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Flipping the neck pickup around. 
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The Cream Of The Crop
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Post Flipping the neck pickup around.
My dad had an old sunburst 335 that he had the neck pickup rotated 180 degrees on. I can't remember what it sounded like but he always said it was "his sound". He generally played through a variety of different Twin Reverbs and used both pickups consistently.


I'd like to try this with my trans black 335, and I'm wondering if any of you nerds have done it and what the results are.


Fri Dec 10, 2010 12:51 pm
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Winston Wolf
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Post Re: Flipping the neck pickup around.
Sure, it basically puts the pickup out of polarity with the other one. Famous users of this sort of trick would be folks like Peter Green with his famous LP from the early( when they were blues rock) Fleetwood Mac records. Pretty obvious sound change when both pickups are on.

Also, for a covered pickup like a Gibson PAF, it changes slightly, the focus of the single pickup as it moves the uncovered poles about an inch closer to or further from the bridge, depending on which pickup you flip.

It basically will yield (in the middle pickup position) a somewhat thinner slightly hollowed out mids sound. Actually, to my ears, your 335 already sounds like it has been done to it in some of your clips, which is why i asked about wiring mods that one time.

Another thing to try(but not on a vintage guitar) is to actually loosen the pickup up and remove and flip the magnet inside to reverse its magnetic polarity, while retaining the uncovered pickup pole's positions.

I actually haven't found any of these sounds very useful for what i do, but they sure are different. :lol:

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Fri Dec 10, 2010 2:18 pm
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The Cream Of The Crop
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Post Re: Flipping the neck pickup around.
The screws on the pickups are facing opposite each other... The neck pickup is faced toward the neck and the bridge is faced toward the bridge. I believe that's original, yes? When both pickups are on, it sounds as normal as possible for this guitar.


Certainly is a very strange sounding guitar... the pickups sound almost like single coils when they're not coil tapped, and get super thin and plinky when they are. I like the uber bright sound of it, though. My Ibanez is basically all midrange. I might do a comparison of the 2 sometime... it'd be at least moderately interesting.


I think it may have something to do with the trapeze tailpiece and retardedly low action and frets. This guitar is one of those legendary "fretless wonders"


Fri Dec 10, 2010 3:08 pm
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Winston Wolf
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Post Re: Flipping the neck pickup around.
Aye, the 70s SG II i have also has those minifrets. It also has a pretty weird sound to it, come to think of it. :lol:

Anyhow, for sure, experiment with flipping the neck pickup and see how you like it. It might push the guitar even further towards the interesting mids thing it already does though. You might however learn that somehow one of the magnets has been swapped or something(i.e. that though it appears to be oriented correctly, it might in fact currently be out of polarity), and flipping the pickup might return it to matched polarity. Which would manifest itself in a much fuller sounding middle pickup position.

Record before and after clips! :huzzah:

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Fri Dec 10, 2010 3:17 pm
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The Cream Of The Crop
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Post Re: Flipping the neck pickup around.
So either way it's a plus? Sounds like I'll have to try it for sure. I can always just flip the fucker back around if I don't like the result.


Fri Dec 10, 2010 3:28 pm
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The Cream Of The Crop
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Post Re: Flipping the neck pickup around.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8290798/3%20pos ... 0setup.mp3


Here's an uber quick clip of the setup that is on this guitar currently... starts off with just bridge pickup, then both, then just the neck pickup.


Fri Dec 10, 2010 4:26 pm
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Winston Wolf
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Post Re: Flipping the neck pickup around.
A quick listen, and that mid position sounds like it is probably correctly in polarity. :isay:

Looking forward to the rest of the test!

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Fri Dec 10, 2010 4:44 pm
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The Cream Of The Crop
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Post Re: Flipping the neck pickup around.
I probably won't get around to doing the deed until tomorrow... gotta jam/get drunk this eve then I'll do it with a proper hangover tomorrow... as all guitar related work should be done.


Fri Dec 10, 2010 4:56 pm
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Winston Wolf
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Post Re: Flipping the neck pickup around.
:huzzah:

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Fri Dec 10, 2010 4:59 pm
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The Cream Of The Crop
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Post Re: Flipping the neck pickup around.
I think this guitar has my favorite neck pickup of all time... second only to a vintage Tele neck pup.


Fri Dec 10, 2010 5:21 pm
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