Daily Run Down, & Round Table-P/Us

[SonnyW]

WoW!!! I never noticed the hotter coil was the screw ,I jast assumed it was the slug coil which is what I usually wind hotter
I don't know if I will find time to make a set for the dot at Christmas (I'm only home a week) But I will try
Maybe Sonny can enlighten us about the hotter screw coil in the bridge position or not

Copperheadroads, I just now figured out that I told you wrong on the Epiphone dot. I have three Epiphone LP's and no dot 335's at all. The recipe I gave you is what I like for a Les Paul. My mistake, must have been sleeping on that. I do have a ES 339 with classic 57's and I would probably start with the same formula though for my tastes.

[Stratz]

I've played plenty of them in my 40 years as a guitar player and IMHO most of them had no special magic to offer, only once in a while I've come across any that sounded "great"

I think that they just need to be "broken in" for a month.

[big_teee]

Howdy Stratz, good to see you on here.
I just got done testing a neck bucker that I have been wanting to try for a while.
I wound the coils with 42 HPN wire.
I was wanting something real smooth sounding, and I hit pay dirt.
It is wound with equal coils to around 7.5k DCR.
It has a fully charged A2 magnet, and a nickel baseplate.
If you have any of that type of wire, give it a try.
I'm sure it will sound much better after I let it age like wine for a while!
T

[David Schwab]

I bet'cha if the historic timeline was a little different, say PAF's had moved on to T-tops before they were introduced into the Les Paul series, today we'd all be hearing people hail SPN as "the tone monster thing". There's an interesting video on Youtube where Dicky Bett's makes a statement about changing the pickups in one of his old guitars and he says "it didn't make any difference in the sound, I think we were wrong about pickups". I know Bett's isn't everyones favorite, but he's no tone slouch, he's got a great ear.

I've mentioned here before how a friend of mine had a '55 gold top that someone had refinished brown (like the back) and installed two early patent label humbuckers. They sounded nice, but he replaced them with the original DiMarzio PAFs and they sounded better. I had those patent label pickup in my parts box for years, and ended up sticking one in a Sekovia les Paul copy, along with a 70s P-90 which I rewound to late50s/60s specs.

Meanwhile a lot of people like the T-tops and the Tim Shaw pickups. I had those in my '81 Les Paul and they sounded pretty nice, especially when I removed the cover on the bridge pickup.

Not to sound like I'm arguing here, but they didn't all have that honk (some call nasal) tone. I recall playing a late 50's 335 which I loved the tone of (had original, virgin, PAFs) which sounded to me as if they were SPN, nice and clear, full range, no honk or nasal tone.

Right, the old P-90s sounded more like fatter Strat pickups (around 8k) and not the barky 9k pickups found in SGs. I had a 60s ES-330TD with chrome covered dogears that sounded wonderful.

The funny part is how people often replaced the P-90s with humbuckers (which is how I got a set). Same with the Les Paul Deluxe's mini humbuckers. Lots of people didn't like either of those pickups, and now they are all the rage. That shows how it's all fashion. Guitarist think they want something because it's in style.

[copperheadroads]

Copperheadroads, I just now figured out that I told you wrong on the Epiphone dot. I have three Epiphone LP's and no dot 335's at all. The recipe I gave you is what I like for a Les Paul. My mistake, must have been sleeping on that. I do have a ES 339 with classic 57's and I would probably start with the same formula though for my tastes.

Thanks ..............I think I will just make a vintage set low 8k bridge & about 7.5k neck with PE of coarse

[big_teee]

Thanks ..............I think I will just make a vintage set low 8k bridge & about 7.5k neck with PE of coarse

It should sound good.
I've read, Some of the real early 335s had low wound pickups.
I love low wound neck buckers.
T

[big_teee]

Got a email today from a guy that has a set of my Strat SCs.
He loves the tone, but says they are microphonic.
They were potted, and passed the hooked to a jack, and waved in front of my marshall test. lol
They were installed in a new parts caster, with a gold colored metal pickguard.
He said it is fully shielded.
I think he is confusing Feedback with microphonics?
Any ideas?
T

[the great waldo]

Hi T

If it's got a brass scratchplate it`s a sure fire recipie for howling whistling and all sorts of other horrors. In the mid 70's when mighty mite came out with all the brassware for guitars a lot of guys asked me to put metal pickguards on their guitars which led to lot's of problems, use mirror plastic if you have to, it should clear the problem.

Cheers

Andrew

[big_teee]

Hi T

If it's got a brass scratchplate it`s a sure fire recipie for howling whistling and all sorts of other horrors. In the mid 70's when mighty mite came out with all the brassware for guitars a lot of guys asked me to put metal pickguards on their guitars which led to lot's of problems, use mirror plastic if you have to, it should clear the problem.

Cheers

Andrew

I think it may be the pick guard like you said.
The Customer does too.
He is using a anodize aluminum guard, I think.
He said it was a copper colored metal guard.
I have always used the plastic with extra foil shielding with good results.
So if the Pots are mounted to the plate, what I wonder would make it Go Nuts, with microphonics?

[the great waldo]

Hi Mr T
It might be some wierd eddy effects, it's just hard to tell sometimes whats causing a problem.

Cheers

Andrew

I think it may be the pick guard like you said.
The Customer does too.
He is using a anodize aluminum guard, I think.
He said it was a copper colored metal guard.
I have always used the plastic with extra foil shielding with good results.
So if the Pots are mounted to the plate, what I wonder would make it Go Nuts, with microphonics?

[ReWind]

My Wife bought me a epi dot for Christmas ,What's your fav pickup specs for this style guitar

I've got a wild animal of a Dot. A P-90 bobbin with about 7800 turns with a long A2/short A5 combo in the neck and in the bridge, a dual blade bucker with more 42/PE copper than I could comfortably fit on the bobbins, and an A8 with an iron nail as a spacer in it.

It goes from "sweet and pretty" to "lay waste to your enemies" at the flick of the PU switch.

[Joe Gwinn]

If it's got a brass scratchplate it`s a sure fire recipe for howling whistling and all sorts of other horrors. In the mid 70's when mighty mite came out with all the brassware for guitars a lot of guys asked me to put metal pickguards on their guitars which led to lot's of problems, use mirror plastic if you have to, it should clear the problem.

A pickup near to a vibrating sheet of copper of brass or aluminum could well pick the sheet vibrations up, just as vibrating strings are picked up. Even though the sheet is nonmagnetic, its motion in a magnetic field induces eddy currents in the sheet, and these eddy currents oppose the original magnetic field. The effect is that the field through the nearby pickup coil varies, resulting in a voltage.

The metal film of metalized plastic is thin enough to largely eliminate the effect.

I have not tried this, but a sheet of titanium or stainless steel should also suppress the effect, as these metals have fairly high bulk resistivities.

The other thing to do is to ensure that the pickup is rigidly attached the the metal plate, using metal standoffs not springs, so pickup and plate vibrate as a unit.

[big_teee]

A pickup near to a vibrating sheet of copper of brass or aluminum could well pick the sheet vibrations up, just as vibrating strings are picked up. Even though the sheet is nonmagnetic, its motion in a magnetic field induces eddy currents in the sheet, and these eddy currents oppose the original magnetic field. The effect is that the field through the nearby pickup coil varies, resulting in a voltage.

The metal film of metalized plastic is thin enough to largely eliminate the effect.

I have not tried this, but a sheet of titanium or stainless steel should also suppress the effect, as these metals have fairly high bulk resistivities.

The other thing to do is to ensure that the pickup is rigidly attached the the metal plate, using metal standoffs not springs, so pickup and plate vibrate as a unit.

The customer changed out the pickguard last night, and it fixed the issue.
I would have liked to seen it first hand but he was many miles away.
The pickups were installed with screws and rubber tubing, in both guards.
So it sounds like the pickups, and pickguards were attached the same way.
T

[copperheadroads]

I've got a wild animal of a Dot. A P-90 bobbin with about 7800 turns with a long A2/short A5 combo in the neck and in the bridge, a dual blade bucker with more 42/PE copper than I could comfortably fit on the bobbins, and an A8 with an iron nail as a spacer in it.

It goes from "sweet and pretty" to "lay waste to your enemies" at the flick of the PU switch.

Thanks James
Sounds really sweet
but I'm making a set of vintage buckers & keep the traditional look with nickel covers

[SonnyW]

Thanks James
Sounds really sweet
but I'm making a set of vintage buckers & keep the traditional look with nickel covers

Maybe I need to get me a dot someday. I just finished setting up a 1997 335 RI for a customer yesterday. He was supposed to pick it up today but he texted this afternoon that he couldn't make it by. I was glad and told him to take all the time he wants. I haven't been able to put it down most all day. Mostly just playing it unplugged. Sure is a nice one I will kind of hate to see it go. I have had plenty of nice 335's through here, several that were a lot bigger $ than this one, but this particular one just feels and sounds good to me. BTW it has 57 Classics stock. It is heavy though. Just a hair over 9 pounds with no strap.