Let's Ask A Pro?

[big_teee]

Don't know if the Pro's will co-operate or not, but we can ask them and see?
If you have a question for one of the Pickup Maker resident pros, ask a question?
No individual pickup specs.
I'll start?
Jason Lollar, What pickup do you wind the most of?
Mr Lollar, When did you start Winding?
B_T

[kayakerca]

Don't know if the Pro's will co-operate or not, but we can ask them and see?
If you have a question for one of the Pickup Maker resident pros, ask a question?
No individual pickup specs.
I'll start?
Jason Lollar, What pickup do you wind the most of?

I've accumulated a number of articles/interviews of Jason Lollar's and here are one set of his responses to your first two questions.

From a Premier Article:

A - "The P-90 has been and still is my flagship pickup."

Mr Lollar, When did you start Winding?
B_T

From a Premier Article:

A - "I got really serious about it a couple years after I turned 30 - around 1992"

On a more serious vane, this is a great thread if you can get that group to bite (secret recipes not withstanding).

Of all the stuff I've read put out by "top of the field" commercial winders, Jason Lollar has got to be the most informative and forthcoming. Especially his winding book. Scary amount of content in that book!

[big_teee]

Another question for a Pro that is In both Pickup Winding Areas.
Hopefully He won't get mad for volunteering him.
Copperheadroads of Vineham Custom Pickups.
He does a lot of specializing in Tele, and Strat Pickups, along with others.
He is Known for His Strat Pickups with Low mids.
My question for him without getting any specific Data and Trade Secrets!
Do you have any suggestions for low mids, like tension, or anything that would help us cut down on the heavy mids?
Thanks,
Terry

PS:
All other Pros are welcome to leave any tips!

[jason lollar]

I am flattered to be asked and to be answered for- I dont read this forum every day or even weekly and dont post often- to busy but anyway- yeah the P-90 is sort of my thing, I have been winding them since 1979 and was selling alot of them before they became popular again around 2000 or 2004- dont really remember when the big resurgence came but because I make all types of standard pickups and more unusual ones in quantities I think what I sell reflects how many guitars are made with - humbuckers, strat pickups and tele pickups- so the most I make are gibson size PAF types followed by strats, teles, P-90s, mini buckers and firebirds, jazzmasters and then incedentals. Mostly buckers, strats teles and P-90s with buckers and strats leading the pack- think about how many guitars are made worldwide- buckers or strats, those are the popular guitars. However I also make about 40 charlie christians a month, a mccarty built in pickgaurd a month, 10 supros, 40 wide range Regal sets a month.
I think its important to branch out and make some unusual items no one else does or at the minimum make more than just humbuckers I make alot of custom one off pickups every month too- sometimes quite experimental.If you can at least make buckers, strats, teles and P-90s you got your foot in the door for whatever thats worth.
There are a bunch of winders that hit it hard at the same time I did and they are still struggling but they usually specialize in one thing like buckers or they dont have much business sense and act like prima donnas, then you have someone like TV jones that took over a niche and he does well with it but still there are a lot more guitars made with PAF size buckers, strats, teles and P-90s so finding a niche can be like pigeon holing yourself at a certain point.
I have to say I never wanted to be a pickup maker in the first place and I have tried to hold back growth from the get go- I wanted to be secure with having work but I didnt want it to get out of hand and I still discourage new dealers and OEM people by having alot of conditions attached to dealerships etc that are not industry standards

[copperheadroads]

Another question for a Pro that Hangs In both Pickup areas.
Hopefully He won't get mad for volunteering him.
Copperheadroads of Vineham Custom Pickups.
He does a lot of specializing in Tele, and Strat Pickups, along with others.
He is Known for His Strat Pickups with Low mids.
My question for him without getting any specific Data and Trade Secrets!
Do you have any suggestions for low mids, like tension, or anything that would help us cut down on the heavy mids?
Thanks,
Terry

PS:
All other Pros are welcome to leave any tips!

Johnny on the spot I guess
Scooped mids .....If you got treble ,middle ,bass knobs on your amp turn up you treble & bass
& If you know how to increase this by winding you good to go

[big_teee]

Where are all the questions?
I figured there would be bunches of them?
Question for David Schwab?
David makes a line of bass pickups.
Maybe he could show us some pictures of a few of his Bass Pickups.
After the new pickup is built and ready to go in the bass pickup cover?
Question: anything he wants to share on epoxy encapsulation?
maybe a quick rundown of it?
T

[David Schwab]

Where are all the questions?
I figured there would be bunches of them?
Question for David Schwab?
David makes a line of bass pickups.
Maybe he could show us some pictures of a few of his Bass Pickups.
After the new pickup is built and ready to go in the bass pickup cover?
Question: anything he wants to share on epoxy encapsulation?
maybe a quick rundown of it?
T

Epoxy encapsulation creates a nice solid pickup, free from microphonics, and also hides the guts of the pickup. This is one way to keep your trade secrets secret (until someone like Belwar comes along ) Also many of my pickups are not really free standing, since they fit into covers and not on baseplates, so the epoxy holds the whole thing together.

I normally don't show any of the pickups not in the covers. But here's a few more "normal" models.

You can also make a pickup in a mold, with epoxy, so it doesn't need a cover:

Here you see a large "ramp" with two pickups in it, and a single pickup mold that has a thin pour in to form the front surface of the pickup. After that cures the pickup is placed in the mold, and it's filed with epoxy.


A custom pickup in a NOS Thunderbird bass cover:



An early prototype of my Jazz bass humbucker.



The early version used laser cut wooden flatwork.



My quad coil P bass pickups:

[rjb]

You can also make a pickup in a mold, with epoxy, so it doesn't need a cover:

Some dumb questions re: the molds:
- Is that blue stuff foam wall insulation from Lowes?
- How do you make clean inside cuts? Hot wire cutter?

Thanks,
-rb

[David Schwab]

Some dumb questions re: the molds:
- Is that blue stuff foam wall insulation from Lowes?
- How do you make clean inside cuts? Hot wire cutter?

Thanks,
-rb

The blue stuff is silicone rubber. You make a model of the cover. It can be from wood, or plastic, or whatever. You get it all nice and smooth and exactly the way you want. You can also paint it with a textured paint if you want that finish.

Then you make a plastic box. You place the model on the bottom with the top surface facing up. If you want screw holes, you use plastic straws, or slippery plastic rods. I have delrin rods in the photo. We make the plastic box by cutting pieces of thin acrylic plastic to size on the table saw and gluing them together.

After you mix your rubber, ideally you should put it in a vacuum chamber to remove air. You have to do this in stages, because it swells up!




Then you pour the rubber in the box, and place a plastic top on the box. This becomes the bottom of the mold.

The light gray thin in the box is the model.




The finished ramp pickup:

[big_teee]

Question for Jon Gundry?
Anything You would like to share on Vintage P/Us.
No Secrets, or P/U Specs.
Maybe some pictures like you posted of polishing Humbucker Covers and Such!
Thanks in Advance.
T

[JGundry]

Okay, basic advice for all beginners. This is really basic but people need to know if they don't already. If you make a P.A.F. style pickup don't call it a PAF. Don't market double cream bobbins for a P.A.F. style pickup and don't have photos of them on your site. Don't do demos of double cream bobbins.

For vintage Gibson cream plastic color be aware that there are two extremes from light to dark for Gibson cream plastic. The photo below is snap shot but shows the extremes. These are P-90 covers but these extremes are also the same for Gibson cream M-69 rings. The middle covers on left and right are vintage 56' and 52' P-90 covers and the top and bottom are ThroBak molded repros.



If you are interested in making vintage Fender and Gibson repros and you have the cash I would recommend trying all of the Alnico magnets from Arnold, T&S and Permanent Magnet Company. The price kind of takes it out of the realm of the beginner but be aware that although there are some great sounding Chinese Alnico magnets, IMHO the closest vintage tonally is USA made. A few of the USA made have BH curves that are dead on accurate to vintage with no tweaking. Sorry but I don't sell magnets to makers.

Personally I enjoy addressing all of the details with the repros I make. I don't want to decide what "doesn't matter" tonally and make it out of forbon or some other alternative material to vintage. To me it all matters. The machines used, materials for parts, how they are stamped and molded even how they are assembled matters to me. So I wind as close as I can get to vintage specs. and make my own parts for he same reason. A pickup is a pretty basic device. But the magical tonal references for guitar pickups are overwhelmingly tones from vintage Gibson and Fender guitars and it will be that way as long as people play the electric guitar. Vintage Fender and Gibson guitars are the Stradivari and Guarneri of the electric guitar. The good part is we don't have hundreds of years separating the golden are of electrics with the present day.

Even though a pickup is a simple device there is a pretty wide latitude for tonal variation even within the framework of vintage designs. So whether making a reproduction or your own design there is still lots of room for creating a very personal pickup for each pickup maker.

[LtKojak]

The machines used, materials for parts, how they are stamped and molded even how they are assembled matters to me. So I wind as close as I can get to vintage specs. and make my own parts for he same reason.

Hi Jon,

do you make your own humbucker baseplates? If yes, are the short-legged identical to the long-legged, just stamped, cut and plied differently?

Inquiring minds would like to know.

[JGundry]

Hi Jon,

do you make your own humbucker baseplates? If yes, are the short-legged identical to the long-legged, just stamped, cut and plied differently?

Inquiring minds would like to know.

Yes I make my own humbucker, short and long leg, baseplates copied from vintage P.A.F. baseplates. The short leg is just like the long leg version but with short legs. I made short leg as well because I wanted the vintage correct material as well as threaded pole screw holes in a short leg format.

[rhgwynn]

What about you T?? Have anything to share? Let's bring this old horse back to life

-Rob

[big_teee]

What about you T?? Have anything to share? Let's bring this old horse back to life

-Rob

Yes this would be a good thread to revive!
I'm definitely not a pro. More of a Hobbyist.
As far as Sharing, I do Constantly.
I just posted the inter workings of a modified Firebird Mini bucker.
I have it tested, ready to pot, and it really sounds great.
The Mini has lots of Applications. This one is truly worth the trouble to build.
http://music-electronics-forum.com/t31627/#post292589
Post 72, and 73.
T