Ash at Oil City answers pickup questions:

fretmeister

Have you ever made a Redneck tele bridge pickup that is a bit on the hot side?

OilCityPickups

fretmeister said:

Have you ever made a Redneck tele bridge pickup that is a bit on the hot side?

Absolutely ... I had one on a gigging Tele of mine fairly recently. The thing is there is a lot of competition at the bottom end of SC sized single coils ... and I didn't see it as very worthwhile putting something out that would be judged as being too expensive compared to US mass produced pickups.   

bloodandtears

Years ago I harvested 3 single coil Jackson J100 from a Charvel Model 1 guitar.. over the years I have been putting them individually into the middle position of numerous guitars that are primarily HSH configuration... 

One thing has always concerned me is that whilst the DC resistance measures the same regardless, would they be wired differently? should I be concerned about potential Reverse Wound, Reverse Polarity issues?

OilCityPickups

bloodandtears said:

Years ago I harvested 3 single coil Jackson J100 from a Charvel Model 1 guitar.. over the years I have been putting them individually into the middle position of numerous guitars that are primarily HSH configuration... 

One thing has always concerned me is that whilst the DC resistance measures the same regardless, would they be wired differently? should I be concerned about potential Reverse Wound, Reverse Polarity issues?

As far as I'm aware Jackson employed a RWRP middle pickup. 

Paul_C

Bit of a daft question perhaps, but why are rubbish pickups in cheap guitars rubbish? 

Just from reading some of your posts I can see how the process of making a pickup can produce lots of different outcomes, but is it just that the materials are that little bit cheaper (there aren't a lot of things that make up a strat pickup, for instance) ? 

OilCityPickups

Paul_C said:

Bit of a daft question perhaps, but why are rubbish pickups in cheap guitars rubbish? 

Just from reading some of your posts I can see how the process of making a pickup can produce lots of different outcomes, but is it just that the materials are that little bit cheaper (there aren't a lot of things that make up a strat pickup, for instance) ? 

The materials are cheaper ... but that's a small part ... and the care is just less careful ... and most of all, they are not designed by folks who understand what they are making. 

bloodandtears

OilCityPickups said:

bloodandtears said:

Years ago I harvested 3 single coil Jackson J100 from a Charvel Model 1 guitar.. over the years I have been putting them individually into the middle position of numerous guitars that are primarily HSH configuration... 

One thing has always concerned me is that whilst the DC resistance measures the same regardless, would they be wired differently? should I be concerned about potential Reverse Wound, Reverse Polarity issues?

As far as I'm aware Jackson employed a RWRP middle pickup. 

so, in the context of a HSH guitar, if I have inadvertently used a neck/bridge pick up as a middle (they are never labelled afaik) could there be an issue when split for position 2 for example?

Philly_Q

bloodandtears said:

OilCityPickups said:

bloodandtears said:

Years ago I harvested 3 single coil Jackson J100 from a Charvel Model 1 guitar.. over the years I have been putting them individually into the middle position of numerous guitars that are primarily HSH configuration... 

One thing has always concerned me is that whilst the DC resistance measures the same regardless, would they be wired differently? should I be concerned about potential Reverse Wound, Reverse Polarity issues?

As far as I'm aware Jackson employed a RWRP middle pickup. 

so, in the context of a HSH guitar, if I have inadvertently used a neck/bridge pick up as a middle (they are never labelled afaik) could there be an issue when split for position 2 for example?

The only potential issue would be hum.  The middle pickup, whether it's RW/RP or not, will still be in parallel with the humbucker (or split humbucker) so it won't sound any different either way, it might just be noisier.  And you're (probably) not changing the phase relationship either - if it does sound out of phase you can just swap round the two wires of the single-coil.

fretmeister

Why do lower output humbuckers seem to have a lot more treble than higher output options?

fretmeister

Today I got to try a Redneck bridge pickup courtesy of @Paul_C and the telecaster he had with one installed.

Blimey it’s nice!

I’m going to have to build or buy another tele now, just to put one in!

Schnozz

How many inches of cable do Oil City pickups have?

OilCityPickups

Schnozz said:

How many inches of cable do Oil City pickups have?

Commonly on Humbuckers about 12 inches on bridge and around 15 inches on neck. However you can request extra cable for semi acoustics for example a no extra cost.  

Schnozz

OilCityPickups said:

Schnozz said:

How many inches of cable do Oil City pickups have?

Commonly on Humbuckers about 12 inches on bridge and around 15 inches on neck. However you can request extra cable for semi acoustics for example a no extra cost.  

Thank you - Do you make anything like the old Guild HB1?

OilCityPickups

Schnozz said:

OilCityPickups said:

Schnozz said:

How many inches of cable do Oil City pickups have?

Commonly on Humbuckers about 12 inches on bridge and around 15 inches on neck. However you can request extra cable for semi acoustics for example a no extra cost.  

Thank you - Do you make anything like the old Guild HB1?

Not specifically ... but I've rewound a whole bunch of em ... so making a copy wouldn't be an issue. 

rockmonster

Hi Ash,
I have a challenge that you may not have come across before. 

I am currently an owner of a PRS Brent Mason. I’m not keen on the Hum bucker tones. I have toyed with the idea of going down the route out body and new pick-guard route in order to fit a set of Suhr Aldrich types (scrapyard dog possibly?) but I don’t really want to do that. Is it possible to manufacture principally a bridge pickup the same size as the current smaller Brent Mason sized Humbucker that’ll pack the punch of a full sized pickup? Are the smaller PRS bobbins difficult to get hold of? I wouldn’t really want to lose the stock look nor have to rebuild the stock  pickups as I would like to have the ability to return it to stock at a later date.

OilCityPickups

It's possible to wind mini humbuckers to be more like a full sized humbucker - in fact a lot like ... but it's not possible to get PRS bobbins. It should be possible to build something that looks good mind - and won't require routing the body - but it won't look 'stock'. 

rockmonster

JOilCityPickups said:

It's possible to wind mini humbuckers to be more like a full sized humbucker - in fact a lot like ... but it's not possible to get PRS bobbins. It should be possible to build something that looks good mind - and won't require routing the body - but it won't look 'stock'. 

What would they look like Ash?

guitargeek62

OilCityPickups said:

It's possible to wind mini humbuckers to be more like a full sized humbucker - in fact a lot like ... but it's not possible to get PRS bobbins. It should be possible to build something that looks good mind - and won't require routing the body - but it won't look 'stock'. 

For what it’s worth, I have measurements of these 408 pickups from my own Paul’s Guitar as I go back and forth on the bridge p’up too. The baseplates on them are laser-cut fibreboard, but bobbins are custom - I’d toyed with 3D-printing a set.

I’m happy to dig out the dims and share though if it helps

@rockmonster - aren’t the BMs routed for fullsize HBs under that pickguard??


*edit* here’s my post from a while back when I was last toying with this idea! Imgur links are kaput though https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/279445/routing-a-core-prs/

Hootsmon

Pickup questions.....hmmmm, Ethel or Sadie?

rockmonster

No the BM is not routed for full sized HB’s Academic now anyway. The BM has left the building!