zandro Posted November 7, 2003 Report Share Posted November 7, 2003 Good news is I received a shipment today from Musician's Friend. Got a bunch of stuff for my guitar, including straplocks, strap, pickups, etc. Bad news is, the pickups aren't right. They're the right models [sD Jazz and Duncan Custom] but the bobbin colors aren't right. I ordered zebra pickups - one bobbin black, one cream. I didn't care which was which, but I wanted the outside bobbins to match and the inside bobbins to match. [This will become clear in a bit.] Probem is, they match the same way. The bridge side bobbin of both pickups is cream, the neck side black. This isn't what I wanted. I guess I took a chance, but when I saw that both pickups were described as zebra, I assumed they followed the SD specs on this. IE: on a bridge pickup, zebra means the cream bobbin is bridge-side, black is neck-side. On a neck pickup, the black bobbin is bridge-side, the cream one is neck-side. Well, turns out that the bridge pickup I got is zebra, but the neck pickup is reverse-zebra. The long and the short of it is, what can I do? Is it possible to mount the pickup backwards, or will that lead to problems? Is it possible to somehow alter the pickup and reverse the bobbins? Should I try to exchange it with Seymour Duncan for a proper colored one? Or should I stop being so **** retentive about the whole thing and just deal with it? Any help would be appreciated. EDIT: Here's a chart to explain the problem a little better: Seymour Duncan Zebra Chart I want the upper configuration, but what I have is the upper left pickup and the lower right pickup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jehle Posted November 7, 2003 Report Share Posted November 7, 2003 Just turn the pickup the way you want it. Spin the neck pickup by 180* and it'll be fine. You wont have any problems. Well, the text on the pickup will be the wrong way around. But that's it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Rosenberger Posted November 7, 2003 Report Share Posted November 7, 2003 Some P/u's sound different when flopped. The Jazz isn't one of them. Just turn it around you'll love it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zandro Posted November 7, 2003 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2003 Ahh, good, that's what I was hoping to hear. I just didn't know if mounting it at 180° would make it all out of phase or something weird like that. Disaster averted, yay! Thanks guys. Man do I love this forum. Two lessons I've learned from this: 1. When ordering pickups, make sure you know if you're getting zebra or reverse-zebra. 2. Pickups have very strong magnets that will make the corner of your monitor look funny if they are sitting on your desk right next to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canuckguitarist Posted November 8, 2003 Report Share Posted November 8, 2003 2. Pickups have very strong magnets that will make the corner of your monitor look funny if they are sitting on your desk right next to it. I used to do that at my old school, it looks so cool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saber Posted November 8, 2003 Report Share Posted November 8, 2003 One small note: if you turn your pickup around, you will have to reverse the wiring also if you want your 2 pickups to be in phase when they are both on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pushead Posted November 8, 2003 Report Share Posted November 8, 2003 2. Pickups have very strong magnets that will make the corner of your monitor look funny if they are sitting on your desk right next to it. Try rolling 2 4-12 cabinets through your living room. It'll freak out your TV. Computer tip: Don't set your hard drive on a speaker cabinet. Bad idea if you plan on using any information from it. (same with video tapes, floppy disks...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zandro Posted November 8, 2003 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2003 One small note: if you turn your pickup around, you will have to reverse the wiring also if you want your 2 pickups to be in phase when they are both on. Okay, I'm just going to come right out and admit my utter ignorance here. If they're in phase, what does that affect? Do they need to be out of phase to be humbucking? I'm going with simple bridge/neck/both wiring on this guitar so I don't care about the fancy coil-splitting/tapping etc .. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saber Posted November 8, 2003 Report Share Posted November 8, 2003 If they're in phase, what does that affect? Do they need to be out of phase to be humbucking? I'm going with simple bridge/neck/both wiring on this guitar so I don't care about the fancy coil-splitting/tapping etc .. For "normal" sound, the bridge pickup should be in phase with the neck pickup. For your model of pickups, it means that for the bridge pickup, the red and white leads are connected together, the green lead goes to ground, and the black one is the hot. It's the same for the neck pickup except that you have to reverse the black and the green wires. (Physically reversing your pickup requires reversing the wiring to maintain the phase relationship between the two pickups.) Since they are both humbuckers in themselves, they will be humbucking whether one pickups is connected in phase or out of phase with the other. Connecting them out of phase would make the sound "thin and nasal" in the words of the SD website. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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