New Fletcher Pickups ("... I just can't hide it...")

I have some Fletcher pickups on the way and I just can't contain myself.

Any day now, a box of magical delights will drop on my doormat and I'll fire up the soldering iron.

More news as it happens! And there WILL be photographs and video.

Comments

  • MegiMegi Posts: 7,207Member
    Eager to see what you've purchased Nick, but don't spoil the surprise. Exciting stuff, nice one. :)
  • nicholaspaulnicholaspaul Posts: 1,005Member
    Alright then :) Mum's the word!
  • Mark PMark P Posts: 2,314Member
    Look forward to seeing developments!

    Ah - "fire up the soldering iron" ... fire being the clear and present danger when I try to use one!
  • nicholaspaulnicholaspaul Posts: 1,005Member
    Mark P said:

    Look forward to seeing developments!

    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 image
  • nicholaspaulnicholaspaul Posts: 1,005Member
    edited March 2017
    The pickups arrived!!

    Pickups

    Pickups

    Pickups

    Pickups

    Pickups

    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!
  • nicholaspaulnicholaspaul Posts: 1,005Member
    Ah. Bit of image trouble...
  • nicholaspaulnicholaspaul Posts: 1,005Member
    Sorted!
  • MegiMegi Posts: 7,207Member
    Oooh! Like the look of that tele bridge unit. And do tell us more about the mini 'bucker specs, that looks interesting. :)
  • MegiMegi Posts: 7,207Member
    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.
  • nicholaspaulnicholaspaul Posts: 1,005Member
    edited March 2017
    Megi said:

    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 :-(

    Fletchers  installed.Fletchers  installed.

    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.
    Fletchers  installed.
    Pickups

    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?
  • nicholaspaulnicholaspaul Posts: 1,005Member
    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?
  • MegiMegi Posts: 7,207Member

    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. :)
  • nicholaspaulnicholaspaul Posts: 1,005Member
    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!!
  • MegiMegi Posts: 7,207Member
    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... :D
  • nicholaspaulnicholaspaul Posts: 1,005Member
    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!
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