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Not to overstep my bounds...


formula73

Question

Posted

Pic by pic, step by step. This is NOT hard at all if you have a bit of an idea of what it is you're doing and if you can manage to spare $10 for a mini crock pot and a few more for a candy thermometer. There's also a few lessons I've learned/relearned by doing this!

Here goes. Feel free to ask any questions. As of right now, it's stupid late, but tuned up, it's all working properly and in-phase. We'll see about gain and actual tone tomorrow:

My previous clean-ish wiring:

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How I relieve string tension. Cheap? Yes. Works? I think so.

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Pulled and then de-ringed:

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VERY carefully remove the tape. This one is pretty easy, with the ground strap connecting the copper coil shields, but it's still a good idea to be careful. In the past, I've seen windings come up when I tried this deal...

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*little break*

At this point, hairs on end, I checked the whole thing for resistance to make sure I was still ok. I was and breathed a hefty sigh of relief.

Pull the bobbin screws:

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...from there, all it took was a little (and I mean a little) love to break the bobbins free of the baseplate/spacers/magnet, and from there, i pulled the A2 out a bit.

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Then, the way I was taught, you put them on the same plane, and when the opposite sides attract (N-S/S-N), you're good. It makes sense, if you think about it. The old A2 is on the top and the new A8 is on the bottom.

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Assembled-ish. Don't be stupid with the bobbin screws. Just snug, pot, check for snugness.

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And carefully having rewrapped the coil tape.

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Don't bother with this. I've seen pics that show rubber bands holding it on. I've seen electrical tape. Just do yourself a favor and buy a new roll instead of reusing it. That way, you can pot and then rewrap with fresh sticky stuff, instead of using old sticky tape goo that fails during the potting process. I got it together, but it took nearly as long as for the bubbles to stop coming out during the process...which is what you see now:

The busted thermometer still works. I keep it between 140-160, running mostly beeswax...probably between 100% and 100%. I hear people put paraffin in there, but I never have because I'm a cheapass. This is the same craftstore beeswax I bought back in o4...

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You can see the little bubbles in there. Wait til they stop. If that's too difficult, toss it in there and fire up a fine Havana. They'll be done by the time it is. Here it is, pulled and after having the stupid tape put back on there.

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All cleaned up and wiped off.

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Back in!

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As of right now, this late, I'm happy it's done. That said, my tone report consists of, "I'm happy it's not out-of-phase in the middle." Real report coming soon, but not quite before the soft, sweet relief of sleep.

13 answers to this question

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Posted

I've replaced magnets in Duncan pickups a number of times. All the pickups were uncovered. I've never had to pot anything. In fact I never even unsolder the pickup. I use a hairdryer to soften the wax, which makes taking off the tape and pulling the magnet out easy. Then I hit it with a hairdryer again after it's back together. I've never had any issues. Then again, I'm not exactly playing Wembley Stadium. I definitely second the idea of buying some electrical tape for rewinding the coils with; it's cheap and if you only use it for pickups it will last forever.

-Austin

Posted

Add about 2 feet in wheelbase, 400 more horsepower and the best AWD in the world and you gots it!

Posted

Thanks for taking the time to share all that!

Maybe I'm lazy but I never completely removed the back baseplate screws just loosened them enough to push the magnet out the other end. I also don't usually remove the tape either...I just push it up a little bit on each side to get the magnet out. Which means you wouldn't need to unsolder the pickup from the guitar making sound comparisons easier.

BTW, love the purplish look on the back of your guitar! I'm guessing just the blue color over the reddish mahogany giving it that look.

Posted

Yeah, I've learned a few lessons and had to make some justifications to people, too. I run a lot more gain these days than I used to, so I'm not a fan of the "specially" or "partially" potted boutique type stuff. I want to minimize feedback, so I'll minimize it! I've only ever had 1 exception, my 73 pat # T-tops. They're unpotted, but for some reason, just don't need it. Who knows...anyway, the complete disassembly is apparently not necessary. Next time I do one of these, I won't do it; I'll just loosen them and pop up the tape and try to push the magnet out. Lesson learned.

First impressions:

Bright. Holy shit it's bright. Good goddamn...it's bright. The mids aren't quite as pronounced as before in relation to the highs and bass, and it's MUCH more powerful. The only thing that's getting me is the fizz. There's a good bit of fizz on the top, which I may try to eq out, but not a whole lot. I really like how tight, yet powerful, the bass is, so I don't want to cut a bunch of the definition out!

Maybe tomorrow or thursday I'll try to make some clips of different guitars with some different pickups with the same amp settings, just as a kind of baseline, with some tired old riffs and sloppy pentatonic wankery!

Posted

Quizzle me this one: Why an A8? I'm not familiar with the A8 as I am the A2 or A5.

Posted

Quizzle me this one: Why an A8? I'm not familiar with the A8 as I am the A2 or A5.

Well, the CC comes with an A2. It had great mids, but no bass and it bit like Mother Theresa. A5s are a bit more powerful, but scooped-ish. I've had ceramic Customs, A2 Custom Customs, and A5 Custom5s...

Posted

I keep my magnets on my fridge when I don't have them in any pickup. It's amazing how much strong the A8 is than an A5 or A2. You could easily pick out the magnet types based on how strong they feel. I had a Custom 8 for a while and I though it was pretty nice, certainly better than the Custom 5 in the guitar I tried it in. I also tried a JB8 and JB2. The JB8 wasn't quite as good as the Custom 8, but the JB2 had an interesting personality. For reason, it made me want to play southern rock? :lol:

Either way, anyway you do it, swapping magnets is cheap, pretty easy, and can definitely make a big difference in the sound you get.

-Austin

Posted

Thanks for taking the time to share all that!

Maybe I'm lazy but I never completely removed the back baseplate screws just loosened them enough to push the magnet out the other end. I also don't usually remove the tape either...I just push it up a little bit on each side to get the magnet out. Which means you wouldn't need to unsolder the pickup from the guitar making sound comparisons easier.

BTW, love the purplish look on the back of your guitar! I'm guessing just the blue color over the reddish mahogany giving it that look.

Bingo. Loosen the screws and just pull up the tape a bit. Wax on if you want, but I don't.

Posted

I keep my magnets on my fridge when I don't have them in any pickup. It's amazing how much strong the A8 is than an A5 or A2. You could easily pick out the magnet types based on how strong they feel. I had a Custom 8 for a while and I though it was pretty nice, certainly better than the Custom 5 in the guitar I tried it in. I also tried a JB8 and JB2. The JB8 wasn't quite as good as the Custom 8, but the JB2 had an interesting personality. For reason, it made me want to play southern rock? :rolleyes:

Either way, anyway you do it, swapping magnets is cheap, pretty easy, and can definitely make a big difference in the sound you get.

-Austin

Where do you buy the magnets, just from your local guitar shop? All this magnet swapping stuff is new to me.

Posted

I keep my magnets on my fridge when I don't have them in any pickup. It's amazing how much strong the A8 is than an A5 or A2. You could easily pick out the magnet types based on how strong they feel. I had a Custom 8 for a while and I though it was pretty nice, certainly better than the Custom 5 in the guitar I tried it in. I also tried a JB8 and JB2. The JB8 wasn't quite as good as the Custom 8, but the JB2 had an interesting personality. For reason, it made me want to play southern rock? :rolleyes:

Either way, anyway you do it, swapping magnets is cheap, pretty easy, and can definitely make a big difference in the sound you get.

-Austin

Where do you buy the magnets, just from your local guitar shop? All this magnet swapping stuff is new to me.

I bought mine from www.wymoreguitars.com, but they're closing down, so I guess I'd buy them from eBay now. Just do a search for "humbucker magnet". Addiction-fx looks like a pretty good source. Just make sure whatever you get is magnetized, otherwise you'll have to charge it up (magnetically-speaking) before you use it and that would require you to get a neodymium magnet.

-Austin

Posted

I keep my magnets on my fridge when I don't have them in any pickup. It's amazing how much strong the A8 is than an A5 or A2. You could easily pick out the magnet types based on how strong they feel. I had a Custom 8 for a while and I though it was pretty nice, certainly better than the Custom 5 in the guitar I tried it in. I also tried a JB8 and JB2. The JB8 wasn't quite as good as the Custom 8, but the JB2 had an interesting personality. For reason, it made me want to play southern rock? :rolleyes:

Either way, anyway you do it, swapping magnets is cheap, pretty easy, and can definitely make a big difference in the sound you get.

-Austin

Where do you buy the magnets, just from your local guitar shop? All this magnet swapping stuff is new to me.

I bought mine from www.wymoreguitars.com, but they're closing down, so I guess I'd buy them from eBay now. Just do a search for "humbucker magnet". Addiction-fx looks like a pretty good source. Just make sure whatever you get is magnetized, otherwise you'll have to charge it up (magnetically-speaking) before you use it and that would require you to get a neodymium magnet.

-Austin

Thanks!

Posted

I'm doing a custom 5 to a8 magnet as soon as the magnet arrives. Thinking of doing it without even trying the c5 first. I've heard the c5 has terrible voicing as is.

Hmm, hope I don't get the fizz :rolleyes:

oH, forgot to ask (forumula73) what type of body wood is that c5 in?

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