Sorted . . . . Mid position on my Telecaster now "back in Phase" :-)

maw4neu

I have a California Series Telecaster - It came as standard with a factory fitted Humbucker in the Neck Position, a standard Bridge Pickup and a 5 Way Switch . . The other version of the California Series Telecaster came with a single coil Stratocaster Neck Pickup and a 3 Way Switch . .

I decided to swap the Humbucker and 5 way out of my Telecaster for a Seymour Duncan Neck SSL-1 and a 3 way switch so I bagged a suitable pickgaurd from one of the chaps on the Forum and whipped out my soldering iron last night after work . . . 

The bridge and neck positions are spot on, infact the SSL-1 is jaw droppingly good, the tone and volume are correct but the middle position is out of phase and sounds very nasally and thin . . . Dont get me wrong, its an interesting tone, but its not what I'm after . 

I read on a forum that " with a conventional Tele Neck pickup " I have to create a 3rd wire by snipping something or other but I'm not overly confident about that  . . .  . . . Phyically the SSL-1 looks different than a stock Tele Neck pickup so ??? not sure . . . I also read that I just have to swap over the wires on one of the pickups . . . so white becomes earth & black becomes hot ???

Anyone had this problem before ? . . . and more importantly what do I need to do :-)    Many Thanks in Advance :-) 

Roland

How many wires come from the new neck pickup? If it’s two then you need to swap them over in the control cavity. You then need to disconnect the pickup cover from whichever wire it’s connected to (Snipping) and connect it to the other wire. Be VERY careful because pickup winding wire is very delicate, and easy to break at the connection points.

Sporky

Wouldn't it be easier to reverse the bucker? 

ICBM

The neck pickup is out of phase with the bridge. If it’s a simple Strat pickup just swap the white and black wires.

maw4neu

ICBM said:

The neck pickup is out of phase with the bridge. If it’s a simple Strat pickup just swap the white and black wires.

I'll give that a whirl tomorrow . . . many thanks yet again @ICBM ; . . . Massively appreciated, as always pal    :-)

maw4neu

Sporky said:

Wouldn't it be easier to reverse the bucker? 

The Bucker is out and the SSL-1 is in its place :-)

Funkfingers

Seymour Duncan single coils are not always the same magnetic polarity as Fender ones.

Some times, this is for historical reasons. Fender reversed the polarity on Stratocaster pickups. Duncan replicates this in his Antiquity and Antiquity II models.

Sporky

maw4neu said:

Sporky said:

Wouldn't it be easier to reverse the bucker? 

The Bucker is out and the SSL-1 is in its place :-)

Sorry - I completely misread that. 

maw4neu

maw4neu said:

ICBM said:

If it’s a simple Strat pickup just swap the white and black wires.

Literally took 10 minutes to and its 100% sorted . . . . Many thanks everyone . . . ! ! !  . . .