Dummy coils?

[tomteriffic]

There are a few 3-pickup guitars that really flip my switch, looks wise (SG Custom, 3 P90 for sale on the board) but, for the most part, that middle pickup just gets in the way for me. On a Strat, it's a necessary evil but the middle pickup is pretty small anyway and doesn't get in the way of my pick quite so much.

But it occurred to me that instruments with dummy coils don't need that third pickup even visible. So perhaps I could make a middle pickup into a dummy coil and drop it waaaay down and keep it out of the way. It'd be pretty handy on a 2 P90 guitar.

What's involved in making/installing one. Care and feeding?

[Armitage]

Remove the magnet...

[Studio Custom]

Why does the pickup have to be a dummy as opposed to simply not wired in and just lowered?

[triodecr]

Gibson did this with their Blueshawk - dummy coil mounted in the back side of the guitar. They are pretty killer guitars and the rod magnet "P-90s" have a cool uber-fat single coil sound; smoother than a true P-90.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Gibson-1998-Blueshawk-Sweet-Smooth-as-glass-Handling-Legendary-For-its-Sustain-/201207538802?pt=Guitar&hash=item2ed8e76472

Schematic (along with tons of info) is here: http://www.blueshawk.info/official_gibson_schematic.htm

The dummy coil is just a P-90 coil sans screws, mags, and retainer. You can buy them on ebay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Gibson-P90-Dummy-Coil-Pickup-Hum-Cancelling-Guitar-/161494363344?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item2599d06cd0

[murkat]

Why does the pickup have to be a dummy as opposed to simply not wired in and just lowered?

three pup strats~ strat I Tiss.

the mag weight of three pups on the strings pull on the strings.

Less mag weight on the strings, more string tone.

(thats why one pup guits sound so good )

[Montelovesco]

The blueshawk site is cool. Had a Nighthawk once, but let her go after a few months. Just didn't fit. Maybe I should try a Blueshawk if one comes across...

[Armitage]

Why does the pickup have to be a dummy as opposed to simply not wired in and just lowered?

If you have an identical pickup without a magnet wired out of phase, all it does is pick up the EMF noise and cancel it out, without picking up the string moving through it's magnetic field (because it doesn't have one).

[Caddie]

The blueshawk site is cool. Had a Nighthawk once, but let her go after a few months. Just didn't fit. Maybe I should try a Blueshawk if one comes across...

This might tickle your fancy but getting it to you from Chicago might be pricey.

Regardless, nothing wrong with a little Gibson Blueshawk porn, right?

I have the orig Gibson case for it too!

If you feel you'd like to take another swing at a Nighthawk here's a dandy

Offering the best in Gibson Nighthawk & Blueshawk porn!

Cheers!

caddie

[hamerhead]

^^^ Those look like a Les Paul that's trying to poop.

[seeker]

Ritchie Blackmore didn't use the middle pup in his strats. Got in the way of his picking.

I've seen some RB signature models that just have a black piece of paper where the middle pup is.