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I just had reason to take a standard alnico humbucker apart and reassemble
interesting , there’s not much to
them , a base plate , a magnet ,
2 simple coils on plastic formers
that’s about it ….
The differences in sound must probably come from the type and strength of magnet , and the number of windings only , the geometry is pretty fixed
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08-19-2023 08:43 AM
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The geometry is different on a LP Deluxe humbucker. The magnets are beneath the coils, unlike a classic PAF. The dimarzio that's in there is more like a PAF in construction. I kind of wondered if I just swapped out the ceramic with an Alnico 5, whether that would be a better fit for me?
Originally Posted by pingu
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When Pete made a floating CC for me, the pickup came with four threaded bushings in the forward side and a template for drilling matching holes into a strip of metal, for me to form the bracket. I had to measure and drill my own holes for the screws into the neck, and also form the U to the correct dimensions. So I had some fabrication to do, but it worked well. However, now I have that pickup mounted onto the top with Blue-Tack and I think it sounds even better. Originally Posted by jzucker
Also, didn't Hammertone or someone say they have 1981 GB10 pickups available? Those are Alnico instead of ceramic and reputedly not as bright. My 1981 GB10 pickups sound great to me. And they'd be a drop-in replacement.
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The ceramic magnets used in humbuckers are sometimes thicker than normal alnico bar, but maybe that does not matter. Originally Posted by jzucker
Alnico 5 is traditionally considered to have a tight-bottomed chimey un-compressed sound. Alnico 2 – which is used t.ex in Classic 57s – makes the pickup sound ’softer’, warmer and sometimes boomy-bottomed.
Original PAFs came with A3, A4, A2 and A5 depending which was cheapest at the time. Nobody didn’t care.
A3 is the weakest, but might be good for jazz. Gibson uses it in its Custombuckers. A4 pickups (BKP Mule, Fralin Pure PAF) are my favourite in my LP, but I don’t play jazz with it. A4 has an ’even’ spectrum and not a lot of compression.
So I suggest trying the A2 magnet too.
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That makes sense because it brings the pickup a little farther from the strings. Neck mounted pickups are at the high end of what people normally set a pickup as and it can be harshly sensitive being that close. Have you tried a rubber layer between the top and the pickup to discourage vibration from the top from being coupled with the pickup itself? Originally Posted by Cunamara
Although it's technically not "attached" to the top, it's not so isolated as, say, a D'Armond.
Just wondering how much isolation you get and the guitar it's on. Come to think of it, a GB10 is kinda built to deal with that more than most.
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Did some more experimenting today and maybe I was too quick to judge. I think the biggest problem is the tone control cap being wrong, maybe the pot too. So before giving up, I'm going to try some different caps. Didn't someone have some older GB10 pickups forsale?
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This is on my Matt Cushman 17" archtop. I think I want the pickup coupled to the top, which is why I did it that way. Since I fabricated the bracket, I was able to move the pickup away from the strings (Pete made the pickup thin enough to have some room to adjust the height), but it sounds better stuck to the top. Some of that is a but more gap between the pickup and the strings, some of it is coupling to the top (I think). Originally Posted by Jimmy blue note
The Classic 57 on the same guitar filled the space between the top and the strings, with the attendant problems one would expect from the pickup being about 1/16" from the strings at the highest fret.
The GB10 has more space between the top and the strings and would fit the Classic 57 with 1/8" to 5/32" to spare.
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Hammertone, I think. Originally Posted by jzucker
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I remember that guitar and pickup well. Aaron Cowles installed that pickup as a replacement of the original. It sounds rich and clear.
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Maybe you should just grasp the nettle and cut a hole into the top for a standard humbucker.
You said that you will never sell this particular guitar, so if that's true resale value should not be a factor. I can see how other factors might cause you to reject cutting a hole in the top, though. But that is tending toward leaving you with no satisfactory solution to your issue.
I was going to suggest Kent Armstrong customs like someone else did, but I see you've already removed custom-wound pickups like Armstrong's from consideration. All I can say is that I've been very happy with the KA hand-made I put onto a Heritage Sweet 16, but that's a different sort of guitar than you're working with.
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I owned a GB10 that someone did that too but it was probably 25 years ago so I don't remember much about it. My luthier discouraged it recently when I asked because it could affect the structural integrity of the guitar. Although one of Benson's students told me that george did that on one of his and that it's his favorite GB10 Originally Posted by dconeill
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actually I really like the sound of the GB10 in this video I recorded yesterday
A few amp tweaks to make up for the tone control on the guitar not being quite right and a little mixing of mic'd guitar into the signal...
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Ok so maybe just change the magnet in the original GB pickup to alnico 2 or your fav number alnico
probably Pete Biltoft could supply the correct sizes/types
the cheap option …. and it might just work , with no actual mounting issues and keeps the
guitar original (ish)
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I've seen pics of Benson with a top mounted full size bucker.... What could go wrong that you couldn't fix with a little extra bracing? You're going to keep it forever anyway. That might be a project for me sometime.... A GB15 with a single full sized bucker, top mounted. Yes. But, I just bought a bass, so it won't be this month.
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i'm going to stick with the LP deluxe pickup for now. Just need to fine tune the tone cap. Originally Posted by yebdox
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Discretion is always the better part of valor, but maybe that’s why my life could be more exciting :-) Originally Posted by jzucker
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Yeah, the main thing would be that routing in single humbucker would probably be $500ish with pickup and new pickguard and then I'd have 2 extra pots that do nothing. Doing both pickups routed in would be around $1k. And if I don't like it or it messes with the bracing that would be more... Originally Posted by yebdox
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I think you're being smart about the whole thing. OTOH, you could mount separate mini-fuzz and booster pre-amps under the unused pots and really have a unique item! Originally Posted by jzucker
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Too funny. I saw that video when it first came out and my first impression was, WHY?!? And the answer is "I got paid to do this", Originally Posted by yebdox
But seriously, the big mistake I was making was thinking I could use the same eq settings on the amp when going from my 175 to the Benson. Once I gave up on that premise, I was happier with the LP Deluxe pickup and feel that it's an improvement upon the original ceramic. If I can dial in the tone control pot/cap I'll be happy.
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I keep my Twin out in my workout room which opens to my backyard, but not where I ever practice, so I hauled my GB out to work on some stuff with fresh air, coffee, dogs, my lovely wife in the background.... Took me an hour of fiddling to find a tone I like, and I love that amp and guitar... Not sure I ever put them together, though. Funny, because I brag about that Twin all the time, but I'm not gigging, and there's no room for it in my dungeon office, so it never gets played. Originally Posted by jzucker
Too funny. I saw that video when it first came out and my first impression was, WHY?!? And the answer is "I got paid to do this",
But seriously, the big mistake I was making was thinking I could use the same eq settings on the amp when going from my 175 to the Benson. Once I gave up on that premise, I was happier with the LP Deluxe pickup and feel that it's an improvement upon the original ceramic. If I can dial in the tone control pot/cap I'll be happy.
Besides, I'm becoming convinced that "the tone is really in the knobs.... the actual knobs." Makes the most sense after 40 years. My 175 sounds so much better, since I swapped out the amber speed knobs for the top hats with metal inserts... I think they have better etheric resonance, or something
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come to think of it, the black knobs on my 175 sound awful. I do like the rubber speed grip knobs that ibanez uses though so I won't be swapping those out. Originally Posted by yebdox
I keep my Twin out in my workout room which opens to my backyard, but not where I ever practice, so I hauled my GB out to work on some stuff with fresh air, coffee, dogs, my lovely wife in the background.... Took me an hour of fiddling to find a tone I like, and I love that amp and guitar... Not sure I ever put them together, though. Funny, because I brag about that Twin all the time, but I'm not gigging, and there's no room for it in my dungeon office, so it never gets played.
Besides, I'm becoming convinced that "the tone is really in the knobs.... the actual knobs." Makes the most sense after 40 years. My 175 sounds so much better, since I swapped out the amber speed knobs for the top hats with metal inserts... I think they have better etheric resonance, or something
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There's a demonic reason for why they call them "witch hats." Little known fact from "The Dark History of Gibson" by Prof. "Buck" R. Skweels. Originally Posted by jzucker
come to think of it, the black knobs on my 175 sound awful. I do like the rubber speed grip knobs that ibanez uses though so I won't be swapping those out.
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The things I learn on this forum!
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OK so I don’t post very much and y’all don’t know me but I’ve been playing for about 50 years and the last several years I’ve been down the floating pick up archtop Guitar rabbit hole, many times. i’ll keep it brief and stick to the Ibanez George Benson chapter I purchased a GB 20 about five years ago and it came to me without the original pick up. I think it had an import Kent Armstrong pick up. I swapped it out for a Pete Biltoft dual blade, Humbucker, neck mount, I guess it’s kind of like a Firebird pick up without a cover and it sounded pretty good but I wasn’t happy with the guitar because I didn’t realize it wasn’t gonna have much acoustic sound. It’s like a big GB 10. so in order to sell it faster I purchased the pick up from the Ibanez parts website that was for the GB 20 GB 10 models the current pick up model which I guess is a ceramic pick up and it’s pretty hot. I didn’t know it at the time.
so I installed it and I instantly could tell it was pretty hot but it sounded good so I said so I shipped it out and the new owner was just gassed with that pick up. He really love the sound of it.
so fast forward to now I just purchased a used GB10 2012 and I guess it has the newer hotter pick ups in it so I’ll get to experience this new rabbit hole and I’ll report back.
Jeff
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I have a 2015 GB10 and yeah it seems hotter than the one in a late 80s GB10 that I once had. I contacted Ibanez and they said it never changed. Ok.... Originally Posted by davang55
The hotter pickup would cut through a mix better but I liked the old ones better.
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