tell me about Super Ferrite pickups...need info...

[XsoGol]

I don't, and Ronnie didn't know either. Apparently, they started playing with the design toward the end of the run. Then they switched to VFL, which is a sidewinder active humbucker. The second gen TL-5 used those, as did the Forum five, Axcellerator five, etc. Then, the Cirrus got a wider version of the VFL. Fun fact, while the SF pickups were made in house, the VFL stuff was made by GB, or G&B, a Korean company.

That is super interesting. I mentioned above that one of my goals in this project was to get humcancelling SF-sounding pickups in the SF form factor readily available for purchase (so I can buy them and throw a bunch of them in my strange Frankenstein's monster Peaveys). Would be super fascinating to see what these look like inside.

 

[BassikLee]

Agreed, and yet we're not pulling these apart. I suspect they are stacked coils. Would not surprise me if they were wired in parallel, as that produces a brighter, more single coil sound than series. I can check that, as they are not internally wired together. The four conductor wire hooks into the dyna pre. I may go as far as reading the resistance as wired, then each coil isolated.

I'll add that to the list, along with pictures of the pickup, wiring, etc.

 

[XsoGol]

Agreed, and yet we're not pulling these apart. I suspect they are stacked coils. Would not surprise me if they were wired in parallel, as that produces a brighter, more single coil sound than series. I can check that, as they are not internally wired together. The four conductor wire hooks into the dyna pre. I may go as far as reading the resistance as wired, then each coil isolated.

I'll add that to the list, along with pictures of the pickup, wiring, etc.

Thank you! Yeah, those things are super rare...I wouldn't ever pull them apart at all. If they are stacks, that seems like it could be reverse engineered based on what we found in the single coils. Any info you are willing to share would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Bassinthemudd]

I mentioned above that one of my goals in this project was to get humcancelling SF-sounding pickups in the SF form factor readily available for purchase (so I can buy them and throw a bunch of them in my strange Frankenstein's monster Peaveys).

Yes! Me too. I've got a G Bass project (NOS neck and body) that I've been mulling over what pickup config to do. I was leaning towards P/Reverse P with stereo outputs. But now I'm thinking about doing SFs in Ric pup placement, stereo of course (dual mono to be more accurate.) Humbuckers would be sweet.

@Matt Kustom are you ready for SF humbucker production?

 

[Matt Kustom]

Here is what has been designed and cut so far. Coverless Neo and Ceramic. Neo has solid top and ceramic is a screw design in order to be able to mechanically assemble. Factory design will not allow for screws. Top screws on so various materials can be used if desired. These pieces were just cleaned in photos so they look a bit splotchy. The laser creates a residue that has to be wiped off. Standard Humbuckers would be no problem. To be honest i do not enjoy building Stacked design pickups. So im hoping the factory Peavey Hums are not stacked. I will be doing coil design tonight to see if i can hit the numbers that to my knowledge the originals were. From what i know so far the Ohm readings are something like 5.75k Neck and 6k Bridge ?? If someone here has knowledge of coil reads that would help. Also with the 5 string using same as 4 string (OOOFF) does anyone have string spacing of the factory bridge? Then i could see if i can fix the fall off problem.

 

[XsoGol]

Here is what has been designed and cut so far. Coverless Neo and Ceramic. Neo has solid top and ceramic is a screw design in order to be able to mechanically assemble. Factory design will not allow for screws. Top screws on so various materials can be used if desired. These pieces were just cleaned in photos so they look a bit splotchy. The laser creates a residue that has to be wiped off. Standard Humbuckers would be no problem. To be honest i do not enjoy building Stacked design pickups. So im hoping the factory Peavey Hums are not stacked. I will be doing coil design tonight to see if i can hit the numbers that to my knowledge the originals were. From what i know so far the Ohm readings are something like 5.75k Neck and 6k Bridge ?? If someone here has knowledge of coil reads that would help. Also with the 5 string using same as 4 string (OOOFF) does anyone have string spacing of the factory bridge? Then i could see if i can fix the fall off problem. View attachment 4974142 View attachment 4974143

Super excited about these @Matt Kustom. Folks on TB, I've asked Matt to make prototypes for both a standard SF but with pole screws instead of a blade while we figure out the cover thing. We did the string spacing exercise on my '87 Foundation last night. I've also asked Matt to build a neodymium prototype as that seemed pretty intriguing to me too. Check out Matt's posts on Instagram as well if you haven't already (@916pickups).

@bigtone23 had mentioned to me that these pickups meter at 5.2-5.6K ohms. Anyone care to weigh in who can or has recently metered theirs? Any difference in resistance between the neck and bridge pickups?

In terms of the humcancelling SFs...I've always thought that the humcancelling versions would be cool as a linear split coil design.

 

[BassikLee]

I'll see if I can put a meter to a few of these in the next few days. As far as I recall, Peavey wound all the coils the same, and there are no dedicated bridge and neck version. Grab a pair that are magnetically opposed, wire one as red/hot, the other as black/hot, and you're good to go. Seems odd, and also brilliant.

So:

resistance on enough of them to establish a normal range.

Resistance on the humbucking version; as wired, plus each coil isolated

Width of the five strings

Anything else?

 

[XsoGol]

I'll see if I can put a meter to a few of these in the next few days. As far as I recall, Peavey wound all the coils the same, and there are no dedicated bridge and neck version. Grab a pair that are magnetically opposed, wire one as red/hot, the other as black/hot, and you're good to go. Seems odd, and also brilliant.

That is what I have heard a lot myself.

So:

resistance on enough of them to establish a normal range.

Resistance on the humbucking version; as wired, plus each coil isolated

Width of the five strings

Anything else?

I think that covers it. And thank you so so much!

 

[Matt Kustom]

I will be using Mogami lead wire 3 lead. Shield/Positive/Negative.
Usually the Color wire is hot . Clear is Negative and bare is Shield. From what was sent to me Neck / South and Bridge / North? Would everyone bee cool with that or would a more Fenderish South bridge Neck North be more acceptable? Just want to get the details straight so the designs are in line with what players expect

 

[BassikLee]

I really don't think the north/south thing was consistent in those basses. The example you received was the way it was, but I'll bet one US nickel ($0.05) that if you were to hold a magnet against the pickups of several SF equipped basses, you'd find a 50/50 N/S orientation. Given that I have at least 8 such basses here, mayhaps I will perform the aforementioned magnet test, for science.

 

[Matt Kustom]

About the Peavey SF factory covers. I looked into getting injection molded covers made. Before I can get any sort of quote a 3D CAD drawing is needed. If someone out there can/will draw up the cover I think the covers might be a possibility. I personally do not have CAD ability or software nor do I know someone personally that can do 3D. I found a place that specializes in rapid prototypes but they do not do the drawings. Just quotes on submissions

 

[Matt Kustom]

Also on the factory Cover 5 string basses. The bridge string space on a 4 string is 57mm. So 5 string 57 divide by 3 = 19. 57+19 =76. So to have enough blade for the 5 there is no room for wire around the blade. Serious design flaw using the 4 in a 5. I can see why there is a fall off problem.

 

[BassikLee]

The SF equipped fives are nowhere near 19mm spaced though. More like 16.5. I'll measure and get pics of three of them Monday night after work.

 

[BassikLee]

They didn't list the string spacing in the specs, but they did have a decent pic. This will have to suffice until I can get actual measurements.

 

[BassikLee]

Better pic. Also, I had a thought. Given that the SF pickups mount with ears and a ring, the route is a good bit wider than the pickup. I'm thinking a purpose built "now, with B and G string included!!" SF replacement pickup, made to fit the route could be a good thing.

 

[ctmullins]

Better pic. Also, I had a thought. Given that the SF pickups mount with ears and a ring, the route is a good bit wider than the pickup. I'm thinking a purpose built "now, with B and G string included!!" SF replacement pickup, made to fit the route could be a good thing.

But the route is so deep that you need the ring to secure the pickup. You can't just screw one down in the existing route, as the screws would pop out the back.

Unless you use really short screws....

 

[BassikLee]

Agreed. It would require some clever engineering, for sure. At least in the TL-Five, the rings are countersunk. One could make a pickup shell with the same footprint as the ring, and route the countersunk section deeper.....

 

[Bassinthemudd]

But the route is so deep that you need the ring to secure the pickup. You can't just screw one down in the existing route, as the screws would pop out the back.

Perhaps a piece of wood could be cut to fit into the pup cavity and glued or epoxied down.

 

[Matt Kustom]

They didn't list the string spacing in the specs, but they did have a decent pic. This will have to suffice until I can get actual measurements.

That still looks like there's very little room for coil. If a smaller gauge wire was used that could buy some room.

 

[Matt Kustom]

Looking at various covers. I'm going to up my stock of various soap bars. The Bart BC was requested. I do not have the 4 string in stock and to order I have to order in bulk. Is this acceptable for Bart BC?