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Fender®, Squier®, Stratocaster® and Strat® are registered trademarks of Fender Musical Instruments Corporation and Axesrus® has no affiliation with FMIC

Bode Plots

	Swap Graphs?
	Pickup #1 Single Coil Humbucker Telecaster P90 Offets Bass Other Late 50s	Pickup #2 Humbucker Single Coil Classic 50s Bourbon CityXDevestatorEtherealHereticHot IronModel 24True 50s

Bode plots are one of my “things” when it comes to pickups – I’m a huge believer that “guitars sound like guitar”, and that there is FAR too much expectation placed on pickups “to be different”, with a real belief that these things are very “black and white/good and bad/one thing or the other” and, honestly? Its not true!

Really, there isn’t a massive amount of tonal difference between, say, an Axesrus late 60s and an Axesrus Mid 50s single coil. Sure, if we were to compare a very high output humbucker like the Hot Iron and a very traditional single coil, the differences start increase, but at no point does the guitar start sounding like anything other then a guitar! Think of them as shades of grey, and you wont go far wrong.

So, when shopping pickups? And being confronted with a wall of numbers, hugely flowery write ups, sound clips that don’t tell you a great deal – Bode plots are a fantastic way to say “these 2 are similar, this ones a bit more of this, that ones a little more that” – it might not come through in the recordings, it might not be evident in the numbers, you can guarantee the write ups are going to over egg the pudding – but the bode plot? She cannot lie!

So, a quick crash course in reading bode plots?

The higher the peaks frequency (in kHz) the brighter the pickup.

The higher the peaks voltage, the more aggressive its going to be in that register.
The ”wider” the lead in and lead out immediately around the peak (the Q factor) the smoother the pickup is going to be. The narrower, the more focused and snappy it will be.

And – a handy hint – view the resonant peak and Q factor in relation to the  lower frequencies (0-2kHz) – a pickup producing 10dbU at 1kHz, and 30dbU at a resonant peak of 5kHz might seem bright in graph form, but its all relative – its bright, but its also very bass rich, so it wont seem that bright in reality)

So, single coils are, by their nature, very high voltage, at a very narrow peak – theres no escaping it, but we can see how the Late 50s differs from its evolution, the Late 60s in its Q factor – whilst, on the whole, they’re VERY similar, we can see a widening of the curve on the lead in – this explains the perception that the pickup is warmer, more rounded, more forgiving.

And compared to, say, the Texas blues – we can see that, whilst its brighter (the peak sits at a higher frequency) its actually producing marginally more bass frequencies, and the Q factor is again, wider ,with an increase in the treble range evident.

And that’s quite interesting, because on the face of it, most people would correctly identify the Late 50s as being the brighter when compared to the Texas blues, but it would take some serious ears to be able to ID that its actually a smoother brightness straight off the bat, compared to a Texas Blues vs. a Late 60s, which is a much more similar Q factor, and a much straight comparison as a result.

So, there we have it all laid out in blue and purple.

Sets vs. Singles

Right then – I’ll concede that this is a bit confusing, but, there is some logic to it – its just a little bit involved, so this is worth a read.

So, right off the bat, when we speak about “a matched set” – in this instance, that means 3 pickups that are all the same resistance, inductance, magnets etc – because that’s what was happening in 1957, and was actually the norm right up until the 80s (and even then? The idea of specific pickups for specific positions on the guitar, is something that’s been invented by pickup manufacturers more then it has been embraced by guitar manufacturers)

so, a set of Late 50s? They’re all going to be 6K, Alnico 5. Simple!

Now, we offer 2 different sets – and whilst I’m loath to actually name them such, you can think of it as “Vintage” and “Modern”

Theres the “With Middle Reverse Wound” – that’s the “Modern” variation – basically, before 1977, Fender never made a Stratocaster with a reverse wound pickup (and they didn’t make many before 1983!) – the idea of a reverse wound/hum cancelling middle pickup is, relatively speaking, very modern.

And then theres “Middle NOT Reverse Wound” – that’s vintage! As youd expect, it’s a pre 1977 spec, so if your going warts and all reproduction, that’s what you want.

Stuck in the middle

Now, before we get into the why/why not – remember, a reverse wound (and reverse polarity) pickup will sound exactly the same as a pickup that’s standard wind, standard polarity – your not losing or gaining anything by having it as an option.

However – where it does matter, is in positions 2 and 4 on a 5 way switch.

Because there were no reverse wound middles pre 77, there were (officially) no 5 way switches, and the Strat® came with a 3 way switch as standard. (Although some players fitted the 5 way back in the day, and there are rumours Fender even began shipping them loose with new guitars!)

Nowadays, that seems quite minimalist, and we all play 5 ways, purely because position 2 and 4 are, arguably, the best sounding thing on any instrument ever created!

But it does throw a spanner in the works when you factor in that middle pickup.

A ”reverse wound” middle pickup, in combination with a “standard sound” Bridge or Neck will sound normal – you get some signal loss (phase cancellation due to positioning in relation to the strings) but on the whole, its not all that noticeable – its, likely, the tone you’ve been playing for the last 40 years frankly, its very much “the norm” nowadays.

A ”NOT REVERSE WOUND” middle with a standard neck of bridge, is going to sound very different. Your going to get way more signal loss, its going to have a very distinctive out of phase sound. Almost washed out, thinner, but, strangely, a little louder.

Now, honestly, neither is right or wrong – you will, I promise you, have heard pickups, near identical to the Late 50s being played in phase, you’ll have heard them being played out of phase – both tones are equally as good, and both are equally as usable! (Me? I’m a sucker of out of phase personally, its got a slightly dirty, broken thing going on!)

So, theres your options on that front – you can have it like it was in the 50s and stick them on a 3 way switch, you can have it like it was in the 50s, and stick in on the 5 way switch, and experience the slight broken magic of the whole idea, or you can take that 50s spec, modernise it slightly so it behaves like a bog standard Strat set from 2023, and never worry about phase cancellation ever again.

Single and ready to mingle

I do, secretly, like making up little nonsense puns for the headers of these write ups, but this ones quite apt!

If your buying a single pickup, that’s fantastic, I’m all for mixing and matching different pickups together to really personalise a guitar and get it working for you – so, rather then brow beat anyone who dare suggest putting an Axesrus pickup next to a Seymour Duncan or a DiMarzio – how about I actually tell you how to ensure that your going to match the things up properly?
Wind Direction

So, with our single coils – as “standard” (aka, “Not Reverse Wound”) – all models are wound clockwise, South polarity.

And all reverse wound pickups, are counter clockwise, north polarity.

And what that means is, if you hold the pickup in the palm of your hand, with the bottom fibre board down, with the hookup wires facing you, the “start” of the coil (the black wire!) is on the LEFT (and the white wire, is on the right)

That, is clockwise wind! Easy right.

If you’ve got a middle pickup that’s the opposite of that (black on the right, white or yellow on the left), that means your middles reverse wound (in relation to an Axesrus pickup) – but remember, not everyone follows the same standard (even Fender® have been known to wander!) so it’s worth checking.
Polarity
Polarity is a little more complicated/confusing so, to spell it out as straight forward as I can. Our standard is South Top (reverse would be North Top)

Again, not everyone follows the same standard, so its worth checking.

The problem is – when you check, that’s what’ll confuse the life out of you, so heres the way to do it.

1. Get yourself a magnetic compass, identify which is the north needle (and which is the south).
2. Hold the compass so the edge is facing the top of the poles of the pickup – either the North or south needle will point directly at the pole.

If it NORTH needle is pointing towards the pole, that means the pole is SOUTH top (confusing right? North literally means south (weirdly, the earths north pole? That’s south polarity too!)

Alternatively, you can download a pole checker on your smart phone – it’s a free download. If that says “north” when you offer it up to a magnets pole, that’s true – North = North!

Once you know the polarity of your other pickups, your going to know what you need from your new one.

Remember, we wind these to our standard (and it’s a very widely used standard outside of Axesrus too) but, if you do find yourself needing a pickup that’s clockwise wound, north polarity, or something way out – just give us a ring, and we can do it, no problems at all.

Humbucker compatibility!

And one of the times where you ARE going to find weird and wonderful situations where you need weird phasings, is with a HSS guitar.

A much more widely enforced standard, is the polarity and phase of humbucker coils – the slug coil is ALWAYS Counter Clockwise, North Polarity. Always (the screw coil is always clockwise/south)

So, when coil splitting a humbucker, so it behaves correctly in pos 2 on a HSS guitar, you will, normally, be tapping down to the slug coil. That leaves you with a Counter clockwise/North pickup live.

Our middles (and most other middles as standard!) being reverse wound, are also counter clockwise/north – and, technically speaking, that’d be wrong by the modern standard. So – HSS guitars, your better off getting a NOT REVERSE middle pickup, that way, pos 2/split isn’t out of phase. (unless you want it to be, then go for a RWRP middle!)

Alternatively, you cheat – you stick the neck pickup in the middle slot, and the middle pickup in the neck slot (its VERY rare that neck and middle pickups differ in terms of resistance, so, tonally, they’re the same anyway)

Remember though, this is just with HSS guitars – HSH models, you don’t want a reverse wound middle. Get the phasing and polarity right! And if in doubt, I’m but a phone call or email away.

Does Pole staggering matter?

This ones one those things that crops up every so often, and i dont think anyone really has a straight answer, so i figured i'd try and explain what pole staggering is, and whilst i probably cant say "this is better then that!", atleast your slightly better informed.

Why does it exist?

So, traditionally? a single coil pickup comes with staggered poles - specifically, the E and A poles (17.5mm long poles) are shorter then the D ang G poles (18mm) , the B pole (16.5mm) is shorter again, and the high E (17mm) is slightly higher. Its very common, and is an idea thats been around since the very first Stratocaster, and exists purely to "balance" the strings, because the wound strings are "quieter" then the unwound (because they constain less steel within those nickel wraps essentially) and with the 7 1/4" radius necks of the 50s, the strings sat further away from the pickup compared to more modern, flatter radius' necks.(old guitars had worse actions, basically)

Interestingly, on the very first Strat single coil models, the staggering was different, with a 17.5mm being used on the G string, which caused the wound Gs of the time to be slightly too quiet, and that was phased out in 1956 for the "normal" staggering we see pretty much everywhere nowadays.

However - that change in 56, is interesting - because, really, it was done to account for wound G strings... which are a bit of a rarity nowadays (with "unwound Gs" becoming common in the 70s), so why has the idea of staggering not evolved further?

Now, this is going to get a little more into the psychology of guitars rather then the science of pickups, and i dont have all the answers on this front, but if we take this information with a pinch of salt, it does make some sense - and it all boils down to the unavoidable truth of guitar parts in general.

"Pickups with staggered poles have been used, from 1954 until (on the whole) this morning, to make all the music we listen to"

And knowing that? We're basically at a weird point where we've got to admit "all we've ever heard" is music played on the Stratocaster, with pickups that had staggered poles. Its the sound we like. Nowadays, its actually a slight imbalance in the strings, but its something we've grown to love.

Sure, the staggering might have been designed for wound Gs, which we no longer use, sure, necks are, on the whole, flatter then they were in 1957, and allow us to get a much lower action, and the idea of a staggered pole doesn't make a great deal of sense any more, because we're not fighting the same problems we'd have faced the fifties.... but, that doesn't change the fact that our favourite new band, formed in 2019, who play guitars from that year, are all STILL playing pickups with staggered poles. Its just standard practise now, so, dont fight the tide - staggering is the norm, so stick with it, it might be wrong, but its sounds right!

The Exception
Flat necks!

Whilst i can sit here and say "staggering is wrong, but its the wrong we know" - it is still, on the whole, quite helpful! With either a 7 1/4" or a 9 1/2" radius neck being the standard on most models, the only thing thats "wrong", usually, is the G string - theres still enough of a curve in the neck to get the strings sitting far enough away from the pickups face to warrent having staggered poles.

But - when we get away from that? When we get into the world of 12" and 14" and Compound radius necks? We actually come out the other side of the problem. We're not capable of getting the strings so "flat" across the face of the pickup, that staggering is actually causing more of an inbalance in string volume then correcting it.

so, if your playing a guitar with a flatter radius neck - avoid staggering! (its also not a bad idea if your making a HSS or HSH setup either, because no one adjusts the poles on their humbuckers in the same way) - Non-staggered poles will give you more consistent results.

In summary
Warts and all replicas? vintage re-issues? Meet your hero guitars? Where your working with 7 1/4" radius necks? Those of us stubborn enough to still be buying wound Gs? Go for staggering!

Modern guitars based on old designs? 9 1/2" radius? 7 1/4" radius but not using wound Gs? Normal guitars? Your still wanting staggering!

Ultra flat necks? HSH and HSS setups? Super low action? Your probably going to want non-staggered.

Is Formvar warmer?

If i had a pound for every time i've been told this as a hard fact, i wouldn't be sat here typing this out - i'd be on my mega yacht! Its one of those weird half myths that crop up in guitars so often that its sort of become gospel, so, considering this is one of the few pickups we actually use Formvar on? This isn't a bad place to set the record straight.

Its all in the build!

When we speak about "Formvar wire" or "plain enamel wire" or "polysol" or "enamelled" or "Magnesol" or "polyester" or whatever else there exists out there, what we're actually saying is "this copper is coated in this material"

And thats pretty much it - all things being equal - Formvar insulated copper behaves exactly the same as Plain enamel, and any other copper wire on the planet. You could coat the copper in soft cheese for all it mattered, as long as it stopped coil 1 shorting against coil 2, its going to sound the same.

BUT - Formvar is NOT equal! Nor is it magic!

Now, this is a 2 fold problem sadly, and it gets a little in depth, so if you want to skip this bit, just go away with this "Yes, Formvar insulation will give you a warmer pickup at the same resistance then any other insulation"

Insulation thickness

The reality, is this - fold 1!

Formvar, only exists in "heavy build" on AWG wire- and what that means is, whilst the central core is the same diameter regardless of instulation (in this case, 0.0635mm) the insulation coating is thicker (for arguements sake, lets say its double thick) then "single build", which is used on most other types of insulation.

And remember, Formvar isn't a chemical composition, its simply a defunct brand name for a wire from the 40s and 50s, which had some very specific characteristics (low melting point, "heavy" build Polyester insulation, 0.0635mm diameter (42 AWG) and bright orange colouring. The brands long gone (and has been picked up by Electrisola, who now make "formvar instulated copper" to the original specs) but the name has become synonymous with the spec.

So, what we're actually dealing with here, isn't some magical chemical thats going to change your tone (it is, ultiamtely, just orange polyester insulation) - we're dealing with insulation thickness.

Now, "Formvar" is the only wire available, on the planet, that is available in 42 AWG (thats important!) heavy build. Other heavy builds do exist, but they're normally metric wire (0.06mm core diameter!) and other 42 AWGs do exist, but they're always in single build (usually Plain enamel) - Formvar is unique in its construction.

And that effects your coils, for 2 reason.

1. Its going to take up more room - for ever "layer" of copper you put on your pickup, Formvar has twice the amount of insulation around the copper - its external diameter is thicker, so your getting less wire on the frames.
2. Each coil is sitting within a different postiont of the magnets field compared to single build wire (layer 2 is further from the magnet, and as such is being subjected to a weaker magnetic field)

So you end up with a strange siutation where each "layer" of Formvar is actually longer then it would be if you'd wound it with a single build wire, BUT, you cant get as much wire on there because your losing space to insulation.

So, whilst its true to say "Formvar will give you a warmer tone at the same resistance then Plain enamel" - its only a half truth, because whilst there might be the same length of copper on the 2 pickups being compared (thats all resistance really is) - the actual geometry of the coil, and how that copper is sitting in relation to the magnetic field, is very different.

All that said - whilst its not true in theory (Heavy build plain enamel would sound the same as Formvar which would sound the same as heavy build soft cheese) - in practise, because no other 42 AWG wires exist in heavy build, we might as well just treat is as a complete truth. Just remember, its not that theres some magic in the orange dye, its purely down to the thickness of insulation changing coil geometry.

Wire diameter
The elephant in the room within pickup winding circles, sadly, rears its ugly head at this point. Fold 2!

When i say "Formvar is only available in Heavy build, 42 AWG" (we had it made in 43 AWG too, even though i dont think it ever historically existed) - its true, and as a result, it costs an absolute fortune. It exists, purely, for pickup winding nowadays. It has no other practical use out in the real world.

You will find A LOT of wire manfuacturers (and even more pickup winders) claiming to be making "42 AWG" Formvar - and it seldom is. Normally, what you'll find, is a single build Polyester insulated wire with a narrower diameter (0.06 is the most common) - so thats the perfect storm of "wrong" - the insulation build is wrong, and the wire diameter is wrong - we no longer making a direct comparison.

But, assuming you do find a cheap source of heavy build wire, we're still, most likely, dealing with a wire mismatch (42 AWG seemingly does only exist in plain enamel and Formvar insulation!)

So, thats Formvar in a nut shell. Its nothing overly clever - its just very specific. There are MANY cheap imitations of it, but none, to date, have got close to replicting what it does electrically.

Question reality!
One of the things that drives me crackers when it comes to pickup winding, ties in to the 2 points above. The amount of times i've seen humbuckers "Wound with Formvar" that simply aren't, beggers belief - so, to spell it out, here goes.

Formvar was used in the 1950s, for Strat pickups, and the early Jazz bass pickups, and was used for absolutely nothing else. It is an essential component of producing those pickups tone from that period, but from a design point of view, its a pig to use - that heavy build takes up too much space, amd limits what the pickup is capable of as a result.

You wouldn't be able to wind a humbucker to 8K with Formvar - if you can, i'd be having a quiet word with your wire supplier.

Formvars great, honestly - but dont go searching for it on a humbucker, its a real "Horses for Courses" thing - get it between 5.5 and 6K on a single coil, and it'll make your Strat blues dreams come true, but its not a wire for humbuckers, its not a wire for P90s, its not a wire for much frankly. If you see if being used outside of single coils and J bass, i'd personally, tread very lightly. Might be a weird and wonderful design... might be mislabelled wire.