P90 construction

[John_H]

I bought some dog-ear parts from GJ. The way things line up it appears that the magnets, and keeper go underneath the baseplate. If this is the case, is it common to superglue or epoxy them in place? I don't have an example to copy, and all of the pictures/drawings I've seen show different.

[Dr. Guitar]

the magnets should be sandwiched between the bobbin and baseplate.

[David Schwab]

I had a 1960 Gibson ES-330TD with chrome dogears... they didn't have baseplates, the pickup was held in place by the covers.

[jonson]

got an ancient Dog ear sitting here John and that is as the good Doctor said magnets between baseplate and bobbin.

[SkinnyWire]

You can use a bit of rubber contact cement to hold them. They'll peel off if the need arises.

[John_H]

Dr. Guitar "the magnets should be sandwiched between the bobbin and baseplate."

So I thought.... I bought the parts a while back, and put them away. It was only when I checked them out carefully today that I discovered that things didn't fit very well. The picture shows the margin between the baseplate, and cover. If I remove the magnets, and keeper it fits perfectly over the bobbin. The bobbin is .415" The cover is .325 deep. The offset in the baseplate is .125 It seems my easiest option is to re-bend the ears on the baseplates to make things line up.

jonson "got an ancient Dog ear sitting here John and that is as the good Doctor said magnets between baseplate and bobbin."

I'm thinking about making a couple old school bobbins. I bought enough parts to experiment a little. Do you know what the dimensions of the coil form are?

Thanks all for the replies.

[jonson]

About as old scool as you will get John. Bobbin length 3.00in Width 1.118 Height .375 Coil space height .235. No ears on base plate and Spence style vacume formed cover. All iv'e read gives bobbin centre as .250 x.250 so this bugger has shrink or was undersized to start with.

[David Schwab]

Man that's an old pickup! Is that the brown clover like they used on the first basses?

What year is that pickup?

[jonson]

No it's black late 40s ES175 which I removed for a "guy" and made a Charlie Christian clone about 20 odd years ago. Still kicking myself for the 57 Birdland I had with a pair of humbuckers on it that the bobbins were handmade and cut out with a pair of scissors or snips and sold years ago. Now Iv'e a good idea what they really were.

[David Schwab]

Still kicking myself for the 57 Birdland I had with a pair of humbuckers on it that the bobbins were handmade and cut out with a pair of scissors or snips and sold years ago. Now Iv'e a good idea what they really were.

Wow.. Probably made by Mr. Lover himself.

Yeah... I had some early patent decal humbuckers... probably from about 1960. They'd be worth something now. But at the time they were just some "old" pickups no one wanted, and something for me to experiment on.

Other pickups I have "mangled" over the years is a '72 P bass and a set of early 70's P-90's...

I'm glad I resisted the urge to paint my '72 Mustang like Adrian Belew's.

[John_H]

About as old scool as you will get John. Bobbin length 3.00in Width 1.118 Height .375 Coil space height .235. No ears on base plate and Spence style vacume formed cover. All iv'e read gives bobbin centre as .250 x.250 so this bugger has shrink or was undersized to start with.

That's old school cool for sure. Things definitely have evolved. Thanks for the info.

[John_H]

I finished the guitar, and loaded up my first effort. The bobbin distorted more than anything I've wound previously, but luckily still fit under the cover. I don't have anything to compare it to, but it sounds great. When I get some different wire I'll build another, but for the time being I'm pleased.

Thanks everyone for the help.

[Possum]

...........

Pretty guitar, can I have it? Yeah you wound it too tight but at least it won't be very microphonic, but microphonics are a good thing in my opinion for real P90 tones....

[John_H]

Pretty guitar, can I have it? Yeah you wound it too tight but at least it won't be very microphonic, but microphonics are a good thing in my opinion for real P90 tones....

Thanks.. Will you be needing a case for that too?

It's surely a little too tight. I'll have to slack off my tension a little next time. Are most P90 bobbins that flimsy? I bought these from GJ.

[David Schwab]

That's a real nice LP Jr!

Is it solid maple?


Check this out:




My partner made it... korina body, figured red oak top, poplar neck, and rosewood board. It has a nice singing tone.