Dark sounding neck pickup 7.9k

[BonamassaFan]

Hi all,

I wound a A2 humbucker to 7.9k
it has 42 elektrisola enamel wire, and a gold cover
2 conductor braided wire
potted in 100% parafin.

Plugged it into a 20th anniv les paul custom, and the pickup sounds like the Tone knob is on 0. Super dark and muddy.
The wiring and pots and caps are all new CTS and orange caps from RS Guitarworks. At first i thought it was faulty wiring, but it all looks good and meter checked.

I wound a bridge to match a 8.8k and that thing sounds beautifully. Same handwinding scheme, tension, etc. I'm scratching my head.

Where did I go wrong on the neck pickup?

[big_teee]

Welcome:
If the neck humbucker is hand guided, and has much scatter, then Your pickup is overwound for hand guided.
Hand guided IMO sounds best under 7.3k.
Also the pickup cover will help make the pickup sound muddy.
If the cover is not a nickel silver cover, and is made of brass it is worse.
was the baseplate brass or nickel?
Brass is darker sounding than nickel silver.
On a 22 fret LP guitar the pickup is very far forward.
The wax will have little effect.
I always keep the neck wound low and the bridge wound high.
Think Seth Lover 7.2k and Pearly gates at 7.3k.
If one bobbin has a little more wire, make it the slug bobbin.
Make sure the magnet is fully charged along the full length of the magnet.
Good Luck,
T

[Mike Sulzer]

If it sounds like the tone knob is on zero, there is something really wrong. Is it possible the wiring got screwed up and the tone cap is directly across the pickup?

[big_teee]

If it sounds good everywhere except on the big strings, it is probably just wound with too many turns, and is muddy.
Another test like Mike is saying is to disconnect the tone control from the volume control.
And if you still suspect something you can wire the pickup direct to the cable coming from the switch.
That eliminates the tone and volume control, you will have to turn the volume up and down at the amp.
I've even wired them direct to the jack.
That rules out everything but the pickup all the way to the jack and guitar cord.
My test for Muddy neck pickups plugged in, is to play the high strings and the low strings.
Play the high strings, if the little E sounds good open and at the octave, move to the Big strings.
If the Big E sounds rich but not muddy, then play at the octave.
If it stll sounds good it should sound good all over the scale.
If the high strings sound clear and good, but muddy on the low E string open and the octave, you need to check magnet gauss.
If gauss is ok, reduce the turns on the neck pickup bobbins.
Retest!
T

[big_teee]

BonamassaFan, was wondering what you came up with.
Wiring error, or too much wire?
Please Let us know what you find?

[BonamassaFan]

I haven't gotten it back yet.
I might put the pickup in the bridge position of another guitar and see if it sounds as muddy.
I need to get into the habit of checking this forum more often!

[big_teee]

I haven't gotten it back yet.
I might put the pickup in the bridge position of another guitar and see if it sounds as muddy.
I need to get into the habit of checking this forum more often!

That would be a good test.
If it is just overwound for a neck spot?
It may even sound underwound for a bridge position.
T

[BonamassaFan]

If I take that bobbin apart, I don't know if it was the bobbin that had a bunch of wraps on the edge of the bobbin. They wouldn't settle in the middle, so I cut them with enough wire to solder it back together. I taped it around the bobbin. I'm not sure if that splice on the outside would cause it to go dark. :/

[big_teee]

After testing the pickup in another location.
If you have all the wire and supplies, you probably need to cut the wire off and start over.
T

[rhgwynn]

First thought is, maybe you didn't use enough tension. Less tension means more wraps to get to where you want to be in terms of k-ohms. Second thought is, get rid of the A2 magnet and swap it out for something like A3 or A5. A2 can be really soft or subdued; it's great for taking the edge off of the plain strings but I probably wouldn't use it as a full bar in the neck. If all else fails, the wire doesn't have to be a complete loss. You can take the wire and just pull it about 20 or 30 times; depending on your reach that might take off between 200-300 turns.

[big_teee]

I like A2 magnets, and probably more A2s used in PAF type pickups than any other.
You can experiment with wire size on neck pickups.
On neck pickups I usually go with a larger 42 gauge not overwound to get bell ringing non muddy tones.
Also loose wraps or scattered wraps, makes the DCR go up for the same amount of turns.
medium tension is desired, with minimum scatter if hand guided.
Keep Neck Pickup DCR in the 7.1-7.4k range and you shouldn't go wrong.
If you like a brighter tone try A4, or A5 magnets.
GL, and YMMV.
T

[BonamassaFan]

SO i could rewind with my heavy build poly 42 wire, and use a A5 with minimal scatter and it will probably take care of everything?
Usually the neck pickups I wind are amazing, this is the first one that didn't quite turn out.

[rhgwynn]

I generally wouldn't wind the neck with heavy build unless I was trying to add a certain fatness to the tone or get more tone at a lower output. Try it again with Plain Enamel; or swap the bar out for an A4. I don't usually like A2 in the neck; too round of a sound for me.

[big_teee]

I generally wouldn't wind the neck with heavy build unless I was trying to add a certain fatness to the tone or get more tone at a lower output. Try it again with Plain Enamel; or swap the bar out for an A4. I don't usually like A2 in the neck; too round of a sound for me.

I think he had an actual problem with the pickup.
It was wired wrong, or had an internal issue.
Everything else is just guessing.
I would not use heavy build for a neck humbucker either.
However I do dig heavy build on strat neck pickups.
As far as Magnet types, that is why they make all kinds.
Everyone likes a different sound, and it usually has to do with the Amp.
If you play bright sounding amps, then A2s and fatter sounding pickups sound good.
If you play darker sounding amps, Most fenders are in this category, then brighter pickups, and brighter magnets sound good.
So there is no hard and fast rule on what magnet or pickup is best.
Like stated previously there are more A2, and A5 Magnets used in PAF type humbuckers than any others.
T