Left Handed Pickups

[The_Gent]

Just one more lefty question.

What considerations do I need to make with putting pickups in a left handed configuration.

Is there anything different between single, angled single and humbuckers. I have heard that pole staggering affects things, I take it that it is not as simple as turning them upside down.

Thanks again,

Kev

[crafty]

Pole staggering matters only on Fender-style single coils with staggered pole pieces. Use flush-mounted pole piece pickups if you're concerned, or just flip the pickup 180 degrees.

[SwedishLuthier]

Remember that staggered magnets are made to fit a set of strings with a wound G string. Anyone uses that on a start those days? Didn't think so. That shows how imortant it is to have the stagger "the right way". And there were this bloke that played his strat upside down (meaning the pickups were effectively upside down too) that got a bit famous for his playing and his sound...cant remember his name...yeah Jimi Handrix i think it was.

Also about flipping a strat pickup: You might need some routing first to fit the side with the soldering eylets.

[The_Gent]

Thanks Gents, just starting out and trying to be technically correct!

As long as there is no significant difference I can go shopping now.

[Mike Sulzer]

When I make pickups, I set the pole height to follow the curve defined by the string height, but lower the pole under the (unwound) G string a bit to allow for its increased sensitivity. The original Fender staggering is currently wrong (as Peter implied) because it was set up for a wound G string. But pole hieght staggering does matter if you want good string balance. This is especially important when playing clean, and maybe not of much concern to many. I would do a lefty pickup to follow this rule as well.

When Jimi played a righty guitar lefty, there was no change required, right?