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I'm either going to go back to the original or perhaps put a full size humbucker in there if I can find someone who makes a neck mount full size humbucker. I'm not crazy about the benedetto pickup. (Too hot) and I tried a lollar-mini-humbucker guitar recently and felt that it was not really what I was looking for.
I really want a standard PAF humbucker but in a neck mount. Sort of like what the Howard Roberts guitars had in them.
Before you tell me to just sell the guitar and get something else, it was a gift so I can never get rid of it!
[edit]
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?Last edited by jzucker; 08-19-2023 at 06:11 PM.
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08-18-2023 09:03 AM
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Jack,
Have you ever tried a Shadow Zoller AZ-48 neck mount pickup? It is a full-size neck-mount jazz guitar pickup that was originally made for Atilla Zoller.
I use one on my Unity 100th Anniversary model archtop guitar and like it very much.
https://shop.rall-online.net/WebRoot...nformation.pdf
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I have a Seymour Duncan wound to PAF specs on mine. I like it. MJ in their custom shop was exceptionally helpful and knowledgable. Seymour wound it himself and the new sound is inspiring and fun to play.
To each his own.
The stock Ibanez didn't do it for me. The Duncan did.
That's what it's all about, know what you like and keep experimenting until you find it.
It's like pizza, lots of options, it's a good day when you find the one you like.
Good luck.
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Haeussel makes one, too.
Haeussel pickups aren't bad!
https://www.haeussel.com/index.php?i...736894b697b2ce
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When I talked to SD about getting a pickup wound to what GB uses on his Johnny A Smith they wanted me to take measurements and it would be $200 per pickup. I didn't want to take the chance of spending $400 and be stuck with it, especially if I didn't measure it correctly.
Originally Posted by Jimmy blue note
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For me, the johnny smith pickup is bright sounding. It was designed to accommodate an acoustic archtop guitar which by itself, is very fat sounding. So, my thought is that the pickup is a bit thinner and brighter sounding in order to not sound muddy. When put on a thin guitar with a thick, plywood top and a tiny body, it seems like perhaps it's not a good combination... Originally Posted by Benson-GB10
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Jack, Let us know if you do find a neck-mount PAF. I for one have wanted to find exactly that for some time. Originally Posted by jzucker
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Have you considered calling Kent Armstrong to discuss what you want? He’s very responsive to us and can probably make what you want.
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I've considered it but i'm pretty particular and I've never had good luck with custom wound pickups. It's just too hard to translate wine-tasting adjectives into engineering terms. Originally Posted by nevershouldhavesoldit
Kent - hand-wound a pickup for me about 20 years ago and it was (subjectively) no different than the pickup that was already in the guitar.
It's an expensive experiment too. With the LP Deluxe pickup, I paid over $100 for it and in order to mount it in the GB housing, the legs had to be cut off it and had to be re-potted. I think I paid either $50/$75 to have it installed so if I end up going back to original, I'm out about $200 and I can't even resell the LP Deluxe pickup.
Ultimately, if I could swap the pickup out for a classic '57 I'd be happiest but I haven't seen anything like that with an ibanez, neck-mount
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Somehow, the late Eddie Diehl neck mounted a Gibson humbucker to his D'Angelico Style A and it sounded great. Eddie is long gone so asking him how it was done would require the services of a medium. But perhaps someone on this forum knows how he did it?
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I have a Duncan SWD Custom Shop humbucker neck mount pick up from a Epiphone I will never use. looks new and has the wire, pots and jack. If you or anyone else needs it $100.00 + shipping, Thanks john
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This is what I asked from Pete Biltoft and he made it for me. Cost about 150 bucks about a decade ago. Sounded really good in my floater era ES-165. (Until I sold the guitar to get a ’59 RI ES-175…). Pete did it super fast too. Recommended! Originally Posted by jzucker
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i'm not sure a full size humbucker would fit between the top and the strings and how can you get the bracket to match through a phone conversation? Originally Posted by Herbie
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Or.. an old HB1 mini!! Originally Posted by jzucker
Don't ask how, I just wanted to shout it out
Bet it would sound good though.
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I don't have a GB10 but I believe it came with 500K pots. If I were putting a Gibson Deluxe pickup on that, I'd use 300k or 250k pots.
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I think pete biltoft makes what you're looking for. Pasquale grasso has some of his floating humbuckers and they seem to have a pretty big traditional tone.
If you're trying to describe, you can probably drop the wine tasting adjectives and just ask the builder to make one that sounds close to [insert your preferred humbucker here].
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Also this reminds me, I think a Gibson 57 Classic would make a great floating pickup if you had the clearance.
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A good 57 or HB-1 are classic pickups. There are some terrible sounding 57's though. I had one in a Byrdland. The buyer and I both agreed they sounded like Dog sh* Originally Posted by omphalopsychos
I've never had a bad HB-1 though.
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Jack, Pete Biltoft will make you one to the dimensions you need and wound to be aimed at the sound you want. And at a very reasonable price. I'd probably go with an Alnico II magnet design, like the old PAFs.
Kent Armstrong's 12 pole floating PAF-0 is available as a neck mount as well as a pickguard mount. Djangobooks.com has 'em on their web site.
I converted a Classic 57 to a neck-mounted floater. A lot of work (cutting off the legs, filing the cover down to be flush with the base plate, dealing with the braided cable coming from the wrong side of the pickup, fabricating a way to attach the bracket, trimming off the polepiece screws, etc. And I broke a coil, so I sent it to Kent Armstrong for repairs). On my guitar it ended up being close enough to the strings to compromise tone (lots and lots of bass signal and thus feedback). There just wasn't enough clearance and the top of the pickup cover was about 1/16" from the strings. I switched to a Biltoft CC Rider neck-mounted floater, then went with mounting it to the top with Blue-Tack. Much happier.
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It was not a full size hb in depth but it sounded like one. And I suppose You can order what kind of bracket You want, I am not familiar with how the pickups are attached in GB guitars. Originally Posted by jzucker
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Heh, I tried that DIY conversion too with my ES-165! It kinda fitted but howled easily! Originally Posted by Cunamara
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Isn’t that what Peter Bernstein uses on his Zeidler? Originally Posted by omphalopsychos
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Exactly. The bracket on the Benson is the exact same size as a Gibson Johnny Smith. You can take a Gibson Johnny Smith neck pickup (or a BJB for that matter) and slide it into the slots of a Benson. Originally Posted by Herbie
When I had Duncan wind my pickups, they asked me what sound I wanted. I was experimenting at the time so I said "Make me one that sounds like a Jazz, one that sounds like a '59, one as close as you can to a classic PAF. They matched the magnets, the wiring and the windings to get the electronic equivalent of those. Each came with a spec sheet of resistance and magnet construction.
While technically the magnetic field is a tiny bit smaller because the pickup is smaller, when it's plugged in, it sounds like a full sized pickup. Of course it doesn't have the pickup height adjustability that a top mounted PU has, but aside from that, it's a full humbucker sound. The Benson is a laminate top 15" guitar, so it's a snappier attack than a 17" spruce carved Gibson Johnny Smith, so that's why having Duncan wind to spec is really important. You can choose to wind for a sound that accentuates the strengths of a 15" spruce laminate and doesn't bring attention to things you don't feel are just right to your ear.
It's not gonna be the same as that same guitar on a Johnny Smith is what I'm saying-just as an Ibanez pickup on a Gibson is not going to sound just like a GB10. Know your guitar, know what you hear acoustically and by feel (attack and sustain) and know what you want the pickup to filter out or bring out. Then talk to your pickup builder and be articulate about what you're going for. They'll know the character of their available magnets, wires and windings. Duncan also has a generous guarantee and they can also use a mounting for pickguard mount like a BJB. That's why I went with Duncan, they gave me the most options and they know their craft.
There're a lot of great pickup builders out there as evidenced by this thread alone, and having experience with the relationship between a guitar and the pickup will really help you get the most from your the person who makes your pickup.
That's my 2 cents based on my limited and players perspective.
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That's right. I have to say though, the more recent incarnations of the Classic 57 seem too dark. Originally Posted by cmajor9
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There's no standard for brackets and the neck has a recessed channel for the bracket so if the bracket isn't exactly the right size and position, it will not fit. Originally Posted by Herbie
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