Removing pickup screws?

[BowerR65]

First i want to say i havnt been around here for quite some time, i kinda got out of guitars for a while and got into several other hobbies since and now guitars are coming back around again.

 

Last time i was on this forum was when i rejoined after a server issue i lost my user name (BowerR64) and had to re-register as this one.

 

First question: How do i use the search? i cant figure out how to search anything under "guitars" i see a search function under each thread but not under each category

 

Anyone tried removing the screws or pole pieces on a humbucker? your thoughts?

 

It seems as i get older and my playing gets better i tend to like a cleaner sound. I can remember when i first started playing i wanted the dirtiest sound i could find, my sloppy playing and lack of technique was some what hidden by all the distortion and noise now that im a slightly better player i seem to want to hear more of the cleaner sound.

 

I watched a youtube video on removing the poles from one of the coils in a humbucker and i kinda like it. I put some new/old strings ive had around for years on an RG i got off e-bay and these steel strings just sounded awful, so bright and twangy i could hardly stand it. After removing the poles from the back coil it sort of warmed up the tone and the strings are actually a little easier to deal with now.

 

If this is an old topic some one link me to it and maybe clue me in on how to search i cant seem to figure it out.

[gardo]

First i want to say i havnt been around here for quite some time, i kinda got out of guitars for a while and got into several other hobbies since and now guitars are coming back around again.

 

Last time i was on this forum was when i rejoined after a server issue i lost my user name (BowerR64) and had to re-register as this one.

 

First question: How do i use the search? i cant figure out how to search anything under "guitars" i see a search function under each thread but not under each category

 

Anyone tried removing the screws or pole pieces on a humbucker? your thoughts?

 

It seems as i get older and my playing gets better i tend to like a cleaner sound. I can remember when i first started playing i wanted the dirtiest sound i could find, my sloppy playing and lack of technique was some what hidden by all the distortion and noise now that im a slightly better player i seem to want to hear more of the cleaner sound.

 

I watched a youtube video on removing the poles from one of the coils in a humbucker and i kinda like it. I put some new/old strings ive had around for years on an RG i got off e-bay and these steel strings just sounded awful, so bright and twangy i could hardly stand it. After removing the poles from the back coil it sort of warmed up the tone and the strings are actually a little easier to deal with now.

 

If this is an old topic some one link me to it and maybe clue me in on how to search i cant seem to figure it out.

 

If you find out how to search I'd love to know as well

I also saw a video and removed the polepieces from a humbucker.. tt did sound cool but what a major PITA to get them balanced again when I put them back in.Also the metal on the base is soft and thin be careful not to strip out the threads.

I did some experimenting with a different approach.,instead of grounding out one coil like a normal coil tap I used different resistors to ground . this gave me somewhat of a sinlecoil tone depending on the value of the resistor and it was still noiseless. The big benefit is that it's easy to return to original. It could be put on a switch or even a pot similar to the varitone control

We did have some discussion on this a while back but like I said I don't know how to search either and a lot of our old posts seem to have been lost with all the changes .

[BowerR65]

In my opinion it sort of lowers the output a little which i like now. One thing thats weird that i dont quite understand fully is if i flip to the coil without the screws or pole pieces i still get sound but its about half the output of the coil that still has the poles. It must be using the poles in the first coil or something and running threw the coil without them. I didnt think this would even work.

 

I took the poles out of the bottom coil closest to the bridge and same with the neck i took the poles from the bottom one. I also seem to notice more sustain then before when its stock.

 

This kinda saves me money now, i did it on a duncan George Lynch screamin demon. Its a little to hot stock this kinda tames it back enough where i like it better. Also warms it up since the bridge coil isnt getting the same output it sort of moved up the sound where its warmer sounding.

[gardo]

Another thing you can do for free is turn the pickups around so the missing screws are toward the center of the guitar. To me this puts the coils you're using in a more ideal location.

[Danhedonia]

Just a side note: you are probably noticing more sustain because you are now playing more quietly. When one comes with the wall of brootlz, the decay and harmonics and etc. tend to get lost in the sonic shuffle. Now your ears are not recovering from Townshend blasts of noise, and more easily pick out complexities.

 

Carry on. (BTW, I think removing the pole pieces is a no-win venture. You could put in tappable pups, or HB-shaped single coils, or whatever, but unless you are really on top of your guitar engineering game, they are not likely to be anywhere as good should you wish to put them back. Especially now that you are a pickier and more careful listener, this is liable to displease you. Also there is my first law of modding, which is: if the potential for wasted time and money is twice what a simple purchased solution would be, make the purchase. Get a cheap Strat, and fool around with it).

[BowerR65]

I added the coil split lead on the pickup im tampring with. When i flip to the coil with the poles removed it has a VERY low output. So its still working but not near as strong as it should so its still bucking but the coil that still has the poles is stronger and getting the best string pickup.

 

My though was since the pickup has less poles less magnet pull on the strings slowing the string vibration down as quick as the 2 sets normally would? maybe thats not what its doing?

 

Also i chose to remove the rear coil poles so the front had the most sound closer to the neck giving a slightly warmer position?

 

This is a cheap guitar anyway so the pickups may not even be assembled correctly and now that i removed the poles its working better then it did!

 

I know that you can wire a humbucker to sound thin and one to sound fat i prefer the fatter cleaner sound it seems to have donw this for some reason.

[Floyd Rosenbomb]

Another option is to look into the type of magnet used in your pickups. For example, the ibanez may well have a ceramic magnet in the neck pickup. For $5 you can buy a Alnico 5 magnet off Ebay and it will have a pretty dramatic effect on the pickup. There are some good how to videos on youtube (of course).

 

As far as search. I just use the Google.

Type in what you are looking for and then add "Harmony Central" and you'll get a good list.

[WRGKMC]

If you remove the core from one coil you still have the hum bucking effect but no output from that coil from the string. This is essentially how a P100 works. They have a dummy reverse would coil added to a P90 to kill hum.

 

I would think this hives you a super dull single coil tone and you can essentially do the same thing using a coil tap to remove that coil instead of removing the magnetic core. You may have some hum but it will have much better clarity without all that extra coil resistance doing nothing to produce a signal.

[onelife]

... One thing thats weird that i dont quite understand fully is if i flip to the coil without the screws or pole pieces i still get sound but its about half the output of the coil that still has the poles. It must be using the poles in the first coil or something and running threw the coil without them. I didnt think this would even work.

 

Quick lesson in electromagnetic physics:

 

If a coil of wire is moved in a magnetic field, an electric current will be induced in the coil of wire. This is how a dynamic microphone such as a Sure SM58 works. The diaphragm is attached to a coil of wire that sits in a magnetic field generated by a permanent magnet inside the mic

 

Another way to accomplish this is to vary the magnetic field around a stationary coil. This is what happens with a guitar pickup. The vibrating metal strings disturb the magnetic field that is generated by the permanent magnets in the pickups.

 

The farther away you get from the magnet, the weaker the magnetic field will be (which happens when we lower our pickups).

 

In a humbucking pickup the magnet usually sits underneath the coils and the magnetic field is focused by the pole pieces. (Original Fender pickups used actual magnets for the pole pieces). By removing the pole pieces you are reducing the magnetic field around the coil but no eliminating it. The magnet still sits under the two coils and the field is still being focused by the pole pieces in the other coil so the coil in question is still surrounded by enough magnetism to generate a significant amount of electric current.