Reverse pickup... Once and for all

[ThomasBJ]

I am sorry to ask this question but I really have to get it sorted out. Does the JEM 7vwh have the neck pickup reversed. I have read it on this site but if it's true how come the "DiMarzio" mark isn't upside down like on EVO? Or is it just mine which isn't reverse?

[Vladdrac]

Yeah...I want to know that too...

cheers

[The Euphor]

In another thread I said that all Jem guitars are original with a reversed neck pickup. If you look at the body closeups in the gallery, you can see some small holes on the top of each coil on the humbuckers. Two on the bass side, one on the treble side. On the reversed humbuckers there are two holes on the treble side and one on the bass side. These marks are only to be found on late 80's - early 90's Jems. But the pickups should still be reversed.

The VWH pickups have gold polepieces, and they are probably custom made for that guitar. I don't know this for sure, just a thought, but DiMarzio could have made them reversed, so both humbuckers are installed like the other Jems bridge humbuckers.

[Sunrise]

The '88 DY I have has the two dots on the left of the neck PUP and two dots on the right of the bridge, this seems opposite to the 777's in the gallery. Is this incorrect and should I change them?

[ukwan]

what sound difference does it make with a reversed neck pickup?

[darren wilson]

Try here.

And here.

And here.

Assuming the coils are symmetrical, reversing the pickup only affects the 'split' positions.

[ThomasBJ]

Cool! But it still seems to be an unanswered question wether it's EVO's neck pu that's reversed or it's the same on all 7vwh's. I mean: When EVO's neck pu is split is it then the side closest to the neck or middle that's active?

[MicJustMic]

It's exactly the same as all Ibanez "Split-5" switching.

1 Bridge humbucker
2 Middle single and bridge (neck side coil only)
3 Middle single
4 Middle single and neck (bridge side coil only)
5 Neck humbucker

Some of his personal guitars may be wired differntly, but EVO and all production Jems are wired the same.

The logo on EVO is reversed because that pup is a "normal" humbucker, so they had to put it in backwards so the coil that will match the middle sigle is closer to the bridge. Since single coil pups usually (I'm pretty sure all Dimarzio singles) have the South pole up, the North poled coil on the humbucker is what's used when it's split with the single, that way, no hum.

The production models now come with "reversed" humbuckers, so the wire is on the correct side for the rout (on guitars with no, or clear pickguards) and the logo is right side up, but the South coil is closer to the neck and the North coil is closer to the bridge.

Mic

[The Euphor]

The coils nearest the single coil active in split mode?

Why don't this fit in with the pickups on my RB? And the other Jems shown in the gallery here on Jemsite?

[MicJustMic]

Originally Posted by The Euphor

The coils nearest the single coil active in split mode?

Why don't this fit in with the pickups on my RB? And the other Jems shown in the gallery here on Jemsite?

What do you mean?

Unless I'm missing something, as far as I know all HSH Ibanez guitars are wired like that. "Split 5", it's in the catalogs and in the manuals that come with the guitars.

Mic