JGravelin

This is indeed a great Tele and I'd pull the trigger on it myself if I could, no kidding. I've known Tombo for a long time and beyond being a stand-up dude, the guy is very particular and knows how to pick "the right ones". I spent a week with this guitar and will attest that it's killer from top to bottom, has the "That's a Tele!" sound built in: resonant body, incredible semi-modern yet classic feeling neck ...it's really lovely! The pickups are my ever-so-slightly tweaked take on what I consider to the best Tele set Fender made: the early 50's Fender Broadcaster, Alnico 5 in both positions, 7.3k neck/8.4k bridge. Pickups with Alnico 3 have been seen from this era too but the A5 ones know how to twang and blooz and rock your face off all at once. I like that! So does Tombo and so will you. And if not, the original and very untraditional sounding Yosemite pickups the guitar came with are included in the gigbag pocket. Free paper-weights...an added bonus. GLWTS!!!

That right there is exactly my sweet daydream lifetime Hamer. Sadly I do not have funds but I seriously doubt this will last long. Congrats in advance to the new owner!

Yes, they must be 4 conductor output leads; will split nicely and I'd use two 500k push/pull pots, specifically the brass-shaft Allparts and Mojotone offerings to do this. Non-evasive, will retro-fit...perfect choice for a classy guitar! I know Duncan has a diagram on their website and it's easy to do with the most basic of soldering skills. Any reputable guitar shop can do the work if you're not comfortable. I think you'd get an appreciable "bang for your buck" either way .. I say go for it!

Thanks for all the positivity everyone! I love what I do, take a lot of pride in it, and to work directly with customers and create special magnetic works of art that help inspire better and more music from people - this is why I do it. Thank you all for your enthusiasm and support! Peter, it was a pleasure to talk to you and I'm excited to get started on your set. I was short exactly 1 screw-side black bobbin and ordered bunch along with a few other bits and pieces I needed for some other custom pickup orders; everything will be arriving on Tues and I'll get to work immediately. And Bubs was right: pay no attention to my website, at least for now. I'm working with an extremely talented guy on a site-wide revamp, hyper-optimized SEO, new pickup models with actual names, a pickup database, photo blog, and more .. coming soon! Ua D, get in touch and let's discuss this. I'm glad to assist however I can. Holler at me here: josh@gravelinpickups.com

Do tell! A resistor inline maybe? I know of a few guys who massage the overall output and tone of pickups this way so I'm curious as to what you've done here.

Jake, I can't say that I've ever had personal experience with Rumples stuff but considering the amount of pickup repair/rewind/refurb work that I do weekly this is actually a good thing! The list of makers I haven't had to fix is shorter than the ones I have.

Outside of pulling the pickup apart and removing wire from the coils, there's no way to lower the resistance measurement. 16k : pickup was wound with approximately 6800 turns of very fine 44 SPN wire. This gauge of coil wire is used in "high output" pickups and usually sounds pretty rockin' under high gain but doesn't perform well with players seeking sweet shimmery cleans and classic vintage crunch due to the enhanced mid-frequency focus that's inherent with that specific humbucker build. Peeling off wraps/layers of wire will make it brighter yes but the overall output will be diminished and will lack balls. I'd suggest having the pickup rewound by a professional to suit your needs - or - as you said, "Another pickup". If doing either isn't possible financially, one thing you could try would be a 1Meg Volume pot. This will give a bit more sparkle to the sound of things and is a cheap, easy swap/experiment that might work for you. If there's anything I can do to assist you, please get in touch!

I'm swamped with pickup work right now but will attempt to snap a few pics tomorrow if the sun is out. A bleak, cloudy day today here in MN - hopefully tomorrow is nicer so I can get some good natural light!

I'm with you on this Rob. It's easy to get a new pickguard made, stowing all the original bits away is no problem and easy to put it all back should I ever sell it. A funky machine, for sure!

OK so: super nice guy and cool dude! Nearly all of the gear he had was bass stuff with only a few guitars: 2 old single pickup Checkmate guitars (one of which he decided he didn't want to sell) and a Teisco Tulip. The bass gear was pretty cool however: Kustom 200 Bass head with matching 18" and 15" cab, an Acoustic folded horn 15" cab, some super old Peaveys (one of which is a 250 and I like those! may purchase next week), a 50w Checkmate all-tube head with matching 2-15" cab (guitar and bass sounded great through it but that cab is a beast, a transistor Univox bass combo w/ a 15" and a horn ...and a really nice collection of 60's and 70's stereo equipment: amplifiers, receivers, turntables, speakers- pretty cool! He also showed me a super cherry Datsun 300 Convertible in his garage: pelham blue, chromed out, pristine interior - if money only grew on trees. The Cimar is mine and I'm pleased with it. I polished the frets, new strings, straightened the neck out, cleaned the electronics, got an "in the ballpark" intonation/setup going but I want to wait for the truss rod adjustments to settle in before I take it further. Nice neck! A modern F-style with a slight V to it. Zero fret wear. The pickup is as I suspected: a Maxon Distortion. These are almost identical in the mechanical build to the DiMarzio Super D but wound to around 11.8k which is pretty bright and the upper mids are grainy, spitty, and just unpleasant. Easy to change that! The trem is a vintage type USA Fender strat style, massive steel block, brass saddles - arm was missing but a USA Fender one fits perfectly. It's fun to play, lighter side of medium in weight, comfy sitting or standing, and looks pretty nifty! A Floyd Rose, yes. Or maybe just locking tuners and make sure I keep the nut slippery? Something to think on. It's also routed for a neck position humbucker under the pickguard and I'm thinking a set with my buffed raw nickel silver covers on them would look great - or double whites! New pots, a good cap, new output jack while I'm in there too. A fun project/player and with the case included for 2 bills? I had to have it.

Yes they do kick ass - cranked, tone on 10, full-on wailing ...hard to beat!

I will report back!

Jake, you got it!

Rob, any specific models you're lusting after? I'm going to bring a pocket full of hex wrenches, small screwdrivers, a multimeter, and for the guitars and amps that have promise I will test and adjust and see what's got legs.

Just got off the phone with the guy. He's a life-long musician, early 70s, recently retired from the music industry, legit player - has boatloads of cool vintage weirdo amps and guitars and tomorrow at noon I'm going to go see what's up. Teiscos, Kay, Checkmate, Alamo, and more. Sleepers. Apparently he's got lots of stuff to get rid of and if any of you are interested in specific things, let me know and I'll keep my eyes peeled. I have a feeling that this might be the best $200 I've ever spent in my life.