Vintage Les Paul Custom 3 pickups - Out of Phase Sound and Pickup Magnet, what's the truth

[Steph74]

Hi,

Maybe some expert here can answer this
I have read many different things about vintage 3 pickups Les Paul Custom and the pickup magnets
Some say the magnet of the middle pickup is flipped and that's why it sound out of phase in middle position
A famous Paf pickup maker is saying it was actually the bridge pickup that had a flipped magne,. creating the out of phase sound in middle position
But some people at Gibson (and also some people online) say none of the pickups had a flipped magnet and the out of phase sound was produce mostly by the proximity of the pickups

I tend to think the last answer is the right one, but I got confused when I see people like Bonamassa (who know these guitasr well I think) is saying in a video (the Nerdville East video) that you need to flip the middle pickup magnet otherwise it's severely out of phase...

Anyone who know these vintage Les Paul Custom well know the truth? I'm not talking about the reissue but vintage one.

Other thing, some argue that turning the middle pickup 180 degree will change the out of phase sound usually the vintage one came with mid pickups pole screw facing the neck and some turn it 180 degree like Keith Richards Les Paul Custom and now facing the bridge (like the reissue), any thought about it?

 

[Steph74]

Not much love for Les Paul Custom?

 

[goldtop0]

I think it's bridge pup as I went through the swapping of 3 x '61 SG Custom pups in and out of my 2 pup LP, thinking that the middle one had been flipped, a real pita.

 

[rainV]

i just rewired my LP Goldtop ‘71, which got 30 years ago a third PU. I have a mini 3position switch which can switch the middle pu off or on, either in phase or out of phase. I have three volumes, the bridge and neck pu have a cts550k pots, but the middle pu has a negativ log pot with 500k which allows very fine adjustable out of phase sounds. normal pot values are not fine enough for the small amount of adjustments adding the middle pu in the sound. Minimal poti changes have a great effect when oop middle pot is blended in. Tone knob is 500k with a paper in oil 220nf cap, which works only with the out of phase setting of the middle pu. The variety of great sounds is immense in this way, just incredible!!

Btw: This 71 Norlin has a weight of 9,5 lbs

 

[rays44]

Proximity effect. Pickups were grabbed from a bin and wired traditionally in the guitar. The out of phase tone in my 1999 Historic '57 re-issue sounds totally different than the oop tone you would get in a 2 p/u guitar. It's a great tone with all due respect to Mr. B. Of course, this is all my opinion.