Polarity for Gibson P90 with Humbucker?

[warmachine]

I have a stock guitar with P90 in the neck and Humbucker in the bridge. The polarity on the P90 is "south" , the humbucker is "north"

I'm planning on upgrading both pickups. Using a Gibson P90 soapbar and I have two versions in my parts drawer. One is South and the other North.

The Rio Grande humbucker Im planning on installing is South polarity.

Which P90 polarity is preferable so the middle position will sound best with the humbucker?

 

[ARandall]

The polarity of a humbucker is both, depending on the coil you are talking about. Hot is typically the slug coil.

If you have a 4 conductor hookup then simply pair the best sounding pickups (either for volume or tonal balance) and swap hot and ground wires on the humbucker when wiring if you end up OOP.
You can also flip magnets in the p90 or the humbucker - both are quite easy to do.

 

[cooljuk]

Ya, your humbucker isn't north OR south. Your humbucker is north AND south.

You didn't mention the electrical polarity of any of the pickups which is equally as significant as magnetic polarity, when discussing phase relationships of pickups. ...but also pretty difficult to determine without taking the pickups apart or asking the builder.

Easiest thing to do is just install the pickups you want to use. 50/50 chance all is well. If not, you're just going to flip a magnet to fix it. No biggie. If the humbucker has a cover or is potted, you can flip both P-90 magnets, instead.

You have a coin toss chance of everything working fine, though. Just install your favorites and try.