Lipstick tube pickup with mini humbucker inside..

[EffectsGuru]

I have a First Act custom shop one off... that has 3 strat sized lipstick tube pickups, I find them really weak, I was wondering if it would be possible to build a mini humbucker and fit it in the extremely small strat-sized lipstick tube pickup cover/housing? I called Seymour Duncans Custom shop and spoke to a pickup maker, she said that it wasn't possible. I feel like just bout anything is possible... I don't se why it can't be done... can someone explain to me why? Or do any of you know of a company that makes these? (I have seen a humbucker sized lipstick tube pickup, and I am NOT a fan, ugly as can be). The bottom line, I think their has to be a way to get a high gain pickup in a small package.. it's only slightly smaller than a regular strat pickup, but because of its round shape... it makes it tough... Also, are their parts at pickup parts suppliers to make a mini humbucker? I would probebly not start with that type as my first pickup, but maybe build a few first, than try that.

[David Schwab]

What I would do is to take the tube, and cut it in half, and then use it as a cover for a dual rail Strat pickup.

From the front of the guitar it would look like a lipstick tube.

[Sportbernd]

Working with a splitcoil design could be the way to go. I never done a lipstick this way - but it could be possible. It also depends on the sound you like to achieve.

[Peter Naglitsch]

Before you start planning this you need to learn a bit about the physics around pickups. It is perfectly doable. But what sound will you get? And if you are planning on doing this and getting a perfect cone (sound vise) of a traditional lipstick sound...I'm not saying it is impossible...but I don't think that it will be very easy to accomplish.

There are certain things here that will make it harder than other:
-the size of the coils must fit in the tube
-the magnet(s) must fit in there
-the sound is dependent on the above and then some
-...

[David Schwab]

He said "mini humbucker" so that's why I suggested the dual rail Strat pickup, which is a mini humbucker.

It would sound louder, which he wants, but still resemble a single coil.

Won't sound like a lipstick tube, but I got the impression he wanted a different tone.

[David Schwab]

-the size of the coils must fit in the tube...

Forget the whole tube, you just need the two top halves. The rest of the pickup wont be seen, so you don't need a closed tube. You just want it to look like a tube.

[Mark Hammer]

What is not immediately clear is if the OP wants something that sounds like a mini-humbucker tonally, or whether he simply wants something that rejects hum. If the former, I would concur with the Duncan contact - it ain't happening. if the latter, however, quite doable and split coil - à la G&L Z-style pickups, Evans Eliminator, or Fender P-bass - is the way to go. You would wind two 3-string coils, each RWRP relative to the other, and wire them in series. Voila! Hum-rejection in a single-coil package.

[David Schwab]

What is not immediately clear is if the OP wants something that sounds like a mini-humbucker tonally, or whether he simply wants something that rejects hum. If the former, I would concur with the Duncan contact - it ain't happening.

I disagree. I can build one of those, because you don't need the full tube. Why would you? Having the tube wrap behind the pickup serves no purpose at all in this context.

Does a Strat pickup have a cover behind the pickup? Nope, just on the front. Just think outside the lipstick tube. No need trying to cram a pickup in the tube, when you only need the cosmetic front of the tube, as a pickup cover. Glue them together and slice them down the middle.

Then a dual rail Strat pickup, like a Duncan Hot Rail, will fit behind the front half of a Strat sized lipstick pickup.

He said he wanted a mini humbucker because the pickups were weak sounding, not because of hum. And since it's a custom one off guitar, he wants to keep the looks.

This is the idea. I guess I'm going to have to start making these then.

OK, I hear-by claim this idea as my own!

(quick mockup in Photoshop)

[Mark Hammer]

Then I stand corrected, sir. My hat tips in your direction!

[Sweetfinger]

I have a First Act custom shop one off... that has 3 strat sized lipstick tube pickups, I find them really weak, I was wondering if it would be possible to build a mini humbucker and fit it in the extremely small strat-sized lipstick tube pickup cover/housing? I called Seymour Duncans Custom shop and spoke to a pickup maker, she said that it wasn't possible. I feel like just bout anything is possible... I don't se why it can't be done... can someone explain to me why?

When you say "weak", do you mean that you're happy with the overall tone but want more output level, or do you find the TONE of the pickups to be thin and lacking in "beef", as in a thicker tone with more lower mids? Lipsticks are a bit misunderstood. They AREN'T Fender pickups, and dropping them into a Fender wiring harness without changing the pot values makes them sound thin and weak. The first thing that I would try is changing the value of the pots in the guitar to a lower value. 100K is the standard value for lipsticks. This alters the tone of the pickup in a way that rolls off the really high end and brings out the mids - resulting in a tone that "feels" better to hear and play. The small loss in output level can be made up for with a simple twist of the volume on the amp or the use of a clean boost pedal.

If you're happy with the tone, but don't like the single coil hum, I usually go for a dummy coil, which works well with lipsticks.

If You've tried the methods above, or are really dead set on getting a higher output humbucker sound in a lipstick package, it certainly could be done. The space inside a lipstick tube is pretty limited, so packing a stack or dual rail in there would require some pretty fine wire and small bobbins. I've also thought of just putting the top half of a lipstick tube over a rail as Dave suggested. I suspect that you could fit a dual rail Tele neck pickup with a cut-off lipstick cover. Let us know what you've come up with.

FWIW I've found that the gal in Duncan's custom shop either lacks imagination, or they aren't interested in doing any truly "custom" fabrication beyond working with parts and assemblies they already have. They're kind of like Burger King in the sense that you can "have it your way" and get a "custom" Whopper, but if you wanted a Whopper with pumpernickel bread, that would not be "possible".

[Spence]

Jonson's your man for stuff like that I reckon. You'll find him on this forum.

You could also try Nightwinder on this forum as he's in Detroit and does mad things with humbuckers.

[soundmasterg]

When you say "weak", do you mean that you're happy with the overall tone but want more output level, or do you find the TONE of the pickups to be thin and lacking in "beef", as in a thicker tone with more lower mids? Lipsticks are a bit misunderstood. They AREN'T Fender pickups, and dropping them into a Fender wiring harness without changing the pot values makes them sound thin and weak. The first thing that I would try is changing the value of the pots in the guitar to a lower value. 100K is the standard value for lipsticks. This alters the tone of the pickup in a way that rolls off the really high end and brings out the mids - resulting in a tone that "feels" better to hear and play. The small loss in output level can be made up for with a simple twist of the volume on the amp or the use of a clean boost pedal.

If you're happy with the tone, but don't like the single coil hum, I usually go for a dummy coil, which works well with lipsticks.

If You've tried the methods above, or are really dead set on getting a higher output humbucker sound in a lipstick package, it certainly could be done. The space inside a lipstick tube is pretty limited, so packing a stack or dual rail in there would require some pretty fine wire and small bobbins. I've also thought of just putting the top half of a lipstick tube over a rail as Dave suggested. I suspect that you could fit a dual rail Tele neck pickup with a cut-off lipstick cover. Let us know what you've come up with.

FWIW I've found that the gal in Duncan's custom shop either lacks imagination, or they aren't interested in doing any truly "custom" fabrication beyond working with parts and assemblies they already have. They're kind of like Burger King in the sense that you can "have it your way" and get a "custom" Whopper, but if you wanted a Whopper with pumpernickel bread, that would not be "possible".

I think you're talking about MJ? I ordered a set of custom shop lipstick pickups several years back, but I wanted them to be vintage correct with Alnico 6 magnets. She assumed that because I wanted 3 of them that I wanted a set for a Strat, when I wanted 3 for my Dano DC3. Anyway, it was all sorted out eventually (8 months) and I ended up buying a Strat set of lipsticks and a Dano set at a reduced price, both with alnico 6 magnets, though Wolfe had to send them the alnico 6 because they didn't have any or couldn't find any or something of that sort. The pickups sound great btw, but I'll think twice before using their custom shop again.

Greg

[RedHouse]

...

OK, I hear-by claim this idea as my own!

(quick mockup in Photoshop)

Not so fast David, already been there and done that, and there's no need to cut up lipstick tubes, lipstic style Strat covers are available... if you look 'round.

[David Schwab]

That looks very cool!

So those are covers?

[RedHouse]

That looks very cool!

So those are covers?

Yes, and they can be modified to standard Strat.



and here you can see before/after mod's:




They are Brass with Chrome plating.

Here is my blog on punching holes in these covers: http://classicamplification.net/Pick...chingHoles.htm

This guitar is mine, two single coils covered with the above covers and after mods:



the Strat in the post above I built for my nephew Mikey in Washington (from Fender parts off eBay), he liked mine and wanted one just like it. His has two ctrls where as mine also has two but the vol pot hole is covered with a chrome hole plug in mine, and I have an extra fret.

My other nephew Lewis (in East Kilbride - Scotland) got this one, it has one of those LSR roller nuts:
(the one with the little tiny ball-bearings)



Both guitars have the same ctrl setup, one Vol and one Tone. Each is a push-pull pot, the volume pot pulled places all the pickups in series, the Tone pot pulled places the bridge pickup on top of whatever the regular fender toggle switch is doing. (gets the Bridge-&-Neck sound)

It's cool having two nephews that both play guitar.