Help. Odd disclaimer on BKP wiring diagram

[Webmaestro]

Just received a calibrated set of Aftermath 7's after a very long wait for them to be shipped here from the UK.

I have an Ibanez RG1527M (2 hum, 1 vol, 1 tone, 5-way switch)

Luckily, it just so happens that there is a BKP wiring diagram for the exact configuration I need, and here it is:



Notice the disclaimer, which I've called-out with a big red arrow. Any ideas what the hell that means? I have a suspicion, and I sure as hell hope I'm wrong.

[bob123]

It means you the magnets in those pickups are out of phase with each other. So the pickup needs to be installed the "correct way" or it wont sound right at all (out of phase).

[rippedflesh89]

Originally Posted by bob123

It means you the magnets in those pickups are out of phase with each other. So the pickup needs to be installed the "correct way" or it wont sound right at all (out of phase).

this

just make sure the adjustable (screw) coils are facing the way they show in that picture

ie the screw coil of the neck goes toward the neck and screw coil of the bridge goes toward the bridge

[Webmaestro]

Okay... so basically flip the entire pickup 180 degrees from what is normal? That's what I hoped this meant. However, doesn't that alter the sound somewhat during normal (series) mode?

I had seen somewhere on the BKP forums that this disclaimer meant that the pickup had to be physically dismantled, and one of the magnets reversed... something that can only be done at BKP or by a very skilled tech.

That thread is here, if you're curious: https://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/for...?topic=27133.0

(I feel bad for the poor guy, and thought that's what I also had to do)

Also, btw, I have the double-adjustable poles, but I'll assume that the same rule still applies:

[bob123]

Honestly, the disclaimer makes ZERO sense to me, and I dont get why they would fabricate their pickups "wrong".

I highly recommend you send them an email "wtf'ing" them.



That said, swapping pup magnets is childs play haha. loosen the screws on bottom, pull magnet out, flip it, put it back, tighten screws..... TADA!!!!!

[JamesM]

[Styxmata]

I too just purchased and installed a set of Aftermath 8's into my RG2228 last week and switch position 2 does not work at all, bridge hum is very "noisy" and my neck hum sounds like ass (I have checked all the wiring mutiple times and I am 100% it is correctly configured and connected), my issue is that on every other pickup manufacturer's site their diagrams clearly state to reverse the polarity of the humbuckers so essentially the neck top is +pos and bridge bottom is -neg. I thought this was what they meant but after recently stumbling on mutiple posts about this I am getting kind of annoyed thinking that is the problem. Why wouldn't they clearly state that in a more defining manor as a purchase option because from what I have read this is not a simple procedure. I will email them tonight and attempt to call. If you get an answer from them please let me know what they said.

[Styxmata]

Originally Posted by bob123

Honestly, the disclaimer makes ZERO sense to me, and I dont get why they would fabricate their pickups "wrong".

I highly recommend you send them an email "wtf'ing" them.



That said, swapping pup magnets is childs play haha. loosen the screws on bottom, pull magnet out, flip it, put it back, tighten screws..... TADA!!!!!

I have should have bit my tongue for 10 more minutes. BK Tech just emailed me back confirming that is indeed what needs to be done, since you also have the 8 string set which does not come with covers this is a very simple procedure. I did some google magic and found a site that explains it perfectly. Trade Secrets! Newsletter at Stewart-MacDonald

Hope this helps, crossing my fingers that this is the only thing wrong with my setup.

[Webmaestro]

Originally Posted by Styxmata

I have should have bit my tongue for 10 more minutes. BK Tech just emailed me back confirming that is indeed what needs to be done, since you also have the 8 string set which does not come with covers this is a very simple procedure. I did some google magic and found a site that explains it perfectly. Trade Secrets! Newsletter at Stewart-MacDonald

Hope this helps, crossing my fingers that this is the only thing wrong with my setup.

Ugh. Yes, someone on the BKP support forums just confirmed for me as well, but THANK YOU for the StewMac article. I'm hoping the procedure is as easy as they claim there (and I'm going to email that article to the BKP rep as well for confirmation). I'm not sure if they mean to "flip" the magnet (as shown in that article) or to instead "rotate" it 180 degrees.

SO, LET THIS BE A WARNING TO IBANEZ 2-HUM, 5-WAY SWITCH OWNERS:

If you buy BKP's and wish to retain the Ibanez 2-hum, 1-vol, 1-tone, 5-way switch configuration--where the neck p/u can be switched between series and parallel--you will have to physically modify the neck humbucker.

(I'm not sure if this only applies to the Aftermath 7, or all BKP's)

Your other (better) option is to notify the store before you purchase, and BKP will take care of this before they send them to you. That, or settle for a different configuration that sacrifices the ability to do series/parallel switching.

[drawnacrol]

Your pickups should be installed like this, just flip the neck pickup 180 and install it. Otherwise you will get lots of feedback and phase issues.

[Webmaestro]

Originally Posted by drawnacrol

Your pickups should be installed like this, just flip the neck pickup 180 and install it. Otherwise you will get lots of feedback and phase issues.

I wish it were that easy, but that's not what I'm being told. On the BKP support forums, I've specifically asked if simply rotating it 180 degrees is the solution, and been told no. A physical modification of the p/u (removing and flipping just the magnet) is necessary.

May I ask what your switch configuration is? Do you have the typical Ibanez 5-way switching... with the 4th position running the neck in parallel?

Your pic shows the normal orientation--exactly what I would've done regardless. However, rotating the pickup and rotating just the magnet are two totally different things.

[drawnacrol]

Sorry should have said thats a RG1527 with BKP Miracle Man Pickups, the 5-way switching works as pictures in your diagram with the 4th position running the neck as parallel.

Their is no hum/buzz when they are setup the way in my pic. When I installed the pickup the first time their was tons of feedback until I took it out and flipped it the way it is in my pic. That stopped all the noise and phase problems.

[Webmaestro]

Originally Posted by drawnacrol

Sorry should have said thats a RG1527 with BKP Miracle Man Pickups, the 5-way switching works as pictures in your diagram with the 4th position running the neck as parallel.

Their is no hum/buzz when they are setup the way in my pic. When I installed the pickup the first time their was tons of feedback until I took it out and flipped it the way it is in my pic. That stopped all the noise and phase problems.

Man, I'm getting so confused. On the one hand, the solution sounds as simple as orienting the pickups as you've shown above (which is what I was planning to do even before discovering this magnet thing)... and on the other I'm hearing that the p/u needs to undergo some big hairy operation.

[Greatoliver]

So are the BKPs made differently to Dimarzios/SD/all other major pup companies?

Tbh, I would just wire them in as you would any other and see what they sound like. When I had my Warpigs, I didn't notice any difference with the 5 way, but that was ~2 years ago.

[drawnacrol]

Originally Posted by Webmaestro

Man, I'm getting so confused. On the one hand, the solution sounds as simple as orienting the pickups as you've shown above (which is what I was planning to do even before discovering this magnet thing)... and on the other I'm hearing that the p/u needs to undergo some big hairy operation.

Just try it they way I have in my pic and see if it works. My neck pickup sounds grand and all 5 switches are working as they should.

[JamesM]

Just try it on Drawnacrol's suggestion and see what happens. There's nothing to lose, really.

[Webmaestro]

Originally Posted by The Armada

Just try it on Drawnacrol's suggestion and see what happens. There's nothing to lose, really.

Well, there's a loss of money and time if it's not done correctly the 1st time. So, I was hoping to nail it on the first attempt--so as to not be without my main axe for a month and have to drop more $$ having it re-wired.

[JamesM]

I mean, this is sort of conjecture until you install it and see what happens.

It doesn't take long to install some pickups.

[Webmaestro]

I agree. I've devoted way too much energy to this and worried about it enough already. Techs get paid to figure this stuff out, not me, so I'll leave it with a reputable one tomorrow and let him call me if he has any issues. I'll mention the magnet thing to him and circle the disclaimer on the wiring diagram. He may just laugh at it as a non-issue.

[ConnorGilks]

If it helps, I had Cold Sweats installed and the tech used this diagram. It's for an RG7321 with the same wiring, and now I'm having issues with the neck pickup. In position 4 and 5 it sounds like it's in single coil mode the whole time, it sounds extremely thin and has more buzz than the bridge pickup.

Could that be a related issue?

[Styxmata]

Originally Posted by Webmaestro

I agree. I've devoted way too much energy to this and worried about it enough already. Techs get paid to figure this stuff out, not me, so I'll leave it with a reputable one tomorrow and let him call me if he has any issues. I'll mention the magnet thing to him and circle the disclaimer on the wiring diagram. He may just laugh at it as a non-issue.

Wether you choose to rotate the neck pup 180 or physically flip the magnet you do not have to rewire, that is if your tech left the 8 feet of conductor wiring that the BK's came with. Last week I did the 180 rotation and just pulled the wiring out a couple inches unfortunately that did not solve my noise issue, a couple hours ago I performed the magnet flip but I had to leave for work so I was not able to plug in and test riff to see if it did the trick. The magnet flip is simple I wish I would have taken pictures because it is a little different than the StewMac link but I can explain to you how it is done. Whenever I do something with my pups on my 2228 and don't want to take the string off the easiest way I found is to loosen the nut tuning locks and then loosen the strings keeping the locks loose, then I take the strings off at the bridge and just wrap them around the back of the body to keep them out of the way so I don't feel like a fish in a net. For the magnet flip I loosened all 16 poles just until there we're only a couple threads holding them in while the pup was still screwed to the body for stability, then took out the mounting screws and pulled the pup out of the cavity just flipping it upside down (I used a shirt over the guitar body and set the pup on it so I didn't scratch my baby up) next step carefully unravel the cotton cambric tape they put around the humbucker and set it aside (I didn't have any cotton woven cambric tape and didn't want to use plain elec. tape so I just reused what was on it) now remove the four screws on the back and very carefully pull each individual coil off one at a time, they don't use glue to hold them on just the wax so they're very easily peeled off, in the middle is the magnet and on both sides of it are the pole mounts so just give the magnet a little backflip and keep the mounts at the same orientation. You might have to fiddle around with the pieces and squeeze them back in place but everything went back in very smoothly for me. Now just reverse the process and you should be back in business. Just take your time and try not to wrestle it around even though after wrenching 16 pole pieces back and forth with a tiny allen wrench might drive you mad so I would suggest finding a drill fitting and putting the drill to the lowest torque setting. I hope this helps, I'll let you know tomorrow if this did the trick for my insane noise problem.

[myampslouder]

Ok so reading through this thread I think a lot if you are still confused.

Bareknuckle pickups will work just fine in an ibanez with zero mods

They are not going to be out of phase unless you wired the pickup wrong.

I'm sure most if you are familiar with a fender stratocaster's revers sound reverse polarity middle pickups. Its the same principle with humbuckers. Stock ibanez neck pickups are reverse wound reverse polarity so That when you use the split coil setting on you selector switch the pickups will still be hum cancelling. If you install bareknuckles without a reverse polarity neck pickup the only thing That will happens is you will lose hum cancelling when the neck and bridge are run together and Coulter tapped

I used Bareknuckle pickups in my S7420 for a long time without any issues. My pickups were not modified in any way and all positions worked and sounded great

[Styxmata]

Originally Posted by myampslouder

Ok so reading through this thread I think a lot if you are still confused.

Bareknuckle pickups will work just fine in an ibanez with zero mods

They are not going to be out of phase unless you wired the pickup wrong.

I'm sure most if you are familiar with a fender stratocaster's revers sound reverse polarity middle pickups. Its the same principle with humbuckers. Stock ibanez neck pickups are reverse wound reverse polarity so That when you use the split coil setting on you selector switch the pickups will still be hum cancelling. If you install bareknuckles without a reverse polarity neck pickup the only thing That will happens is you will lose hum cancelling when the neck and bridge are run together and Coulter tapped

I used Bareknuckle pickups in my S7420 for a long time without any issues. My pickups were not modified in any way and all positions worked and sounded great

After spending the last serveral days speaking back and forth with a BK rep some light has been shed on this issue and he explained why some people have the issues while others do not when some guitar owners with no issues also claims there were no mods on theirs. During checkout you specify which make and model your pups are to be used for and the guys at BK will make the proper adjustments on the pups based on the specifics you gave them ie. The S7420 is a typical 1vol 1tone 5 way switch set up so they will make send you the neck pup with the proper wiring before hand. The fact I only specified the rg2228 and no other specifics about an aftermarket 5 way switch they sent me the pup set for that set up.

[Jzbass25]

Im a little confused, does that mean my dimarzio in the neck is suppose to be turned 180 too with my bkp in the bridge? It seems to sound fine. It doesn't have adjustable screws so only the wire at the bottom orientates me.

[JamesM]

If it sounds fine, don't worry about it.