Dean Guitars Now Making Their Own Pickups

[kevinT]

It looks like Dean guitars is now making pickups. They have a cool little video of their shop as they're making them. Here is the link. ....take a look...

http://deanguitars.com/dean_pickups.php

[Spence]

A new era in pickups has begun? Crap. I laughed actually because the way he says 'Era' sounds more like 'Error' to my ears. Perhaps he meant 'Ear-a' and they pot them in ear wax.

[Possum]

Which once again proves you can buy an artist's name and put it on crappy pickups, did you see those junky bobbins they're using?

[David Schwab]

Which once again proves you can buy an artist's name and put it on crappy pickups, did you see those junky bobbins they're using?

They said they were doing a Dimebag pickup... so yet again another Lawrence L-500 clone... seems kind of redundant.

This reminds me of when PRS started making their own pickups. In a video I saw Paul Smith said they were making their own because they couldn't get what they wanted commercially.. and they were using Duncan pickups! The early PRS pickups I head sounded like crap. The Vintage Bass neck pickup was muffled sounding, and the HFS bridge pickup had a toneless bark about it. Hope they have improved!

The bottom line is there companies are doing it because they don't want to pay for good pickups, and maybe they can do a better job than the Asian pickups they are using. Dean makes some nice guitars, but most of them are inexpensive.

To have all those Signature pickup models... I can't image they are going to all sound that different.

[Possum]

I heard some PRS P90s a year or two ago, they were the most shrill things I ever heard, awful. Dean does make a nice guitar called the Solero I think it is, a two pickup version of the Leslie WEst mode, a real beauty and nice design, rest of their stuff, yuk...

[Norcal_GIT_r]

I heard some PRS P90s a year or two ago, they were the most shrill things I ever heard, awful. Dean does make a nice guitar called the Solero I think it is, a two pickup version of the Leslie WEst mode, a real beauty and nice design, rest of their stuff, yuk...

PRS has never made thier own P90s.
They are made by Duncan.
But then again I notice you say everyones pickups are shrill except yours.:D:p

[David King]

So regarding that Tanac Mt-100 tensioner we see, it says it's a "magnetic" tensioner. I assume that the tension is controlled by a magnet pulling the felt disks together Does the adjustment screw pull on a magnet via a spring to change the pressure between the metal washers or is it an electromagnet with a feedback loop?

I see that the wire comes out of that little steel tube, very close to the ends of the coil, I like that idea. I'm going to have a hand at building one of these gizmos. I also see a microswitch at the pivot point on the fishing rod thingy that must cut the winder motor when the wire breaks or perhaps that part of the tension feedback loop?.
Someone here must own one of these tensioners, what tension do you set it at between 5 and 20 grams?

[chevalij]

I was looking at the funny parts. Shrinking the heat shrink tubing with a bic lighter for one and potting a batch in an electric frying pan. Nice use of the cheap SPN wire as well. Nothing but the best!

[David Schwab]

I was looking at the funny parts. Shrinking the heat shrink tubing with a bic lighter for one...

Hey, that's what I do! I don't have one of those small heatguns for shrink tubing. I also use the lighter to strip my magnet wire. :D

[PeaveyBandit]

Man the bic lighter caught my eye too. I think there are some transformer makers using the same hype... One thing about the music industry. It's all about hype and image. I thought I was going to see something impressive.

They'll get rave reviews from Harmony Central and begin selling millions. I expect a Spinal Tap endorsement coming soon.

[Possum]

Well, I DO make one shrill pickup but its on purpose :-) And its a tele bridge pickup, so you kinda expect it :-) But a shrill P90 is just wrong. that guy got rid of the guitar.

You can get those heat guns at the big chain craft and fabric stores, they are pretty cheap, I paid $40 for one from an electronics place, it works real well but when it breaks I'll get a cheap one.....

[kevinT]

I was looking at the funny parts. Shrinking the heat shrink tubing with a bic lighter for one and potting a batch in an electric frying pan. Nice use of the cheap SPN wire as well. Nothing but the best!

Hmmmm, i guess i am a funny guy too :p I use heat shrink tubing on some models as well as a Bic lighter (I use the extended grill version though). I also use a 1960s deep fryer to pot my pickups. and i actually thought about getting one of the electric pans..i think it is handy. I also use SPN, not because it is cheap (it really isn't that much cheaper) but because it offers me an additional tonal option that formvar and PE can't provide.

...many pickup makers use heat shrink...in fact, i bet most do.

IMO it is not really about what tools you use in the manufacturing process, but rather the end result. Do you think joe blow would really care if you pot your pickups in a coffee can? As long as the pickups are quality built and sound good is what really matters.

[Mark Hammer]

Some manufacturers make things that they probably could outsource just so they can have control over it and assurances of no interruption in supply. That may well be the real motive behind what Dean is doing. The marketing copy that follows to make something borne of necessity sound like a desirable feature is another thing.

It's a bit like the way "true bypass" is used in the pedal industry. It is not intrinsically better or worse than a buffered bypass, but what it usually is is easier for the builder to implement than some of the electronic alternatives. It ends up being touted as a "feature" when really it started out of necessity as a way of doing something that risked getting complicated in the simplest way possible.

[chevalij]

Hmmmm, i guess i am a funny guy too :p I use heat shrink tubing on some models as well as a Bic lighter (I use the extended grill version though). I also use a 1960s deep fryer to pot my pickups. and i actually thought about getting one of the electric pans..i think it is handy. I also use SPN, not because it is cheap (it really isn't that much cheaper) but because it offers me an additional tonal option that formvar and PE can't provide.

...many pickup makers use heat shrink...in fact, i bet most do.

IMO it is not really about what tools you use in the manufacturing process, but rather the end result. Do you think joe blow would really care if you pot your pickups in a coffee can? As long as the pickups are quality built and sound good is what really matters.

I think the reason I found it funny was because Dean is a large company. I just assumed that anybody pumping out the pickups in the qty they appear to be would have their processes a little more refined. Most small / hobby winders make do with whatever is available (wife will let them use) and I understand that. In Canada anyways, you would have fun trying to justify the fire to the insurance company and workers compensation when the wax in the frying pan got set off by the bic lighter. Somebody would be going to jail.....And oh yeah, I have about 5 lbs of SPN around here somewhere and love me heatshrink:)

[David Schwab]

It's a bit like the way "true bypass" is used in the pedal industry. It is not intrinsically better or worse than a buffered bypass, but what it usually is is easier for the builder to implement than some of the electronic alternatives. It ends up being touted as a "feature" when really it started out of necessity as a way of doing something that risked getting complicated in the simplest way possible.

The part that younger players forget was the old pedals that used a SPDT footswitch, and therefore left the input of the effect in the signal path, which would be OK if the effect had a high Z input, and often they didn't.

That's what "True Bypass" is better than, and not the buffered switching.

[Possum]

Actually I use a 1959 Zippo lighter on my heat shrink, the tone is awesome.

When I started I always used heat shrink, then I took apart another maker's pickup and saw he used paper tape on everything, later realizing thats how Gibson did it back then. Paper works better if you're stuffing the coil start connection leads between the coils so I use it there now, its really effective, try taking it back off sometimes after its set for awhile.

Dean bobbins look like Guitar Jones, or maybe Mojo stuff. I found that bobbins with air voids in it to save money on plastic had an unpleasant acoustic quality that I noticed. But I dunno maybe Dean making their own pickups is a step up from Korean mass produced stuff, but I bet it sounds about the same since all their parts are coming from there anyway. Kinda paradoxical when I think about it.....

[kevinT]

I just assumed that anybody pumping out the pickups in the qty they appear to be would have their processes a little more refined. :)

Have you seen Seymour Duncan's vacuum potting contraption? It is essentially a deep lasagne dish with a plexiglass top. Very primitive looking. Sometimes the simplest stuff works the best.

when the wax in the frying pan got set off by the bic lighter. :) Paraffin is dangerous no doubt. I carefully monitor my potting area. I have a digital thermometer to show the temp of the wax and the deep fryer does a good job in maintaining the temp.... You can sure bet that I don't want to be a crispy critter.

[Possum]

At G&L when Leo was there they used a fryer, its what I use too, but I don't leave the house and leave it on, if the thermostat fails it will overheat and burn your house down. they work great though if you use a thermometer to check the wax temp...
Here's G&L's potting machine....

[David King]

I use an old percolator coffee/glue pot to melt my wax. Water goes in first and then the wax jar sits in the water. The wax never gets near the heating element which is down in a pocket at the bottom of the pot. It takes about an hour to melt the wax so you have to think ahead.

[chevalij]

I bought and really like a.... well it's a wax melter. They use them in cosmetic shops for melting the wax they use to torture women by yanking out their hair. Nice, compact, has a lid and max temp is 180F. Melts the wax in about an hour as well. So yeah, when I go down stairs to start winding, I turn it on.

[Possum]

ONe of the nice things about the fry pans is they cost about $2 at the Goodwill stores, and they are FAST. Takes about 15 minutes to melt it all. If you're in a real hurry you can turn it all the way up and it will fry you up a good mess o' wax in nuthin' flat. Torturing women is good though :-)

[Joe Gwinn]

I use an old percolator coffee/glue pot to melt my wax. Water goes in first and then the wax jar sits in the water. The wax never gets near the heating element which is down in a pocket at the bottom of the pot. It takes about an hour to melt the wax so you have to think ahead.I use an old aluminum double boiler I got from a thrift/goodwill store. No water in the wax, heats up quite fast on a hotplate, and won't burn the wax or set the house on fire if neglected. Though it would be a good idea to put the hotplate on a timer, so it will turn itself off if forgotten.

[black_labb]

I bought and really like a.... well it's a wax melter. They use them in cosmetic shops for melting the wax they use to torture women by yanking out their hair. Nice, compact, has a lid and max temp is 180F. Melts the wax in about an hour as well. So yeah, when I go down stairs to start winding, I turn it on.

thats what i will use (my girlfriend's job is to do the ripping), but i havent potted any of mine yet. im surprised i havent had any issues with microphonics.

[Possum]

I have a Fender strat pickup probably from about '67 or so that doesn't appear to be potted at all. Sometimes its not really necessery unless you're standing in front of a Marshall stack pushed to life sucking levels. If you're just playing blues in a small club with your deluxe reverb you don't have to pot and you'll get alot richer sounding pickups too...

[David Schwab]

I have a Fender strat pickup probably from about '67 or so that doesn't appear to be potted at all. Sometimes its not really necessery unless you're standing in front of a Marshall stack pushed to life sucking levels. If you're just playing blues in a small club with your deluxe reverb you don't have to pot and you'll get alot richer sounding pickups too...

I wonder why some Fender pickups were potted in some kind of lacquer. I have a '72 Mustang and had a '74 P bass, and those pickups were lacquered.

I have yet to pot any of the pickup in my personal instruments.