Hidden Tele Neck Pickup?

[Steve A.]

Anyone got any small NEOs, and can You stick one on a hot A5 .688", or so rod magnet.

I've tried putting neo magnets on the bottom of a few pickups and noticed no change at all in sound. Your suggestion of putting them on the bottom of the pole pieces of a Fender-style single coil pickup might make a bigger difference.

eBay is ridiculously inexpensive for items like neo magnets from China- often with free shipping:

http://popular.ebay.com/misc-n-z/neodymium-magnets.htm

Steve

[big_teee]

This project has been shelved for a little while til the Cust. gets more money saved up.
I can order from magnets4less, and others, the small magnets are cheap, they get higher when you get bigger.
I think the NEOs will help the large strings the most.
T

[big_teee]

I picked up the Esquire yesterday evening, when I delivered pickups.
It looks like a lot of work to follow.
When I get done I will have installed 3 pickups, installed the 5 way, and rewired the guitar throughout.
I get to keep it a few weeks, or whatever I need to do a quality job.
The body is a flat translucent white heavy ash body, with a filled in hole or scar in the back (Possible bar room brawl).
The neck is a very nice new looking orangy stained tele type neck, with nice Fender Esquire Decal.
Pictures to follow.
T

[isaac]

Cool. I hope to hear and see results.

[big_teee]

Forgot to mention, I also had to route a hole in the middle position, Got that done today.
Now I'm off to get all the pickups done. Then I hope to be testing on it soon.
T

[big_teee]

I have been working on the Esquire with the 2 stealth pickups since Friday.
I rough routed a hole for the middle pickup.
I wound 3 pickups, replaced the switch and pots with a 5 way, and new Pots.
Shielded the pickguard, had to timeout and work on the shim of the neck.
They had it shimmed up to much, and I removed some so I could lower the saddles a bit.
I have one question, food for thought?
On the pickguard foil shielding, right now the foil covers the entire pickguard, and goes right over the top of the pickups, and magnets.
I could not tell that the shielding effected the pickups.
So should I cut the shielding out where the pickups are, or leave as is?

[rjb]

So should I cut the shielding out where the pickups are, or leave as is?

I vote for leave as is.

[big_teee]

I vote for leave as is.

That was the right answer.
This project has been a Royal PITA, and I'm Tired of Donking With it!
It really sounds pretty good, and very close to the video.
Except for my playing!
T

[Steve A.]

So you went with strat-sized pickups under the pickguard, perhaps with oversized slugs?

A heads up- the customer might notice that some of the shims had been removed since they are usually added to lower the action. On the other hand it might have been shimmed up too much to start off with so it is better now.

Steve

P.S. If you shielded the pickup cavities then the foil on the pickguard should reduce the humbuzzer noises considerably. What kind of foil do you use on the pickguard? I used to use the copper foil tape but switched to heavy duty aluminum foil from the grocery store secured with rubber cement. If you ever get a static-y scratching sound on the pickguard try rubbing a sheet of Bounce on it- that will usually take care of it. (I've noticed that static problem mainly with the nice handwound pickups from Fralin or Van Zandt- and not with the mass-produced pickups from SD or DiM.)

[big_teee]

So you went with strat-sized pickups under the pickguard, perhaps with oversized slugs?

A heads up- the customer might notice that some of the shims had been removed since they are usually added to lower the action. On the other hand it might have been shimmed up too much to start off with so it is better now.

Steve

P.S. If you shielded the pickup cavities then the foil on the pickguard should reduce the humbuzzer noises considerably. What kind of foil do you use on the pickguard? I used to use the copper foil tape but switched to heavy duty aluminum foil from the grocery store secured with rubber cement. If you ever get a static-y scratching sound on the pickguard try rubbing a sheet of Bounce on it- that will usually take care of it. (I've noticed that static problem mainly with the nice handwound pickups from Fralin or Van Zandt- and not with the mass-produced pickups from SD or DiM.)

Your right on with the work I did.
This is a guitar that Danny just bought, probably from a pawn shop.
I was the first one to work on it, and he always lets me do whatever I think I need to.
I must be cheap enough, cause he didn't even ask what it was going to cost.
The Shims were just some sticky paper stacked up and glued down.
It scraped right off.
I used to ask before I changed anything, Now I just do it.
Like they say, It's usually easier to get Forgiveness than to get Permission.
I use Spray on contact cement, and I use heavy duty grocery Aluminum Foil, I think mine is the Heavy gauge Alcoa, I stole from my wifes kitchen.
I've used it a lot on Strat Pickguards in the past with good results.
On a strat pickguard you cut a hole and stick the pickup through the hole.
With this the foil is over the entire top of the pickup.
I didn't cut it out where the pickup sits. I didn't know if I would suffer from Eddie currents or not.
These pickups are Strat type SCs, the middle I used strat flatwork, and kindof built it upside down, the magnets stick mainly out the bottom.
The Neck pickup is one I made from Scratch, with narrower pole spacing.
I used Rod Magnets Fully charged to the max, and Actually staggered the magnets some to get equal string strength.
You still have the single coil noise, but it was the static, frying, and popping I was trying to cure, and the grounded foil helped with that.
The frying was worse in 2 and 4 than in the single coil modes. with the foil installed the 2 & 4 noise is gone, just the SC noise remains.
I'm going to steal a sheet of Bounce next from the Laundry room.
T

[rjb]

I'm going to steal a sheet of Bounce next from the Laundry room.

I'd be hesitant about using Bounce.... Bill Lawrence recommends Downy.

[Steve A.]

You still have the single coil noise, but it was the static, frying, and popping I was trying to cure, and the grounded foil helped with that.
The frying was worse in 2 and 4 than in the single coil modes. with the foil installed the 2 & 4 noise is gone, just the SC noise remains.

There have been a lot of heated discussions on shielding at many forums- but what it cures is that static, frying and popping sound. You need two coils to get rid of the hum which is typically multiples of 60hz (and can usually be minimized by rotating guitar around 180 degrees.)

Some people live in homes where the static, frying and popping sounds of RF/EMI noise are not a problem. More power to them! But many people (like me!) are not so lucky- or they have to play in those cheap bars from hell with terrible wiring. I think it is best to be prepared for the worse- when you don't really need that shielding I think it makes your guitar sound that much better.

That being said, in listening to many of Jimi Hendrix's live recordings I think that the single coil buzz interacted with his guitar signal and FX pedals to produce his very unique sound. Had he been playing with hum-canceling strat pickups I don't think it would have been the same (he gets some downright raunchy and rude sounds!) I wish that they had clip-on tuners back then since he was out of tune on many of those live recordings.

Steve

[big_teee]

There have been a lot of heated discussions on shielding at many forums- but what it cures is that static, frying and popping sound. You need two coils to get rid of the hum which is typically multiples of 60hz (and can usually be minimized by rotating guitar around 180 degrees.)

Some people live in homes where the static, frying and popping sounds of RF/EMI noise are not a problem. More power to them! But many people (like me!) are not so lucky- or they have to play in those cheap bars from hell with terrible wiring. I think it is best to be prepared for the worse- when you don't really need that shielding I think it makes your guitar sound that much better.

That being said, in listening to many of Jimi Hendrix's live recordings I think that the single coil buzz interacted with his guitar signal and FX pedals to produce his very unique sound. Had he been playing with hum-canceling strat pickups I don't think it would have been the same (he gets some downright raunchy and rude sounds!) I wish that they had clip-on tuners back then since he was out of tune on many of those live recordings.

Steve

I agree, if you play Single Coils, your probably going to take the bad with the good.
I love making SCs, and they sell better than anything, but I can't tolerate the noise, if It is my own guitars.
I have one lefty Strat, and I have a Stacked Pickup in the Bridge that I made, and I have my handmade Mini Rails in the middle and neck.
The Low wound rails in the neck and middle, if I Close My eyes they sound like quiet Single Coils to me.
T

[Steve A.]

I'd be hesitant about using Bounce.... Bill Lawrence recommends Downy.

After putting up with THAT SMELL from Bounce dryer sheets since they came out in 1972 I finally ran across Bounce Free & Sensitive which is like a breath of fresh air. Hallelujah!



Steve

[kayakerca]

It really sounds pretty good, and very close to the video.
Except for my playing!
T

I'm sure that's only because you don't have have that Gilmour(ish) Binson Echorec II delay in your rig.