why fender changed polarity on strats?

[Rosewood]

Does anyone know why they changed the polarity in 1958 or so? If the polarity doesn't matter with a single coil then why change at all.

[SWRing]

Maybe it was to make the guitar hum-bucking when the 5-position switch is in positions 2 or 4. In those positions (I think) two of the pickups are selected. If one of those two pickups has the polarity reversed, then won't it buck hum?

I don't know for sure, but I suspect this is the reason. I know that on my Mexican strat (modern) positions 1,3,5 will pick up hum, but positions 2,4 are hum-bucking.

[Rosewood]

Well I was actually talking about before they even used 5 way switches so the rw/rp thing didn't happen till years later. Leo walks out in the shop and says ok guys flip the polarity to south because...

[Spence]

I don't have a difinitive answer yet but it was probably done with standardization in mind. They charged the magnets after assembly so they may have introduced a company standard of which way to mount the pickup when charging.

From Seymour's site :

324. What is the magnet polarity of old vs. new Fender pickups?
Many of the early Fender pickups used both North and South magnetic polarity. Older Broadcasters, No Casters, Telecasters and Esquires are found with both North and South bridge pickups. I have seen rhythm pickups on early models to have both North and South polarities. Both lead and rhythm pickups on these models were wound Top Left-Top Coming or the magnet wire was wound counter-clockwise from start to finish. Early Stratocaster pickups have North polarity till around 1957 then they became South polarity. The Stratocaster pickups are wound Top Left-Top Going or the magnet wire is wound clockwise from start to finish.

This tends to suggest that Fender had to introduce standards with multiple pickup guitars to avoid phasing issues.

[Rosewood]

Thanks for that Spence. So it looks like it wasn't done for tone or noise issues, just to standardize.

[Spence]

Well that's the sensible conclusion really. People who are into mystical things may think it's down to the effect on the human body ( these people have usually been abducted by aliens too ) and Sam Lee Guy is convinced that Leo Fender was heavily into Feng Shui when he wasn't free-basing

Quote from feng Shui Ultimate resource :

More electrons are emitted toward the south pole of the nucleus of an atom such as cobalt or iron. Similarly, field lines of a bar magnet always point from north to south.

The Earth rotates on its axis from west to east. According to the right hand rule, "north" is up because turning to the right means Earth is moving toward the "up" pole.

How does a compass work with a magnetic field? The needle of a compass is a small magnet, one that is allowed to move horizontally. The needle is influenced by the ambient magnetic field of the Earth, and it aligns with the horizontal portion of the field (yes, there is a vertical portion).

This is said to be true everywhere in the universe.

Like Ken Taylor, the ancient Greeks would have loved this symmetry. It is built on their concepts, after all. But half a century ago we learned from experiments in quantum mechanics that the universe doesn’t follow Greek rules. It follows Chinese rules


I'm not sure whether Fender knew about " More electrons are emitted toward the south pole of the nucleus of an atom such as cobalt or iron. Similarly, field lines of a bar magnet always point from north to south " but alnico does have iron and cobalt in it.

[Steve A.]

Well that's the sensible conclusion really. People who are into mystical things may think it's down to the effect on the human body ( these people have usually been abducted by aliens too ) and Sam Lee Guy is convinced that Leo Fender was heavily into Feng Shui when he wasn't free-basing...

Spence:

As Fender pickups were being manufactured in the Northern Hemisphere, they were able to reduce shipping charges since the repulsion between the North pole on the bottom of the pickups and the Earth's own North Pole would lessen the effect of gravity. Hence, for a 100 pound shipment of pickups they would only have to pay the shipping charges for roughly 75 pounds (the charges would vary depending on the promixity to the North Pole).

It was Sam Lee Guy who suggested that they just turn the boxes upside down rather than retool the entire production line, but of course that would have allowed all of the mojo to spill out so shortly after that incident Mr. Guy's position at Fender was eliminated.

Steve Ahola

[R.G.]

Walohcs

[Rosewood]

[David Schwab]

Maybe it was to make the guitar hum-bucking when the 5-position switch...

There were no 5 position switches until the late 70's. Some people used to put the switch in the in between positions, but you had to just balance it there.

Strats were never made to have more than one pickup on at the same time.

[Spence]

Spence:

As Fender pickups were being manufactured in the Northern Hemisphere, they were able to reduce shipping charges since the repulsion between the North pole on the bottom of the pickups and the Earth's own North Pole would lessen the effect of gravity. Hence, for a 100 pound shipment of pickups they would only have to pay the shipping charges for roughly 75 pounds (the charges would vary depending on the promixity to the North Pole).

It was Sam Lee Guy who suggested that they just turn the boxes upside down rather than retool the entire production line, but of course that would have allowed all of the mojo to spill out so shortly after that incident Mr. Guy's position at Fender was eliminated.

Steve Ahola

You know, I think you have something there but I have to say this Sam Lee Guy is a bloody liability. Last I heard he was briefing the Pentagon about Iran.

[Possum]

teles etc.

I think its gotta be that some musicians got guitars with two pickups that were wound out of phase and they said what the fluck is wrong with this guitar it sounds like that damn TBone Walker black guy playing down the block with his damn Stormy Monday hit, we country pickers don't wanna sound like no black guy, it just ain't right. thats my theory anyway. I have heard there were some two pickup teles that have their pickups out of phase, Leo probably got tired of the complaints, more likely it was the guy I forgot his name who made Leo's business a success with organization skills, Forest White or was it that other guy, may brain cells forget....

[Spence]

Forest Gump ?

[Rosewood]

Oh no, the Bubbacaster.

[ken]

Forrest White, you mean.

You really ought to read his book, it's really good.

Ken