[bill]

To all those who are considering modifying their LP to get the out of phase sound I have the following information from personal experience. I have an old LP which I flipped the top magnet in many years ago - no change to the wiring. I just flipped the magnet in the top pickup.

I play it through an old 1959 Bassman, an old 1956 Princeton, and sometimes a 1978 Ampeg VT40. If you turn the top volume up slightly more than the bottom volume the "honk" appears - to get it warmer rather than very thin and cutting you need about 65/45 (volume top/bottom) or even 70/30. There is not doubt that the sound is distinctive and very lovely.

The problem is though that unless you are really driving the amps into overload the out of phase sound is very thin. Fleetwood Mac in PGs days were a very loud band and you have to really drive the volume to get the beautiful sound. I call this a problem because many of the rooms where I play and also modern audience tastes seem to want bands to play at lower volumes which means you are always compromising a bit on the "honk". These days I leave the LP behind more often than not and instead play with an ES-335. Sound is very different but still sweet and great for those jazzy blues.

So if you are contemplating the mod:

(a) unless you can play loud the modification will not deliver for you.

(b) if you take the magnet flipping option is requires some care (you can damage the tiny wires easily) and usually you need to rewax the pot. It is also a more permanent option meaning that you lose the normal sound your LP would deliver in the middle position. While the rewiring option (push-pull) is not "genuine" you can have the middle position as normal or out of phase.

best wishes
bill