Pickup Building and Repair Questions

Chocklit_Thunda · 2013-01-13T13:10:20+00:00

Hi. How y'all doin'? ? I've been thinking about winding my own pickups lately.... I have a few (a lot of) questions I was hoping you guys could help me out w...

Pickup Building and Repair Questions

Norman86

with the importing, sometimes you get lucky and the custom charges arent too high!
and sometimes you get lucky and get real bargains on what you're looking for!

Keep looking, you're bound to find it at a better price, whatever it is! ?

Chocklit_Thunda

Hello again... I'm bored at work so I've been wondering... How do filtertrons work? I know they're humbuckers of some kind and they have that awesome jangly sound, but how are they made/wound?

I've read that they're wound to low input, they use really thick/strong magnets, they're wired in parallel, they're meant to be mounted close to the strings, they sound like tele pickups..... Whats the truth here and what's just a load of sh...... hogwash ?

AlanRatcliffe

Here's a copy of the patent :http://ratcliffe.co.za/sundry/filtertron/patent.pdf
...and measured specs of all the Gretsch pickups: http://ratcliffe.co.za/sundry/filtertron/gretsch_pup_info.xls

The big things are the low impedance/resonant peak and narrow string sensing window as well as the metal plate that is on top of the bobbins.

Your biggest problem in building them is finding parts - they are all different to the normal PAF humbucker design because of the sizing it would all have to be custom tooled. No off the shelf parts here - the only guy making them properly is Tom Jones, and he does not sell his parts. Even the Lollar 'Tron-alike uses different methods to get to the "same" sound (in a full PAF size). Forget GFS - they are so far off the mark it's not funny.

There are also some "tricks" to making a good classic 'Trons that only Jones knows - to do with winding patterns and very specific alloys. Which probably goes some way to explaining why Gretsh themselves use TVJ pickups on their top models.

Chocklit_Thunda

Ah wow thanks Alan! ? this helps
I was thinking of just buying bobbin flatworm and cutting out my own so sizing shouldn't be a major issue but now that you mention special alloys etc its has me a bit worried.
I'm actually contemplating buying a TV and deconstructing it (temporariy) to learn the secrets behind them. I played a Gretsch with them in and it was amazing and I think they'd go awesomely in a 12 string electric ?

AlanRatcliffe

As the resident electric 12-string nut I can tell you that they are very nice in a 12 - the best humbuckers for the job. However the classic Ric toasters still have them beat (albeit in an almost unplayable guitar). Fat single coils with big alnico rods, very low wind and neck and bridge wound almost the same.

nicovlogg

Alan Ratcliffe wrote: As the resident electric 12-string nut I can tell you that they are very nice in a 12 - the best humbuckers for the job. However the classic Ric toasters still have them beat (albeit in an almost unplayable guitar). Fat single coils with big alnico rods, very low wind and neck and bridge wound almost the same.

Absolutely love everything about Filtertrons, so I have to ask - what makes the Ric toasters better?

Chocklit_Thunda

I've never liked Ric's hey... Even in terms of sound but I haven't heard a 12 string ric before... Although I do like the way they have the drones on the bottom of their 12 strings ?

AlanRatcliffe

I love 'Trons too, but 12's are a special case because you need something with very little bass and maximum chime and treble, but without getting harsh on the high frequencies. Even low wind pickups put out a lot of signal with a 12- and if there is a hint of too much bass, the compression tends to make it dominant and the octave strings disappear in the resulting mush.

TVJ Classics come real close but still end up being a bit too thick in the lows, even with two neck pickups. Same with P90s, which are wound way too hot (I use a bass-cut tone control on mine to make it usable) and are basically all mids. STrat and Tele pups are too far the other way - they get harsh and icepicky.

All IMO, so standard YMMV waiver applies, etc.

Chabenda

maybe in the future you guys will be waiting in line to buy a set of "Hot Chocklit hand wound pickups" ?

I suppose that the bottom of the range ones would be called "Choklit Starfish" ?

Chocklit_Thunda

Well my plan is to make a set of 335 designed guitars. One I'm busy on now is the 6 string with the '57, P94T and BB3
I plan on making a 12 string to match it but more for rhythm. I'd probably keep the '57 and BB3 combo but use a neck filtertron in the mid position for the chimey 12 string tone
And last but not least I want to make an electric 335 ukulele because let's face it... Ukes are awesome! ?

I figure the alnico 2 mags might cut the bass enough for a 12 string

Chabenda wrote: I suppose that the bottom of the range ones would be called "Choklit Starfish" ?

Chocklit Starfish pickups: the only way to achieve the "Brown Sound"! ?

AlanRatcliffe

Chocklit_Thunda wrote:
Chabenda wrote: I suppose that the bottom of the range ones would be called "Choklit Starfish" ?
Chocklit Starfish pickups: the only way to achieve the "Brown Sound"! ?

Grooooan... ?

Chocklit_Thunda

Another question... With Trembuckers and F-Spacing...... Is that only for Floyd Rose trems or would you need an F-Spaced pickup for the bridge of a strat too?

Gearhead

F = Fender? :-\

AlanRatcliffe

Gearhead wrote: F = Fender? :-\

Sort of... F = Floyd, but Floyds were made with the wider Fender string spacing, so it's pretty much F = Fender or Floyd. ?

Chocklit_Thunda

:sorry:
Sorry man... I was under the impression it stood for "Floyd" spacing
I always assumed that these were wider than fender bridges

EDIT: so how much of a difference would it make if I use a non F spaced pickup as opposed to an F spaced pickup? would there be a negligible output drop?