The Guitar Gallery Forums - The Guitar Legacy of Matsumoku

#11

Gibson chrome 'bucker from a 1991 Les Paul Standard, probably the neck pickup. Measures 7.16k, black conductor & braided shield. Anybody know if there was a model # for these, or what it might be equivalent to now?

je

_________________
...doing bad things to good Vantages since 1985...

1981 AV-320
1981 AV-320
1981 AV-325
1982 AV-320
1982 VS-695-12
1982 VSH-445
1983 AV-330
1995 VST 33 CE TBK

#12

Unknown humbucker jammed into a Gibson chrome cover, also came out of the '91 Les Paul mentioned above. Measures 13.64k from the red/blk + shield, with the wht + grn tied together. Lots of potting wax, tinneman clips for the screw mounts. Any clues what this beastie might be?

je

_________________
...doing bad things to good Vantages since 1985...

1981 AV-320
1981 AV-320
1981 AV-325
1982 AV-320
1982 VS-695-12
1982 VSH-445
1983 AV-330
1995 VST 33 CE TBK

Hey Squid, sorry you are sick. You should avoid that red tide. Get well soon.

Thanks for the info on your pickups. I have never substituted pickups in a Matt but I did put a MMK45 in a Yamaha fat strat, made quite a difference and with the coil tap I installed it gave it the possibility of a more strat like tone as well.

I will throw this out for opinions, I am restoring (resusatating?) and old Electra LP (MPC model) style that had a third pickup cavity routed. I plan on using two MMK45's (that I already have) for the original slots but will have to get something for the middle. I plan on wiring it with an on/off for the middle pickup so I can keep the original wiring options but thow in the middle to mix it up. I considered getting a P90 clone that fits a hum slot but who knows. Any ideas?

I'm quite sick of being sick, actually. Thanks for the good wishes!

One of the bits of info I'm hoping for on these pickups is how they might sound as single coils. I've also never set humbuckers up with series/parallel switching, and would be curious to hear feedback on how that sounds & works in practice.

I tend to LOVE p-90s, but then hate middle-position pickups. I've often removed them or sunken them into the body (a la Ritchie Blackmore). One exception to that was a bizarro Steve Morse-type Tele I had set up with a slanted Strat pickup in the center, it was a quite useful sound.

Is the Electra a solid dished top, or semi-hollow top as I've seen on Univox & similar? I've got three semi-hollows LP Custom copies here, two Univox and an Aspen (possible Mat?).

je

_________________
...doing bad things to good Vantages since 1985...

1981 AV-320
1981 AV-320
1981 AV-325
1982 AV-320
1982 VS-695-12
1982 VSH-445
1983 AV-330
1995 VST 33 CE TBK

The Electra is slightly hollow with the top off the rest of the body by about 1/2" at the center. It is light.

I have some experiance with coil cut and phase. MY APII RSB Deluxe has a coil cut and phase switch. I use the coil cut occasionly but have used the phase maybe five times in the 25 years I have had it. MY APII TS350 has MMK45's and I use the coil cut frequently. I get a nice twang with the neck pickup and coil cut. MY Vantage 790 also has MMK45's and has coil cut and phase. Here the coil cut is less usefull giving a reduction in volume but not much more high end. This may be due to the all mahogany body. I don't like the phase sound but it is different. I put an MMK45 in the bridge position of a Yamaha fat strat and used a push/pull pot to have a coil cut on it. The difference when in the bridge only position is real but not pleasant to my ears but when combined with the middle position (Lace Sensor Silver) it has a sweet strat sound. I did not put a phase switch on this one.

I think a coil cut works best when you have a fairly hot pickup. I find phase to something of a special effect rather than an everryday use thing.

Imho coil cutting will not lead to great tones with most humbuckers. However, switching from series to parallel helps a lot, if a humbucker tends to sound a bid muddy. My PE-R80D is a prominent example of this. I wouldn't need the toggle switches... it could be just hardwired to bridge pickup in series and neck pickup in parallel. Guitars don't need a lot of bells and whistles (toggle switches, booster circuits, etc)... once you found your favorite sound from a pickup, you're not going to change it anyway.

Thanks for the input- one example of how I use these would be my utility Ibanerf. For most distorted tones I'll be on either humbucker, almost never both. For clean, I'm almost always both pickups as single coils. I could probably do just fine with an elaborate (behind the scenes) toggle that would have three positions- lead HB/both SC/neck HB. Currently I have a three-way toggle and a push/pull tone like my Vantages, it's been great. Those pickups sound decent as single coils. Very curious to try series/parallel as an option.

I have a phase switch (and coil taps) on my Vantage 12-string and on my Teisco, and actually use it pretty often. The 12-string is most often both single coils in phase. The Teisco might be the most versatile switching system I have, and it's currently the oldest (~'68). Single coil pickups with individual slide on/offs, plus phase slide switch and a three-way toggle that's half-coil/high-cut/full coil. Goofy fun.

_________________
...doing bad things to good Vantages since 1985...

1981 AV-320
1981 AV-320
1981 AV-325
1982 AV-320
1982 VS-695-12
1982 VSH-445
1983 AV-330
1995 VST 33 CE TBK

Hey Squid Head,..you should trty a on/on/on switch, for a series/coil-tap/parallel option, that would give you more tonal variety, while retaining the stock look. (stealthy, huh? ). I've got a 5-way switch on my ROGUE-HH,and it's set up for an automatic coil-tap,..series, and parallel. It sounds pretty good when in that mode.(both neck coils,in phase, in parallel).
Here's how it goes: Pos .#1; bridge pickup, both coils, in phase, in series. Pos. #2; bridge and neck pickups, inner coils, in phase and in series. Pos. #3 both pickups, humbucking mode,in series, in phase. Pos #4; neck pickup, humbucking mode, in parallel, in phase. Pos. #5; neck pickup, humbucking mode, in phase, in series.
The only thing I might do, is to add a push/pull on the tone pot for a phase switch, and swap the 500k volume, for a 1meg one.

Sounds cool, but I tend to stay away from 5-ways and prefer the push-pull switches + a 3-way if possible. I don't mind 5-ways when recording, but live I tend to miss the position I want & futz too much with the switch.

I'm re-wiring a '72 Gibson SG now, with a period-correct T-Top at the neck and a Duncan Custom in a Gibson chrome cover at the bridge. There are already two mini-toggles, so I'm going with series/parallel for the lead and a phase switch as well. Should be useful for the owner, who now plays James Brown/Stevie Wonder style funk with the occasional rock cover.

Two VERY distorto creme-colored Dimarzios came out, not sure if they'll be mine in the end.

je

_________________
...doing bad things to good Vantages since 1985...

1981 AV-320
1981 AV-320
1981 AV-325
1982 AV-320
1982 VS-695-12
1982 VSH-445
1983 AV-330
1995 VST 33 CE TBK

Squidward, nice collection of p/ups.

If you were going to be stuck on an island for a while
which set would you want to take with you?