Hi everybody. I am new to posting at forums so I hope this subject is interesting and has not already been covered.
I remember years ago that as a rule of thumb, Duncan pickups were in-phase with stock fender pickups and Dimarzios were not. I have a new standard MIM Strat. The stock pickups have a rw/rp in the middle. I purchased a Dimarzio area 58 to put in the neck position. My questions are 1) is the standard Dimarzio wiring in phase with Fender (I remember years ago it was not). 2) If the coils are split on the 58 will the active coil hum cancel with the stock Fender rw/rp that is now in the middle position. I know that with 4 conductor pickups polarity can be changed but the phase of the magnets can't. I really want this pickup to work out because the rest of the instrument is sweet sweet sweet. Thanks everybody!

I remember years ago that as a rule of thumb, Duncan pickups were in-phase with stock fender pickups and Dimarzios were not. I have a new standard MIM Strat. The stock pickups have a rw/rp in the middle. I purchased a Dimarzio area 58 to put in the neck position. My questions are 1) is the standard Dimarzio wiring in phase with Fender (I remember years ago it was not). 2) If the coils are split on the 58 will the active coil hum cancel with the stock Fender rw/rp that is now in the middle position. I know that with 4 conductor pickups polarity can be changed but the phase of the magnets can't. I really want this pickup to work out because the rest of the instrument is sweet sweet sweet. Thanks everybody![/quote]

Welcome!

Polarity wise with the DiMarzios and Duncans, nothing has changed over the years.

MIM Strat pickups are opposite phase of the American ones so the Area 58 would be in phase with them. Consequently, if you do choose to split the DiMarzio, its one coil when teamed with the middle pickup would buck the hum.

Just a few thoughts: If you split the DiMarzio, the output will be very weak. Even if you left both coils on and teamed it with the middle pickup, hum will still be reduced. Whether it is more beneficial to kill one of the DiMarzio's coils when teamed with the middle pickup is debatable and you would have to experiment both ways to see which is better tonally, volume and hum wise. See, to have full hum cancellation, whichever two coils mated for this purpose must be identical. Whatever their differences are in terms of DC resistance, design, etc. the amount of hum cancellation is reduced.

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Those are excellent points you make! In other instruments I own that have Duncan Stack's in them, splitting the coil actually yielded a 3db boost. When I have tried this with Dimarzio Virtual series pu's it produced almost zero change in volume and response loosing just a tad of both. I will take your suggestion and not split the Dimarzio. The only gray area is, this MIM strat has some different properties with the rw/rp in the middle and a humbucker in the bridge position that splits in #2 position of the 5 way. A can't be sure that the stock pickups are a standard MIM's/HSS set with the addition of the reverse middle pu. The polarity could be different. Is that something that can be checked with a standard multi-tester?

Thanks to all!

The #2 position split is irrelevant as far as polarity in your context is concerned. The pickup is wired to the switch in such a way that one of the coils deliberately grounds out.

Here's a real easy way to check polarity with no tools required: Take one of the pickups and bring it 'face to face' with one of the others. Meaning, not touching each other (top to top) but close enough so the magnets interact. If the magnets repel, they are in-phase. If they attract, they are out of phase.

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That makes complete sense! I did try something I found on line using a multi-tester on the output of the guitar set to resistance. By bringing a magnetized object into the field of the pickup the resistance will read either an increase or decrease on each pickup with the 5 way set to each single pickup setting. They should all move in the same direction (up) if the pickup is in-phase. I am still waiting for the Area 58 to be delivered so I can check the phase on it. I wish I had thought of the method you suggested! It is elegant in it's brilliant simplicity. After a lifetime of being a player I am still amazed at how much I don't know.
You are guitar Yoda to be sure! Thanks much for your invaluable help and insight.

I changed out a dead bridge pickup in a classic 50s strat with a Seymour Duncan alnico 2 pro. I assumed the phase would be a match for the Fender. It wasn't. Didn't notice straight away as I only quickly checked the 1 3 and 5 positions. Next time I got the guitar down, and hit 2 and 4, I quickly realised that I would have to turn the damn SD wires around..

So that was a lesson for me..

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Fender Highway & Classic 60s Strats, Fender Toronado, Telecaster, Gretsch Projet, Charvel 3, PRS SE Soapbar II & Custom 24, Burns Batwing and many others!

If you do use a multi-tester, use the type with the needle rather than a digital display as it is a lot easier to watch the sweep of the needle rather than try to see if the numbers on the digital as they rapidly go up or down.

Like I say to people all the time, even after all the years I've been at this, I'll always stumble onto something which I can run with. It is those who proclaim they know it all whom we should all run from.

Thank you for your compliment and I'm always glad to help!

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All for not! The Dimarzio Area 58 arrived today and I had a chance to check its polarity. The poles are reversed from the stock MIM neck pickup and the same as the MIM middle which is a rw/rp. I know I can wire it in phase with the rest of the pick gaurd but it will not be hum canceling as the stock set up is now in #4 position of the 5 way. I seem to repeat this same lesson every time I try to "improve" a stock Strat. I either loose the very thing that I bought it for or end up chasing down a string of problems, always ending in a compromise by the time I finish sinking a few hundred into the pick gaurd. I should have also learned my lesson with Dimarzio pickups being compatible with anything else in the know universe. Any suggestions on how to get a clean 2 & 4 with the ingredients I now have to work with? Thanks for any advice.

FWIW, I've never been a fan of having the same guitar only partially HB as setting the amp always involves a compromise.

Unfortunately, you can't buck the laws of physics. In practical terms with your current pickup combo, there is however, one of two things you still can do:

1. Acknowledge that you traded HB position #4 for HB position #5 with a neck pickup that is leaps and bounds above the OEM so in the final analysis, you've gained. Or...

2. DiMarzio offers a 30 day exchange on pickups. You can call them up, explain your situation and they will make arrangements for you to exchange your current 58 with a RW/RP made one. (Just make sure you still have your receipt.)

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I am a neck man so clean #5 is essential to me. A clean #4 sound is also essential because it's my fav funky rhythm place to go on a Strat that is really nailing it with enough top end for it to speak. So....you have given me the answer with your second suggestion as the rw/rp 58 would solve everything! I hope they will make one. Thanks again for your invaluable insight. I think if I have learned anything about instruments in the last 44 years of playing it is probably the law of "don't improve what is already working". When a guitar is doing something you like really well, tread lightly when "improving" it. Everything else is likely to change in the process. I can say it but I just can't seem to do it. I have also found that cheap stock parts often times ARE the mojo. Thank much!

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"Knowledge does not cancel soul"

Again, glad to help!

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Wut? This sounds like computer crap or modes! Just play guitar to the best of your ability!

Knowledge, like Water is only absorbed where it is arid. I try to keep very dry. Thanks to all!

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"Knowledge does not cancel soul"

Whilst I appreciate your sentiment, it's not crap. An out of phase pickup will sound thin and unconvincing in the in-between position(s). Don't mix that up with whether or not the replacement pickup should be reverse wound to be hum cancelling. They are 2 different things.

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Fender Highway & Classic 60s Strats, Fender Toronado, Telecaster, Gretsch Projet, Charvel 3, PRS SE Soapbar II & Custom 24, Burns Batwing and many others!