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JGravelin

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Everything posted by JGravelin

  1. This sucks. I met him and we pal'd up when I was running around with Alejandro Escovedo. He was a good guy, a real lover of music, and a class act of a human being. Friends are peeling off. My own Dad died a couple weeks ago too. Yes, this is inevitable for all of us but I hate it and it makes me really sad. Take care of yourselves out there. ♥
  2. I've had my hands on the same ones as any of the rest of us have, have also built pickups for them too, and for those I think $650 is about right. I look forward to trying these specific new ones! $1700? No. I predict $800 once the dust settles. Looks great though and if certain improvements are made, yeah maybe more.
  3. I've eyeballing these MIJ ones as well so I'm here for the review 100% I too do not have a thing for white instruments but with this, hey just stripe it out with black electrical tape go for it!
  4. TLDR: any Fralin, Lollar, or Wolfetone of similar spec on the used market will get you almost there. If they are not A3, you can swap. Not all A3 are created equal. If you need the right A3, I've got those and will help. Long answer: Those Florance '59 A3s are hard to find and I did a deep dive on your behalf to scrounge one up with no joy. A set or two, yes but single neck pickups ..nope. Keep an eye out and I'd bet one will show up eventually. I'll stay on it too and will get in touch if I find one. Beyond that, per PFs specs it's 7.9k. Considering the +/- there, and knowing his build quality as I do having converted output leads and covers on a few for folks, as a starting point, a similar resistance-rated pickup made by any of the reputable makers will be 100% in the ballpark. Swapping magnets is easy stuff and you and i have worked together enough times for me to feel confident that you would have no problem doing this work. I can say with full experience and authority there that a Fralin, Lollar, or Wolfetone first - Duncan second, and DiMarzio lastly - with a similar resistance and build spec will be so very close. If you can find one with A3, great! If not, I know you could swap the mag successfully. Finally, and it's important for me to say this because not many consider it; magnets of the same grade from different manufacturers DO NOT sound the same. PF sourced his via a specific USA manufacturer, one of the 2 companies who've been supplying these to both guitar manufacturers, the pickup community, and in an industrial capacity for years and years. There are not only obvious audible differences but also electronically measurable differences in how they affect the "whole" of the pickups performance. Mojotone and PLT source their mags from China and for some builds/winds, they are fucking amazing! But they aren't what PF used and they don't sound the same as their USA counterparts. Nor do the two USA sound the same. Herein, and across all parts, lies the "big trick" of pickup making. I am here to assist.
  5. No modifications required. Heart meds and back pills will also fit.
  6. I do have proper boxes and packaging that I use for other purposes; private branding for guitar shops as an example. For my own customers, I've chosen not to because it pushes the cost up and an increase with shipping also. The lacquered wooden box with custom-fit foam inserts, a sticker, color-code chart, some candies is going to cost you an extra $40. Is that what musicians really feel that they need? No. I should include a small wooden "weed box" though. That's a good idea!
  7. Diablo, this is so kind of you. I didn't expect an advertise on the HFC but sure, let's go! The one pickup that is available is a double-slug 'Goose with very mild scuffing on the treble side, neck-facing coil: so minor really, like if you changed strings 2 or 3 times. With double-slugs, a 51mm - 54mm string spacing is covered with 52.5mm being dead center. Alnico 5, around 14k, and DiMarz color codes on the output leads. I told Diablo $75 + shipping ($11.00 in the USA), so $86.00 total. The proper Mongoose scuffy with double screw poles, I'm keeping that. Sorry! It's going into a cool Kramer Baretta I own as a permanent install for my own shred enjoyment. 😋 More details: The double-slugs of specific steel grade used in this pickup impart lows that are solid and together, a bit of a boost in the upper midrange frequency bite that sounds very Fender-y clean, and with a great cut and clarity with overdrive/distortion saturation, and a natural un-hyped treble. Polite cleans, angry, pissed off, and aggressive under gain. I'm not perfect and sometimes manufacturing mistakes like this happen. All coils are tested at 3 different points throughout the wind and assembly and this is electronically sound and high-functioning, which is the most important part. I can't sell it as New however, so... thanks to Diablo, here we are. [email protected]
  8. There might be more to the story, depending on who you believe: https://music-electronics-forum.com/forum/instrumentation/pickup-makers/4693-peter-green-neck-pickup
  9. Should be a 4-conductor, yes. Slammers found in 2 hb equipped guitars were almost always 2-conductor + ground. In a Chap however, again - should be 4c.
  10. The "preferred choice" is really a matter of personal preference toward what you want to hear from your switched positions. The following diagram seems to be what you're asking for: https://guitarelectronics.com/wdu-hss5l11-02/ * If the neck single coil is NOT wound rw/rp, ie: wound and polarized exactly the same as the the middle, it can be combined with the "full" bridge humbucker as well as a hb slug coil split for a hum-cancelling combination. You could also combine the single with the hb screw coil, but it won't be hum-cancelling. * As I know that your neck pickup is rw/rp to the middle, you can split the bridge screw coil and combine with the neck for a Telecaster-esque pair using a 5-way Superswitch and the diagram provided above as well as the typical hb slug coil + middle hum-cancelling combination. * With the addition of a mini-switch to the neck pickup wiring above, one could also isolate the middle pickup in the 4th switched position as well as the hb bridge screw coil in pos 3. I hope this is helpful. Perhaps others will chime in with more possibilities.
  11. P90 is OOP with the neck hb. For any single coil and hb to play nice together, the single must be wound in the same direction and have the same magnetic polarity facing the stings as the hb coil that is grounded (screw coil, south up.). I would first check the string-facing magnetic field of the P90. It's it's S up, then you're in good shape. If not, flip the magnets. Then, since you mentioned your P90 having 3-cond output leads: I'm assuming one of those is the true ground, the other 2 are coil "start" and coil "finish". Try swapping the start and finish and see if that does the trick. The solution will lie in one or the other or both together. Finally, check both the bridge and neck vol pots and make sure that your soldered hots aren't accidentally touching the middle lug.
  12. All day, any day, in all sizes: TB, EMG and Barts in 4 and 5 string sizing, standard HB size, Mini/Firebird size, closed or open-center P90 and Jazzmaster too! These can also be fit into both Mudbucker/EBO types, as well as done up as Goldfoil. I'm sitting on nearly 1000 custom-cut magnets appropriate across all these styles, all parts are in stock or I fabricate in-house. Options are endless with TB types. Ready when you are Mike!
  13. Shield the insides of covers and run a wire to your cavity shield for maximum effect. Works so good.
  14. The '59 bridge pickup, yes. It is excellent. Check out the Eric Johnson bridge pickup as a contender for the neck position! It is similar in spec to the DiMarz/Hamer PAF neck pickups of yore and as advertised, it's the same in regards to materials and magnet. These two combined as a set is damn close to the originals.
  15. Yes. And the relationship between caps and pots is something to be considered as well. With ye olden Hamer pots I've tested, they measure up to be less than 500k despite being noted as such. Modern 500k caps tend to measure at that figure or above. I've seen as high as 538k and yes that makes a big difference. The electronic values all interact to give the end-result and my educated guess is that since the value of the pots was splitting the difference, they did the same with the caps too. Sounds Good = Is Good. Rules be damned.
  16. Instead of the raw, unadulterated millivolt output from the pickup interacting with the ganged effect of two 500k together with the final one also interacting with the capacitor, you've eliminated an amount of treble bleed-off that is shunted to ground and this more pure signal .. is obviously doing it for you! Love it!! If you want to have some fun, there are 1meg pots and No Load pots as well. These higher values bleed off very little to no treble at max wide-open but have the same declining sweep as one rolls the control backward. Any potentiometer is a variable resistor and the amount of treble bleed - the actual "resistance" toward the mV energy and output signal and gain there - is dictated by the value of the pot. As one rolls back, the more resistance and treble bleed is applied. For example, a 500k rolled back 1/2 way to 1/3 of the way depending on the taper of the pot should equal 250k. What this means is that more presence and high treble is being drained to the ground as you roll the pot backward. The closest to "pickup direct to output" would be a single No Load Vol. At full open, there's no resistance loading to the pickup but, as you roll back, same with any pot - resistance is introduced. Again, operating exactly the same as any other pot but with absolutely 100% full range of sweep. Consider this in the Tone pot position. No Load, 1meg, 500k, 300k, 250k, 150k, 100k, 50k, and more pots can be found on the internet very easily and they all have a use. There are no hard rules here, only what sounds good to You with your gear and playing.
  17. Yes and they are good folks. Want me to run up and check it out?
  18. Damn it. Drooling over here at these hot pieces!
  19. I've collected a couple of old Maas-Rowe church organ amplifers from the mid 50s that I've held onto as well as Wurlitzer jukebox power sections over the years with big plans and dreams for conversions. One of the Maas-Rowes specifically: HUGE old iron transformers, hand-wired point to point internally, 6L6-based, published 65w output spec, and with a funky "Glowing Eye" panel facing tube that I have no idea about but looks badass when powered up. Love these old modded monsters. Toanz!
  20. I used one as a bass head for a short time and it sounded good, was reliable, very middle of the road sounds and nothing exciting but certainly usable. If you're looking for a workhorse, yes! $150, why not. They'll sell all day at that price and will likely continue to in the future. Outboard gear will be your best end-result with this. My .023758
  21. Bass version that retrofits 5 screw traditional Fender please. 😉
  22. Please describe in detail what the benefits and trade-offs would be across the 3 variations. More information for us 'tards would be helpful if you want feedback?
  23. Bubba, here's a killer old Spoon track. One that I was in the audience for on that specific night. They were awesome of course, and still are. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KC48x9F8WFA
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