The proper way for reverse winding of humbuckers

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3/20/2006 1:12 PM

Zhangliqun

The proper way for reverse winding of humbuckers I've made some humbuckers for folks and occasionally I get complaints about hum or buzz anyway, though so far only under high gain situations. Even so, I'm starting to think my approach to RWRP'ing the two coils might be wrong.     I wind both coils clockwise (viewed from above) but join the the two starts together to make the coil junction, which means the two finishes become the hot and ground leads.     Should it be that one coil is wound clockwise, the other counter, and you join start-to-finish for the junction instead of start-to-start?

 

3/20/2006 3:17 PM
Wolfe Macleod	No. Both coils are same-wound. The outer leads become the series link. Coils should be counter-clockwise start to finish when viewed from the top.   Humming and buzzing starts to happen when the coils are too far mis-matched, but you also get better high-end response.

 

3/20/2006 5:05 PM

Zhangliqun

"No. Both coils are same-wound. The outer leads become the series link."     That's what I thought (same-wound). Though I think it's six and half-a-dozen if the starts or the finishes are the series link. As long as the screw coil is South so it's in phase with most other makers' pickups, it should be fine. Or so I think -- I'm fairly new at this.     I do make a lot of mismatched coils, some by as high as 1k (typically about half that), so I figured there'd be a little extra hum, but not nearly as much as a single coil. I'm still convinced that's true, certainly from my own experience playing my own pickups out on gigs -- but a lot of my customers play with really REALLY high gain, which would magnify even the tiniest bit of hum or other noise relative to the signal like a compressor.     Anyway, one guy described the tone of my mismatches as "P90 top with humbucker mid and bottom", which is pretty much what I'm shooting for.

 

3/21/2006 7:51 AM

Seeing as you asked...

Here a thing to do if you have time.     Take a regular bucker and remove the screws, poles and metal bar under the screws - just stuff it with maple spacers. If the coils match to within 2% the bucker will be incredibly quiet.     Then put a couple of screws into the screw coil...at high gain the hum increases!!! More screws, more hum!!! Its about the loading of the coil, NOT about matching the winds or resistance. Kinman uses this to great effect with his second-generation noiseless design. His first effort was the most blatant attempt to rip of our mate Larry D., but thats another story.

 

3/21/2006 9:55 AM

Wolfe Macleod

{quote]Kinman ......His first effort was the most blatant attempt to rip of our mate Larry D., but thats another story.[/quote]     NO! WRONG!   Chris Kinman had his patent for those pickups a full YEAR before Dimarzio. I remember when this issue first came around and I dig some digging into the patents. Chris was unable to go to NY to defend himself, so Larry won by default. He STOLE that patent.

 

3/21/2006 7:36 PM

Seeing as you asked...

Wolfe, the Kinman version of events is flawed. The reality is more subtle than you think.     Dimarzio's 1984 patent for twin coil shielded designs yielded the virtual vintage series 1 series of single coils. As we all know improvement patents are the most sneaky, yet, effective way to break an existing patent. Kinman did exactly thatin 1996 and applied for EXACTLY the same invention as Dimarzio's embodiment but with twin shielding - no orignality at all. He would easily lose.     Kinman claimed that Dimarzio rushed to apply to a patent to match him. HE IS A LIAR - I swear because he is. Dimarzio did not try to quickly apply for patent in 1997 - that was for a totally seperate technology - connected with the shape and height of the shielding and its effect on bass string response.     In short.   Dimarzion blocked Kinman on the basis of its 1984 patent. Dimarzio did not rush in after the fact.     Kinman's 1996 patent represents no significant advance in the art. It is spurious, but was granted. Holding a patent in hand is no guarantee that claims of infrigement will not be levelled at you.     Post-script.   Kinman's second major patent in 2000 actually is original and significantly advances the art. After three years of trying to market his copycat virtual vintage - he actually struck on a great way to improve the things!

 

3/21/2006 10:41 AM

Zhangliqun

"No. Both coils are same-wound. The outer leads become the series link. Coils should be counter-clockwise start to finish when viewed from the top.   Humming and buzzing starts to happen when the coils are too far mis-matched, but you also get better high-end response."     But is it okay to take my opposite approach, starts (inner leads) as series link? It seems to work fine with no phasing problems with other pickups.     And is it just me, or is Larry D a wee bit unpopular in here?     (Yes, I know the answer, so put down those pies and tomatoes!)

 

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