Coodercaster Build UPDATE PG 6, AUDIO PG 8

Talk about modding or building your own guitar from scratch.
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StevenO
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Re: Coodercaster Build

Post by StevenO » Fri Mar 30, 2018 4:10 pm

Hmm... A bit of an issue... I believe the two pickups I have are actually out of phase with each other. No good.

What should my next step be? Have just a two way switch and don't do any "both" pickup options? :unsure:

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Re: Coodercaster Build

Post by DrQuasar » Fri Mar 30, 2018 6:50 pm

I'm no expert, but I think you can just swap the hot/neg leads on one of the pickups and that'd do it. Maybe try it with some alligator clips first to see if it works.

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Re: Coodercaster Build

Post by Con-Tiki! » Sat Mar 31, 2018 4:25 am

I was going to suggest that might happen. I've owned a dozen old dearmond pickups, 95% were out of phase with whatever I wanted to pair them with.
Tricky to just switch leads, the metal case becomes hot.
I sent a supro pickup to Ken @ Roadhouse once and had him do whatever magic was necessary.
Novak could probably sort it out too.

That's part of the reason my white guitar only has one pickup.
(Christopher, also)
I've been to one World's Fair, a picnic, and a rodeo, and that's the stupidest thing i ever heard come out a pair of headphones.

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BTL
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Re: Coodercaster Build

Post by BTL » Sat Mar 31, 2018 5:04 am

Looking good!
Owner, Lowe Custom Guitars

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StevenO
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Re: Coodercaster Build

Post by StevenO » Sat Mar 31, 2018 11:21 am

Con-Tiki! wrote:
Sat Mar 31, 2018 4:25 am
I was going to suggest that might happen. I've owned a dozen old dearmond pickups, 95% were out of phase with whatever I wanted to pair them with.
Tricky to just switch leads, the metal case becomes hot.
I sent a supro pickup to Ken @ Roadhouse once and had him do whatever magic was necessary.
Novak could probably sort it out too.

That's part of the reason my white guitar only has one pickup.
Yeah, that's what I was worried about. When I reverse the wires, the casing becomes hot. BUT it sounds fantastic that way, which is actually more frustrating...

I'll think of something to do, though... Hmm... I definitely want the guitar to have more than one pickup.

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Re: Coodercaster Build

Post by DrQuasar » Mon Apr 02, 2018 1:29 pm

http://www.deaf-eddie.net/pushpull/pushpull.html
http://www.deaf-eddie.net/drawings/unground-tele.pdf

That's crazy that the cover gets hot, I've never heard that before.

I don't know if either of these links would be helpful. You'd have to alter the pickup so maybe it's not worth messing with. If it were mine, I'd mess with it if I was pretty sure I could change it back if it didn't work.

Basically he is removing the metal cover from whichever lead it's attached to and re-grounding the cover with a separate wire, effectively changing a 2 lead pickup to a 3 lead pickup. Not sure if your pickups are wound and wired similar to a tele neck pickup, but maybe it would work since the cover wouldn't be connected to the windings anymore.

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Re: Coodercaster Build

Post by StevenO » Mon Apr 02, 2018 2:05 pm

I don't really want to mess around too much with the pickups... They're incredibly delicate as is and one wrong move and the pickups can be toast at worst, rebuilt at best.

I'm still considering my options, but I might just end up doing a 2-way switch and having only neck and bridge pickup options, rather than a "middle/both" option. But, boooo, because they sound great together when in phase.

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Re: Coodercaster Build

Post by DrQuasar » Mon Apr 02, 2018 3:02 pm

Maybe you can do a phase toggle like on the American Pro Jaguar. You might be able to use both in short bursts before it heats up. Maybe you can put a heat sink somehow too, I don't know. There's gotta be some way to fix it. I gotta hear these pick ups together!

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Re: Coodercaster Build

Post by hpr_hpr » Mon Apr 02, 2018 3:20 pm

Con-Tiki! wrote:
Sat Mar 31, 2018 4:25 am
I was going to suggest that might happen. I've owned a dozen old dearmond pickups, 95% were out of phase with whatever I wanted to pair them with.
Tricky to just switch leads, the metal case becomes hot.
I sent a supro pickup to Ken @ Roadhouse once and had him do whatever magic was necessary.
Novak could probably sort it out too.

That's part of the reason my white guitar only has one pickup.
I'm assuming you mean the case is no longer grounded and not that is physically heats up . . . . . while it may give you a bit more "background" due to the fact that the case isn't grounded there is no absolute reason you could not use the pickup that way.

If the cover does gets physically hot . . . immediately have your amp checked . . . a guitar doesn't generate enough amps to heat up ... anything ...
StevenO wrote:
Mon Apr 02, 2018 2:05 pm
I don't really want to mess around too much with the pickups... They're incredibly delicate as is and one wrong move and the pickups can be toast at worst, rebuilt at best.
As to the 'magic' the ultimate solution is to disconnect the case from the coil and put it on a separate ground lead . . . but you're right that can be a delicate operation especially with old(er) pickups.
When thinking about any advice given always ask yourself "why would (s)he know more than I do".

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Re: Coodercaster Build

Post by StevenO » Mon Apr 02, 2018 3:31 pm

Yeah, hot as in ungrounded. I knew what Chris meant. ;)

I'd MIGHT be able to add a wire to the Silverfoil as the case can be removed. On the HB, the case is soldered to the base.

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Re: Coodercaster Build

Post by DrQuasar » Mon Apr 02, 2018 4:20 pm

Oh man, I totally thought the covers were actually getting hot, it was confusing but what do I know?

I didn't/don't understand the problem with having the cover on the "hot" lead as opposed to the other lead. The leads are just opposite ends of the same winding, so I don't know why it would make a difference which end the cover is on. If the cover is "hot" what happens?

If you switch leads and then run a wire to ground the cover, would that create a ground loop/no sound? This is a fascinating problem.

Dan Erlewine on removing humbucker covers.

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Re: Coodercaster Build

Post by StevenO » Mon Apr 02, 2018 5:02 pm

Long answer, aliens.

Short answer, aliens.

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Re: Coodercaster Build

Post by hpr_hpr » Mon Apr 02, 2018 7:14 pm

DrQuasar wrote:
Mon Apr 02, 2018 4:20 pm
I didn't/don't understand the problem with having the cover on the "hot" lead as opposed to the other lead. The leads are just opposite ends of the same winding, so I don't know why it would make a difference which end the cover is on. If the cover is "hot" what happens?

If you switch leads and then run a wire to ground the cover, would that create a ground loop/no sound? This is a fascinating problem.
Yep, the ‘problem’ isn’t with the coil perse ... look at a strat pickup, no conductive cover and the pickup works fine ... the reason for grounding the cover is that it provides shielding and prevents it from becoming an ‘antenna’ (which is the potential problem when it’s connected to hot instead of ground) ... that said unless you live in a heigh RF noise environment you may pick up some 60hz hum but that should be it).

Nope no ground loop BUT you HAVE to disconnect the coil (electrically at least) from the cover first, otherwise you are grounding both sides of the coil - and potentially the other coil as well - so yes at a minimum no sound from that pickup if you just solder an extra lead to the cover
When thinking about any advice given always ask yourself "why would (s)he know more than I do".

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Re: Coodercaster Build

Post by hpr_hpr » Mon Apr 02, 2018 7:15 pm

StevenO wrote:
Mon Apr 02, 2018 5:02 pm
Long answer, aliens.

Short answer, aliens.
;D need to remember that one ...
When thinking about any advice given always ask yourself "why would (s)he know more than I do".

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Re: Coodercaster Build

Post by StevenO » Tue Apr 03, 2018 4:23 am

Would I have to isolate the cover from the coil if I wanted to run a separate ground wire to the cover? Or is that not necessary?

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