I have an old abused John birch i have been rebuilding for quite a few years now. It had lost its original pickups but thanks to
@philking i was able to remedy that... but i have never been able to find a set of pickup rings
I have just had some 3D printed, which is my first attempt at anything like that, so I was quite relieved when the pickups actually fit
corner radius wasn't quite right, but i can live with that
here are some pics from the last decade... significant damage and razor sharp lacquer cracks
a black refin, the cracks went together well but were never clean enough to keep a burst
and some rings cut from scratchplate material - too thin but did okay for a while
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Anyway, i have shaped the bottoms to fit the carve (didn't fancy trying to 3D model that) and i have added the countersinks for the mounting screws, which i would have 3D modelled if i knew they would be white inside. Bit its all good, they need some kind of finishing anyway, so i will probably spray black instead of clear
its all good, they fit nicely.
I was tempted to go with white, like this one
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As ever, awesome work!
You built a brand new guitar. And relic'd it.
You found an old relic. And made it look brand new.
Who takes the pickups out of a JB?
Really nice resto, have you sussed the wiring out? Although saying that, they were all different and made no logical sense so whatever you do it will be authentic.
Love to see a vid of it in action when you get it finished. Had a JB1 on my bucket list for a long time.
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i took plenty of notes on the wiring, but was then told it was not standard by John Carling (iirc).
I am not bothered about the stereo stuff and have decided to upgrade to new parts. It will be standard LP with the master volume. the mini switch will give out of phase. I will probably put a varitone in the spare hole
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reshaping the bottom was interesting. it sanded fairly well on the drum sander if you keep moving... if it gets too hot it will melt quite suddenly, but very localised. i guess that is what you want from a 3D print medium
i wasn't sure what to expect... but at less than a tenner per ring it was worth a go, even if it just got me close enough to make a mold and cast some
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pickups too yellow-aged for me (i'm brutally fickle) but otherwise it's one of the coolest LPs i've seen this year. i'm giving you an A. well done.
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/uPIAAOSw0QFXB7g4/s-l300.jpg
neck pickup needs a bit of adjustment to sit better
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The Flying V never felt right (it was very neck heavy and didn't have much spacing between the pickups, all due to JB wanting to put 24 frets off of the body), so it was either build a new body or scrap it. I decided to scrap it and put the JB bridge on my Wez JB SG and let Wez have the pickups and wiring loom (amazingly it was all working).
what you can't see it hose pics is the large hand chiselled swimming pool route for the pickups, or the separation of badly warped fretboard post flood.
I imagine it was from the same period as this SG
They did later make a small number of V's with a more usable layout
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Not enough knobs !