So, some guitarists were talking about how a Strat with a middle pickup being RWRP might sound more "quacky" than non RWRP pups.

I have heard both and I can't say that either make a difference as far as the well discussed issue of which gives more Fender "quack" tone.

So, what do the experts here have to say? (don't duck out)

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Its been well over a year since i tried rwrp middle on a guitar. Fortunately tonight, i'll be in close proximity to my rhythm guitarists strat which has it.
I'll report back later.
The knopfler strat doesnt have the rwrp middle and he plays bridge and mid nearly all the time.

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No no and no

I have to agree with this statement -

"I will say that the tonal qualities of the individual pickups and the relative output strengths of the individual pickups make *way* more difference than RW/RP. "

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Well, the reduced noise in the combination positions might make the quack seem "more."

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

When the strings move through the magnetic field, they induce an electrical signal in the coil. If you reverse the polarity of the magnetic field, the signal will be an upside-down mirror image (opposite phase). If you reverse the coil winding, the signal will be upside-down. So if you reverse both the magnetic polarity and the winding polarity, you've flipped the signal upside-down and then flipped it upside-down a second time -- it's back to being rightside-up.

But it's not two consecutive flips -- it's two concurrent flips. There's no time delay happening or anything like that. When you flip both magnetic and electrical polarity, the signal is exactly the same as it would be with the electrical+magnetic polarities the other way. RW/RP or non-RW/RP, the signal is the same, and it's in-phase with the signal from the other pickups.

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

To finish the story: the electrical noise is out of phase between the RWRP pickup and the other ... therefore, the noise cancels itself out in switch positions 2 & 4. The theory of the Humbucker pickup!

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

I agree. But lots of people do believe they can hear a difference between RW/RP and non-RW/RP and I hesitate to call them superstitious dupes. Audible noise interacts with the sound of what you're listening to - it masks some frequencies and heightens others. (An extreme example: you're watching TV and your air conditioner kicks on -- suddenly it seems like the tonal balance and level of the TV's audio has dropped, even though it hasn't changed.) So maybe they perceive the tone differently because of the noise.

The pickups' magnetic fields actually turn the strings into weak magnets while the strings are within the fields, and maybe a N/S/N magnet arrangement makes the strings physically vibrate a little different than a N/N/N arrangement.

Maybe there's some property of copper wire or magnetic fields that we're unaware of and therefore can't measure, so maybe there is some subtle difference between a signal made one way vs a signal made the other way.

So maybe they aren't crazy - I don't hear whatever they claim to hear, but I won't say it's impossible that there's some minor, subtle difference.

Tim of Bare Knuckle pickups states that there is definitely a discernable dfference between RW/RP and non.

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

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Sure.

That was the point of the first post I made in this thread.

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

I know I was waiting for the guys who are adamant about the difference to chime in with their reasons. At a jam last night it became a heated topic of discussion between several players.

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

Out of my 3 guitars (Texas Special, SRV and American Sandard 08) my Texas Special strat has more quack than the other 2 .I think the reason is , i wired the tone pot on the bridge pickup and wired the middle wide open.It sounds really nice, especially in the bridge/middle position.Just my opinion.

As stated by a fellow jammer -

"Now, you want to talk about which foundry made the magnets? That has a SERIOUS affect on tone, IMO."

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

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Magnets are the big black hole of pickup construction.

I've said this before. We (the consumers and guitar techies) mostly have no way to assess the quality of the magnets. The instruments used to measure the strength are very expensive.

Pickup wire is easy to assess. It ususally just two gauges, 42 or 43, we can count the number of turns, we can measure DCR and Inductance.

I've seen pickups that look very "vintage/classic," but without knowledge of the magnets, will be as good as, say, Fender Custom Shop pickups?

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

This topic interests me because I am trying to decide if I want to replace my mid with a rw/rp pup.I like the sound of what I have but miss the in 2 & 4 switch sounds which are very weak right now.

I wonder if it normal for my in between sounds to be so thin and low in output with a non reverse wound middle?

It sounds like your wiring might be backwards on a pickup and what you are hearing is a thin-like, nasal out of phase sound?

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

Uhmm no, I just tore the pick guard off and triple checked everything.
I used the Am S wiring diagram from this site.All the electronics were brand new CTS pots and us 5 way switch,orange drop cap.New wire.You made me doubt myself but I am sure it is wired correctly.I think it`s because the middle pup is much weaker output than the Fralins. 6.5k 5.8k 6.8k