The tele pickup has Alnico V magnets on the bottom three strings, Alnico II on the top three, and a coil tap so I can switch between vintage and modern outputs. The mini humbucker is also a bridge model.
Interesting to me also that you have bought bridge pickups - not an area I'm very expert in to be truthful.
Although with pickup sets, especially two humbucker ones, in the past I've often had issues with the bridge pickup needing a bit more output to compete with the neck, and had to adjust it pretty close to the strings to make things work. I think that's not really surprising, considering how much less string amplitude there is near the bridge - just bunging on an extra 1K of winding seems to me unlikely to be enough. But with both the humbucker sets I've got from Ben, this has not been a problem at all - I did talk to him about my having this issue, but it's really to his credit that he was able, at the first attempt, to get this right for me.
Oooh! Like the look of that tele bridge unit. And do tell us more about the mini 'bucker specs, that looks interesting.
Yea, Ben did a fab job. The Mini is what he calls 'MiniMe 42', but with an alnico II magnet. It's nice and soft, jangly but not glass-shattering. At my age I can still hear all the frequencies it produces! I've got a bit of an issue with my guitar where I can't get the pickup high enough so I'm shopping for a new mounting ring. The cream ones are proving particularly hard to find. It's nothing to do with the pickup, just my ill conceived design that leaves the pickup too low. If you look not too closely you can see the previous mounting hole for the mini making an ugly mess in the top. My lovely, bookmatched curly walnut top
I think neck pickups can just be underwound a good degree and still sound great, but the bridge pickup usually has to ROCK ,\,,/ That alone probably makes pickup customers a bit picky (to be polite!). Although I have had a couple of neck pickups in this guitar and only found what I wanted with a Seymour Duncan 59 with an alnico II. Magnet swapping is so much fun!
The tele pickup is very cool! It's bright but soft, so like the MiniMe it won't make small animals run in terror. Except cats. I asked Ben for that feature in particular and he injected it with anti-cat serum. No wait, I think I dreamed that... I installed a switch to flip between vintage (7k) and modern (9k) which seems to boost the mids a little. It's subtle, but noticeable enough at certain settings. The highs are nice and rounded, and the bass is quite prominent, giving it a good amount of thump. It's kind of twangy but not YEEEHAWW (thank goodness... I don't do any cowboy stuff. I spent too long living in Calgary for that. Hey, that could become a thread of its own!). So for rocking, thrashing, jazzing and jangling, it's great.
It would be cool to have matching neck pickups in each of those, but might have to wait until next big pay day. Shhh don't tell anyone.
Perhaps an alnico III P90 for the 'tele' and a jazzy yet clear humbucker for the semi?
One thing I am concerned about is the exposed coil wires on the tele pickup. My old pickup just died suddenly and I wonder if it was the tiny 43awg stuff. Anybody think that it's best to cover that up under a tele style bridge or would it be fine as it is?
One thing I am concerned about is the exposed coil wires on the tele pickup. My old pickup just died suddenly and I wonder if it was the tiny 43awg stuff. Anybody think that it's best to cover that up under a tele style bridge or would it be fine as it is?
I wouldn't worry - you're in good company, as Tom Anderson tele-type guitars have the same kind of exposed bridge pickup.
oh phew, I was afraid I'd have to do something ugly to my guitar. Thanks Graham, you made my day - and saved me from an evening of cutting plastic, or something. This forum software needs a thumbs up button so I can click it twenty times!!
Always happy to save someone a job, and I do like the look of that guitar as it is. Hope the pickups are still proving to be a good buy. I must confess I find myself perusing Ben's website from time to time, even though I've run out of guitars to re-pickup. Did a duo gig yesterday evening, using the Ibby semi-acoustic, and it sounded lush, despite the fact we could hardly hear ourselves - we were providing background "ambiance" for a beauty product firm's annual get together, while people ate, and chatted loudly. I don't think anyone was listening to my awesome guitar tone, ah well...
Thanks Graham, I'm glad you like it. Yes, the pickups are really sweet - we're getting used to each other! I dont know if pickups actually break in, but something happens as they get played. It's more likely my ears changing (aging). Depending on amp settings, the vintage/hot switch is really cool and handy. It's like a little extra sauce on top that makes it go ZING. Mmm MMmmm.
Not hearing yourself is a perfect chance to play 'out' and see who notices Well, at least YOU knew it sounded great That is a sweet sounding guitar. Do you have any recordings of your playing?
Oh, you're having trouble buying pickups? Allow me ... step this way into my garage.... the above guitar actually has a removable scratchplate with female plugs on the two neck pickup leads and male plugs that connect to the electronics. All I have to do is unscrew the scratchplate, unplug the pickup and screw on another pickguard with a different pickup on it, plug in the wires and go. So far I have a humbucker and P90 scratchplates. Mini humbucker and single coil are next I could have as many scratchplates as Ben has models on his site. I'll take some pics sometime and show off a bit. Mwahahahah!
Comments
Ah - "fire up the soldering iron" ... fire being the clear and present danger when I try to use one!
Haha! If God meant us to solder he'd have given us asbestos fingers...
Ben has sent me photos so I'm really like
The tele pickup has Alnico V magnets on the bottom three strings, Alnico II on the top three, and a coil tap so I can switch between vintage and modern outputs. The mini humbucker is also a bridge model.
Off to get them hooked up now. More pics soon!
Although with pickup sets, especially two humbucker ones, in the past I've often had issues with the bridge pickup needing a bit more output to compete with the neck, and had to adjust it pretty close to the strings to make things work. I think that's not really surprising, considering how much less string amplitude there is near the bridge - just bunging on an extra 1K of winding seems to me unlikely to be enough. But with both the humbucker sets I've got from Ben, this has not been a problem at all - I did talk to him about my having this issue, but it's really to his credit that he was able, at the first attempt, to get this right for me.
I think neck pickups can just be underwound a good degree and still sound great, but the bridge pickup usually has to ROCK ,\,,/ That alone probably makes pickup customers a bit picky (to be polite!). Although I have had a couple of neck pickups in this guitar and only found what I wanted with a Seymour Duncan 59 with an alnico II. Magnet swapping is so much fun!
The tele pickup is very cool! It's bright but soft, so like the MiniMe it won't make small animals run in terror. Except cats. I asked Ben for that feature in particular and he injected it with anti-cat serum.
No wait, I think I dreamed that...
I installed a switch to flip between vintage (7k) and modern (9k) which seems to boost the mids a little. It's subtle, but noticeable enough at certain settings. The highs are nice and rounded, and the bass is quite prominent, giving it a good amount of thump. It's kind of twangy but not YEEEHAWW (thank goodness... I don't do any cowboy stuff. I spent too long living in Calgary for that. Hey, that could become a thread of its own!). So for rocking, thrashing, jazzing and jangling, it's great.
It would be cool to have matching neck pickups in each of those, but might have to wait until next big pay day. Shhh don't tell anyone.
Perhaps an alnico III P90 for the 'tele' and a jazzy yet clear humbucker for the semi?
This forum software needs a thumbs up button so I can click it twenty times!!
Not hearing yourself is a perfect chance to play 'out' and see who notices Well, at least YOU knew it sounded great That is a sweet sounding guitar. Do you have any recordings of your playing?
Oh, you're having trouble buying pickups? Allow me ... step this way into my garage.... the above guitar actually has a removable scratchplate with female plugs on the two neck pickup leads and male plugs that connect to the electronics. All I have to do is unscrew the scratchplate, unplug the pickup and screw on another pickguard with a different pickup on it, plug in the wires and go. So far I have a humbucker and P90 scratchplates. Mini humbucker and single coil are next I could have as many scratchplates as Ben has models on his site. I'll take some pics sometime and show off a bit.
Mwahahahah!