Any good pickup related stories?

[Jim Shine]

I will share one. It was the mid 90's and I was working in a store in Windham Maine. We were the vintage shop of the region, so catered to that crowd. Aftermarket pickup sales were really going up and new products were hitting the market all the time. The Fender Custom Shop line of aftermarket pickups was new, Rio Grande's were catching on, and Lindy Fralin's were really popular. I was wiring up at the least one guitar a day.

This guy Marty would come in. He thought very highly of himself. He was from elsewhere and commented one time being in Maine he was a "Big fish in a small pond". He was one of those guys that spent more time chasing tone than practicing. He went on a pickup rampage. He went through almost everything we had. Every 2 weeks I was putting something else in his Strat. One day he comes in near closing. I recently installed Texas Specials in his guitar and he didn't like them. "They are too over the top for my taste. I want something that allows my Strat to speak with more of its natural voice." He plops down a set of Fender CS54's..the first set I believe I ever saw in person. I tell him it is late, but it should be done by lunch the next day.

I set the area up, laid out the new pickups and prepped the Texas Special box to accept the old ones, had people come in and couldn't get it done. I left it on the bench so the owner could take care of it the next day as I was off. The owner Chris calls me the next day "Marty paid for the pickup swap you did, so remind me to pay you." Chris thought I did the swap and the CS54's were the removed Texas Specials. I explained the deal and Chris said I would have to tell Marty to bring it all back so I could do the swap. Some time had passed, but Marty came back and I said "Marty, about those CS54's" he then proceeded to gush at how magical these pickups were. His "search was over", they were articulate, woody, and all the other catch phrases used about pickups. I did not have the heart to tell him what happened. Naturally he was back later with more swapping, so I too care of him so it evened out.

[big_teee]

I make a few pickups and stock them In a local Vintage store on Consignment.
The guitar tech asked me to make a Bridge Humbucker Pickup for a HSS Strat that his Bass Player had.
I asked the tech how he wanted it, He said make a Zebra, Black on the back (Screw Bobbin).
I Made it and tested it, wanted it to sound right for the Techs Friend.
I took it by and he called the bass Player, and He said Oh I don't want a Zebra, he wanted a Solid Black Pickup.
I had a set at another guitar store in black.
I didn't really have much time right then to wind, so I made a trip and Pulled the Black set.
I took it by to the guitar Tech, and he called his friend, told him he had the black one.
He said oh no, I wanted them with white bobbins.
I said I had no white bobbins, He would have to go with black or Zebra, take it or leave it.
He took the Black Pickup.
I left it with the guitar Tech and he would put it in.
I went back by later when I was in town, to get my money.
The Tech said, The Pickup sounds great, but is out of Phase.
So I told him if he would get the guitar I would do whatever I needed to, to get it in phase.
I finally got the guitar, I had to flip the magnet over to get it in phase with the middle pickup.
He loved the pickup and it Sounded Great.
He kept the guitar another week and sold it at a Fire Sale price so he could get a Drum Effects machine.
I did all of that for a ridiculous low price.
The moral of the Story:
I don't sell one single pickup, unless you agree to a possible Phase Issue!
Keep Rockin!
Terry

[Mike Sulzer]

How about:

A single coil and a humbucker walk into a bar. The bartender asks the SC why his date is so quiet. The SC replies "Her Lover sold her to a guitar company, and she feels so cheap since her patent expired."

[ReWind]

Mine isn't really funny or glorious, but a story nonetheless...

My first humbucker came out of a parts bin full of mostly Kramer hardware at a local music shop. I was about 12 or 13. I'd only played single coils until then, but realized that I had room in my (Squier) Strat's routing for a HB in the bridge. I knew some of my favorite players used them and I wanted to tinker. I pulled the most beat up bucker out of the bin, hoping to get a nice deal from a sympathetic store owner. It had no lead left and was a double cream covered in muck and grime. I think I paid $5 for it. That pickup ended up in several of my guitars and several of my friend's guitars throughout high school. At this point I tried some other humbuckers and was left unimpressed. I tried to trade to get it back. They guy who had it said he lost it. I saw it in one of his guitars later, it had unique damage marks on it. I knew it was mine. I called him out and got it back. Then I lost it. I have no idea where it ended up. Maybe someone stole it from me. I've never played another humbucker like it to this day. I've been chasing that sound since then, part of my reason for getting into winding my own.

PS - no, it wasn't a PAF. It had 4 conductor black PVC wiring and shorter legs. I think it had two screw bobbins too, no slugs. If it was a Super Distortion, it was clear, bright, and articulate unlike any other. I really can't say what it was.

[FunkyKikuchiyo]

Here's a couple that I think I've shared on the board already, but here goes:

1. I had an older gentleman coming in about once a week for a couple months. He kept buying 500k pots, and then more and more. He kept complaining that they are impossible to solder and how he was going to design this special harness so he wouldn't have to solder to the backs of the pots. I tried explaining to him that it WAS possible as evidenced by every single guitar out there having grounds soldered to the backs of the pots, but he was dismissive of my "kid" opinions. If he couldn't do it, it was impossible. He disappeared for a while, then came back. He had sold the guitar, and the new owner insisted he bring it in for professional repairs because it kept cutting out. It was a '57 ES-175 with the VERY early stainless steel PAFs. Turns out his final "fix" was to clip the leads short and hook on new wires not with solder but with nail polish. The wires were then hooked onto the pots with nail polish as well. He completely denied that this fix was his handiwork. The craziest thing is that his initial problem probably could've been solved by a bit of compressed air.

2. A different guy came in wanting some work on his guitar. He'd installed a Roland GK pickup, but he had the external mount system and wanted it installed internally. In so doing he had to splice one of those 24-conductor cables (I forget why). He did it by stripping back each wire, tying them together, and suspending the knot in hot glue, the same kind immortalized by Martha Stewart. The crazy thing? The friggin' thing worked. The nail polish guy should've used hot glue.

[the great waldo]

I used to work in a funny little music shop in Putney London called The Albert Haul studios, Jack the guy that ran the place said that there was a guitar player in the rehearsal room downstairs having a problem with his strat feeding back and asked me if I could check it out. I went downstairs and there was a guy with a beard with frizzy hair standing about 2 feet away from a marshall amp with a 4x12 playing flat out, the guitar did howl but I told him to move away a bit and that would fix the problem, he gave me a funny look and said it did´nt howl in the lead position. I thought about it for a while and figured it must be the cap reacting, in the front and middle position although not "officially" in circuit. I thought to myself you´re never to old learn and went back upstairs. I asked Jack who is the guy downstairs? and he replied Peter Green!! made me wonder!

Cheers
Andrew

[David Schwab]

The moral of the Story:
I don't sell one single pickup, unless you agree to a possible Phase Issue!

Better yet, use at least 3 conductor cable, so you wont have to flip the magnet! Just swap the leads.

This is especially important if you sell via a web site and you have no access to the customer and their guitar.

[Possum]

That first story could possibly point to the break-in phenomenom, I havent played commercial pickups in a very long time so have no idea how Fender stuff sounds anymore, but I had one customer with an amazing ear tell me my strat pickups kept changing over time, it was the first time I ever heard anyone mention this idea, so I wouldn't discount the possibility that his pickups DID sound better the next day. Well, unless you subscribe to the the Schwabian Universe idea that Dave Stephens is brain damaged ;-)

One of my earliest customers bought a set of strat pickups from me, real nice guy and excellent player. For the mddle pickup I was winding it same direction as the other two but reversing the leads and magnet charge so it would humbuck with the other two. This was before I knew anything about coils shorting to magnets in Fender stuff; so I get an email from him one day telling me that if his guitar string hits a pole on the middle pickup his guitar would "turn off." I finally figured out what was going on (DUH....), and said ok I'll fix it for you, see you at the jam. He didn't show up and I ran into him months later and said hey give me the pickups and i'll fix it, so he said "NO WAY!!! I use that "trick" onstage, I'll be playing real loud and then get a note sustaining and then hit a string repetitively against the poles, its a great effect!"

[David Schwab]

That first story could possibly point to the break-in phenomenom, I havent played commercial pickups in a very long time so have no idea how Fender stuff sounds anymore, but I had one customer with an amazing ear tell me my strat pickups kept changing over time, it was the first time I ever heard anyone mention this idea, so I wouldn't discount the possibility that his pickups DID sound better the next day. Well, unless you subscribe to the the Schwabian Universe idea that Dave Stephens is brain damaged ;-)

Hey, like I said, it's easy enough to test. Just do some recordings and compare them.

One of my earliest customers bought a set of strat pickups from me, real nice guy and excellent player. For the mddle pickup I was winding it same direction as the other two but reversing the leads and magnet charge so it would humbuck with the other two. This was before I knew anything about coils shorting to magnets in Fender stuff; so I get an email from him one day telling me that if his guitar string hits a pole on the middle pickup his guitar would "turn off." I finally figured out what was going on (DUH....), and said ok I'll fix it for you, see you at the jam. He didn't show up and I ran into him months later and said hey give me the pickups and i'll fix it, so he said "NO WAY!!! I use that "trick" onstage, I'll be playing real loud and then get a note sustaining and then hit a string repetitively against the poles, its a great effect!"

Built in kill switch!

[MrCandy]

Hey, like I said, it's easy enough to test. Just do some recordings and compare them.

In these tests amp should be avoided, otherwise there will be many variables that are difficult to control. It is better to write directly to the audio interface with Hi-Z input.

[big_teee]

Jim Shine Had a very good Thread Going until you guys HiJacked it.
How about going back to the Pickup Stories!
Our Very Own Mod HiJacked it first.
B_T

[52 Bill]

OK here's my first pickup story from 35 years ago. I had just started doing repairs in a small shop where I was mainly doing electronics. The boss tells me that one of his regular clients is coming in with a guitar and see what I could do.

In walks a big name jazz guy with a Gibson archtop with a dead pickup. The pickup was similar to a DeArmond, but looked more like a Japanese import. He tells me that he was on the road and the pickup just died. He had taken it in to 3 or 4 shops while he was on tour, and no one could figure it out. He was very concerned about what work was done on this guitar and would not leave it for repairs (in fact he wouldn't even leave the room), so I knew that the others that had worked on this problem never really had a chance to work this out.

I quickly took a ohm meter reading on the output jack and immediately knew that the pickup was not open or shorted and that the volume control was operating. I too was stumped. Then it hit me there are only two things that make a pickup, a coil of wire and a magnet. I got continuity on the coil, so I walked over to a drawer of dead pickups and pulled out an old strat pickup and held the poles near the strings over the dead pickup and there it was, sound coming from the guitar output.

I explained to him that the magnet inside the pickup had somehow become demagnetized and that was why there was no output. At that time I had no way to fix it for him, so a few days later he brought in a different pickup that we installed on the guitar (while he waited). I understand that he later had the original pickup remagnetized by someone on the East coast.

[David Schwab]

In these tests amp should be avoided, otherwise there will be many variables that are difficult to control. It is better to write directly to the audio interface with Hi-Z input.

I agree! I never record my pickup test clips with an amp. I want to hear the pickup, not the amp, mic, room, etc.

I plug directly into the hi-Z input on my Roland digital mixer. It also has amp sims if I want to hear an amp in a very controlled environment.

[David Schwab]

Jim Shine Had a very good Thread Going until you guys HiJacked it.
How about going back to the Pickup Stories!
Our Very Own Mod HiJacked it first.
B_T

Well I was pointing out why that shouldn't have been an issue in the first place. We can improve upon tradition and make things better. I recently rewound a dead '76 Bi-centenial T-Bird bass pickup, and installed 4 conductor cable. That way I didn't have to worry about it being in phase with the other pickup!

I have two small pickup stories. One was when a long time customer of mine brought me his new Yamaha SG-200 in, complaining that it sounded very thin. This was a double humbucker guitar that looked sort of like an LP Jr.

After I plugged it in, it took me just a few moments to realize that the two coils on the humbucker were wired in phase! So they were really thin, and noisy.

Another story is about a guy who had been emailing me about making him a custom bass. This was one of those guys who's fussy about every little detail. Even about stuff that doesn't matter. So he wanted some standard Jazz pickups, but in closed covers. Fine, no problem. Then he says they have to be made using gray forbon! I asked him why, and how would he ever see them once they are in the bass? He didn't really have an answer, and I turned down the job. I realized he would have been a never ending PITA!

[StarryNight]

love this thread!