C2 Middle P/U... An Idea...

pinto79 · #1 12-04-2003, 12:22 AM

Ok... I have an RG750 w/ 2 F2 pups and a C2 in the middle. The C2 is a stacked single (similar to the HS-2, acording to Dimarzio). It has a grenn wire as hot, red as ground and two black ones that are soldered together and taped.

I would like to use the pickup so that it uses the top coil when in postions 2 and 4, and both coils in position 3 so that I always have hum-cancelling. Anyone know how I would go about that? Rich?

frankfalbo · #2 12-04-2003, 01:29 PM

I've done that with many C1's and C2's. Its mildly beneficial. The tone is a bit stronger. But the design of those stacks is such that the magnets do not go through the second coil, so eliminating the second coil has less of an effect on the tone than, say splitting a "rails" or a traditional humbucker. I know, you mostly want the hum-cancelling effect

That is a multi-part endeavor. I'm going to give another long winded answer. The Cx pickups are wound to work only one way. You can't reverse the phase on them as a whole. (you can, but it's not designed that way) See, there's a metal shield/magnet "focusing" wall on either side of (and between) the coils. It's wired to the red wire and is grounded. If you reverse phase and make red hot you just activated that shield to increase noise and reduce its effect.

That being said, the pickup is also wired so that if you short one coil by jumping that black junction to ground, you get the bottom coil. With no magnet in it and at 5/8" from the strings, it's almost dead. To obtain the top coil, you either have to jump the black wire bridge to hot, or a double switch where you take the appropriate black wire to hot while disconnecting the green hot. (don't waste the time, the first is fine)

If you are automatically switching your hums to single mode with your 5-way, you'll have no switching options left to perform this task. You'll need a 4-pole switch, like the Yamaha or Ibanez one. Wire the hums as usual, then use one of the other "switches" to jump the coil junction back to the middle pickup's own hot, not the switch hot. This could produce an out of phase/non-hum-cancelling sound with the humbuckers (as singles). I can't remember if this surgery is in phase or out of phase with other Dimarzio humbuckers. If you want to cancel hum, just switch the ground wire that splits the humbuckers with a hot wire. That will give you the other coil, and cancel hum. Or reverse phase of the hums. You'll still get the other coil. If you want the same location coil still, you'd have to spin the hums and the logos would be backwards.

Did I answer your question?

pinto79 · #3 12-04-2003, 04:38 PM

Yeah... I think I'll just put up with the noise. I don't use the notch positions too much anyway...

Thanks for the info!

frankfalbo · #4 12-04-2003, 05:23 PM

If you want to "put up with noise" you can just hardwire it as a single instead of a 'bucker. Just run the appropirate black wire to hot instead of the green one. Then your only noisy position would be "3"

I was going to suggest that, too but I forgot. Your notch positions should sound better with the middle as a single, also.

pinto79 · #5 12-07-2003, 08:22 PM

Any idea which one, green or red, is for the top coil?

Then it's just a ohm reading to find out which black...

Thanks!

JESTER700 · #6 12-07-2003, 09:15 PM

Top is red.

I normally disconnect the bottom, because I never use this pup by itself; always in combo in position 2 or 4.

Another nice thing about these is, the windings are separated from the polepieces, so if you need to reverse magnetic polarity you can pull the polepieces & flip them over.

pinto79 · #7 12-07-2003, 09:27 PM

Thanks!

I will try that next time I change strings...

frankfalbo · #8 12-07-2003, 10:29 PM

Yeah! I've also moved around the pole pieces. I have a couple that are flat tops, and one where the B string is equal to the G and D. You can mess with the stagger. I'm not a big fan of the vintage stagger. It was for wound G's anyway, and I don't think that vintage is better in this case. Nonetheless, many singles have a vintage stagger, and the B is overpowered by the G. There's no holes in the metal plate between the coils, though

so you can't adjust the stagger by pushing the G and D (or whatever) deeper into the pickup.

JESTER700 · #9 12-08-2003, 12:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frankfalbo

Yeah! I've also moved around the pole pieces. I have a couple that are flat tops, and one where the B string is equal to the G and D. You can mess with the stagger. I'm not a big fan of the vintage stagger. It was for wound G's anyway, and I don't think that vintage is better in this case. Nonetheless, many singles have a vintage stagger, and the B is overpowered by the G. There's no holes in the metal plate between the coils, though

so you can't adjust the stagger by pushing the G and D (or whatever) deeper into the pickup.

I just put a spacer between the bottom plate & pup cover so the polepieces come out even with the top of the cover. This requires swapping the 2 taller center pieces with ones from another pup (I have several of these guys laying around). I HATE hitting polepieces when "digging in", and I don't like the thinness I get when lowering the pup too much. This stagger isn't really a vintage G string thing though, is it? On all mine, they just look to be following the string radius. I have a Duncan "stag mag" bucker that has a definite goofy stagger to it. I hate that, but I'm not messing with it until I find out if it's safe to "pull the poles".

I wonder if that bottom plate could be safely drilled through. Hmm... Nah. Not worth it.

frankfalbo · #10 12-08-2003, 03:29 AM

Yeah, drilling would be a waste of time, and the plastic is so thin and soft that I think you'd risk skimming it and hitting wire. You're right about it not being a "true vintage" stagger, but because only the center two are raised, it still sounds wrong to me. That placement, by default, still puts the B and A farthest away from the strings. So the volume discrepancy between the G and B is still the greatest.

I also hate catching the poles. I have one guitar with solid covers on the singles, and the middle pickup is all "talls" so the magnet is up there but the coil isn't. It's a little brighter sound, but would be murder with a normal cover.

JESTER700 · #11 12-08-2003, 10:51 AM

Somebody should make an aftermarket pup cover that fits these but has a smooth arch to it, so it follows string radius but doesn't let your pick catch. Seems like it would fit most dimarzios. And I'd pay a couple bucks for a few cents worth of plastic...