Gibson mudbucker-style pickups

[Chris Turner]

With these types of pickups, you have a a center row of pole pieces (screws in the mudbucker case), two coils arranged on their sides, and outer magnets on either side with the same polarity facing inward toward the pole pieces.



How are these wound so that the pickup is humbucking? Usually humbuckers are RWRP, but in this setup, it seems that's not the case?

Can someone explain?


Thanks in advance!

[David Schwab]

Usually humbuckers are RWRP, but in this setup, it seems that's not the case?

Actually humbuckers are not reverse wound. Generally both coils are wound the same direction, and wired out-of-phase.

The mudbucker is what's commonly called a sidewinder. It senses a single area of the string so it sounds like a single coil pickup. The mud part was from having 30K worth of 42 AWG wound on them! otherwise they are nice and bright, like the Lawrence L-250.

They are wired up just like a standard humbucker, except if both coils are wound in the same direction, and then the tops of both coils face each other, then you wire them in phase.

The magnets for each coil face the pole pieces with the same polarity.

[Chris Turner]

Actually humbuckers are not reverse wound. Generally both coils are wound the same direction, and wired out-of-phase.

Ok, cool. That's how I've done the humbuckers that I've wound.

The mudbucker is what's commonly called a sidewinder. It senses a single area of the string so it sounds like a single coil pickup. The mud part was from having 30K worth of 42 AWG wound on them! otherwise they are nice and bright, like the Lawrence L-250.

They are wired up just like a standard humbucker, except if both coils are wound in the same direction, and then the tops of both coils face each other, then you wire them in phase.

The magnets for each coil face the pole pieces with the same polarity.

Thanks. I think you may have previously answered this same question for me over at Talkbass (I'm 'Slowburnaz' over there), but I didn't quite get it then. This helps.

So, in essence, wind 2 coils the same direction, wire them up in phase (for series: coil 1 end to coil 2 start, for parallel: join coil 1 start to coil 2 start, coil 1 end to coil 2 end) and make sure the tops of each coil and similar magnetic polarities face inward to the poles or blade.

Great. Thanks again, David.