Is There an Easy Way to Reverse the Polarity?

[Rob DiStefano]

there is no need to make any of this complicated, because both understanding the problem (if there is one) and making the proper fix are both easily within the grasp of anyone.

coil wind direction. the out-of-phase chickin pickin tone is cared for by simply reversing the pickup leads (in the control cavity, not on the pickup itself) of one of the two pickups in a tele. the bugaboo comes into play IF that pickup that yer gonna swap leads has one of its coil wires strapped (soldered) to either the bridge pup's base plate or the neck pup's cover. this will be true form 90% of all tele pickups. break that strapped connection by cutting that strap wire - you don't have to unsolder it, just cut it so it no longer is in the circuit. now solder a new wire, to either the base plate or cover, and route it into the control cavity and solder its end to the back of any pot. that's it, done. phasing has now been corrected and the the tone will bloom and be fat.

rod magnetic top polarity. besides have different wind directions, the top polarity of both tele pickups must be different in order to achieve a typical, standard, noiseless mode when both pickups are selected. it doesn't matter which pickup has what polarity, as long as both are different. here's how you do that, it's stupid simple ....

http://www.tdpri.com/threads/flip-a-pickups-top-magnetic-polarity.853731/

 

[patriotplayer90]

I concurred with Tim Tam's advice. Which was on the mark.

I only provided some other basic options, if the OP was interested, to explore. That's all.

Wasn't my intent to be "high tech". God knows, I'm far from high tech. I've just learned so much about everything Tele since I've been here.

Go with it, just have fun. It's all good.

That was not directed at you. "Other sources" outside of this forum were my source of frustration. My apologies.

 

[SPUDCASTER]

Certainly no offense taken.

 

[patriotplayer90]

Two more noob questions:

Could I simply detach the strap wire running from the baseplate by removing it at the solder point, or is there a particular reason that it must be cut?

Also, the source of wire. Would the below work, and is there a super frugal option?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KRQP6BK/?tag=tdpri-20

 

[Rob DiStefano]

Two more noob questions:

Could I simply detach the strap wire running from the baseplate by removing it at the solder point, or is there a particular reason that it must be cut?

Also, the source of wire. Would the below work, and is there a super frugal option?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KRQP6BK/?tag=tdpri-20

cutting is the fast way, and it typically leaves whisker of wire on the base plate that will make solder a ground to it easier.

any small gauge stranded wire is fine, 20 to 28 gauge is fine. there is nothing special about cloth covered pushup wire other than aesthetics.

 

[heffus]

https://www.fralinpickups.com/2017/01/23/whats-deal-polarity/

 

[skunqesh]

Yup, swap the solder points of the two wires. You won't hurt anything. (maybe your finger tips on the soldering iron). Giving you a hard time. You'll be pleased with the results, just swap the wires.

+1 swap the wires.
And just in case - do take care with that soldering iron

 

[skunqesh]

And here was I about to post 'sonic screwdriver'...

make sure you don't mess with the neutron flow if you reverse the polarity.

 

[DougM]

cutting is the fast way, and it typically leaves whisker of wire on the base plate that will make solder a ground to it easier.

any small gauge stranded wire is fine, 20 to 28 gauge is fine. there is nothing special about cloth covered pushup wire other than aesthetics.

Hey Rob, is there any reason that it's necessary to have the base plate on a Tele bridge pickup or the cover on a Tele neck pickup connected to ground? Is it just for hum reduction?

 

[sjtalon]

>Is it just for hum reduction?<

yes.

and as a bonus, the bridge pup base plate grounds the bridge and strings.

 

[AfroBill]

Thanks @Rob DiStefano I was successful in changing the polarity and swapping leads on my bridge pickup on my AV52 Tele! I put a 4 way switch in it when I first purchased the guitar and it was so noisy that I had to return to the stock 3 way switch. I still wasn't happy with my new tele because there was noise in every position. But with this mod, I can now happily play in series or parallel without any noise! Thanks for the instructions!

 

[GLee94]

Yes - I've done it a couple of times now. Worked just fine.

could you reference me a magnet? i bought some small neo magnets from harbor freight and followed the instructions i found on another thread. the magnets did not flip the polarity...luckily using the reverse side of the magnet i was able to revert it to S up, but really need it to be north to strings to work in my nashville tele

 

[Steve_U1S]

could you reference me a magnet? i bought some small neo magnets from harbor freight and followed the instructions i found on another thread. the magnets did not flip the polarity...luckily using the reverse side of the magnet i was able to revert it to S up, but really need it to be north to strings to work in my nashville tele

Seems like you'd likely have the right magnets - I just used some commonly available small utility ones.

Can you show me the way to the thread which contains the instructions you followed?
It's likely the same place I originally saw this - care is meant to be taken to keep the pickup from physically contacting the magnets. I believe I accomplished this by using something like craft 'popsicle' sticks taped over the top and bottom of the pickup, and passing it through a few times.
It definitely worked.

 

[Rob DiStefano]

A strong neodymium magnet is required, touched to each AlNiCx pole piece. The larger ones from Home Depot will work if you use all that's in the package, stacked to increase the Gauss rate.

https://www.tdpri.com/threads/flip-a-pickups-top-magnetic-polarity.853731/

 

[Bob Womack]

"It would be bad."

Bob

 

[Rob DiStefano]

"It would be bad."

Bob

That would only apply to ghost busting

 

[David Green]

there is no need to make any of this complicated, because both understanding the problem (if there is one) and making the proper fix are both easily within the grasp of anyone.

coil wind direction. the out-of-phase chickin pickin tone is cared for by simply reversing the pickup leads (in the control cavity, not on the pickup itself) of one of the two pickups in a tele. the bugaboo comes into play IF that pickup that yer gonna swap leads has one of its coil wires strapped (soldered) to either the bridge pup's base plate or the neck pup's cover. this will be true form 90% of all tele pickups. break that strapped connection by cutting that strap wire - you don't have to unsolder it, just cut it so it no longer is in the circuit. now solder a new wire, to either the base plate or cover, and route it into the control cavity and solder its end to the back of any pot. that's it, done. phasing has now been corrected and the the tone will bloom and be fat.

rod magnetic top polarity. besides have different wind directions, the top polarity of both tele pickups must be different in order to achieve a typical, standard, noiseless mode when both pickups are selected. it doesn't matter which pickup has what polarity, as long as both are different. here's how you do that, it's stupid simple ....

http://www.tdpri.com/threads/flip-a-pickups-top-magnetic-polarity.853731/

This worked for me, thanks!