Lazybass Posted July 6, 2012 Share Posted July 6, 2012 Hi guys, I have 2 DiMarzio PJ DP126 sets mounted on 2 of my basses, and I am experiencing a weird problem with them: each pickup sounds fine individually, but when blended together, the tone between the lower and the higher strings changes dramatically; while the E and A sound perfectly fine, the D and G sound really "honky", with an extra amount of mid frequencies - probably centered around 1k - which make them really unpleasant. Of course the different position of the coils of the P pickup has a role in this, however the effect if very dramatic, unlike other PJ I have played. It sounds like it's being greatly magnified by some electronic conflict or something. The pickups are wired correctly, and are part of a passive system. The problem is exactly the same on both basses, which are identical. I have also spent a few hours with one of London's top guitar repairers, but he couldn't find a solution. Does anyone have any idea what might be causing this, and what a possible solution could be ? Thanks a lot, Silvio Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassBod Posted July 6, 2012 Share Posted July 6, 2012 (edited) I had a similar problem a few years ago - seemed like one of the pairs in one of the pickups (you've essentially got four coils in total, each sensing a pair of strings) was wired internally out of phase...or the magnetic polarity of one pair of strings was the wrong way round. Never did work it out but the dealer replaced them, no hassle and the replacements were fine. My guess is someone wasn't too careful when they were mounting the magnets...so each pickup sounds fine on its own, but weird things happen when you mix pickups listening to the same string. See if you can test the magnetic polarity...that's about as much as I can help! If there is a problem, it could be as easy as flipping the bar magnet on the bottom (if you can unstick it). Edited July 6, 2012 by BassBod Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazybass Posted July 6, 2012 Author Share Posted July 6, 2012 [quote name='BassBod' timestamp='1341562824' post='1720872'] I had a similar problem a few years ago - seemed like one of the pairs in one of the pickups (you've essentially got four coils in total, each sensing a pair of strings) was wired internally out of phase...or the magnetic polarity of one pair of strings was the wrong way round. Never did work it out but the dealer replaced them, no hassle and the replacements were fine. My guess is someone was too careful when they were mounting the magnets...so each pickup sounds fine on its own, but weird things happen when you mix pickups listening to the same string. See if you can test the magnetic polarity...that's about as much as I can help! If there is a problem, it could be as easy as flipping the bar magnet on the bottom (if you can unstick it). [/quote] Bassbod, thanks a lot for your reply. I also had both basses tested by the guys at the Bass Gallery, and they said everything appears to be ok. The thing is, the problem is exactly the same on both basses, so if the problem is what you suggest, that would mean that both sets of pickups have the same defect.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassBod Posted July 6, 2012 Share Posted July 6, 2012 Which makes me think its a magnetic polarity issue, which is harder to spot...and far less expected? Good luck...they're great when they work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjones Posted July 6, 2012 Share Posted July 6, 2012 Maybe this will help [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Zk6Kbg6p78"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Zk6Kbg6p78[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bertbass Posted July 6, 2012 Share Posted July 6, 2012 That is a seriously interesting video. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.