Polarity pre CBS Jazzmaster pu’s

Discussion of vintage Jazzmasters, Jaguars, Bass VIs, Electric XIIs and any other offset-waist instruments.
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Retro
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Polarity pre CBS Jazzmaster pu’s

Post by Retro » Sat Jun 06, 2020 2:04 pm

Hi there,

I own for about 15 years a 1963 Jazzmaster, the only not correct thing were the pickups i knew that when buy it.
Recently i got my hands on a set original 1962 pickups with no leads but i’m happy to complete the originality.
My multimeter told me the were ok. So now to figure out if the are a out-of-fase set or not. My magnet trick gave the answer.. yes>the set is an out of fase.
Now it’s time to figure out wich of the 2 is the bridge and wich one is the neck pickup? Because they are out of fase the lead wires white&black gone be opposites

Before i can solder the wires i have 1question unanswered .. anybody who knows when a pre CBS set is out-of-fase wich pup goes were?
Like; magnets polorized to south goes to Bridge and magnet polorized to north goes to Neck?

probably someone who knows this


-Retro-
When my neighbors complain about my hobby i will break down her violin, her piano, her harp and her xylophone

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Re: Polarity pre CBS Jazzmaster pu’s

Post by timtam » Sat Jun 06, 2020 7:13 pm

Retro wrote:
Sat Jun 06, 2020 2:04 pm
My magnet trick gave the answer.. yes>the set is an out of fase.
Now it’s time to figure out wich of the 2 is the bridge and wich one is the neck pickup? Because they are out of fase the lead wires white&black gone be opposites
The word "phase" is used a bit differently in guitar electronics to elsewhere. But your reference to magnets makes me think that you're actually using it to refer to magnetic polarity, which is not its usual usage. In any case, you seem to be saying that you have two pickups that as expected differ in magnetic polarity - one north-up, one south-up. I believe they should be neck north-up, bridge south-up (although it doesn't really matter). You then just need the two wires (hot and ground) chosen correctly for them to play in phase in the middle position (and RWRP). You can just try one wire combination for the pickup pair and listen to see if the middle position is in phase (and flip one pickup's wires if it's not). Or there is the 'screwdriver test' to check that the two pickups are actually in phase.
"I just knew I wanted to make a sound that was the complete opposite of a Les Paul, and that’s pretty much a Jaguar." Rowland S. Howard.

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Re: Polarity pre CBS Jazzmaster pu’s

Post by will » Sat Jun 06, 2020 10:09 pm

...I've run into this sort of problem before, and just wind up putting whichever pickup has higher resistance in the bridge position. that's probably the wrong way to do things though!

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Re: Polarity pre CBS Jazzmaster pu’s

Post by Retro » Sun Jun 07, 2020 1:12 am

Thank you both for the quick reply.

Indeed, that was going through my mind, nothing clears that out by searching by google so far. So the place to ask is here.

I can remember i read something or by SD otherwise Fender’s AVRI that the pickup with the highest reading placed in the bridge position. And another story indeed that the south polarity facing up pickup is also placed in the bridge position.
Nice to check is that the highest resistance pickup also have South up magnets.

My thoughts i wanna do it right and once you know, nicely solder leads to major value and fragile pickups is a hard thing even for me as a regulary solderer..no shame to ask things in life.

-Retro-
When my neighbors complain about my hobby i will break down her violin, her piano, her harp and her xylophone

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Re: Polarity pre CBS Jazzmaster pu’s

Post by timtam » Sun Jun 07, 2020 2:02 am

Neck and bridge JMs typically have close DCR .. close enough that any difference doesn't matter (and DCR is not a very useful metric anyway). eg Pure Vintage 65s are both spec-ed at 6.8kOhm/3.2H, but there may be a small difference out of the box. If you need to adjust output to balance them, do it with pickup height adjustment (eg set the bridge to taste, then adjust the neck to match).
"I just knew I wanted to make a sound that was the complete opposite of a Les Paul, and that’s pretty much a Jaguar." Rowland S. Howard.

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