Z-Coil polarity problem on my Comanche?

I just picked up my first G&L, a beautiful 2002 Comanche.

When going over it, I discovered something odd when I checked pickup polarity. Here is the polarity I observed on my Comanche Z-Coils

Neck
Bass South
Treble South

Middle
Bass North
Treble South

Bridge
Bass South
Treble North

In a different post, Elwood stated that on his guitar:
The middle pickup is
Bass coils -North up
Treble coils- South up
...and the neck and bridge opposite that.

So, mine matches his, except for the neck pickup. I am wondering why my neck pickup is South South? The G&L store lists the neck and bridge pickups as the same, so shouldn’t the polarity be the same too? Is there something wrong with my neck pickup? Has anyone else run into a Z-Coil with the same polarity on both Bass and Treble sides? I am perplexed.

I just picked up my first G&L, a beautiful 2002 Comanche.

When going over it, I discovered something odd when I checked pickup polarity. Here is the polarity I observed on my Comanche Z-Coils

Neck
Bass South
Treble South

Middle
Bass North
Treble South

Bridge
Bass South
Treble North

In a different post, Elwood stated that on his guitar:
The middle pickup is
Bass coils -North up
Treble coils- South up
...and the neck and bridge opposite that.

So, mine matches his, except for the neck pickup. I am wondering why my neck pickup is South South? The G&L store lists the neck and bridge pickups as the same, so shouldn’t the polarity be the same too? Is there something wrong with my neck pickup? Has anyone else run into a Z-Coil with the same polarity on both Bass and Treble sides? I am perplexed.

Check the wiring to see if it is standard wiring. see this in our GbL Gallery: Album: Comanche Wiring Diagram and Picture Diagram.

Here is a photo of a pickup set showing the wires:


Hope this helps.

Off-hand I wonder if certain Comanche models (like the VI with switches for each coil) were wired with rwrp middle pickups to attain hum-canceling ‘between’ combinations without the entire pickup being active? Polarity between humbuckers would matter a lot less with the modern Comanche/5 way. I don’t own one so can’t say with certainty but figure Craig or someone can validate

I just picked up my first G&L, a beautiful 2002 Comanche.

When going over it, I discovered something odd when I checked pickup polarity. Here is the polarity I observed on my Comanche Z-Coils

Neck
Bass South
Treble South

Middle
Bass North
Treble South

Bridge
Bass South
Treble North

In a different post, Elwood stated that on his guitar:
The middle pickup is
Bass coils -North up
Treble coils- South up
...and the neck and bridge opposite that.

So, mine matches his, except for the neck pickup. I am wondering why my neck pickup is South South? The G&L store lists the neck and bridge pickups as the same, so shouldn’t the polarity be the same too? Is there something wrong with my neck pickup? Has anyone else run into a Z-Coil with the same polarity on both Bass and Treble sides? I am perplexed.

I don't know if I'm the only one, but I can't read the yellow text on my computer.

I just picked up my first G&L, a beautiful 2002 Comanche.

When going over it, I discovered something odd when I checked pickup polarity. Here is the polarity I observed on my Comanche Z-Coils

Neck
Bass South
Treble South

Middle
Bass North
Treble South

Bridge
Bass South
Treble North

In a different post, Elwood stated that on his guitar:
The middle pickup is
Bass coils -North up
Treble coils- South up
...and the neck and bridge opposite that.

So, mine matches his, except for the neck pickup. I am wondering why my neck pickup is South South? The G&L store lists the neck and bridge pickups as the same, so shouldn’t the polarity be the same too? Is there something wrong with my neck pickup? Has anyone else run into a Z-Coil with the same polarity on both Bass and Treble sides? I am perplexed.

Check the wiring to see if it is standard wiring. see this in our GbL Gallery: Album: Comanche Wiring Diagram and Picture Diagram.

Here is a photo of a pickup set showing the wires:


Hope this helps.

I took a quick look at the pickup and switch wiring, and that all seem to match what you posted. However, that shouldn't affect the magnetic fields of the physical pickup. I used a compass to hover over each side of each pickup, and the neck pickup came up as South/South between the bass and treble sides. That just seems strange to me.

p.s. I fixed the yellow text issue - sorry about that suave eddie

I used a compass to hover over each side of each pickup, and the neck pickup came up as South/South between the bass and treble sides. That just seems strange to me.

Agreed

G&L could have changed the way they do this (or made an error on this particular guitar) pretty invisibly; as long as the pickups (as humbuckers) ultimately get wired in phase, there shouldn't be any difference mixing Z-coils of different (or same) polarity - more of a worry with true singles. I wouldn't worry about it as a player, but sort of interested on the reasoning.

G&L could have changed the way they do this (or made an error on this particular guitar) pretty invisibly; as long as the pickups (as humbuckers) ultimately get wired in phase, there shouldn't be any difference mixing Z-coils of different (or same) polarity - more of a worry with true singles. I wouldn't worry about it as a player, but sort of interested on the reasoning.

I doubt that the factory would change it like this because that would defeat the humbucking feature of the pickup.
My thought is that a previous owner reversed the magnet on the treble side of the neck pickup for some reason.
Perhaps the pickup magnet came unglued from the base plate and/or the bobbin and in trying to repair it, reversed the magnet.

Here is a picture of a z-coil without the cover, showing the magnets (also, see this post: Under the cover: Z-coil pickup:


You might be able to fix this if you can safely remove the magnet from the base plate and re-glue in the correct orientation. However, be aware that the cover might be
stuck to the wax potting, so you might need to slightly heat (low-medium heat setting with a hair dryer) to loosen the cover.

Two other options to consider:
1. Replace the neck pickup. You can get one from the G&L On-Line Store, here is the link: https://g-l-online-store.myshopify.com/collections/pickups/products/copy-of-g-l-mfd-pickup-for-comanche.
2. Move the bridge pickup, replacing the neck pickup with it. Purchase a Will Ray Z-Coil bridge pickup from the G&L On-Line Store, here is the link: https://g-l-online-store.myshopify.com/collections/pickups/products/mfd-will-ray-z-coil-bridge-pickup.
Note that this pickup is on sale for $10 less than the stock Z-coil. See this post about the WR pickup: Std. Comanche or ASAT Z bridge vs. Will Ray Sig Bridge.

Hope this helps.

As long as each individual humbucker is built NS or SN, you'd still get hum canceling; this is why you can combine individual say Duncan humbuckers with Fender humbuckers on the same guitar, and not have an issue (indeed, not even notice the polarities don't match.) You would get non-hum canceling combinations if you had two coils of the same polarity wired in combination (such as an old Telecaster, or certain MIJ Fenders that don't have opposite polarity coils.) I think the big question is whether the OP is getting any non-hum canceling positions or out-of-phase sounds that signal a wiring issue - But you should still be able to attain hum canceling for each pickup (and among all combinations) as long as you have both a north and south coil on each as he's explained he has. If OP indicates any phase or hum issues, the solution still wouldn't entail a magnet swap - even if the magnets are installed atypically.

EDIT: It's also possible this could be corrected by just flipping the pickup 'backward?' Which again - would not affect the sound.

Actually, I had already ordered a Will Ray pup, and that is what inspired me to take a closer look at the installed pickups, which led to the discovery of the south/south neck pup. So, in the absence of an easy repair to the current neck pup, I plan to move the stock bridge to the neck and drop in the WR in the bridge. I would have been reluctant to open up the original neck Z-Coil without a replacement in hand for fear of damaging it, but now I may just pull off the cover and take a look.