Hi guys the question is this in a nutshell..

Whats the effect of having a "traditional" if thats the right term non RPRW middle pup.

If you think excessive hum wont be a problem is it better to forego reverse pole reverse wind pups??

Any opinions.

It's not necassarily an issue of excessive hum because you still have 3 single coils. At some in the past strats had a 3 position switch and players discovered that you could get a different tone if you positioned the switch in between the three avail positions. That being said, the noise cancelling attributes of position 2 and 4 with the RPRW is a more useful position in modern music that the "quackiness" of a "traditional" strat which can best be described as a bit trippy in positions 2 and 4.

So it is a matter of opinion and what you want in a strat.

I am sure some here can offer a better explanation of this than I can but that is my view on it.

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Al

When this weather clears up, I'll bring you my strat up, you can see for yourself.

What I would say is that the standard polarity middle pickup seems to make for a much more strident inbetween sound, than the RWRP middle. It sounds much more like a singlecoil sound than a very weak humbucker sound.

I've never found the noise to be anywhere near a problem. It's no worse than neck or bridge pickup noise.

What I did on one of my Strats was put in a different off brand vintage boutique (RWRP) middle pup and the sound from this particuliar Strat is amazing. I've had many ask what kind of pups are in there.

The funny thing is that it was a *mistake* but sounded so good, I left it as is.

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Thanks for the input guys, was looking for a viewpoint on the difference basically.

Niki, sounds a cool idea m8 it was a thought brought about from those pup options mentioned a short while back

Hate to say it ,but I agree with what nikininja said.

I'm personally not a big fan of having RWRP pickups. The only use I had for them was a little less volume and less bold when I wanted it. But I find the sounds of 2 and 4 to be sterile in my opinion. Since I've been having custom pickups made, I've been requesting for them not to be RWRP. It's really a matter of personal taste, and this is the way I've been going lately with singles. Others might like them just fine.

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I totally agree.

This whole 60 cycle hum business has turned into a totally unnecessary, widespread paranoia.

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You dig?

haha,with those of us who grew up with things like b/w tv,where you actually had to get off your rear end and walk to the tv to change channels,rearrange the rabbit ears to please your dad a hundred times,getting away to your guitar with the 60 cycle hum was therapy.

Yep buzz hysteria widespread by the internet and people claiming that hum cancelling properties have some kind of values within the upper echelons of players. (though notice aside from Clapton and Guy, they all use standard singlecoils). Myself I like some humcancelling singlecoil sized pickups. I genuinely like the sound of them. The hum cancelling is just a added bonus as far as I'm concerned.

I wouldn't dismiss the RWRP middle pickup though. Just that I found a sound difference. Lets face a fact here. If Mike says he gets a good sound using it, you better believe it. He don't know what bad tone is, much less how to acheive bad tone. (bet he goes out of his way to prove me wrong now ). Does Robert Cray use a RWRP middle? The specs don't state it, but they don't state that the American Standard guitars do. It certainly sounds like he does and theres nothing wrong with his sound is there?

The reason I decided to go with a standard polarity middle pickup is because I'd heard there was a sound difference. The buzz of positions 1,3,5 never bothered me. I do like the inbetween positions but never chose them for their hum cancelling properties. So thought, why not try same polarity. I was very pleased with what I found there.