SG-2 by Nitroburner1000

[wazkelly]

Did the packaging they came with give you any clues? Sometimes they tell you which bits go where. The deadest giveaway is which side the wires come out of as that tends to usually be on the downside and heading towards control cavity. The fact these have their name stamped on them also suggests you have them positioned right way around.

The Toneriders on my EX-1 has the screws at the back on each PUP so there goes the theory for having reversed slugs & screw pole pieces yet the factory ones on my Slash Epi LP have the usual screws outermost? Go figga???

[Simon Barden]

For standard humbuckers, having the adjustable screws facing the bridge (on the bridge pickup) and the neck (on the neck pickup) was merely an aesthetic consideration when Gibson started fitting them. They could easily have been fitted another way around and that would have become the accepted norm. here may be a very small variation in the sound due to slightly different responses from the individual coils in each pickup, but it really is minimal. They can be reversed and it wouldn't sound any different.

The Seymour Duncan P-Rails pups, on which these seem to have been roughly based, do have distinct bridge and neck pickup versions, where on the bridge pickup, the screws are by the bridge and the rail faces inwards, and no the neck, the screws face the neck and the rail faces inwards, with the SD logos both located in their standard place.

As one of the three coils on the Warmans is very different to the other two, there probably is going to be a more noticeable difference in the sound depending which way round they are orientated, especially in the bridge position when tapped. I'd leave sufficient cable so that they can be fit both ways round, and you simply try them out and find which orientation sounds best (probably easiest when in single coil mode).

With these Warmans, you need to remember that they are low-cost Asian made pups, and from the photos the Warman logo seems to be a sticky label, probably applied by hand. There doesn't appear from the website that there are specific neck and bridge versions of the pup, so I'm not surprised that they stick the label in the same place. There is one photo on the Warman site of a black version of the G-Rails with the adjustment screws in the bridge facing position and a printed (not a sticker) Warman logo, so it seems that they aren't that sure themselves!

I'd be very tempted to remove the Warman labels and fit them whichever way round you think is best.

[nitroburner1000]

For standard humbuckers, having the adjustable screws facing the bridge (on the bridge pickup) and the neck (on the neck pickup) was merely an aesthetic consideration when Gibson started fitting them. They could easily have been fitted another way around and that would have become the accepted norm. here may be a very small variation in the sound due to slightly different responses from the individual coils in each pickup, but it really is minimal. They can be reversed and it wouldn't sound any different.

The Seymour Duncan P-Rails pups, on which these seem to have been roughly based, do have distinct bridge and neck pickup versions, where on the bridge pickup, the screws are by the bridge and the rail faces inwards, and no the neck, the screws face the neck and the rail faces inwards, with the SD logos both located in their standard place.

As one of the three coils on the Warmans is very different to the other two, there probably is going to be a more noticeable difference in the sound depending which way round they are orientated, especially in the bridge position when tapped. I'd leave sufficient cable so that they can be fit both ways round, and you simply try them out and find which orientation sounds best (probably easiest when in single coil mode).

With these Warmans, you need to remember that they are low-cost Asian made pups, and from the photos the Warman logo seems to be a sticky label, probably applied by hand. There doesn't appear from the website that there are specific neck and bridge versions of the pup, so I'm not surprised that they stick the label in the same place. There is one photo on the Warman site of a black version of the G-Rails with the adjustment screws in the bridge facing position and a printed (not a sticker) Warman logo, so it seems that they aren't that sure themselves!

I'd be very tempted to remove the Warman labels and fit them whichever way round you think is best.

You say they are low cost Asian made pups, well that may be true , aside from selling direct, cutting out the middle man, the owner has been associated with guitars for 30 years and uses them so do a lot of high end guitar players in the UK, the reviews are good and the sound demos on Youtube are excellent so they are good enough for me, hey pitbull Guitars are Low cost Asian made guitars and i love them and think they are a cut above the rest, so go figure......Just because they are cheap and made in Asia doesnt necessarily mean they sound cheap.

As for your advice on the pups, thanks.......will give them a go as they are. cheers.

[nitroburner1000]

Did the packaging they came with give you any clues? Sometimes they tell you which bits go where. The deadest giveaway is which side the wires come out of as that tends to usually be on the downside and heading towards control cavity. The fact these have their name stamped on them also suggests you have them positioned right way around.

The Toneriders on my EX-1 has the screws at the back on each PUP so there goes the theory for having reversed slugs & screw pole pieces yet the factory ones on my Slash Epi LP have the usual screws outermost? Go figga???

No clue with th packaging im afraid.
Ok, will give them a go as is then reverse them and see what i like best..cheers Waz

[wazkelly]

Hi Nitro, just curious to know if they both have the wires coming out on the same side when you look at them from above?

[Simon Barden]

Hi Nitro, I obviously didn't convey my meaning correctly and I'm sorry i seem to have wound you up a bit. My apologies. I just meant that they are built in an Asian factory and are priced at the budget end of the pickup scale. They are no different in that respect to other UK designed, Asian-built pickups like Toneriders or Irongear (and I use and like Irongear ones quite a lot and will be fitting some on my ES-3). But they are built down to a cost, so sometimes the frills like the labelling suffers in comparison to the Seymour Duncans/DiMarzios of this world. I was not trying to imply that the sound would be cheap or poor and that you had made a bad choice.

As they aren't sold in matched sets, you may find that the neck pickup has a louder output than the bridge, so you may find that keeping the neck pickup as low as it can go may help even out the volumes. Then again this may not be an issue.

[nitroburner1000]

Hi Nitro, just curious to know if they both have the wires coming out on the same side when you look at them from above?

Heres a pic of the front and back of the pickguard

[nitroburner1000]

Hi Nitro, I obviously didn't convey my meaning correctly and I'm sorry i seem to have wound you up a bit. My apologies. I just meant that they are built in an Asian factory and are priced at the budget end of the pickup scale. They are no different in that respect to other UK designed, Asian-built pickups like Toneriders or Irongear (and I use and like Irongear ones quite a lot and will be fitting some on my ES-3). But they are built down to a cost, so sometimes the frills like the labelling suffers in comparison to the Seymour Duncans/DiMarzios of this world. I was not trying to imply that the sound would be cheap or poor and that you had made a bad choice.

As they aren't sold in matched sets, you may find that the neck pickup has a louder output than the bridge, so you may find that keeping the neck pickup as low as it can go may help even out the volumes. Then again this may not be an issue.

No worries Simon, appreciate you getting back to me and your advice.

[wazkelly]

Hi Nitro, judging by the reverse side of the pickguard shot I reckon you have them facing the right way.

Did you run a multi meter across the wires to see if either PUP had a higher or low impedance as the lower impedance usually goes in the neck position? If they read the same no big deal as you can balance the noise level by raising or lowering the PUP's to get the desired separation when using the 3 way toggle switch. Personally I prefer to have most PUP's at similar volume and allow their positioning and tonal characteristics do their thing without suffering dramatic drops in noise level when switching between them.

No doubt plenty others will jump in with their opinions too and that is fine as it all comes down to what works best for you the player, not what everyone else thinks.

Looks like you will have a ton of fun experimenting with all the sound combinations once fully wired up.

[nitroburner1000]

Hi Nitro, judging by the reverse side of the pickguard shot I reckon you have them facing the right way.

Did you run a multi meter across the wires to see if either PUP had a higher or low impedance as the lower impedance usually goes in the neck position? If they read the same no big deal as you can balance the noise level by raising or lowering the PUP's to get the desired separation when using the 3 way toggle switch. Personally I prefer to have most PUP's at similar volume and allow their positioning and tonal characteristics do their thing without suffering dramatic drops in noise level when switching between them.

No doubt plenty others will jump in with their opinions too and that is fine as it all comes down to what works best for you the player, not what everyone else thinks.

Looks like you will have a ton of fun experimenting with all the sound combinations once fully wired up.

Thanks WAZ for all your help, i have a multi meter but not quite sure what settings to have it on to get a correct reading, any clues?
Quick lesson in impedences?

btw i like both pups to have the same volume level.