Symmetric vs Asymmetric winds

[Lucifuge]

Some BKPs are (the Mule and VHII are the ones I am aware of) are described as having asymmetric winds, ie a different number of turns of wire on each coil.

What effect does this have on the tone of the pickup, assuming everything else is equal (magnet type, wire gauge, total resistance etc?)

And does an asymmetric wind make the pickup less effective at canceling hum as the amount of noise picked up by each coil is not equal?

[Nolly]

I believe that as you increase the offset between the coils you increase the top and bottom end response (which could also be perceived as midrange reducing), as well as getting more clarity and pick definition. (Essentially it begins to gradually acquire some of the tonal properties of a single coil)
Yes, this does decrease the effectiveness of the hum-cancelling, but there is a practical threshold beyond which it becomes noticeable, and none of the BKPs are anywhere close to approaching that.

By the way, the majority of the range feature offsets of some sort, only very few are totally symmetrical.

[MDV]

The hum cancelling effect of humbuckers is a 1:1 turn per turn effect. Turns wound in the opposite direction and powered by magnetic fields going in the opposite direction (RPRW; reverse wound, reverse polarity) cancel the natural noise that each turn makes.

That means that, as nolly alludes to, if wind is assymetric then the excess turns on one side behave as single coil turns because they dont have corresponding turns to cancel them, and have more top and more bottom, but noise is not cancelled. This gives more clarity and depth to the pickup (but mainly clarity/top end).

Its also true that the noise isnt noticable and  bk offsets are well below whatever the offset threshold for noise is.

The only BK I know for sure is symmetrical is the aftermath. I just assume all the others are asymmetrical.

[Pale Rider]

I recall reading somewhere in this forum that the Holydiver is also symmetrical or maybe its coils are closer to each other than the rest BKPs. I could be wrong though...

['Ash' J. Williams]

IIRC, the Black Dog has a quite symmetrical wind

[ericsabbath]

I believe that as you increase the offset between the coils you increase the top and bottom end response (which could also be perceived as midrange reducing), as well as getting more clarity and pick definition. (Essentially it begins to gradually acquire some of the tonal properties of a single coil)

that sounds pretty much like the nailbomb set  :o