Clueless about this pickup??

Gintaras · #1 11-10-2006, 08:02 PM

This midlife newbie is still on a learning curve and I have not learned a lot about pickups but trying. I picked up a slightly beat up Peavey T-20 and did some fixing up including changing pots and shielding paint. The question that I have is when I took off the pickup guard, I noticed that the pickup was twice as wide on the bottom and it had what looked like 2 magnets. I was wondering if someone could comment about it's size and what exactly was the point. Should this configuration have a certain sound?

GlennW · #2 11-10-2006, 09:52 PM

I've never seen one in person, but it looks like it has the potential to be extremely good - a single coil with two big magnets. If you stick the probes of an ohmmeter on one magnet and it shows conductivity they are alnico magnets. They look shiney so I think they are. You can read about it here:

http://www.peavey.com/search.cfm?c=0&term=t+20

They mention a compensated volume control. Do you have a little capacitor and/or resistor between a couple of legs on your volume pot? That's standard on a Tele (guitar).

Trevorus · #3 11-10-2006, 10:02 PM

That looks more like ceramic magnets, because of the color. Not a bad thing, though.

luknfur · #4 11-11-2006, 02:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GlennW

...If you stick the probes of an ohmmeter on one magnet and it shows conductivity they are alnico magnets...

Hmm. That's an interesting bit of trivia and appears to be accurate just comparing a Ray and Model J.

Where'd you pick that up at?

Jazz Ad · #5 11-11-2006, 03:22 AM

8th grade physic course ?

Gintaras · #6 11-11-2006, 04:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GlennW

I've never seen one in person, but it looks like it has the potential to be extremely good - a single coil with two big magnets. If you stick the probes of an ohmmeter on one magnet and it shows conductivity they are alnico magnets. They look shiney so I think they are. You can read about it here:

http://www.peavey.com/search.cfm?c=0&term=t+20

They mention a compensated volume control. Do you have a little capacitor and/or resistor between a couple of legs on your volume pot? That's standard on a Tele (guitar).

It has both a capacitor and resistor. I read the T20 manual a few weeks ago and then tried turning the volume all the way up and used the amp master control for volume. I got a much fuller sound but still did not have the fullness I was looking for. I had a set of SIT stainless laying around and that is what I put on which probably contributed to the tinny sound. Last nite I put on a used set of SIT powerflats that I got from one of our members. Only tried it through the Pandora but had much more body. Will plug it into an amp today.

What is the purpose of the compensated volume control and should I get rid of it? If so then what alteration should be made?

Also added a pic to show the interesting positioning of the pickup on the bass.

GlennW · #7 11-11-2006, 08:26 AM

No need to get rid of the compensated volume. It's normal for the tone to lose a little treble as the volume pot is turned down - I think that's just the way pots are, if they aren't wide open some highs are restricted.

I think I learned the ohmmeter/magnet test from a pickup maker - not sure. Usually alnicos are shiney and silver while ceramics are greyish, but that's not 100%.