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The Pickup Place / Re: Neck pickup to go with Air Norton in the Bridge of a Les Paul

« on: August 28, 2025, 10:42:06 AM »

You cannot compare the DC resistance of the Air Norton to the 36th for output because the coils are wound with a different wire.

This is especially true with DiMarzio pickups in general since air bucker, virtual vintage and dual-resonance technologies effectively render DCR numbers useless.

That out of the way I’m not sure why this is being raised.

The mV value is a better indicator.

The 36th Anniversary model that is spec'd with a DCR of 8.6k is spec'd with an output level of 285mV.

The Air Norton is spec'd with an output level of 270mV.

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The Pickup Place / Re: Neck pickup to go with Air Norton in the Bridge of a Les Paul

« on: August 27, 2025, 10:39:33 PM »

Okay, I am not great with guitar electronics but I cab use a meter. AM comes in at 12.5k ohms and the 36th neck at 8.5.

https://www.dimarzio.com/pickups/vintage-paf-output/paf-36th-anniversary-neck

Check the resistance specification of the 36th Neck.

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The Pickup Place / Re: Neck pickup to go with Air Norton in the Bridge of a Les Paul

« on: August 25, 2025, 05:10:32 PM »

The spec for the 36th Anniversary Bridge model is 8.60k. The neck model is 7.31k. 8.60k connected to a 500k pot will measure 8.45k.

That someone might have a problem pairing the 36th neck with an AN in the bridge doesn’t come as a big surprise to me. It is no wonder that you would have to bottom-out a 36th bridge in the neck position, assuming that is what you have.

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The Pickup Place / Re: Neck pickup to go with Air Norton in the Bridge of a Les Paul

« on: August 24, 2025, 02:29:10 AM »

The PAF 57 is likely going to be closer to the Duncan Seth Lovers. The wire used on the APH (and Jazz which is the same pickup but with an A5 magnet) has a different insulator which reduces the inter-wind capacitance. I have no reason not to believe that the wind pattern is also significantly different between the APH and a traditional P.A.F. as this is something that I regularly see attributed to the design.

It doesn’t sound like you’ll be pulling the Fred out of your Ibby to try with the 36th, but do try The Breed Neck in the bridge if you haven’t already. Even if you don’t keep it, I think the experience is worthwhile.

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The Pickup Place / Re: Neck pickup to go with Air Norton in the Bridge of a Les Paul

« on: August 23, 2025, 07:41:11 PM »

Set neck guitar or bolt on?

As a point of reference, the Full Shred Neck is the leanest Duncan humbucker which is also quite bright. It would probably be my first choice to pair with an AN, though I also like the EJ Custom Neck. That said, I’m under the impression that you don’t want a bright pickup so i didn’t mention these.

The other pickup that came to mind was the Air Classic Neck, which like Fred for the bridge to pair with the 36th Neck in the neck, I thought it might also come up as a suggestion to pair with the Air Norton in the bridge.

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The Pickup Place / Re: Neck pickup to go with Air Norton in the Bridge of a Les Pasul

« on: August 21, 2025, 12:15:48 AM »

The PAF 59s are A5. Are you considering a magnet swap?

A2s are lower output and less punchy, in my estimation. Ask five different people about the frequency response and you’ll get five different answers. I would say they provide a slightly softened top end but still produce plenty of sparkle with a 42 gauge vintage wind.

I would consider using the Nash wiring on the tone control if you use the Bluesbucker.

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The Pickup Place / Re: HSS with Dimarzio Bridge HB

« on: August 20, 2025, 07:27:29 PM »

Like I said, reversing the polarity of the alnico slugs in a traditional single coil is trivial. It is far easier than flipping a magnet in a humbucker because it is non-invasive. I was able to order a package of 1/4” diameter, 1/2” long neo rod magnets for $9.

Reversing the polarity of a stacked DiMarzio pickup is not as easy because it requires disassembly but is still doable. It is perhaps more difficult than flipping the magnet of a humbucker as the construction is a bit more delicate. I highly recommend desoldering the short black/white wire pair so that the top coil which contains the slugs can be physically removed from the rest of the assembly.

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The Pickup Place / Re: Neck pickup to go with Air Norton in the Bridge of a Les Pasul

« on: August 18, 2025, 05:59:57 PM »

Since the AT-1 was mentioned I think it’s worth noting that The Breed set is back on the website. Personally, I would opt for the more balanced Breed Neck (DP165) in the bridge over the AT-1.

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The Pickup Place / Re: Neck pickup to go with Air Norton in the Bridge of a Les Pasul

« on: August 17, 2025, 07:58:04 PM »

I had a similar experience with the AN in the bridge and Humbucker from Hell in the neck. I found the AN to be very lean in the bridge position. The HFH produces a fair amount of low end in the neck position against a vintage output pickup in the bridge, despite what the specifications imply, exacerbating the situation.

I don’t have any suggestions but have a feeling someone might mention a Fred since you like the harmonic content of the AN. Regardless, I would look at the medium output section to find an alternative to the 36th bridge assuming I wanted to keep the 36th neck in the neck position.

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The Pickup Place / Re: HSS with Dimarzio Bridge HB

« on: July 28, 2025, 02:35:12 AM »

I prefer the outer coil but recommend trying both ways. Depending on the pickup, rotating it may also provide different results.

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The Pickup Place / Re: HSS with Dimarzio Bridge HB

« on: July 27, 2025, 10:52:56 PM »

Here’s an HSS wiring diagram from DiMarzio:
https://www.dimarzio.com/media/1435

Position 2 is combining the middle pickup with the North (inner) coil of the bridge pickup. The middle pickup is labeled as having South polarity.

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The Pickup Place / Re: HSS with Dimarzio Bridge HB

« on: July 27, 2025, 12:51:29 PM »

I use neodymium rod magnets to reverse the polarity of single coil slugs.

https://youtu.be/Ig-t5wx3iyw

A potential issue will arise with single coils if the inside windings make electrical contact with the slugs. In that case you would want that end of the coil to connect to ground if there is an issue with hum when touching the slugs. I have never encountered this, however.

I’ll give you an anecdote for Seymour Duncan pickups and magnetic polarity. I had to flip the bar magnet of a JB in order to get in-phase hum-cancelling operation when combining its slug coil with an SSL-2 single coil which I purchased as RW-RP. This tells me that the visible ends of the slugs in an installed RW-RP Seymour Duncan single coil are North and those in a standard one are South. It is my understanding that this is in keeping with the original Fender design, which Fender later changed.

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The Pickup Place / Re: HSS with Dimarzio Bridge HB

« on: July 26, 2025, 04:49:36 PM »

Wind direction can and will vary depending on who made the pickup and when it was made.

Depending on the situation you can reverse the wires or reverse the magnetic polarity in order to get the desired result.

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The Pickup Place / Re: 1990s B5 bridge humbucker

« on: July 26, 2025, 04:33:00 PM »

I was thinking Neck/Bridge but Front/Back could also be used to specify the location of each pickup.

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The Pickup Place / Re: 1990s B5 bridge humbucker

« on: July 23, 2025, 01:47:20 PM »

Does the neck pickup have an N on the back?