Are 2 pickups better than 1?

[Mike Kolb]

Granted... the answer would be  "of course, since there are more tonal options".   But this question arises in an instrument (an electric lap steel) with a single volume and a single tone... and no pickup selector switch.

In other words, the fellow wants to run two identical pickups, a mono signal... with one tone control and one volume control that affects both pickups... and no pickup selector switch, no phase switch, no nothin'.

Something tells me that one pickup might be better because of the dangers of two pickups possibly trying to cancel each other out.  

On the other hand, is the actual signal output from 2 pickups greater (and to what degree) than a single pickup, all other things being equal?  Inquiring minds...

[Mark A. Kane]

If the pickups are wired in series, the output is the sum of the DC resistance of each. In parallel, the output wil be half of the sum. Tonally speaking, the pair in series will be darker than either pickup by itself, as the capacitance of the combined coils increases, thereby, in effect "rolling off" the highs. In parallel, you'll get some frequency cancellation and the tone will be thinner. It's also possible to wire the pair out of phase by swapping the hot and ground of one pickup, though this results in a much thinner tone, and can add a significant amount of noise. There also exists the possibility of having one of the pickups wound in reverse with the magnets oriented in the reverse of the second pickup (RWRP). When wired in series, the two will be hum canceling, but the tonal effects will be the same as outlined above. Probably, based on the design of most lap steels, the best tone will be realized with a single pickup, but it's all highly subjective.

[Steven D. Wilson]

Ideally it would have a blend pot to manipulate the pickups a bit.

I believe the old two pickup fender lap steels were wired this way.

If my amp had a tone control, I would rather replace the tone pot on the guitar with the blend pot.

I think that will give it a greater variety of tones than just a volume and tone pot would.

If there is room for all three that would be my first choice.

[Russell Vance]

Hi Mike,

There are nuanced differences to be found depending on how separated the physical location of the identical (I assume) pickups are.  However, if they are connected in parallel it will generally drop out some of the bottom end and perceived and actual volume.   It they are connected in series they will suffer a decrease in top end but an increase in volume.

If they are wound identically they will not cancel each other out, if one is RWRP they will act like a humbucking pair if wired appropriately which will thicken up the sound some. 

If they are identical pickups, co-located,  there is little to be had by having the second pickup - which is probably why nobody does it in general play.   If somebody knows anything else regarding the brief Mike has been given which is significant please fire away.

Rusty.

[Mike Kolb]

Good stuff here. Yes, the 2 pickups are identical and the owner wants to replicate the old Fender Stringmaster lap steels which, by all appearances, have one volume and one tone control... but I've never physically encountered one so it's hard for me to say exactly what they had, other than looking at pictures.

Thanks to all for the input (no pun intended).... the quest continues! 

[Steven D. Wilson]

Found this schematic for a two pickup Fender Stringmaster with blend. It works for 1, 2, 3 or 4 necks. Basically a 250K blend pot, 1K tone with .05mf cap, and a 250K volume control. The very early models did not have the blend. My understanding is the bridge pickup is always on and the pot adds in the neck pickup.

[Joshua Levin-Epstein]

As I've said here whenever given the opprtunity, I don't care for rotary controls (volume tone blend) as I feel they degrade the signal from the pick-up. That being said, my P-bass still has both....

I would be tempted to give the customer what he wants (how novel) with an eye towards a clean rewiring to a more versatile system. I think a 4 position tele wiring would be very usable in this case with a pull up phase switch to fend off rowdy audiences.

Just my 2 cents.

Joshua