Jester700

What tone pot cuts off the lows? Other than an active preamp or fairly rare tone control with a highpass filter like a Fender TBX, this shouldn't happen.

There is little flux with regard to the strings due to the plate between the "dummy coil" and the magnetic poles and strings. But there could be some; I dunno how to measure it. In this design, the dummy coil isn't intended to have ANY interaction with the magnets; only to supply an out of phase signal of pure noise. Again, there could be some, but it's incidental. The dummy coil was originally a series connection, so you couldn't disconnect just one side. But if it were rewired as a parallel connection, you could send one lead to ground, but that's not how a bucker works in the first place; the idea is to phase cancel the noise - that means the dummy coil needs to be in the signal path. If you play around, I'd be interested in what you find. But does the Duncan have magnets that go through both coils? Is there a plate separating the coils? Because if these factors are different than the DiMarzio, the results are likely to be as well.

Yeah, but what if you dropped the guitar in a puddle?

It's mostly right. I had one of these temporarily wired so I could instantly A/B what he's talking about. In that pickup, only the top coil really senses the string & generates signal, since the magnet poles don't pass through the bottom coil and there's a metal shield between the halves. When you switch to only one coil, you get more output and a fuller sound because the pickup isn't loaded down by the extra coil (which adds resistance but no signal). Of course, you lose the humbucking effect, too. If he meant that it was fuller than a stock STRAT pup, yeah, maybe. I'm pretty sure it uses 43AWG wire instead of the strat's 42, which will roll off some highs; it's also wound a bit hotter - around 8k compared to 6k for a typical strat. As for reducing the noise when the bottom half is out of the circuit, I don't buy it. I couldn't A/B that aspect, because you have to physically remove the pickup to remove the bottom coil. Since I only use the middle pup in combinations, I permanently removed the bottom coil (when combined with other coils, you can still get a humbucking effect). I didn't notice any difference after doing this, but human auditory memory is short. But then, so is Eric Johnson's. I don't know of any magnetic theory that would suggest what he describes, but I'm no pro, either. Incidentally, I like this pup a lot. Ibanez's C2 is the same thing, and you can often get them cheap on eBay...

Yeah, but you don't have to use 2 blade switches. I used a 5 position rotary switch in place of my tone control, so my guitar (that had one 5 way switch, one vol, one tone) still looks stock. With a strat, you could still have a master vol & master tone and use the third knob as the second 5 position switch. But whatever turns you on. All kinds of switches here: http://guitarelectronics.zoovy.com/categor...upminiswitches/

How about an alternative that's almost as flexible and easier to get around? The double barrel switching mod at Guitar Nuts can be done with a 5 way rotary switch. I did mine on a H-S-H guitar that has a push-pull pot to split the buckers... http://www.guitarnuts.com/wiring/doublebarrel/index.php

I have a 500k volume pot and no tone control. I'm not strangling the pickup. ;-)

My switching swstem already has the OOP split setup (really a wierd sound), so all I need do is put the cap in. I will try this when I get some time to play...

The problem being that I didn't have a middle pickup in any of my guitars for the first 15 years I played. And sad to say, I haven't been a heavy practicer in the 8 years since I got my first such guitar (High school & college were definitely easier times to hit the woodshed). So now I have to either relearn some very ingrained habits, or work around them. It's not all the time, either - I don't have a problem on solos, because I don't "dig deep" then. Lots of people choose guitars without middle pups for this very reason, so I ain't alone.

...or would that be tapping hairs...

Oh, and I GOTTA have a middle pup. I've never heard any H-H guitar come close enough to what I want. I have lots of choices ( I have a double 5-position arrangement PLUS a push-pull coil split for 17-ish sounds), but I gotta have that pos. 4 strat one.

The problem is, IME that stratty cluck sound isn't very good if the output of the combined single coils isn't in the same ballpark. It *would* be best if I could just get used to the middle pup, and that may end up being what I have to do. But I gotta try... ;-) If the impedances are WAY off, the higher impedance pickup won't combine well; you won't hear it much - same problem as having too low an output, but for a different reason. I was thinking of a VV, but since I will only use it combined with another coil, I don't need its humbucking ability. If I could tap from the top coil like I do with the HS2, that's an idea. I've also thought of one of the velvets. I've also thought of a 9k coil from an F2 humbucker with alnico5 rods stuck in it, but I'd have to figure out how to mount it...

So, I'm soon going to re-do my main axe's pickups (in anticipation of my new Carvin neck), and am looking for ideas to try. I have an SK dualtone in the bridge. It's a bucker with one coil an alnico bar magnet and the other alnico polepieces, so that it sounds like a strat when split to that side. 42AWG wire, evenly wound to 6.9k per coil. I have the top half of a DiMarzio HS-2 in middle, Alnico 5 poles and wound to just under 7k. I'm thinking of moving the SK to the neck (replacing the Duncan Stag Mag I have there). Then I'll put an IBZUSA F1 (kinda/sorta like a DiMarzio Breed - Alnico bars and evenly wound to 8.5k per coil) in the bridge. I'm gonna try replacing the screws in one coil of that with alnico rods from another pickup; I'm hoping this will give me a good strat sound and fair balance between the buckers, provided I like the sound (I like the stock F1 at bridge in this guitar, so we'll see). THE PROBLEM: I want to lower the middle pup WAY down; It gets in the way of my hack playing. So I need a HOT pickup there if it's to be usable at all. I was thinking of a Duncan Quarter Pound, but since I only ever use it in combo with the split buckers, the resistance needs to be in the 7-9k range (the Duncan is over 13k). So I was thinking... Anyone ever try putting a ceramic magnet underneath a pickup to add to the polepieces' magnetic field? Or how about some tiny Neodymium jobs for the same effect? Does this really increase the field & thus the output? Or another thought, what's the absolute hottest single coil out there? Anyone have half of an X2N they wanna sell? ;-) I'm betting the pup will no longer be strat-like at that point, but I just wanted to know if anyone's played with this before undertaking the experiments... I will report when I've played with it a bit.

I really like my Korean made Breedlove. Solid spruce top, solid rosewood sides & back, cutaway, preamp - for $650. I put a PUTW pickup & baggs pre to replace the crap fishman, but other than that, very nice indeed. In fact, I'm selling my Taylor 412CE because I no longer play it.

What was wrong with the PC?

So, does Tru-oil feel as "naked" as tung oil, just more durable? I'm looking at finishing a neck and body (they can be finished differently), and was thinking of tung oil for the neck and a wipe-on poly for the body (I am not set up for spraying). But I'd consider using tru-oil instead of one or both of these...

I wouldn't do this. The cabinets are the better part of the cost of many speakers, and to do this right requires knowledge of the Thiele-Small parameters of the bass & mid drivers and proper cab dimensions. You would do much better to just sell them and get better speakers, IMO. Now, if you just like woodworking and the challenge of the project, cool. Just don't be bummed if the end result sounds worse than it did before.

They might have a nice tone, but they aren't as magnetic as electric strings, so the wound-plain balance might be off. But then, IIRC there was a copper coated string a while back that was supposed to have a piano-like quality to it, and copper isn't magnetic either...

A CLASSICAL string has MUCH less tension (the core on wound strings is silk) - the highest tesion E string listed on the site above is only 14.5 lbs!

Yes, they use diferent materials, but it's still a round wire wrapped around a round or hex core that combines to a given gauge. Apparently, tension DOES change based on these differences. According to D'addario at : http://www.daddariostrings.com/Resources/J...nsion_chart.pdf On a .052 string tuned to E, Nickel wound string is 22.0, steel is 23.0, 80/20 acoustic bronze is 24.3, and Phosphor bronze is 25.2 lbs! I thought there might be some slight but negligable variation, but not this...

Are you guys sure about this? I always figured the stiffness was due to the thicker gauges I always used on acoustics - 11s or 12s instead of 10s. The plain ones should be no different. Yeah, the wound ones will sound different, but if the gauges are right it shouldn't hurt anything.

"Value" depends on individual needs... You can get an Agile from Rondo or a Yamaha Pacifica and have a decent, playable axe for a couple hundred. You can get a USA made guitar from Carvin that isn't quite custom but gives you LOTS of options for under a grand. And the overall quality is as good as most axes twice the price, IMO. (this is who I'd vote for, BTW, if I HAD to vote - it should be in the poll). Or you can play hundreds of guitars and find one that "speaks to you" and buy it, whatever the price; if a guitar does that it'll motivate you, and THAT's value, no matter what the overall quality/price ratio is.

You can get NDym magnets lots of places. They have been tried in pups, but they're s strong and give that stratitis effect that the guy needed to put small ones underneath some steel spacers. I like the idea that they could be lowered way down, to get that center pickup out of the way of my picking.

I really don't know... it doesn't appear to be ply. If the lit doesn't SAY solid top, it ain't solid. And for $150 new, ain't no way. Still, it might sound very good; I have a ply top Tak that sounds fine. The Arias I've seen had dodgy fretwork, but that might be variable.

I'm looking for a HOT S.C. pup for my H-S-H baby. It has a DiMarzio HS2 (top coil only) in the middle. I LIKE this setup, but I want to screw the middle pup down as far as possible because I have terrible picking technique... But the HS2 gets too soft & thin that way, so I'd like to replace it with something hotter. Not for an overwound sound, just so that it'll still give me nice quack in position 2 & 4 after I "countersink" it. I never use that pup alone. The quarter pounder sounded like a good candidate. Any other ideas?