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Well I have to say there are times in your life when luck just shines upon you, and saturday was one of those days. I've been doing research into PAF's for about 8 weeks now and been considering buying one to observe. However - I must say I did not want to shell out well over $1000. I went to a kids birthday party on saturday and got talking to one of the dad's and low and behold the guy has a PAF! I tell him how im working on a project of reproducing them and we talk about the value of the originals. He tells me he got the paf from a really old modified strat copy. He bought the guitar for $300 and it also has authentic 66 strat pickups and fender original pots. He then explains that the PAF he has is damaged and he wants meto *have* it.
For free.
Wow
So sunday I pick the pickup from him and eagerly bring it home. My first instinct is to rip it apart to bare pieces but then I realize I need to slow down and observe everything and take every little piece in. So I first make some basic observations about the damage:
1 - No Cover on the pickup - Well to bad so sad beggers cant be choosers.
2 - The pole pieces have been "Snipped" at the bottom by about 1/16". My guess is this was done to "Fit" it into the strat. This is the most dreadful part for me as I can never know the "true sound" of this pickup.
3 - The Legs of the base plate were broken off - Luckily this doesnt effect the pickup.
4 - There is a short in one of the coils, so no total ohm reading currently.
The good parts? The bobbins are in very good shape with only minor warping at the ends. The original tape is still on the original coils. Very little rust. very little pick wear on the bobbins. The coils are clearly unbalanced. Very interesting and will require alot of observation
So after taking all the measurements I can and lots of photos I decide It's time to pop the back plate off. 4 brass screws later and I am blessed with a sand cast 2.5" long magnet cut clean on 4-sides. After about 6-8 hours of very intense observation I come to a few startling conclusions (Startling to me anways) and a bizzare first impression:
1 - The parts are not very accurate at all - Particularly the keeper.
2 - Replicating the parts accurately means building in flaws - This is most intriguing to me. I'll have to write more about this later.
3 - The keepers that are out there dont even come close to hitting the mark.
4 - I'm left with the impression of the importance the pole pieces and slugs play and the relationship they have with the magnet.
So now that I have the baseplate off, any recommendations of how I should proceed and or things that should be noted? I've got a list of about 50 different items I want to get off this pickup. Everything from number of turns on each coil, to how deep the potting penetrated. My ultimate goal is to duplicate the bobbins.
belwar
For free.
Wow
So sunday I pick the pickup from him and eagerly bring it home. My first instinct is to rip it apart to bare pieces but then I realize I need to slow down and observe everything and take every little piece in. So I first make some basic observations about the damage:1 - No Cover on the pickup - Well to bad so sad beggers cant be choosers.
2 - The pole pieces have been "Snipped" at the bottom by about 1/16". My guess is this was done to "Fit" it into the strat. This is the most dreadful part for me as I can never know the "true sound" of this pickup.
3 - The Legs of the base plate were broken off - Luckily this doesnt effect the pickup.
4 - There is a short in one of the coils, so no total ohm reading currently.
The good parts? The bobbins are in very good shape with only minor warping at the ends. The original tape is still on the original coils. Very little rust. very little pick wear on the bobbins. The coils are clearly unbalanced. Very interesting and will require alot of observation
So after taking all the measurements I can and lots of photos I decide It's time to pop the back plate off. 4 brass screws later and I am blessed with a sand cast 2.5" long magnet cut clean on 4-sides. After about 6-8 hours of very intense observation I come to a few startling conclusions (Startling to me anways) and a bizzare first impression:
1 - The parts are not very accurate at all - Particularly the keeper.
2 - Replicating the parts accurately means building in flaws - This is most intriguing to me. I'll have to write more about this later.
3 - The keepers that are out there dont even come close to hitting the mark.
4 - I'm left with the impression of the importance the pole pieces and slugs play and the relationship they have with the magnet.
So now that I have the baseplate off, any recommendations of how I should proceed and or things that should be noted? I've got a list of about 50 different items I want to get off this pickup. Everything from number of turns on each coil, to how deep the potting penetrated. My ultimate goal is to duplicate the bobbins.
belwar
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