dual pickups

[Larry Hillman]

what is the advantage of two bridge pickups and
how are thay wired?

[Roger Palmer]

The advantage to as a builder is that I can have a slightly wider string spacing.

I dont know how they are wired though but I will be building one sometime in the next 3 months (2 P90 bridge pickups) so I will need to find out.

[Jim Dickinson]

I don't know about the others, but, the Stringmasters were in series with a 250K ohm pot between them. By adjusting the pot, one could alter the tonal balance of the pickups. Fully closed, they only used one pickup- the one closest to the bridge, open both of them, in between, more of- the one closer to the bridge.

Jim

[Cartwright Thompson]

What Jim said, plus the fact that they were wired "north-to south" so as you dialed in the neck pickup, it went from a single coil to a humbucker.

[Larry Hillman]

thanks guys. building my second laptop. may be a good
idea to build two pickups. (can't hurt)

[James Mayer]

If I was building a steel, I would definately go for two pickups. The only disadvantage (that I've read, not heard or felt) is that another pickup adds magnetism which inhibits sustain.

[Tom Pettingill]

Dual pickups are a great option that can add a ton of fun to a guitars sonic palate.

While in theory a second pickup could dampen sustain, my experience is much like James's.
Typically a neck / second pickup will be built and wound a little weaker and is typically adjusted a little farther away from the strings to compensate for the inherent extra volume from a second / neck pickup.
As such, string pull from a neck / second pickup can actually be less than some bridge pickups.

[Jim Dickinson]

If you use the Stringmaster setup, you can shut off the second pickup if you want to, as Candide said, "the best of both possible worlds". Jim