Looking for something completely wrong....

[frostnettenes]

I'm throwing together an old Harmony Explorer (triple humbucker) as an experiment. I ordered two Dragonfire Black Rail X2N copies for it this morning, and needing a third humbucker, it got me thinking. The guitar is going to be downtuned seven steps with a .064 low E, and used strictly for Extreme Metal. Since I don't want to touch any of my other guitars to make them mono-dimensional, the sky is the limit on this one. Has anyone ever made a humbucker, through experimenting, that was more like an effect than a pickup? Is it possible to make one that is so hot or defective that it clips, buzzes, distorts, pulses, or does something else that is normally UNdesirable? By using wire way too thick or thin, alternating magnet types, the totally wrong wire metal, winding it the wrong way, and so on, I'd think there would be all kinds of things happening. Can anyone enlighten me here? As long as the pickup LOOKS like the Dragonfires, that is all that matters. Please share some of your results.... I'm really interested. Thanks!

[big_teee]

I'm throwing together an old Harmony Explorer (triple humbucker) as an experiment. I ordered two Dragonfire Black Rail X2N copies for it this morning, and needing a third humbucker, it got me thinking. The guitar is going to be downtuned seven steps with a .064 low E, and used strictly for Extreme Metal. Since I don't want to touch any of my other guitars to make them mono-dimensional, the sky is the limit on this one. Has anyone ever made a humbucker, through experimenting, that was more like an effect than a pickup? Is it possible to make one that is so hot or defective that it clips, buzzes, distorts, pulses, or does something else that is normally UNdesirable? By using wire way too thick or thin, alternating magnet types, the totally wrong wire metal, winding it the wrong way, and so on, I'd think there would be all kinds of things happening. Can anyone enlighten me here? As long as the pickup LOOKS like the Dragonfires, that is all that matters. Please share some of your results.... I'm really interested. Thanks!

Not Me.
You can make high distortion pickups.
Dimarzio and Duncan already has scads of those.
Sounds like you want effects, not Pickups.
I think you are really in the Wrong Department!
Good Luck,
B_T

[the great waldo]

I'm throwing together an old Harmony Explorer (triple humbucker) as an experiment. I ordered two Dragonfire Black Rail X2N copies for it this morning, and needing a third humbucker, it got me thinking. The guitar is going to be downtuned seven steps with a .064 low E, and used strictly for Extreme Metal. Since I don't want to touch any of my other guitars to make them mono-dimensional, the sky is the limit on this one. Has anyone ever made a humbucker, through experimenting, that was more like an effect than a pickup? Is it possible to make one that is so hot or defective that it clips, buzzes, distorts, pulses, or does something else that is normally UNdesirable? By using wire way too thick or thin, alternating magnet types, the totally wrong wire metal, winding it the wrong way, and so on, I'd think there would be all kinds of things happening. Can anyone enlighten me here? As long as the pickup LOOKS like the Dragonfires, that is all that matters. Please share some of your results.... I'm really interested. Thanks!

Buy an old Electro Harmonix bass compressor and use it with an old mxr blue box. That combination should give you just what you are looking for.

Cheers

Andrew

[frostnettenes]

Well, effects pedals/units aren't what I was thinking... I've always hated using them, but I do have them around in the studio. I no longer play live (and hated that, as well), and just want something to fill the third pickup hole in the guitar without buying another pickup just like the other two. The thought of having a pickup that's just simply not right is really appealing to me. But, I know most people who take pride in their work don't like to think about their no-so-shining moments. It's just a thought. I'd buy one in an instant from someone, but guess I'll either have to do it myself or have Sirkus Custom in Oslo, Norway make one for me... which is gonna be expensive. Thanks, though.

[hariossa]

Try connecting the three pickups in series to treat them as one massive pickup, compared to that, a regular humbucker will sound like a skinny single coil, then you can add a rotary switch with different capacitors to have more sound options.

[Bryan Jeppson]

Last time I went out looking for something completely wrong... I was told I had the right to remain silent and anything I said could be used against me......

[David Schwab]

Stick a diode across the output f the pickup, and you will get plenty of clipping.

I would think with those two muddy pickups maybe something bright and clear would be a nice contrast.

[rjb]

Stick a diode across the output f the pickup, and you will get plenty of clipping.

That might be redundant.
The description of the only 3-pickup Harmony Explorer-ish guitar I could find said it featured an onboard active distortion circuit.

I would think with those two muddy pickups maybe something bright and clear would be a nice contrast.

Perhaps a dual-blade humbucker built with used razor blades? Now, that would be wrong.

-rb

[hariossa]

Stick a diode across the output f the pickup, and you will get plenty of clipping.

After reading your advice I tried several ones in my test guitar, I found that the best sounding one is a germanium 1N34A. By itself it's kind of unnatural, but if you add a little distortion you get a nice "biting" sound. Then I remembered seeing the "black ice" device on Stew-Mac and after some googleing, surprise! just a couple of diodes...

[Joe Gwinn]

I found that the best sounding one is a germanium 1N34A.

I would also try small-signal schottky diodes: Schottky diode - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

See the "Voltage Clamping" and "Designation" sections.