Just installed a new bridge pickup, but get a thin sound when...

[ulbe]

I have a Strat with Lollar Specials on the Neck and Middle

The Middle is regular wound, so it will work with the Suhr Silent Pickup System, which has been installed on the guitar and working properly for a long time.

I just installed a Frailin Blues Special on the bridge. It comes with the bass plate option. The pickup sounds good by itself, but when combined with the middle, it sounds thin and really quiet.

I double checked all wiring and it seems to be ok. All the pickups sound fine by themselves. The Neck and Middle sound great when combined, it is only the Bridge and Middle that don't sound good at all together.

Is it possible I mistakenly got a reverse wound pickup in the bridge, and that is why it sounds so thin with the middle one? Or could it be the Suhr silent system?

Also, the Frailin is replacing a Lollar Special that was working just fine with the other pups.

Any ideas?
Thanks

[walterw]

Originally Posted by ulbe

Is it possible I mistakenly got a reverse wound pickup in the bridge, and that is why it sounds so thin with the middle one?

yep, it's out of polarity with the other pickups. reverse its leads, re-attaching the baseplate to the new "ground" lead, and you should be good, unless it's got opposite magnetic polarity from the other pickups. if it does, it will sound fine, but won't get its hum canceled by the backplate system.

[ulbe]

Thanks a lot Walter.

Right now I have black to ground and white to the 5 way switch.

What you are saying is put black to 5 way switch, and white to ground, and to ground the back plate to the other lead (the white one)?

Just to clarify, did I get the wrong pickup?

[walterw]

Originally Posted by ulbe

What you are saying is put black to 5 way switch, and white to ground, and to ground the back plate to the other lead (the white one)?

yup.

do you have a magnet or another pickup lying around? if so, hold it over the tops of all three of these pickups; it should attract or repel the same on all three. if it doesn't, the backplate system won't work right with all of them.

[ulbe]

Thanks, great idea.

They all worked the same (repelled or attracted the same for all three)...

So just reversing the leads and the magnet should do it? Or, do you think that now that I tried the magnet test, it could be another issue?

(really appreciate it man!)

[walterw]

Originally Posted by ulbe

Thanks, great idea.

They all worked the same (repelled or attracted the same for all three)...

So just reversing the leads and the magnet should do it? Or, do you think that now that I tried the magnet test, it could be another issue?

(really appreciate it man!)

"reversing the magnet" is a major undertaking.

if all three coils have the same magnetic polarity, then yeah, reversing the wires on the pickup that sounds "wrong" when combined with the others will put it right and allow it to work with the backplate system.

the only issue will be that now the magnets will be wound against the "hot" end of the coil rather than the "ground" end. it'll sound fine, except that touching the magnets will now produce a buzz (in the amp, not in you ).

[Bob V]

Make sure the pickup grounding plate is connected to the wire that you're using as a ground wire. This might mean you have to desolder or clip the extra wire from the eyelet on the black wire, then connect the black wire to the switch. Now you're using the white wire to ground, and you'll want to connect the baseplate to the white wire so the base plate is grounded. OH incidentally if you just got it from Lindy Fralin you can call him and he may be able to just exchange your pickup or do the re-connecting for you.

[ulbe]

Thanks for all the ideas.

So, I reversed the ground on the plate, and reversed the leads on the pickups, and it works!

But...

Now I get this really bad ground, that goes away when I touch the screw on the 5-way switch. I'm going crazy checking the connections, and it does not look like any wires went loose. This guitar did not have grounding problems before, when all three pickups were Lollars. It's a bit tricky with the backplate system, but as far as I can tell, everything is cool.

Could it be because of this pickup lead change that now the ground is messed up in some way?

Thanks guys, really appreciate the help!

[walterw]

does the buzz go away when you touch the strings?

[ulbe]

Yes it does.

[walterw]

then you're good.

like i said, your bridge pickup now has its magnets wound against the hot side of its coil instead of its ground side, so you might get some extra noise.

[ulbe]

Great... I'll take the guitar on a gig tonight and see how it does. Thanks a lot man, really appreciate the help!