Kent Armstrong pickup question

[charleyrich99]

I am having a guitar made for me by Tim Bram and he is having trouble getting the Kent Armstrong resin pickup (USA made).

He is able to get the one incased in metal. Does anyone have experience with this and is there any appreciable difference between the two?

Thanks,

Charley

[lesyeuxnoirs]

No experience of this but it might be worth sending Kent an email. He’s still active, I believe, and a stand up chap. He’ll be able to shed light on what the issue is and/or be able to make one and/or explain the likely tonal differences to you

If he’s not still active, then email his son Aaron in the UK who also winds Kent Armstrong pickups. He’s definitely still active

oh - Aaron’s pickups the same as made in USA

[burchyk]

Adding a metal cover changes the pickup tone.

There are a few comparisons on YouTube with humbuckers, you'd have to decide if it is same, better or worse for your ear. For PAF type I like what covers do to the tone, seems to shift the focus to mids slightly.

If you're talking about the finger rest mounted floater, I don't think I've seen the same KA pickup in metal. Those are narrower, which brings it's own inherent tonal difference.

For mounted PAF-size there are lots of good options. For a floater, the KA finger rest tab mounted black epoxy humbucker would be my first choice.

[deacon Mark]

I have a KA made by Kent himself I have never used. It is the 12 pole you can adjust the screws with an allen wrench. It has no bracket designed for a pickguard mount but someone could fashion a bracket. It is the black resin. PM i can send you a picture. It is yours for $90 plus shipping.

[charleyrich99]

I have a KA made by Kent himself I have never used. It is the 12 pole you can adjust the screws with an allen wrench. It has no bracket designed for a pickguard mount but someone could fashion a bracket. It is the black resin. PM i can send you a picture. It is yours for $90 plus shipping.

Thanks for the kind offer. However I just got one.

[SOLR]

No experience of this but it might be worth sending Kent an email. He’s still active, I believe, and a stand up chap. He’ll be able to shed light on what the issue is and/or be able to make one and/or explain the likely tonal differences to you

If he’s not still active, then email his son Aaron in the UK who also winds Kent Armstrong pickups. He’s definitely still active

oh - Aaron’s pickups the same as made in USA; both a very different prospect to the mass produced KA options.

Kent is still very active , a very nice person and replies promptly to emails.....armstrong@vermontel.net

S

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

oh - Aaron’s pickups the same as made in USA; both a very different prospect to the mass produced KA options.

According to Kent, that’s not true. I called him to ask about alternatives to the “mass produced” floater on my Eastman 810CE7. He told me that the OEM pickup was virtually the same as his hand wound version, and that he saw no point to my spending money on having him make me the same thing.

Per Kent, the materials, specs, and assembly of the pickups that come out of Eastman are identical to those he uses

He offered to wind one for me if I could tell him what I wanted to be different. I had no answer for that.

FWIW, the black KA hand wound 12 pole set HB in my Eastman Jazz Elite is fantastic. But it’s not dramatically different from the metal covered floating HB in my 810. I think the differences in tone are mostly from the differences in bracing and body mechanics (eg pickup location and mount, size, depth, etc).

[Woody Sound]

Kent Armstrong Adjustable Built-In PAF (Handmade) - DjangoBooks.com

Kent Armstrong Adjustable Floating PAF (Handmade) - DjangoBooks.com

ac accessories

[charleyrich99]

Kent Armstrong Adjustable Built-In PAF (Handmade) - DjangoBooks.com

Kent Armstrong Adjustable Floating PAF (Handmade) - DjangoBooks.com

ac accessories

What’s the difference between the two? The case is smaller. Is the inside the same?

[Woody Sound]

What’s the difference between the two? The case is smaller. Is the inside the same?

I think they got the pic and description mixed up for the first one. It is the bracket mounted floater, not the built in model. Kent supplies the bracket that wraps all around the recessed part of the pickup body and attaches to the sides of the neck extension. I know because I had one. Sounded fabulous, sold it with the guitar it was on.

Here is the actual "built-in" version:

Armstrong builtin 14-pole PAF | Reverb

[ccroft]

I have 2 guitars with built-in KA American made and one with floater. They're all the same size, have 12 allen key screws and are solid phenolic.

I have a feeling there's some diff between the two set ones. One I got from Vermont which was called PAF, and the other came with the guitar. The one I bought has 6 lugs on the bottom that allow wiring or switching for coil split, parallel and series. I got a hand drawn sketch with it showing the different wiring options. By Kent himself by the looks of it.

Not so sure about the other one. It looks identical but the guy who made the guitar said it's a special wind that Kent does for him and not the same as the one I bought from Kent, even though it looks identical from the top. Here's what the luthier said when I asked about it:

The pickup I use is made by Kent Armstrong. My pickup is called the xx6xxx. (That is about windings and magnets). Kent makes a PAF pickup also. I suggest you try the standard pickup and change it later if you like.

Pretty sure the so-called floating PAF only has 2 lugs, and has the tab for pick-guard mounting.

The one I bought was to replace the Asian KA in my 2007 Eastman Pisano 880. The Kent PAF is
very very different from the one that was in that guitar. But that's like 15 years ago. Might be different now.

All these KA pickups are great. Hard to know exactly what's going on under the phenolic.

Additionally: the 15 year old Asian KA is built like a traditional humbuck. All metal case all round and no sign of phenolic.

So I've owned 4 KA's and now you know as much as I do. Which is next to nothing. Kinda like buying a mattress.