Aria Pro II bass pickup rewind

What's Hot
OilCityPickupsOilCityPickups Frets: 9980
edited December 2019 in Made in the UK tFB Trader
Here we have a pair of sad, dirty old Aria Pro 2 bass pickups that came into our workshop a little while ago. All four coils down. Their construction is a bit interesting, so i thought I'd post their restoration.

Inside we have an almost P Bass setup, but with full length bobbins ... all mounted on a brass base-plate. There was virtually no tape covering or strain relief on the coil wires, so everything had torn loose from the coils, thus killing the pickups, A cautionary point, if you have these pickups fitted to your bass ... BE CAREFUL not to disturb them, they are quite crudely made and will break easily.
Off came the wire ... must return the wife's nail scissors at some point ...

Rewound coils (to about 11k the pair) showing the blob of 'hot melt' we used to stop the coils moving about in future.

The completed pair with their covers cleaned and polished.

 90% of the pickups we rewind ... and we rewind a lot ... get damaged or damaged further by being disturbed or messed about with by owners who try to fix things themselves. Perhaps 'contains no user serviceable parts' should be marked on all new pickups. Luckily this owner had not tried to 'fix' them ... but we get all sorts of horror stories on our bench. If it's a rare or valuable pickup ... and these Aria bass pickups are quite rare ... don't have a go yourself ... hand over to an expert.

Professional pickup winder, horse-testpilot and recovering Chocolate Hobnob addict.
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups  ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message  

0reaction image LOL 3reaction image Wow! 1reaction image Wisdom
«1

Comments

  • FelineGuitarsFelineGuitars Frets: 11495
    tFB Trader
    I like the interlocking tabs on the bobbins



    You were quite lucky with these - often they were fully epoxy filled and you had no way of getting into the coils
    I believe that the contraction of the epoxy over time actually caused a lot of them to break down as the coils got crushed 
    I think those ones had no visible poles though...a bit like these


    Many guitars have a re-sale value. Some you'll never want to sell.
    Stockist of: Earvana & Graphtech nuts, Faber Tonepros & Gotoh hardware, Fatcat bridges. Highwood Saddles.

    Pickups from BKP, Oil City & Monty's pickups.

      Expert guitar repairs and upgrades - fretwork our speciality! www.felineguitars.com.  Facebook too!

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • OilCityPickupsOilCityPickups Frets: 9980
    tFB Trader
    Lol we wouldn't have even considered trying to repair the epoxy potted ones ... epoxy potting is pretty much the kiss of death for any pickup ... when they go wrong ... the bin about the only recourse. 
    Professional pickup winder, horse-testpilot and recovering Chocolate Hobnob addict.
    Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups  ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message  

    0reaction image LOL 1reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14321
    fully epoxy filled ... no way of getting into the coils
    Some of the Seymour Duncan active bass guitar pickups look fully resin potted but are not. On the early Eighties ones, the resin eventually breaks away from the black plastic cover. With careful use of a craft knife or small flat bladed screwdriver, it is possible to get inside.

    https://i.imgur.com/VfUKG7Q.jpg?1
    Be seeing you.
    0reaction image LOL 1reaction image Wow! 1reaction image Wisdom
  • OilCityPickupsOilCityPickups Frets: 9980
    tFB Trader
    Fully epoxy potted pickups include many Blll Laurence creations, and of course Gibson 'tar backs' ... all very difficult if not impossible to fix.
    Professional pickup winder, horse-testpilot and recovering Chocolate Hobnob addict.
    Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups  ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message  

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 1reaction image Wisdom
  • RolandRoland Frets: 8590
    edited December 2019

    ... must return the wife's nail scissors at some point ... 

    If you bought her a pair for Christmas then she might let you keep the old, scratched ones?
    Tree recycler, and guitarist with  https://www.undercoversband.com/.
    1reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 1reaction image Wisdom
  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71955
    I found this a while back when someone was looking for options for an Aria pickup - in fact one of you might have given me the link, in which case I apologise!

    https://www.rautiaguitars.net/aria-pro-ii.html

    As the owner of an SB-R60 with the no-poles style pickup, I'm almost tempted to buy a spare one even though the original appears to be working fine.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14321
    ICBM said:
    SB-R60 ... no-poles style pickup
    One has to wonder whether something more interesting could be constructed to fit under the stock Aria covers? Perhaps, that would be Overkill? ;) 
    Be seeing you.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • OilCityPickupsOilCityPickups Frets: 9980
    tFB Trader
    ICBM said:
    SB-R60 ... no-poles style pickup
    One has to wonder whether something more interesting could be constructed to fit under the stock Aria covers? Perhaps, that would be Overkill? ;) 
    There's tons of space under the covers for all sorts ... my temptation would be for double split coils bass and treble ... 
    Professional pickup winder, horse-testpilot and recovering Chocolate Hobnob addict.
    Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups  ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message  

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • polotskapolotska Frets: 116
    edited December 2019
    ICBM said:
    I found this a while back when someone was looking for options for an Aria pickup - in fact one of you might have given me the link, in which case I apologise!

    https://www.rautiaguitars.net/aria-pro-ii.html

    As the owner of an SB-R60 with the no-poles style pickup, I'm almost tempted to buy a spare one even though the original appears to be working fine.
    I think that was me! Long ago I’d thought about picking up an SB-R60 with a broken pickup and was looking into the options—but I didn’t end up buying the pickup (or the bass).
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • impmannimpmann Frets: 12641
    Fully epoxy potted pickups include many Blll Laurence creations, and of course Gibson 'tar backs' ... all very difficult if not impossible to fix.
    I have a fabulous old Kent Armstrong pickup from the late 70s that's fully epoxy filled - sadly one of the contacts has been snapped off,  rendering it useless. I can't bring myself to bin it, but even Kent has said its not repairable. :-(
    Never Ever Bloody Anything Ever.

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • OilCityPickupsOilCityPickups Frets: 9980
    edited December 2019 tFB Trader
    impmann said:
    Fully epoxy potted pickups include many Blll Laurence creations, and of course Gibson 'tar backs' ... all very difficult if not impossible to fix.
    I have a fabulous old Kent Armstrong pickup from the late 70s that's fully epoxy filled - sadly one of the contacts has been snapped off,  rendering it useless. I can't bring myself to bin it, but even Kent has said its not repairable. :-(

    I had those on my old Manson guitar ... Kent Armstrong 'Rainbow' humbuckers I believe they were called. (image from Reverb.com)



    Professional pickup winder, horse-testpilot and recovering Chocolate Hobnob addict.
    Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups  ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message  

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • impmannimpmann Frets: 12641
    impmann said:
    Fully epoxy potted pickups include many Blll Laurence creations, and of course Gibson 'tar backs' ... all very difficult if not impossible to fix.
    I have a fabulous old Kent Armstrong pickup from the late 70s that's fully epoxy filled - sadly one of the contacts has been snapped off,  rendering it useless. I can't bring myself to bin it, but even Kent has said its not repairable. :-(

    I had those on my old Manson guitar ... Kent Armstrong 'Rainbow' humbuckers I believe they were called.

    Yup, thats them. I can't bring myself to bin it...
    Never Ever Bloody Anything Ever.

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • OilCityPickupsOilCityPickups Frets: 9980
    tFB Trader
    impmann said:
    impmann said:
    Fully epoxy potted pickups include many Blll Laurence creations, and of course Gibson 'tar backs' ... all very difficult if not impossible to fix.
    I have a fabulous old Kent Armstrong pickup from the late 70s that's fully epoxy filled - sadly one of the contacts has been snapped off,  rendering it useless. I can't bring myself to bin it, but even Kent has said its not repairable. :-(

    I had those on my old Manson guitar ... Kent Armstrong 'Rainbow' humbuckers I believe they were called.

    Yup, thats them. I can't bring myself to bin it...
    Would you consider letting me have a crack at sorting it? No charge ... I just hate seeing one of those 'lost' ... 
    Professional pickup winder, horse-testpilot and recovering Chocolate Hobnob addict.
    Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups  ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message  

    0reaction image LOL 2reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • impmannimpmann Frets: 12641
    impmann said:
    impmann said:
    Fully epoxy potted pickups include many Blll Laurence creations, and of course Gibson 'tar backs' ... all very difficult if not impossible to fix.
    I have a fabulous old Kent Armstrong pickup from the late 70s that's fully epoxy filled - sadly one of the contacts has been snapped off,  rendering it useless. I can't bring myself to bin it, but even Kent has said its not repairable. :-(

    I had those on my old Manson guitar ... Kent Armstrong 'Rainbow' humbuckers I believe they were called.

    Yup, thats them. I can't bring myself to bin it...
    Would you consider letting me have a crack at sorting it? No charge ... I just hate seeing one of those 'lost' ... 
    Gladly, mate! I'd be very happy to send it over. These are very interesting pickups.

    Thanks for the offer, greatly appreciated. I'll ping you a PM.
    Never Ever Bloody Anything Ever.

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • Thread resurrection!

    I was in my local music shop today and they’d just had an ‘80’s Aria Pro II RSB Performer in with a dead neck pickup (MB-III) and were scratching their heads re. repair/replacement.


    HarrySeven - Intangible Asset Appraiser & Wrecker of Civilisation. Searching for weird guitars - so you don't have to.
    Forum feedback thread.    |     G&B interview #1 & #2   |  https://www.instagram.com/_harry_seven_/ 

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71955
    Rautia Guitars website appears to be dead now unfortunately. A few months ago he posted on it saying that he had health issues and was suspending new orders.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • ICBM said:
    Rautia Guitars website appears to be dead now unfortunately. A few months ago he posted on it saying that he had health issues and was suspending new orders.
    :(


    HarrySeven - Intangible Asset Appraiser & Wrecker of Civilisation. Searching for weird guitars - so you don't have to.
    Forum feedback thread.    |     G&B interview #1 & #2   |  https://www.instagram.com/_harry_seven_/ 

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • impmannimpmann Frets: 12641
    That reminds me... any news on that Kent Armstrong, Ash... its been a couple of years. @OilCityPickups ;
    Never Ever Bloody Anything Ever.

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • OilCityPickupsOilCityPickups Frets: 9980
    tFB Trader
    impmann said:
    That reminds me... any news on that Kent Armstrong, Ash... its been a couple of years. @OilCityPickups ;

    The news isn't really super good @impmann: the area where the tag broke off is full of green corrosion - If I were successfully get into the wires they may well be corroded themselves. All I can think is some moisture or a adverse reaction during the epoxy potting originally has caused this. I may well have to concede defeat and get it back to you.  
    Professional pickup winder, horse-testpilot and recovering Chocolate Hobnob addict.
    Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups  ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message  

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • JayGeeJayGee Frets: 1254
    impmann said:
    That reminds me... any news on that Kent Armstrong, Ash... its been a couple of years. @OilCityPickups ;

    The news isn't really super good @impmann: the area where the tag broke off is full of green corrosion - If I were successfully get into the wires they may well be corroded themselves. All I can think is some moisture or an adverse reaction during the epoxy potting originally has caused this. I may well have to concede defeat and get it back to you.  
    Would there be any value in taking it apart anyway to work out the construction details, magnet types, wire types (and maybe rough approximations to winding count) etc assuming that information isn’t available anyway?

    Not that I’m encouraging you in any way to destroy somebody else’s pickup or for the owner to sacrifice it. I’m just curious as to whether there’d be anything to learn from an autopsy… :-)
    Don't ask me, I just play the damned thing...
    1reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
Sign In or Register to comment.