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Post by pcalu on Mar 5, 2022 13:19:51 GMT -5
Anyone like them?
Alnico 5 magnets
DC Resistance:
Bridge: 8.0K
Neck: 5.8K
Description "Overwound for tight, clear bass, crisp highs and maximum output" pretty fits.
I super glued three pennies to the bottom of the bridge to cut the high frequencies, add some punch and bass. After I did that... I can't find anything wrong with them. Very articulate, quite, lots of snap, nice base response, smooth treble... wide open with a 250k pot it will push the amp. Other than the Alnico 5 bell like qualities attributing more modern singing tone than vintage twang (both very marginal and not a fault ... just a perspective in taste)
I'm hard pressed to find something wrong with these...
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Post by Auf Kiltre on Mar 5, 2022 14:13:10 GMT -5
Have not tried them, hows the balance? That's quite a spread (5.8k to 8.0k), but know there are other factors.
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Post by Stinger22 on Mar 5, 2022 15:04:16 GMT -5
Love my Custom Shop Texas Specials but they are hotter especially in the bridges
BRINGING THE BLISTERING HEAT
Custom Shop Texas Special Telecaster pickups are over-wound for increased output, and are made with alnico 5 magnets and enamel-coated magnet wire for outstanding presence and midrange. Nickel/silver neck pickup cover produces clear, warm Telecaster tone; bridge pickup features height-staggered polepieces and copper-plated steel bottom plate.
DC Resistance
Neck Pickup: 9.0k, Bridge Pickup: 10.2k
Inductance
Neck Pickup: 2.73 Henries, Bridge Pickup: 2.84 Henries
And they can be quite clean into a clean amp.
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Post by pcalu on Mar 5, 2022 20:44:56 GMT -5
Have not tried them, hows the balance? That's quite a spread (5.8k to 8.0k), but know there are other factors. Pretty balanced. I'm going to give the set a 7.5 out of 10 Neck is clear and open... Bridge is silky with a lot of snap, till you dig in ... then the twang shows up. The bridge has less mids than most Tele pups I have used. I was amazed on how far both the neck and bridge pickups "tonally" stretch into the strat realm. bandwidth frequency is just as broad and qualitative as anything I have played or heard. lots of good qualities ... these are like tighter, cleaner Texas special... Addendum: The the pennies glued to the base, acting as a plate, affecting the ferromagnetic function probably has added to the properties that I'm hearing: the point to my thread, before you throw out, change a Tex Mex try adding a cooper or steel plate...
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Post by Stinger22 on Mar 6, 2022 21:30:49 GMT -5
Addendum: The the pennies glued to the base, acting as a plate, affecting the ferromagnetic function probably has added to the properties that I'm hearing: the point to my thread, before you throw out, change a Tex Mex try adding a cooper or steel plate...
Remember that unless you are using pre-1985 pennies they are not copper but 97.5 percent zinc and 2.5 percent copper (copper-plated zinc) |
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Post by Taildragger on Mar 6, 2022 23:12:38 GMT -5
I had them in a Strat. Wired them JV-style with the middle pup straight through with no tone control and liked it that way:
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Post by Jim D. on Mar 7, 2022 14:39:11 GMT -5
Only one of my Strats is a MIM, and it has the standard issue ceramic pickups. I added a copper plate underneath them and there is nothing not to like. They have some of the best clean tones including other Am Strats I have with Fat 50's, Custom Shop's, etc. I find it's more about dialing in the most basic guitar and amp settings. It admittedly took me some time to realize constant tweaking instead of using fundamental guitar/amp settings was pivotal. The ceramics also have some of the best "quack" of the bunch. They record beautifully as well.
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Buster
Wholenote
Posts: 213
Formerly Known As: Buster Strings
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Post by Buster on Mar 7, 2022 17:41:31 GMT -5
I put a set of Tex Mex pickups in a frankenstrat I built. I’m very happy with them. Actually, I like the way they sound better than the Texas Specials I have in another strat.
I’m considering picking up another set to put in a mid-80s Japanese squier.
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Post by archiestone on Mar 26, 2022 18:22:23 GMT -5
I put a Tex Mex Middle Strat pup in my Nashville Tele build and it fits in perfectly with the Fender 'Original Vintage' Bridge and neck.
Big thumbs up.
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Post by dadzmad on Mar 28, 2022 9:12:25 GMT -5
I had a set of Tex Mex pups on a 2007 Tele FSR. I ended up putting a base plate on the bridge pickup which smoothed it out. I changed these out for more retro wound Rose Pickups but if you want the Tex Mex character they are very good for what they are aimed to do.
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Post by LTB on Apr 12, 2022 1:29:01 GMT -5
Addendum: The the pennies glued to the base, acting as a plate, affecting the ferromagnetic function probably has added to the properties that I'm hearing: the point to my thread, before you throw out, change a Tex Mex try adding a cooper or steel plate...
Remember that unless you are using pre-1985 pennies they are not copper but 97.5 percent zinc and 2.5 percent copper (copper-plated zinc) Well, 1943 Steel pennies would work  Thank you for posting. I wondered how pennies would help
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Post by reverendrob on Apr 12, 2022 2:03:00 GMT -5
Only one of my Strats is a MIM, and it has the standard issue ceramic pickups. I added a copper plate underneath them and there is nothing not to like. They have some of the best clean tones including other Am Strats I have with Fat 50's, Custom Shop's, etc. I find it's more about dialing in the most basic guitar and amp settings. It admittedly took me some time to realize constant tweaking instead of using fundamental guitar/amp settings was pivotal. The ceramics also have some of the best "quack" of the bunch. They record beautifully as well. I've always been happy with the stock ceramics on the MIM gold-label Squier I bought new in '98 after the new factory opened. It was the nicest guitar under $2500 I could find in my three day search across Idaho, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming. |
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Post by chimpo on Apr 14, 2022 20:27:12 GMT -5
I have an OEM set fitted to my 2006 MIM Blizzard Pearl Fender 60th Anniversary Standard Stratocaster. They are OK but I don't quite gel with them. The fix might be to connect a tone control to the bridge pickup. I couldn't quite gel with a set of CS '69s until I did the bridge tone thing and although the mod only affects the bridge pup to my brain it improved the whole set. It's phycological I guess but I don't care because they now get a lot of use.
I prefer Texas Specials compared to Tex Mex for some reason but again the set I have are modded with bridge tone thing. One day I'll get around to modding the anniversary I suppose.
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Post by jumpnblues on Sept 19, 2023 17:23:03 GMT -5
So many great pickups out there...Don Mare, Fralin, Lollar, Seymore Duncan, Van Zant and, yes, Fender too. And there are so many more. Pickups are very difficult to audition and, therefore, to purchase. I pretty much go by forum discussions and online reviews. Fortunately, I've had only great sounding pickups. Just lucky I guess. I've owned the ones listed above and then some with really good results. If you twisted my arm my first choice would be Don Mare for Fender style single coil pickups. I think Gibson Seth Lovers are hard to beat for humbuckers. Also Lollar Imperials (under wound).
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Post by reverendrob on Sept 19, 2023 23:58:51 GMT -5
Have not tried them, hows the balance? That's quite a spread (5.8k to 8.0k), but know there are other factors. Saw this on the thread bump, and missed it the first time around. The 2k spread is about normal on all my Gibsons, etc. It works just fine! If you have issues, lower the hotter one a little and/or raise the lower one! |
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Post by funkykikuchiyo on Sept 20, 2023 20:28:42 GMT -5
Saw the bump, too.
Usually if you see a big jump like that in DCR it is probably because they're using a finer wire. 42awg on neck/middle and 43awg on the bridge seems reasonable. I've never tried to see how much 42awg you could get onto a strat bobbin, but I'd be surprised if you could hit 7kohm.
The pennies are probably impacting the tone, but not for any magnetic properties... at least not directly. You're adding some eddy current loading, darkening the tone a bit. Same idea as a cover on a humbucker. It'll behave differently whether they're touching or not, too. You could do something similar with a piece of copper shielding tape, too. Just make sure anything you put there is grounded.
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Post by Auf Kiltre on Sept 21, 2023 7:44:49 GMT -5
I've since come to understand the role of different gauge wire, or rather relearned it as I probably knew this stuff 15 years ago, lol. With all the different builders out there offering quality budget pickups I personally don't see a reason to pay $30 more for a set then have to tape pennies on as a baseplate.
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