The Chetboard

Vidar, my pickups came the other day and are now on my Epiphone Dot. I was in such a great mood and you had to post a picture of my dream guitar. Now, I have the "wanna gotta hava's" again! Wish I could come across a banged-up CG or TN at a discount price but, alas, I dream the impossible dream because I doubt anyone on this Board has the IQ of A mentally-challenged rock. Asi es la vida y las mujeres tambien. KOPAP. Billy

LMark wrote:The secret in those PUPs is Alnico II (2). It gives a much sweeter tone than Alnico V or Ceramic magnets.

Also the 5K+(weak?)neck pup(that's the main contributor).I've discovered there's a lot more to a good sounding pup than the mfgrs. would have us believe.The best sounding Strat or Tele neck pup I ever heard is a Anderson 4K with huge ceramic magnets(it's loud).Unbelievable tone in any guitar.Kinds of wire and magnets used is just hype as it's the magnet to wire ratio and TLC that matters.Duncan and Gibson and others make dozens of alnico II pups that don't sound that good.I'm not particularly fond of the 490 used in the Tennessean bridge(I'd prefer a '57 Classic)but I'd kill if I lost that 5K neck pup. The Best, Ty M.

"... banged-up CG or TN at a discount price..." - well I doubt that beautiful guitars like that will be treated badly! Sorry if I ruined your sleep by posting that alluring picture. That´s the Gibson CG on the cover of Me And My Guitars (MAMG). Anyway, congratulations with the new pickups on your Epiphone.

Hey Ty.....What is the model # of that Tom Anderson pup you refer to? I have a SA1 but don't know if it's 4K or not. Thanks!

Roger Pratt wrote:Hey Ty.....What is the model # of that Tom Anderson pup you refer to? I have a SA1 but don't know if it's 4K or not. Thanks!

Roger,That SA1 sounds right on but I've got the pup in a Tele downstairs.I'm gonna fix it up and give it to my son and when I do I'll confirm the pup #.This pup is the best neck pup I've ever owned for Tele or Strat(maybe for any guitar).It's wider than stock(deeper also)and requires pickguard modification and the polepieces are a "lot" larger than stock.This pup only sells for about $55.00 and probably noisy without shielding but it's a good'un.If I could afford a do over I'd buy and Anderson Strat and Tele.The high dollar Danny Gatton pups are ceramic magnet and used by many players.Roger,you can measure the wire resistance easily.Plug in guitar cable and flip switch to that pup's position(everything else off).Turn volume all way up,set meter to ohms,place one lead on tip of cable and one lead on cable ground.The reading may be a little different with the pup in circuit but it's nominal. The best, Ty M.

Hi Ty......Thanks for the info but I don't have the pup installed in anything yet. I got it from a buddy when he put new pups in his Tele. I have a really nice Squier Tele that already sounds great in the mid position but the neck is not that great. I was considering using the SA1. My buddy said this pup cost $100 new so it may not be the one you refer to.

Roger Pratt wrote:Hi Ty......Thanks for the info but I don't have the pup installed in anything yet. I got it from a buddy when he put new pups in his Tele. I have a really nice Squier Tele that already sounds great in the mid position but the neck is not that great. I was considering using the SA1. My buddy said this pup cost $100 new so it may not be the one you refer to.

Roger,the one I have is not an SA1 as the SA1 is hum cancelling and about $115.00.Mine is a larger than stock single coil with huge polepieces and not hum cancelling.Yeah,Tele neck pups that sound great are rare.I have a '52 reissue(jap)that I put a Duncan Tele size neck pup stacked humbucker in and it sounds ok.I would have used the SA1 but didn't won't to rout out the body.My son loves that new $149.00 pine Tele.I'm giving him my JD Tele with the SA1.The foreign workmanship is so good now that the only difference in an Epiphone and a Gibson is in the wood and hardware(I guess workmanship is all that's left).Going the Tele route it's better and it's easy to just build your own.That way you get the exact neck,body and hdwe you like.I don't like Alder(the tone)and that's about all Fender uses for bodies. The Best, TY M.

Ty, you have mentioned several times that the 492R is a 5K+ pup. When I received the set, the pickup marked neck was 14K+ and the other marked bridge came in at 7K+. The Tech reversed them and put the 7K+ in the neck position and the 14K+ in the bridge. The neck pup (7K+) does get me close to the CG/TN sound, but I am beginning to wonder if I got what I thought I was ordering. Any chance the 492R could come in at over 7K, or do you think I received a regular set of Gibsons? Thanks. Billy

Billy Anderson wrote:Ty, you have mentioned several times that the 492R is a 5K+ pup. When I received the set, the pickup marked neck was 14K+ and the other marked bridge came in at 7K+. The Tech reversed them and put the 7K+ in the neck position and the 14K+ in the bridge. The neck pup (7K+) does get me close to the CG/TN sound, but I am beginning to wonder if I got what I thought I was ordering. Any chance the 492R could come in at over 7K, or do you think I received a regular set of Gibsons? Thanks. Billy

Billy,that set is suspect even with the equal to two pups 14K(Tommy Iommi?)pup.Are you measuring out of circuit?Are they wired in series?I've never seen or owned a Gibson or SD pup with that much wire.That much wire is for a shredder and made for volume only not tone.My 490 is 7K+.Maybe someone with a Tennessean or CG can chime in here after measuring their neck pup.Something could be wrong with my windings but the pup sounds awful good(and it's due to the 5K wind).The set you have sounds fishy to me.I hope not and hope you can return them if needed.I was excited about those pups too because they're hard to come by but this may be a case of "if it sounds to good to be true it probably isn't". Keep in touch and the best Ty M.

Ty, methinks something may be rotten in Puerto R. I called Scott (Tech) this P.M. and he said he checked to see if they were in series or out of circuit. He said he thought the 14K+ was high (more like a 498) for a Gibson but after he got them in, we tested it on a Roland Cube 30 and they did not seem abnormally hot. I hope some of the guys who have these pickups will advise as to what the their pup's measure. I'm going to take the guitar back to Scott on Saturday so he can check again. Thanks so much for your input. Billy