JustKid Posted April 19, 2018 Share Posted April 19, 2018 During the usual spring cleaning, the box of old pickups was found ( only God know what you can find in my mancave). My favorites always were Super Distortions from 70s and there they were, about 10 of them among others. But the bad news is - 5 of them are dead and do not show any readings with no visual damage. They look great - old, yellowed ...very sweet vintage look. Rather then throwing them on ebay $5 bucks a pop, I was thinking about fixing them. Now the question is - does anyone know anybody, who'd be up for that kind of job. Obviously I'd like to keep the SD parameters and characteristics as close to the original as possible. Any input will be appreciated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diablo175 Posted April 19, 2018 Share Posted April 19, 2018 Reach out to Josh Gravelin. He might be able to help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustKid Posted April 19, 2018 Author Share Posted April 19, 2018 Thanks Jim. Looks like the guy specializing in bass PUs, but I'll give it a shot. Throw more names guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubs_42 Posted April 19, 2018 Share Posted April 19, 2018 27 minutes ago, JustKid said: Thanks Jim. Looks like the guy specializing in bass PUs, but I'll give it a shot. Throw more names guys. WFT? The guy specializes in fucking tone! I've got Josh's pickups in most of my guitars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustKid Posted April 19, 2018 Author Share Posted April 19, 2018 Ok. Ok. I'll do everything. Please dont shoot me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diablo175 Posted April 19, 2018 Share Posted April 19, 2018 7 hours ago, bubs_42 said: WFT? The guy specializes in fucking tone! I've got Josh's pickups in most of my guitars. This. Josh does it all. I've got his p'ups in several of my Cali's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disturber Posted April 19, 2018 Share Posted April 19, 2018 I'd go with Josh. He is a gentleman. He knows pickups and he is 110% HFC approved. I'd go as far as to say Josh is pickups on the HFC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptm1diver Posted April 19, 2018 Share Posted April 19, 2018 Dude, are you F’n kidding me? Josh is a bass player and fantastic pickup maker and repair person. He probably made most of the pickups in the Shishkov guitars. No basses there. He has also probably made a dozen or so sets of incredible guitar pickups for me, from P90s, to humbuckets, to single coils, to special winds and currently a custom firebird pickup. You should seriously consider giving him a call. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamerhead Posted April 19, 2018 Share Posted April 19, 2018 Another vote for Josh. Not only does he know his sh!t but he's reasonably friendly. For a Minnesotan. Minnesotite? Minnesoter? A person from up nort'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustKid Posted April 19, 2018 Author Share Posted April 19, 2018 I guess Josh it is then. Thanks guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSB0531 Posted April 19, 2018 Share Posted April 19, 2018 17 hours ago, JustKid said: During the usual spring cleaning, the box of old pickups was found ( only God know what you can find in my mancave). My favorites always were Super Distortions from 70s and there they were, about 10 of them among others. But the bad news is - 5 of them are dead and do not show any readings with no visual damage. They look great - old, yellowed ...very sweet vintage look. Rather then throwing them on ebay $5 bucks a pop, I was thinking about fixing them. Now the question is - does anyone know anybody, who'd be up for that kind of job. Obviously I'd like to keep the SD parameters and characteristics as close to the original as possible. Any input will be appreciated Lindy Fralin or Josh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BubbaVO Posted April 19, 2018 Share Posted April 19, 2018 17 hours ago, JustKid said: Thanks Jim. Looks like the guy specializing in bass PUs, but I'll give it a shot. Throw more names guys. I've got his pups in my guitars, too. I e-mailed him with a specific situation for a p-90 on a guitar and he delivered. The dude listens. He doesn't just send you what he has lying around and hopes its good enough. Get in touch with him. I don't think you can go wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aknapp Posted April 19, 2018 Share Posted April 19, 2018 I've never heard a negative comment about Josh or his pickups. We are fortunate to have him as part of the HFC family. Josh could certainly be a poster boy candidate for "Minnesota Nice". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Studio Custom Posted April 19, 2018 Share Posted April 19, 2018 Before you invest too much, compare what a repaired pickup sells for versus the cost to repair (including freight two ways), it is likely a wash and not worth while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustKid Posted April 19, 2018 Author Share Posted April 19, 2018 19 minutes ago, Studio Custom said: Before you invest too much, compare what a repaired pickup sells for versus the cost to repair (including freight two ways), it is likely a wash and not worth while. Yup. Was checking it today actually. And suddenly threw an offer to the guy for $50... now I got one more...why the fuck did I do that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JGravelin Posted April 19, 2018 Share Posted April 19, 2018 You guys are the best! Thanks for the recommendations and positive feedback on my work. I've rewound, fixed, and/or refurbished at least 100 DiMarzio Super Ds, PAFs, and Dual Sounds over the years and know those pickups inside and out right down to the coil turn counts. I only rewind if absolutely necessary and in many cases have been able to resurrect old, non-working pickups by reflowing soldered connections and/or reattaching in coil wire leads internally. If I can preserve the originality and historic value of the pickup while saving the customer money ..I'm all for it. Larry DiMarzio made some fantastic pickups and still does. It's an honor for me to keep those great sounding old ones out in the world and rocking forth! Last year there was a Super Distortion that landed on my bench and one of the coils did not work - a broken 'start' lead wire connection. I couldn't save it, had to rewind, and in disassembling the pickup I found an interesting choice in 'parts' inside: a purposefully shaped/ground down steel NAIL. You can see in the background in this photo, upper left. I laughed!! Sometimes we gotta work with what we have, right? Great talking to you JustKid. I'm glad to assist in any way I can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murkat Posted April 19, 2018 Share Posted April 19, 2018 ^ and thats. A wrap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustKid Posted April 19, 2018 Author Share Posted April 19, 2018 Damn, I'm getting an erection from just looking at this pickup... The dead ones are piling up And another pile needs to be checked And it all started long time ago when I got my first Ibanez Agent ( right) some 30+ years ago Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobB Posted April 20, 2018 Share Posted April 20, 2018 47 minutes ago, JustKid said: And another pile needs to be checked Thassa assload of pickups, brah. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustKid Posted April 20, 2018 Author Share Posted April 20, 2018 5 minutes ago, RobB said: Thassa assload of pickups, brah. You'd think...but then I found this box... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tortious Posted April 20, 2018 Share Posted April 20, 2018 That's some serious spring cleaning! Do those boxes have their own gravitational field? Just got home to a box of new Gravelin pickups tonight. Josh does phenomenal work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zenmindbeginner Posted April 20, 2018 Share Posted April 20, 2018 23 hours ago, JGravelin said: I've rewound, fixed, and/or refurbished at least 100 DiMarzio Super Ds, PAFs, and Dual Sounds over the years and know those pickups inside and out right down to the coil turn counts. This is the heart of what makes a pickup unique. The type of wire and how many turns plus a general knowledge of how it was it was wound can recreate a pickup's "mojo" with fine accuracy. This knowledge and experience is at the heart of what makes pickup winders legendary. Spending years and years tinkering, taking apart, re-winding and discovering the secrets of the best winders in the business is absolutely essential to winding the best pickups. I've only played one pair of Josh's pickups but I can honestly say that the set of Shlabotniks are 100% equal to anything coming out of the Seymour Duncan Custom Shop. I've never met Josh and I currently have no relation to him other than being a new fan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Len Posted April 20, 2018 Share Posted April 20, 2018 Josh is the Man. He did some magnet swaps in some old Super D's for me (A5s ... Wow), repaired an old PAF, and even built me 2 "Signature" pups to my specs ... highly recommend Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BadgerDave Posted April 23, 2018 Share Posted April 23, 2018 On 4/19/2018 at 6:35 PM, JustKid said: And it all started long time ago when I got my first Ibanez Agent ( right) some 30+ years ago So that's where they all went. You and Cub Koda cornered the market! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustKid Posted April 23, 2018 Author Share Posted April 23, 2018 6 hours ago, BadgerDave said: So that's where they all went. You and Cub Koda cornered the market! I was crazy about them. Whenever I saw one, I bought it. At some point I had 9. Some crazy times. Now it's down to 3 and one goes on sale now. Next in line is Randy Scruggs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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