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SGD Lutherie Pickups

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#141
PilbaraBass said:
I get it...so by more turns of thinner wire you get the following:

1) More inductance = a lower resonant peak
2) More DCR = a lower resonant peak
3) More turns = higher output

if you simply did more turns with the same gauge wire, you'd be limited on the effect of 1, 2, AND 3...eh?
or if you simply did the same amount of turns with thineer wire, you'd get a bit more DCR, but no effective change in 1 & 3...

How'd I do? :)
Click to expand...

If you do the same amount of turns of thinner wire they get brighter sounding. More turns gives you more power and more mids. If I did more turns of the thicker wire you'd get more power and he mid peak would be higher... up to a point, then they start to get muddy.

I know some people are looking for "humbucker" sounding jazz pickups, so at some point I'll try making a thicker darker sounding set.
 
#142
OK, after much experimenting, winding, rewinding and hair pulling...

(drumroll please)

I introduce the World's First Neodymium Jazz Humbuckers. :D

Here's the final prototypes installed on my vintage 1988 Ibanez SR885 (basswood body, maple neck, rosewood fingerboard), totally passive, 500K volume and tone, 250K blend, brand new set of D'Addario XL's.

sr885_neos.jpg


All clips are with each pickups wired in series, next I'll try them in parallel. The clips are arranged as neck/both/bridge.

Link Removed

Link Removed

(Note the prototypes are not yet potted, and are slightly microphonic, so there is some body noise when handling the bass)

I really like these pickups. What's everyone think?
 
#145
I'm loving what I hear...they have plenty of definition...are not hangin out in middly-town...

they retain that narrow-aperture jazz tone, but have a just a little extra "grind" and "thickness" to tone that humbuckers offer. But they don't sound so thick that you'd ever really suspect that they were humbuckers....

I like the bridge sound and the neck sound and they both blend very well.

PM sent :)
I'm sold, David...PM me
 
#148
I'm currently trying to get the money for a set of ND3-40s to put inside my Spector.

Quick question, with the narrow pole spacing, it seems that it would be like your new Jazzbucker, but in the larger housing, and the wide is standard humbucker format. If that is correct this is what I would order when I get the cash.
 
#149
Geist said:
I'm currently trying to get the money for a set of ND3-40s to put inside my Spector.

Quick question, with the narrow pole spacing, it seems that it would be like your new Jazzbucker, but in the larger housing, and the wide is standard humbucker format. If that is correct this is what I would order when I get the cash.
Click to expand...

That's correct, the narrow aperture pickup is like the Jazzbucker in a larger case.
 
#151
SGD Lutherie said:
My covers are closed, and I use blades, not poles. So that would handle anything up to about 84mm (21mm string to string). They also work with any number of strings in that spacing.

I've recently changed the internal parts of all the pickups so they handle wider spacings than before. I haven't updated the website yet.

Here's something new... I don't normally show prototypes, but I'm excited about this one. ;)

neojazzbucker.jpg
Click to expand...

this is quite interesting since we don't have many side-by-side blade humbuckers in a J shell options. I may try this because I find that all split coils J I've tried so far have weird sound cancellation issues, like one string will be quieter for no reason. Is that possible?
 
#152
joeyl said:
this is quite interesting since we don't have many side-by-side blade humbuckers in a J shell options. I may try this because I find that all split coils J I've tried so far have weird sound cancellation issues, like one string will be quieter for no reason. Is that possible?
Click to expand...

You can get issues between the two coils because the two magnets are opposite. So some people complain that the D and A strings sound weaker.

Then if you have a 5 string, you have to make sure you have the right split pickup, etc.

I just avoided the whole issue by doing a side-by-side humbucker. My idea was to try and emulate my larger humbuckers, while also having a nice bright Jazz tone (not that my full size pickups aren't bright).

I'm also offering these in the full size cases as a narrow aperture option, and may start offering two of them in the full size cases, for one pickup basses, or people that want the maximum tonal options.

That would let you switch between a full size humbucker and a narrow aperture humbucker, and several other combinations.
 
#156
SGD Lutherie said:
neojazzbucker.jpg
Click to expand...

Another issue that can crop up with "split coil" noiseless - which a pickup like this solves - is when summing/blending with another pickup, polarity issues can raise their heads. Gets even worse when you have split-coils from two different manufacturers who've split at a different string for a Five.

So as much as I've liked some of the split-coil J's, I'd never buy them unless in a set, where all of that has been designed to the same standard. With a pickup like this you can use in sets, or mix and match (output differences withstanding, which can often be dealt with anyway).
 
#158
My biggest problem with split coil pickups, including P basses, is I can hear the difference from the offset of the two halves. I think it's less evident if they are in-line like a Jazz pickup, or in a reverse P arrangement.

Then when you have an odd number of strings, often one coil is larger and has a different core.

There are some issues with the side-by-side pickups this thin too. Humbuckers enhance certain frequencies, and notch out others. In this case the two coils so close make the notch much higher, so it's not very apparent, but the enhancements are in a very noisy upper midrange area. So care has to be taken not to wind an overly midrangy pickup.

My first attempt at the bridge pickup was like that... what worked well for the wide aperture pickups, was very honky and rude in the narrow. It almost turned me off to the whole project!

But then I went in a different direction and now have something I really like.
 
#159
PilbaraBass said:
Hey David,

I forgot to ask...just for grins, have you tried your humbucking jazz pickup with just one, very thin single-coil pickup?
It would be quite interesting to hear how an ultra-thin aperture pickup sounded...

Kerry
Click to expand...

I have turned one coil off. It's very zingy, with extended highs. I have to install some series/parallel/single switches and do some more sound clips. Parallel is also much brighter of course.

You can switch both to single coil mode, and if you use the two outside or inside coils, they will hum cancel.

I also made a stacked Jazz pickup that I posted a clip of back in the thread. I thought it was too bright, and even though I have some ideas to fix that, I went in the side-by-side direction.

The stack did sound really nice laying on its side though, so it might have a new life as a side-winder one day.
 
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