Ash at Oil City answers pickup questions:

Seziertisch

I came across a post/comment on another forum where the poster talked about the sonic difference that upgrading the hook-up wire on cheap pickups brought. 

What say you? 

OilCityPickups

Seziertisch said:

I came across a post/comment on another forum where the poster talked about the sonic difference that upgrading the hook-up wire on cheap pickups brought. 

What say you? 

Depends: you can change a pickups 'loading' by changing it's hook-up wires ... for example changing four conductor two conductor and shield ... you can measure it. However I have never encountered anyone who could actually hear a difference without being told there was supposed to be one. 
A cheap pickup probably uses cheap wire, cheap magnets, and has very little thought put into its design. Changing the output wire to improve it's performance is like putting bucket seats in a Citroen 2CV. 

Good cheap pickups already have good qualty hook-up wire ... Irongear and Tonerider for example - but then they also already have good quality other parts too. 

Case study:
I just took a cheap Chinese Vanson P90 out of the workshops Vintage branded Junior: It had one of those nasty smaller sized bobbins and had consequently been wound with a finer gauge of wire to fit it all in - I guessed this was the case as it's DC reading was only a smidge under 10k! This didn't mean it was hot ... it just meant it had been wound with an inappropriate gauge of finer wire simply to use a cheap bobbin. In consequence it sounded 'clogged' and was nowhere as responsive to volume control as a proper P90 wound with 42awg wire (it was also SUPER noisy). I could easily replace the hook-up wire with some period correct 50s style cloth core and shield ... but it would be a total waste of time and energy. 

There is no such a thing as a free lunch ... 
 

BillDL

The hookup wire that annoys me to work with is the fake push-back stuff found on some of the cheaper factory pickups like Artec, the cheapest Wilkinsons, some of Alegree's factory made Old Timer pickups, and no doubt a host of other factory produced ones.  It has a rubbery white or black insulation sheath over the wire that would be fine if they were colour coded, but they then cover that with a layer of shiny braided nylon looking colour coded material made to look like cloth covering, but it doesn't push back.  You need to trim back that "cloth" and then strip the rubber insulation to expose the wire, and the braided stuff starts fraying immediately like this:

OilCityPickups

BillDL said:

The hookup wire that annoys me to work with is the fake push-back stuff found on some of the cheaper factory pickups like Artec, the cheapest Wilkinsons, some of Alegree's factory made Old Timer pickups, and no doubt a host of other factory produced ones.  It has a rubbery white or black insulation sheath over the wire that would be fine if they were colour coded, but they then cover that with a layer of shiny braided nylon looking colour coded material made to look like cloth covering, but it doesn't push back.  You need to trim back that "cloth" and then strip the rubber insulation to expose the wire, and the braided stuff starts fraying immediately like this:

Yep that stuff is utter cheap shite. It does the job okay ... just ... but it is just indicative of cheap Far Eastern fakery. Again, Tonerider and Irongear ... my top two budget brands simply don't use it - at least on the ones I've tried.    

Funkfingers

I have the "customer change of mind" Summer Of Love '67 bridge pickup from one of your 2024 workshop clearance sales. Which models would you recommend to create a Classic Rock/Blues Tele?

1) SOL '67 neck
2) Californian 
3) Hardman neck (if still available)

The host guitar is my friend's late Twentieth century Fender Am Std Telecaster, alder body, rosewood fingerboard, modern bridge with the sintered steel saddles, TBX tone control (gasp!). The body is routed TT rather than TSH. Humbuckers and Firebird pickups are not an option.

OilCityPickups

Possibly a Californian

Funkfingers

Thank you. I was afraid that you might say that. 

I have a Californian but I am not keen to part with it. Plus, my friend is set on having a metal cover. 

rockmonster

Is there a promo code for Oil City pickups at the moment do we know? I’m after another Nightfighter neck pickup.

OilCityPickups

rockmonster said:

Is there a promo code for Oil City pickups at the moment do we know? I’m after another Nightfighter neck pickup.

I'm afraid I'm not currently posting much on Fretboard - This place isn't what it used to be. 

Message me directly and I can probably sort you a discount ... but I won't be giving a discount to tolks just because they are fretboarders in future - it'll be more of a case by case basis..

rockmonster

Ok mate no worries thanks for getting back to me though.

OilCityPickups

rockmonster said:

Ok mate no worries thanks for getting back to me though.

PM'd you ... happy to do discount for non assholey fretboarders   

I just reserve the right not to sell to Dick-cheeses 

Funkfingers

It's all my fault. (It always is.) 

e.g. Following on from my December 2025 posts in this thread, my Telecaster-owning friend and I had the following conversation.

HIM: If I give you enough cash, will you sort out some pickups for my Tele?

ME: If you insist.

HIM: I'll fetch the money tomorrow.



… three weeks of deafening silence …

As always, I shall abide by the Fretboard aegis of not profiteering on forum-only discounted special offer items. Thus, my friend can have the OCP Summer Of Love '67 bridge position pickup for the same figure that I paid for it.*

I cannot seem to get my friend to comprehend that I am not going to subsidise his neck position pickup. He needs to order that himself and pay with his own funds - if only for warranty reasons.

OilCityPickups said:

Possibly a Californian

This helpful suggestion should have been converted into an order placed by my friend in the first week of January. Instead, time has been wasted and my friend has made me look like a reproductive opening.  

* I shall not be charging for shipping but he will be granted mate's rates for the soldering work.

OilCityPickups

Funkfingers said:

It's all my fault. (It always is.) 

e.g. Following on from my December 2025 posts in this thread, my Telecaster-owning friend and I had the following conversation.

HIM: If I give you enough cash, will you sort out some pickups for my Tele?

ME: If you insist.

HIM: I'll fetch the money tomorrow.



… three weeks of deafening silence …

As always, I shall abide by the Fretboard aegis of not profiteering on forum-only discounted special offer items. Thus, my friend can have the OCP Summer Of Love '67 bridge position pickup for the same figure that I paid for it.*

I cannot seem to get my friend to comprehend that I am not going to subsidise his neck position pickup. He needs to order that himself and pay with his own funds - if only for warranty reasons.

OilCityPickups said:

Possibly a Californian

This helpful suggestion should have been converted into an order placed by my friend in the first week of January. Instead, time has been wasted and my friend has made me look like a reproductive opening.  

* I shall not be charging for shipping but he will be granted mate's rates for the soldering work.

Probably

Neilybob

Now I know nowt about the relationship between pot and pickup but am I correct to assume that if a pickup has for example a reading of 12k, that it is only at 12k when the pot is fully on?

UnclePsychosis

Ash, if I sent you a Fender reissue WRHB (ie not really a WRHB at all, it's a generic HB in the right case) would you be able to turn it into a 'proper' WRHB?

I was sure that you did WRHBs but I couldn't find one on your site so maybe I imagined that in a fever dream. 

Cheers! 

OilCityPickups

Neilybob said:

Now I know nowt about the relationship between pot and pickup but am I correct to assume that if a pickup has for example a reading of 12k, that it is only at 12k when the pot is fully on?

To be pedantic the pickup is always 12k on it's side of the pot - the resistance however is no indication of output as I've banged on about many times. Judging a pickup's output is like gauging a car's maximum speed by how many litres per minute exhaust gas it produces!
Your pot acts just like a tap and turns down the voltage output - the resistance - to quote the Borg - is futile. 

UnclePsychosis said:

Ash, if I sent you a Fender reissue WRHB (ie not really a WRHB at all, it's a generic HB in the right case) would you be able to turn it into a 'proper' WRHB?

I was sure that you did WRHBs but I couldn't find one on your site so maybe I imagined that in a fever dream. 

Cheers! 

I did used to make Wide Ranges but then the world and his auntie became pickup winders and the market became over saturated ... so I 'rested' my 'Buccaneer' humbuckers as I've done with several of the more labour intensive but low sales lines ... I still make them to order mind ... PM me.  

UnclePsychosis

In the midst of DIY chaos at the minute but will get in touch when I get my life back together! Cheers