow, so its more like one whole unit working the frequencies. Hope you enjoyed the games

[Tod Gilding]

Tim, Good to see you got the tone you were after..just trying to get a grip though, wouldn't winding the treble and bass side like that give a lower output in K ohm or do you run each wind in series as a normal bucker

[Tim Mason]

100% correct tod, i planned on series as it seemed logical, but thought to run them parallel while im in here doing this stuff to actually hear the difference, and try phasing. . Its not quite there yet, its very usable but i have a few ideas to get things balanced closer to perfection, i am impressed even wired parallel with 1V1T control. I think unless i throw it in the LP i'll get some concentric pots in there and a lower value cap on the neck pup.

Hope all is well and keep the tunes rolling, dinner time

Tim

[jeffhigh]

Whilst Seth Lover and Gibson get all the credit for humbucking pickups there were quite a few other designs before them

I have two Lap steels from about 1950 which have humbucking pickups using separate coils for the top and bottom strings.
The National has two coils in line as you are proposing (doesn't show up until you remove the cover)
I had this rewound by Jason Lollar about 6 years ago.
The Supro has two coils each serving 3 strings in a staggered arrangement like on a precision bass.

Both these arrangements should give a single coil sound but with hum cancellation.
Since the coils work on different strings there is no signal cancellation, only hum cancellation.

[Tim Mason]

Yeah, the lap steels have a wider cavity/pickup, the issue trying to run 2 coils next to each other in a regular electric guitar is space for the wire on the inside of the bobbins. I know there was an old Flying V that did this, though the bobbins were slightly angled to fit the 4 coils. Once im happy ill see to having it done properly by a winder, may stick 1 pole on the D string back in the neck and take one out of the bridge, still tweaking it but ill get there

Thanks for the interest guys, motivational indeed