Eastwood Airline "humbucker"

[Sweetfinger]

For those who are curious, I got my grubby mitts on a pair of these pups yesterday. They are touted as capturing the sound of the old Valco/Supro/National pickups which look like humbuckers, but are a weird single coil design sort of like a big fat Gretsch Hi-Lo Tron. Of course, the Eastwoods are built NOTHING like the old Nationals.

They look from the top just like a generic humbucker with a cover, but inside this Korean made thing sits a single standard Gibson style screw coil with a small alnico bar & keeper. Mine are 7.2 K neck and 7.04 bridge. The screw spacing on the neck is standard Gibson neck, the bridge is wider, but just a hair smaller than Gibson's bridge spacing. Half the space in the pickup cover is filled with wax.

How do they sound? I'm guessing...NOT like a real National, but I actually haven't put them in anything yet. I took one apart first. I'm sure you guys can relate. I'll report back.

[Clint Searcy]

I have a pair of 1950's Nationals in the shop right now. One of them needs a rewind. Here's a shot of one with the cover off. They reminds me of a scaled down version of a Charlie Christian. The coil on the good one readys about 9.4K. Very low pull on the magnets.

[EFK]

I know what I'm seeing in terms of the coil and poles, but what is that whole contraption on the side? It looks like 2 magnets sandwiched between two thin pieces of metal (aluminum? nickel? steel?) held together w. brass screws. Is that what I'm seeing? If so, how thick are those magnets? And, it looks like you are taking a gauss reading at the poles - feel like sharing? This looks fairly interesting.

[Clint Searcy]

Here is the pat. drawing to help clarify things.

might help show how the magnet structure works.


The Gauss reading I took at the poles was -245.


I'm always willing to share!

[Mark Hammer]

Just like the old Epiphone New Yorker pickups and some of the Silvertone pickups. They may look like a HB from the outside, but are really a single coil with a "bent around" sensing area.

I used to have an Epi Windsor like this one - http://www.maindragmusic.com/Drag%20...9/epiphone.jpg - and gently took the pickup apart one day. The adjustable polepieces are not in the coil itself, but are actually seated in a threaded piece of channeling off to the side. The coil sits under the smooth area of the cover.

It was a very "meaty" sounding pickup.

[Possum]

....

yeah, all these reissue pickups on reissue guitars are phonies, the P13's on the reissue harmony guitars are phonies too. But hey what do guitar players know, it LOOKS right eh?

[David Schwab]

yeah, all these reissue pickups on reissue guitars are phonies, the P13's on the reissue harmony guitars are phonies too. But hey what do guitar players know, it LOOKS right eh?

Even on the Fender reissues. The Jazzmaster pickups sound like Strats!

And then you see the new Hagstroms with Gibson style humbuckers. hagstrom made some cool pickups!

What's in the new Harmony gold foil looking pickups?

[Clint Searcy]

wrap up...

The number I finally settled on for the winding was 9000 turns of 43ga to reach 10K ohms. Just for your own information 5000 turns of 43ga gave me 5.5K ohms and 7000 turns gave me 7.6K ohms. I used a little more tape to hold things in place than original because this one is unpotted.

It's a great sounding pickup with a lot of output for such small magnets. I was surprised.