Content copyright 2021. Sonny Walton. All rights reserved.
About the Updated Magnet Stagger Pattern
Tone Descriptors Reference Glossary or use Tone Descriptors (pdf)
Warranty Information
Offical Stetsbar Installation Guide Videos
Sales Talk and some Myths Busted (pdf) (I put all the sales talk here - browse it at your leisure if you want)
Reference Materials, Wiring Diagrams and Common Mods - For reference, here are the typical wiring diagrams I include with your pickups, some sources for general information and schematics, and also a few common modifications (coming soon). These are all discussed endlessly on the various guitar forums, so I listed a couple of those. If you are thinking of a wiring modification, I would suggest looking at several sites before deciding. There is much variation in the information available and its correctness or applicability to your situation. Also here are the instructions and MSDS for some of my other products, and some info on amplifier tubes I stock.
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Manufacturer’s Schematics - The major manufacturers often publish the original drawings of schematics and wiring diagrams for their guitars. This information is generally very reliable. Here are some examples.
Gibson / Epiphone Schematics - http://www.gibson.com/Service/Tech/Schematics/
Fender Service Diagrams - click on the model type and then scroll down for downloads http://www.fender.com/support/articles.php?section=articles&category=stringed-instruments-service-diagrams
PRS Schematics - http://www.prsguitars.com/csc/schematics.html
Gretsch Schematics - http://www.gretschguitars.com/support/wiring_schematics.php
G&L Schematics - http://www.glguitars.com/schematics/index.htm
etc, you get the idea. Search on schematics or wiring diagrams and the manufacturer name with Google or another search engine to find others.
Forums - I won’t attempt to provide a catalog of all the forums out there, but here are a couple of examples of some of the main ones. This information is only a public discussion, and while many industry experts do participate and give good advice and insight, remember anyone can post an opinion, and sometimes the posts do promote opinions that may not be that widely held so take it all with a grain of salt. That said, there is a lot of good information in the forums. All the forums have some form of search function. There is much information in them on just about any topic. If you frequent these forums enough it isn’t that hard to tell who the experts are. I can't afford to spend all my time on forums instead of guitar work, but I am active in most of the ones listed, to stay connected with customers and other pickup maker and guitar tech friends. On forums, my username is SonnyW, and you can recognize my posts by my avatar.
Stratocaster Forums - http://www.strat-talk.com/forum/index.php
http://www.tdpri.com/forum/stratocaster-discussion-forum/
Les Paul Forums http://www.mylespaul.com/forums/
http://www.lespaulforum.com/forum/index.php?s
General Forums http://music-electronics-forum.com/
There is a pickup makers sub forum inside the music- electronics forum here
http://www.thegearpage.net/board/
About Options and Construction Details - So that you can better understand the standard and custom options available, here are some details, along with a little more description on some of the manufacturing techniques I use. Some customers have a great interest in these kinds of details while others don’t, but please do read through these if you are thinking of specifying custom options. There’s more information here than you probably need, but hopefully it will be enough to answer any questions you may have.
Click the links to jump to the topics.
Humbucker Polepiece Spacing and Leg length
Magnet Wire Gauges and Insulation Type
Humbucker Polepiece Spacing and Leg length – As standard on most models I supply the P.A.F. style pickups with vintage correct 49.2 mm string to string spacing but with short leg baseplates. (See Product Dimensions) The short mounting legs are not completely vintage accurate, but are more practical because they fit better in many guitars. If you want the vintage correct long legs they are available as an option. I also offer short leg custom versions with 50 mm, 52 mm, and 53 mm string to string spacing. Beware the bobbin dimensions vary slightly with the different spacings, so tone can be somewhat affected. Also not all bobbin colors are available in all spacings. The 49.2 mm spacing is the same as the original P.A.F. bridge, 50 mm spacing is common on most contemporary and imported humbuckers, the 52 mm spacing matches the string spacing on a Strat® pickup and 53 mm matches a Floyd Rose® tremolo. The 52 mm and 53 mm sizes are sometimes called F-spaced. If you want a nickel-silver cover and F-Spacing order the 53mm. I do not currently have a good source for closed metal covers in the 52mm spacing. All of my humbucker baseplates are made of vintage accurate and good sounding nickel-silver alloy. One of the manufacturing cost cutting shortcuts taken by some manufacturers was to substitute cheaper brass or steel baseplates. This has a noticeable effect on tone.
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Humbucker Bobbins - As standard on the updated and some custom models I supply high quality contemporary plastic material (typically ABS) bobbins in a range of colors. These have a nice shiny finish and a proven track record. I do select among several suppliers, and I adjust the winding programs for any slight core dimension variations between suppliers parts. The original P.A.F. bobbins were made of cellulose acetate butyrate plastic (CAB). This material hasn’t been used much in pickups for years, but it is vintage accurate and is becoming popular in the best clones. Most average players today have never even seen, much less played an original P.A.F. I don’t think the bobbin material changes the tone much if at all but there seems to be a great demand for the butyrate bobbins so on the vintage P.A.F. model and on some OEM versionsI supply very authentic butyrate bobbins only in the 49.2mm spacing. The butyrate bobbins have a truly vintage look and even have the smell and texture of the originals. They aren’t quite as shiny as the ABS ones though. Supplies of these are fairly scarce and several times the price of the ABS ones. Though I try to keep some in stock, they may not always be available depending on demand. I have only one supplier, and I believe there is currently only one manufacturer of the basic raw material, the Tennessee Eastman Co. If you order the butyrate bobbins I do not usually wax pot them, because of the lower melting point of the material. If you do need wax potting on butyrate bobbin humbuckers, I will do it at a temperature of 140°-144°F but I do not guarantee that the bobbins will not warp slightly. I do use a precision temperature control on my wax pot, and a calibrated digital thermometer but this procedure is right on the edge of being practical, and remember the vintage ones were never potted. My wax formula has a melting point of 136° -138°F. The lowest published melting point for CAB is about 260°F, but the material does begin to soften above its lowest heat deflection temperature which is 144°F. I have had butyrate bobbins begin to warp even with a short potting time at 146°F. There is some compression force on the core of the bobbin because of the slight tension in the windings which is multiplied somewhat by the number of turns. Many vintage examples have slightly warped bobbins, just from time - even without potting.
The available bobbin colors for butyrate are black or cream, which also includes the so called zebra combination (black adjustable coil- cream stud coil) and reverse zebra styles. In ABS depending on string to string spacing, I also can usually supply black, white, cream, ivory, antique white, transparent red, and transparent blue, plus a variety of custom veneer overlays. If you order both bobbins in the cream, ivory, white or antique white colors, I cannot offer the option of no cover. I have to supply those with a cover, because of an outstanding trademark, not by Gibson which first produced them, but by Dimarzio, who somehow managed to get that color combination trademarked years later after the Lover patent expired. I have to comply by not offering that combination without a closed cover, just as Gibson did, for many years- though many of those originals have by now lost their originally supplied covers. The cover is standard anyway, vintage accurate, and nice to have. If you believe that having a metal cover in place will affect functionality for your situation, I can supply you a plastic cover that is not grounded or soldered on and thus will have no effect whatever on tone. By the way Dimarzio also has a trademark on the term PAF, (though it was in general use before the trademark). So I don’t offer a PAF model or use the term. I do have a P.A.F. model though, which is unrelated to any Dimarzio product, being instead a functional and aesthetically similar copy of the 1950’s to early 1960’s Gibson product, defined by the now expired Seth Lover patent which was applied for on June 22, 1955 #2,896,491, and which were supplied at times with various colors of coil former bobbins, a metal cover, and also with a decal that read Patent Applied For. Sorry for all the legalese here, it is just necessary for protection. Dumb or not, it’s the law. If you do order a P.A.F. clone from me with neither of the bobbins under the cover specified to be black, and then later somehow happen to lose or forget to install your original cover, I have replacements available.
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Magnets – After the turns count, in my opinion, the magnet type and strength has the next largest effect on tone. So just get ready for a lot of info on this because it is important to understand if you want to get the most out of your custom design. The number of the alloy generally reflects the strength of the magnet, so V is stronger than II or III, and alnico 8 or ceramic 8 or neodymium N48 is stronger still.
For the vintage humbuckers I supply Alnico II alloy standard for the necks and unoriented (also called Iso-V) Alnico V for the bridge position. These are rough cast unpolished magnets to vintage correct pre-1960 dimensions. They are sometimes called long bar magnets and the size was called M55 by Gibson. These were used in vintage P-90’s as well as the P.A.F’s. The Alnico II and 5U magnets that I use for humbuckers, and the Alnico 5 rods for single coils are magnets that I have had custom made up to my specifications in bulk orders. Gibson and Fender used various Alnico alloys, apparently at random, and some customers have a preference for other alloys, so I offer a wide range of other optional choices of alloy, and also the smaller M56 sizes. These other alloys I purchase from several pickup parts suppliers in smaller quantities so as to be able to supply a variety of alloys and sizes. I charge all my magnets to full strength using a commercial electric magnetizer and then hand or machine degauss them to specs as required for a given design. I pay a lot more attention to this than most makers out there. If you don’t specify otherwise I may degauss them to approximately match the vintage examples in my library, or the comparison pickup. If you want slightly higher output I can leave them full charge. There is some conflicting information on what alloys the originals were, but I tend to think probably Alnico II and V were used the most. The difference is slight, but still noticeable. Alnico II is a little sweeter and smoother with incredible sustain and V is a little bolder and brighter. The unoriented V is a little closer to the II than the V. Personally, I like II for the neck and unoriented V for the bridge, which is why I made that combination standard.
I have read that a search of the records indicated that at Gibson, a lot of Alnico IV magnets were purchased, and I have seen one account stating that Seth Lover said Alnico IV was used, so I do offer them as a custom option, but I have not been able to find that interview. All of the interviews with Lover I have found don’t mention any specific alloys. I have found several reports of other interviews with another former Gibson employee (Tim Shaw) who was also in a position to know and who not only studied the purchasing records intensively but also gathered and sent many P.A.F. magnets to a lab for analysis. He said the Alnico IV that was ordered was for mini-humbuckers, and the P.A.F.’s used II, V, and unoriented V. Most of the ones he had analyzed were II. Shaw’s job assignment at Gibson was to recreate the P.A.F. and his own reissue pickups (famous in their own right) used Alnico II. So does the Seth Lover co-designed model offered by Duncan and the majority of other vintage reproductions and that’s why I made Alnico II standard for the neck- it’s perfect for that position. But I have also read that Lover specified V for the P.A.F. it was just that Gibson’s purchasing didn’t always follow through. Most of the M56 sized magnets were V. After much testing and playing examples I feel that the unoriented Alnico V M55 sized magnets are better suited for the bridge position, and sound and read closer to my vintage examples. The alloy does move the resonant peak around some, which I have measured if I change out the magnet after a pickup is done. Stronger magnets tend to raise the peak frequency. If you have your own opinions, that’s great, and I can usually supply any of the alloys. There are vintage examples of most all of the alloys. The argument comes when deciding which was used the most. It’s your choice which version to believe, but to me, the majority of the best reproductions use either II or degaussed V. If you are looking for a little higher output I can usually supply Alnico III, which was also used on some occasions and can sound surprisingly good with lots of harmonics in a higher output design. Alnico IV has stronger gauss readings than II but less than V and is reported to be preferred by Lindy Fralin and others.
If you prefer the slightly smaller (mainly post-July 1961) M56 dimension magnets I keep a stock of them in Alnico V, which is what most of them were, as well in Alnico III and many of the other common Alnico alloys, including Alnico 8 which wasn't used by Gibson. Alnico V M56 sized magnets have been seen in originals as early as 1959, and were used on and off (some say more in the gold plated pickups) until mid-1961 when they began to be used for all P.A.F.’s. Those with M56 magnets are just as highly regarded. The stronger Alnico V alloy used makes up for the small size difference. M56 dimension magnets are the most common size used in humbuckers today.
It isn’t vintage at all, but if heavy metal, etc. is more your style, I can usually supply standard humbucker construction with Alnico 8, or Ceramic 8 magnets on request depending on supplies, which do vary from time to time. Alnico 8 and Ceramic were not used by Gibson in vintage times. I also can substitute blades instead of studs and screws or substitute screws for studs, if you prefer those design formats. For now, those designs will have to be custom, I haven’t worked out any stock updated models. (Getting close though) You do have to watch out for string pull, especially in a neck pickup with Alnico 8 or ceramic. In total, for the humbuckers, you have magnet options from here to Kalamazoo – and maybe even a little past that – so to speak.
Humbucker magnets are not terribly difficult to change out if you decide later you want to go to something different. Call or email and I can arrange for you to send the pickups back to me and I will change out the magnets to a different alloy (or I can also re-charge yours if something happens) for a small fee. Or, if you feel comfortable opening your pickups and doing your own magnet swap, I can provide a kit with pre-charged magnets in your choice of alloy, extra baseplate screws, tape, and instructions for the swap. I don’t necessarily recommend this procedure with most other maker’s reproductions, but mine are durable enough to withstand the swap because of the vintage correct lead wire connection method.
In the updated series, I offer any of the alnico alloys in the M56 size as well as ceramic 8 and my own magnetic design that uses N48 neodymium iron boron magnets. The ceramic and neodymium are purchased pre-charged to full strength, it takes a different, much more powerful capacitive discharge magnetizer for charging them, which I don’t have. The neodymium designs have a unique magnetic structure that capitalizes on the high field strength and properties of the neodymium in the coils but is not so much different in strength than Alnico V at the strings. If you are going to the trouble to specify your magnet alloy, then I will assume you are aware of the tonal implications which can vary from mild to drastic, so I won’t go into a lot of that here. Basically the lower the grade number, the rounder and sweeter the tone is going to be for a given winding and the higher the alloy number the brighter and edgier. There is of course a lot more than that to it but you have your options available. I will mention this though. Some people like to say that magnetism is magnetism and the only thing that matters is the gauss reading. So the alloy doesn’t matter, just the strength. Well, this is true for magnetic field strength, but they are forgetting that the magnet’s alloy also affects inductance because of the amount and type of metal with different magnetic permeability near the coil. Total inductance is the important thing, not magnetic field strength alone.
For the single coils I offer .195 diameter for the 50's models or .187 diameter for the 60's ones. Alnico V was used the most, but I can usually substitute II or III rods depending on your preference if you have one. For custom options I may also be able to supply Alnico IV in some sizes depending on availability. They can be beveled or left flat depending on what is historically accurate or to your preference. The rod lengths depend on the particular model version. I can grind them to length if necessary as needed. As with the humbuckers I charge them fully in the electric magnetizer and hand or machine degauss them to vintage specs. South polarity up is standard, north polarity on RWRP middles or either one for your custom order.
I do concern myself with other magnetic details such as the alloys of polepieces and keeper bars and I select and use only the best sounding grades. I think the alloy does make a difference in tone, along with dimensions. Because of this, sometimes I have to make my own if I can’t source quality parts in the correct alloys. (Many of the available ones aren’t.) I don’t offer any options on this, because it wouldn’t be to anyone’s best interest to substitute, except maybe for minor cost concerns.
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Magnet Ageing – I haven’t been able to get a time machine working. If I ever do, I won’t be making pickups, that’s one thing. Instead I’ll be going back to those pawn shops I remember going in as a teenager and buying up all those old Les Pauls, Strats, and Teles hanging on the walls. I’ll get more than a few of those outdated beat up looking tweed amps too. Then I’ll come part way back, sell a few, keep the rest, buy a red XKE and head off to one of my yachts. Anyway, so I can’t age my magnets. Nobody else can either. That’s just a term people use to describe degaussing. What that usually means is charging a magnet up to full potential then using a very strong but small hand held neodymium magnet or another strong source to take away part of the charge to make the reading at the magnet’s pole face match what they have measured on vintage pickups. It is a trial and error sort of process, and more than just a little tricky to do right. I do have a degaussing machine that I can use with fixtures to remove a fixed portion of the charge.
You do need to be a little concerned that the magnets in your pickup may lose strength. But that’s not because they are going to lose it on their own. They do drop a little for a short time after charging. After that they lose maybe 1% in a hundred years. There’s a lot of misinformation floating around on this, generally along the lines that the vintage pickups sound so good because their magnets have weakened with age. That’s one reason I don’t like to call it magnet aging. But careless handling can cause more rapid losses. Mostly that comes from letting them get too close to a strong magnetic field which I believe is almost always another pickup while they aren’t installed. In theory at least it could also be a speaker or an amp. It will hardly ever be caused from shock or heat. Vintage examples vary considerably and many do measure less than a full charge. My theory on this is that they were either stored too close together in inventory before being installed at the factory, or never fully charged to begin with. Dimensions of the magnet do make some difference in the ability of the magnet to retain its charge. You don’t want them too short, but that’s not a problem when following established designs. I degauss my pickups to vintage specs. Those specs weren’t set by the original makers, who probably just charged them all they could at the time, they come from measuring vintage examples years later. Who knows what the magnetic history of those are, they just sound good today and that’s enough for me. Actually they often sound really good and that ought to be enough for anybody.
I do have very accurate equipment to measure the field strength (gauss) within a percent or so, that those original factories didn’t have available. I use a powerful commercial electric magnetizer to charge the magnets uniformly. Then I measure them and if needed, I use the hand held method with a small neo magnet, or an electric degaussing machine with a fixture to set the strength to the value I want to end up with. A lot of times it isn’t needed because the magnet alloy determines the amount of strength obtainable. For the best output levels you usually want the maximum strength available for that alloy, but if the field is too strong at the strings it can cause loss of sustain because of too much string pull. It’s a little different if you are trying to duplicate a specific vintage example. Magnet strength does have a large impact on the function of the pickup. So does uniformity, which is frequently neglected too much in my opinion. If the electric magnetizer is consistently too strong for a particular design, I use an electric demagnetizer which I can use with fixtures to precisely and uniformly remove a little of the charge. I can also use other methods to get the charge in the first place. Though I don’t often use them anymore, I have an adjustable charging fixture which uses extremely strong permanent neodymium magnets that I can use, and I even have a 1940’s “Radar gap” magnet that came out of a World War II radar transmitter. I have closed the gap some, and it is probably not too different than what might have been used in the 50’s in some of the vintage pickup making operations before stronger magnets were available. It will still fully charge an Alnico V single coil. I can use that for a custom order if you like the idea of it. I have owned it myself for almost forty years. Talk about mojo - it has plenty. Personally, I don’t much believe in magnet charging mojo, what matters is the final field strength and alloy once the pickup is installed in the guitar. I ship my pickups properly packaged to minimize any gauss losses from handling. That includes sufficient spacing from the outside of the box so boxes can be stacked in any orientation. Sometimes for shipping, just to be sure I may put in a little throw away metal keeper on top of the poles.
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Lead wires – On all models I supply about 15 to 16 inches of lead wire which should be plenty to work with. On vintage single coil models, the standard lead wires are made of waxed cloth covered “pushback” 22 gauge tinned copper wire just like the originals used. This wire has an inner wrap of Celanese® fiber covered by a braided and waxed cotton jacket. This type of wire was introduced in the late 1930’s, replacing silk covered wire. It was common in the 40’s and 50’s, but rare these days. It is specially made for use in vintage style guitar pickups and amplifiers, otherwise it would not be manufactured today. As far as I am aware, there is only one company that still makes it regularly. That company in Brookfield, Mass. started out in 1923 making shoestrings and buggy whips. You always hear of the terrible fate of the buggy whip manufacturers. Sorry to bust another myth, but for them, ‘going the way of the buggy whip makers’ meant that they survived just fine, used their shoestring weaving technology and machines to make coverings for wire instead, stayed open right through the Great Depression, through the mergers and acquisitions of the 1950’s and 60’s, and are still going strong making some of the most specialized wire and cable available in the same building they moved to in 1928. It is located about an hour and a half away from Cambridge and the Harvard Business School professors that liked to tell about buggy whips and marketing myopia. Makes me wonder who had the myopia after all – Oops – I got way off track again, didn’t I? Maybe I should write a book. The point is the wire I use is still coming from one of the original sources. Similar vintage correct cloth covered pushback wire but with a braided metal shield is used for vintage style humbuckers. Pushback wire is very easy to work with and looks appropriate in vintage instruments. The original P.A.F. humbuckers only came with a single conductor for the hot and a shield for ground. This is the standard way I supply my vintage reproduction humbuckers, using the shielded pushback wire. If you need a four lead connection I substitute the silver-teflon leads below and add a braid shield.
On some of the updated models as standard and as an option on all others I offer Mil-spec silver plated stranded copper teflon insulated wire leads which can be braid shielded or not as desired. This wire is known as type E and is the best available from an engineering standpoint. It does not have the problem of the insulation melting back when soldering. It is appropriate for more modern instruments and when additional lead wires are needed such as four lead humbuckers and tapped or split coils. For single coils, the wires are supplied unshielded unless you specify otherwise. For humbuckers I add a braided shield for both functionality and a vintage look. So for example if you want a four lead P.A.F. style reproduction, you can get it, and it won’t look too much out of place once installed. I adjust the wire gauges from 22 AWG for two lead single coils down to 26 or 24 to fit the circumstances, smaller wires for more conductors so as to easily fit in wiring channels. If for whatever reason you need special length leads it isn’t a problem. I dress the leads out and pre-tin a connection on the shield. The type E wire is also very good for rewiring a guitar or amp so I also will sell it in short lengths at a good price if you just need a little.
On non-vintage updated four lead humbuckers, the standard lead wires are contemporary PVC insulated shielded 28 AWG cable with a PVC jacket. This is the standard lead wire offered by most makers. The amount of available length may on occasion be a little shorter but still plenty since part of the lead wire is used inside the humbucker and one of my sources for this cable comes to me precut in 16 inch lengths.
On your test report I indicate which colors of the lead wires go to which internal connections, so you don’t have to guess if you want to get creative. The color code conventions of the original manufacturers do vary considerably but I try to be consistent between all my models and in any case I provide wiring diagrams for typical installations. For custom pickups I can make a wiring diagram specific to your guitar and installation, and even let you specify the color code you want if you are down to that level of detail.
While on the subject of lead wires, on the vintage humbuckers I use the original method prescribed by Seth Lover and used on most P.A.F.’s with black bobbin connecting wires threaded through the bottom of the bobbin with the soldered joint between the connecting wire and the start of the magnet wire taped and buried in the winding. This usually requires drilling the bobbin, different tooling on the winder, and an extra soldering step to be performed with the bobbin on the machine at the beginning of each winding. It is considerably more trouble than the method used by most other makers and results in a small but noticeable lump on one side of the connecting end of the bobbin. But it is vintage accurate and at least in theory may slightly affect tone because of the change in coil shape. Remember anything that may affect tone is important when chasing the holy grail of tone P.A.F.s. Because the delicate magnet wire start to lead connection is taped and buried, this method also makes for a much more durable design less prone to failures. I have examined a number of P.A.F. reproduction pickups made by others and I seldom find any that use this correct method except for reissue models made by Gibson, but there are several other makers besides them that do use it. I tape the bobbins on all models with vintage correct black paper tape. On updated and custom models ordered without a cover, I will cover the black paper tape with more durable contemporary style rayon tape unless you specify not to.
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Covers – for single coils I offer a variety of colors of plastic covers. The covers I supply are purchased items, I don’t have them made up. I do use several different suppliers and have searched out the better quality covers so I see no need to invest in a lot of tooling and special colors as there is much variety available commercially.
For humbuckers I offer high quality nickel silver covers in polished nickel plated, chrome plated, and gold plated. I do not use the cheaper plated brass covers. Note that on the original P.A.F.’s nickel and gold covers were used but not chrome until sometime in 1965 in the Patent number era. I can offer covers that have been soldered on and pre-cut for easy removal if you want to try it both ways. This eliminates the trouble and risk of you damaging the pickup during cover removal. Then if you decide to keep the cover on you can just touch up the solder joints a little and you are good to go. I also offer open top nickel silver covers and closed blank plastic covers in several colors. I also offer the option of no cover at all except for models with both bobbins cream, ivory, or aged white. I can only supply those colors with closed covers so as to respect an outstanding trademark. With this variety of options you should be able to match just about any guitar. I also offer unique custom bobbin overlays of shell or many varieties of exotic wood veneers.
Spacers – I use hardwood spacers in all my humbuckers. For the vintage style P.A.F. humbuckers I make them from curly maple. I don’t think it makes a lot of difference if any to the tone, but it makes for a more accurate copy. The original P.A.F.s used maple spacers, wood most probably cut from scraps of guitar tops or other wood that was around in the Gibson factory. They weren’t all maple. Some of them were mahogany, on early models. They were just there to hold up the bobbin. Like the originals, I only use a spacer on one side. The other side is occupied by the output cable. In my updated series some of my designs do not have a spacer because the magnetic structure serves that purpose and takes up the space so doesn’t leave room. These days, many if not most humbuckers use a plastic spacer. I don’t. I make them from basswood for the updated series as standard, and maple for the vintage, but if you are down to that level of detail and want to specify a different spacer wood on a custom wind we can work with you on it. After all, this is a custom shop. At the moment , you can have curly or birdseye maple, or rosewood, purpleheart, white ash, Gaboon ebony, lignum vitae, bubinga, teak, oak, mahogany, poplar, or cedar, and even bone if you like. That’s the selection I have on hand now because I am toying around with the idea of making some custom humbucker bobbins out of some of them. Keep tuned, we will see how that turns out.
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Humbucker Coil Balancing – The original P.A.F.s had varying amounts of wire on the coils and tended to be somewhat unbalanced due to the turn count tolerances at the time. Turn counters of the day were not so accurate and anyway most research indicates the coils were just wound until they were full. So one coil might have a little more wire than the other. This unbalance reduces imperceptibly the humbucking effect but is credited with contributing to some of the legendary richness and texture of the P.A.F. tone. Accordingly, I purposely unbalance the windings a little. I do mean just a little. I generally use a very small offset, about 100-200 turns max, usually hotter to the screw side. That’s probably half as much as many others use, when I have been able to compare to their specs. Anyhow, not everyone agrees with this practice so if you want perfectly balanced coils you can opt for that. I can do it by either turns count or resistance. Or if you want more imbalance than I usually provide, I can do that too. For example, if you opt for a split coil design, I can make a humbucker for an SSH (superstrat type) guitar with one coil wound significantly higher with smaller wire to give a single coil or P90-ish sound in the bridge position when split.
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Magnet Wire Gauges and Insulation Type – These are such fundamental variables that because of the large effects on tone I don’t generally offer options except through the model selections. The same goes for amount of turns. I do usually offer several levels of “heat” corresponding to more or less turns of wire. Usually I offer 10% increments of over or under winding. Or you can specify your own % within that range for either number of turns or resistance. It is often noted that the vintage pickups sound so clear mainly because they are not “hot”. I can be a little more flexible on turns count (within limits imposed by bobbin dimensions) on a true custom order if you have a known baseline model to work from with enough specifics for me to go on and don’t mind to experiment a little with no real guarantees. Unlike some makers, I do provide the details of wire gauge, insulation type, and turns count on your test report.
Winding Direction - The direction in which the turns are put on the coil affects phase, so sometimes you might need to know about it, if you are ordering a pickup to match phase with another one you already have. I offer the option of changing the winding direction on custom orders. Different makers have various ways of describing this. I just use clockwise and counterclockwise by looking at the top of the coil from the direction of the strings. I note the direction of the windings on your test report. Most 60’s and later strat pickups were wound clockwise, so that is the standard way I make them. If you order a RWRP middle pickup, I wind it counterclockwise. Early Fender models may be wound differently. Most humbucker coils are wound counterclockwise on both coils, so that is the standard way I wind them. If you have an existing pickup you need to examine for winding direction, it is usually easy to tell by looking for which end of the magnet wire is the start, and which is the finish. The start will be buried under the windings, and the finish will tell you the direction, if you follow the wire back around the coil. On single coils, swapping the hot and ground leads has the same effect as changing the winding direction, if you run into a phasing issue. See more about that in the section in specifications on Understanding Phase.
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Baseplate Screws – The original P.A.F.’s had brass baseplate screws, with only a few rare exceptions so that is what I use. Good ones aren’t as easy as you might think to find. In a published 1978 interview with Seymour Duncan, Seth Lover indicated he intended for brass screws to be used instead of steel, and he was pretty adamant about it. But a very few of the original P.A.F.s, and many contemporary humbuckers use steel screws. Steel directs the magnetism differently, and adds more magnetizable material to the baseplate area, which in theory can have eddy current losses and increase inductance slightly, darkening the tone. I haven’t been able to hear that, but I can measure it. Mostly the steel ones get used because they are easier to get, and they are more durable because the heads don’t strip out so easily. If you want to opt for brass plated steel screws, I do have them and can use them instead.
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Flatwork – For Fender® type single coils I use laser cut vulcanized fibre flatwork. This material is generally called forbon®, which is a brand name of NVF who developed it 100 years ago. There are several vendors now, so the material that I use may or may not be the NVF forbon® brand, but it is always the same material, which is pure cellulose made from gelatinized paper. It does not contain rubber or any bonding agent. This is the same material that was used by Fender in the 50’s and up to the present time in some models. Originally, this material was stamped out with a blanking die. Most makers these days use a cnc laser to cut it, which is fast and more precise and versatile. For now, I don’t have my own laser cutter so I get the material pre-cut from a vendor. The magnets are pressed into the bottom and top flatwork pieces to form a bobbin. Eyelets are installed in the bottom flatwork for connecting the leads. I double dip my bobbins in nitrocellulose lacquer to bond the magnets in and seal the bobbin against moisture. Lacquer dipping also helps to prevent eventual shorting to the magnets. As an additional prevention against shorting, I tape the magnets with an insulating layer of .0024 uPVC tape. These precautions, along with potting, will help eliminate the most common failure modes noted in vintage originals, which are corrosion from moisture and sweat, and shorting next to the magnets due to the pressure exerted by the magnet wire tension. Lacquer alone does not always prevent shorting over a long time, the pressure of the wire against the magnets is very great. But the wire won’t swim through the tape I use. Most boutique pickup makers, if they use tape at all, use teflon or scotch magic 810 tape (cellulose acetate). These are both very good, much better than the originals had; which was nothing but the lacquer, though particularly the teflon is somewhat subject to cold flow over time. The cellulose acetate has low creep, but it is the same material as the old motion picture film which after many years can degrade, become brittle, and release acetic acid, contributing to corrosion. I specifically chose to use an unplasticized (uPVC) tape which is more rigid and slightly thicker. It is essentially the same material as pvc pipe. I’m probably the only one to use this rather uncommon tape. It’s only a tiny little detail, but it helps make them more reliable and last a bit longer. The bottom flatwork is .093 thick and the top is .062 thick, the same as used on the originals. The polepiece spread for the strat type bobbins is 2.062 inches (52.4 mm).
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Calibrated Sets – Perception of loudness is physiological and individual and it varies with frequency, so no method of calibrating is going to be 100% accurate for all situations. Usually I don't offer or represent the sets as calibrated. However, if you do request a calibrated set, here is the method I use. To calibrate a design for a set of pickups for approximately equal outputs, I install them in a test guitar, setting the height of the pickups so that the distance from the poles to the strings is uniformly 1/8 inch. Then with the guitar’s volume and tone controls all set to 10, I play through a (Cyber Twin) amp, adjusting the amp’s master volume control to produce an average sound level of approximately 100 dB (A,S) from the neck pickup, when measured with an Extech 407706 Analog Sound Level Meter, fixed at a set distance from the amp. Then without changing the amp or guitar controls, or the location of the meter or objects in the room, I repeatedly test, rewind, and re-install one or more of the pickups, adjusting the amount of winds until the sound levels produced by the neck and bridge (or bridge, neck, and middle) are equal within 3 dB. I visually test all strings and several chords over the range of the guitar, but for consistency I use B on the 12th fret (494 Hz) to record the output level for each one. The meter has a setting to read and hold the maximum measurement, and I use that setting to record the loudest of 10 picks. (The theoretical basis for this particular selection of loudness and note is that the Fletcher-Munson curve (equal loudness contour) is quite flat at 100 dB, for the range 30 - 2000 Hz., covering the approximate range of fundamental guitar note frequencies which is 80 – 1400 Hz for a guitar with 25 frets. I attempted to put the test in the middle of this flat section of the curve, where the loudness perception would be similar for any given guitar note. I could cite other standard equal loudness contours, such as ISO 226:2003 which at 494-1000 Hz, and 80-100 dB happens to agree with the Fletcher-Munson values.) As this is all very labor intensive, I do the process only once for a given pickup model, and record the DC resistances to use for subsequent calibrated sets of the same design. The DCRs of the calibrated set’s pickups are then controlled to be within 1% or less of the resulting specifications. Within a calibrated set, the player then also has the option of further controlling volume levels somewhat by readjusting pickup heights, and /or polepiece height settings if adjustable.
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P.A.F. Stickers – Ordinarily, I do not put ‘Patent Applied For’ stickers on my vintage P.A.F. style reproduction pickups because I use that space to sign them. Some people do want the stickers though for a nice vintage look, so I do have one model that has them, an also as an option I can put a high quality sticker on other models but I won’t be able to sign the pickup as usual in that case. (After all, a patent was applied for on these, just not by me.) With the P.A.F. sticker, butyrate bobbins, and a long leg baseplate, it is conceivable that someone might try to pass off one of my pickups as an original, so to thwart that possibility, if you order the stickers I will sign and serialize the other side of the baseplate instead, mark the bottom of the bobbins indelibly with my initials and the date, and use one inconspicuous but impossible to replace blue instead of black start lead connecting wire between the bobbins. Gibson never used blue. That should make them very vintage looking but still easy enough for any expert to tell it isn’t an original. The way the connecting wires are installed is one of the minor but vintage correct details that many makers of reproduction P.A.F.’s miss, and the connection is buried in the coil so the wires are not replaceable without completely rewinding the pickup. They do look nice with the P.A.F. stickers, and I will include an extra of the regular serial number sticker in the box for your warranty. I’m not out to make my versions to a counterfeit level of quality, but if you are looking for a true P.A.F. clone, check out my long leg 49.2 mm vintage version with a bare nickel or aged gold cover, butyrate bobbins, and the sticker. This is not to say you might not be able find a P.A.F. clone that may be closer to the originals in a subtle detail or two – though I don’t know what those details would be – but if you do find one I’m pretty sure you will need to cough up even more cash for it.
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Date Stamps - On the grey bottom strat style pickups I do put a date stamp on for appearance sake. I use a correct era rubber stamp set for this that was made in about 1959. The stamp is a 5 digit code consisting of the week number, day of week, and last two digits of the year number that the bobbin was assembled. For example a bobbin assembled on Friday, November 4, 2011 the code would be 44611. Or, week 44, the 6th day, of 2011. I only put the actual dates of manufacture on. This type of stamp was used from about 1968 -1974 but I will not put a 1960’s- 1970’s date code on, so don’t even ask. It is kind of pointless anyway, since Fender used many different date code schemes for pickups, and changed them around. Sometimes the middle digit represented the operator number instead of the day, or the code was 6 or only 3 or 4 digits. So to be accurately inconsistent, I will sometimes (not very frequently) stamp a 4 digit code which has the format MMYY for month and year. I mostly use the 4 digit code for identifying my prototypes. If you don’t want the date code you can opt to leave it off. On the black bottom strat pickups I do not usually put the date on, unless it is a prototype. If so I hand write a 4 digit number with gold ink. Most of the 50’s models did not have a date. I don’t have an option for the yellow date stamps that were used in part of 1964. You can also opt to have or omit a pencil date on the grey bottoms as was used in late 1964-68. If you don't specify I will opt to be historically correct, meaning I will be about as inconsistent as the factory was about putting them on. Again, these are just minor details to make them very vintage looking. Please specify your preferences with your order if you are lucky enough to have an instrument with some originals to match, or just want that look. They will come with my signed serial number sticker on them as well. It won’t void the warranty to remove it as long as you still have it, or a copy of your invoice.
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Screws and Springs – all my pickups come with vintage appropriate mounting screws, and springs or rubber tubing as originally fitted. You may substitute springs for tubing on the single coils if desired. Foam mounting pads for single coils are offered as an additional option, subject to availability. Humbucker mounting screws are plated to match the covers. I do not supply humbucker mounting rings as standard, but I may be able to custom order them for you and include them in your order at a discount.
Wax Potting – I use wax composed of about 20% natural beeswax with the remainder mainly paraffin for all my potting. A few other ingredients in small amounts are mixed in such as stearin to help further control melting temperature and hardness. I have spent much of my engineering career in the precision optics industry where specialized waxes are used extensively to hold lens blanks in place for polishing, so I came up with my own formulation, but it isn’t all that different from what most experts recommend. It is different though from the seemingly pure paraffin that I often find when repairing some others’ pickups. My wax melts at 136°-138°F, which is just barely below the point at which some vintage type humbucker bobbins may begin to deform, but higher than most of the pure paraffin, and high enough to stay put on a hot day. Not that you would want to purposely leave your guitar in a hot car, or be playing outside when it is 110° degrees, but it does happen sometimes. I don’t buy into the secret potting wax hype, I just want my wax to dampen vibrations (e.g.,microphonics), seal out moisture, and protect and hold the wire and components in place properly through any anticipated conditions. Moisture from sweat or other conditions can affect capacitance slightly and possibly can cause corrosion if it gets into the windings. I do use a high precision temperature control on my potting vat but I don’t use vacuum potting techniques. The originals didn’t either. For the same reason, I don’t use lacquer, shellac or epoxy for potting. Just the wax. Lightly potted means I don’t expect every single crack and crevice to be penetrated, preserving just a touch of the microphonics that can make a pickup more lively without squealing when played at typical volumes. Fully potted means I leave it in the vat long after the last bubbles are gone. On the vintage reproductions I follow the original specs. If it came potted originally I pot it, as in most single coil styles, otherwise I don’t, as in most P.A.F. styles, but light, full, or no potting is available as an option on all models. If you have had problems with too much feedback or anticipate playing in extreme high gain situations, potting is a good idea, but otherwise it does limit your tonal options a little. I can also wax pot most existing pickups for a nominal fee.
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Other Form Factors – I currently supply pickups only in two standard form factors, but with multiple variations of each. The details of all the measurements you might need to determine if it will fit in your guitar are here. Over the years, these sizes have become defacto standards, and I just call them type S and type H, so I don’t have to repeat all that detail in every description. Type S is a single coil passive design made to fit in Stratocaster® and similar guitars . Type H consists of humbuckers made to fit Gibson® and many other similar guitars. For now, if you need other form factors, I can refer you to other makers that have good products to offer. All my models are passive designs, I do not presently offer any active type pickups.
I am working on other types that aren’t ready for prime time. I don’t currently have enough examples in my reference library or proper test guitars needed to do what I consider to be a good job on reproducing them, although I can source many of the parts and make working models. So I do not currently have a line of single coils to fit Telecaster® models. When those come along in due time they will be Type T, P90 forms will be called Type P, and so on. I do currently have a Lipstick tube model in development that fits in a Type S space which I will call Type SL. Other types in line for development include mini-humbuckers and Johnny Smith® styles. After that I am hoping to work on some models like the Dearmond Rhythm Chief® and Teisco Gold foil styles in the original forms and also to fit in various spaces. I mention these types, because though I don’t have any reproduction models currently , if you have a vintage one of any of these styles that needs a repair or rewind, I will probably be willing to do it for free just to get the data, as long as the magnets and basic structure are intact.
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Tone Descriptive Terms Clarified - here’s a lexicon of some of the words people use to describe guitar tones and pickups. These have been gathered from many sources. I’ve tried to describe them as they are most commonly applied, and with some technical specifics when possible. The main intention here is to have a set of terms that we can both reference when working to move the tonal spectrum of a custom pickup design. You will notice that many of these words appear in more than one definition. That’s because nobody really has the same idea of what the heck they exactly mean, but they keep getting used anyway. For example, a sound that is twangy and bright to me may mean piercing and brittle to you, or vice versa.
I didn’t link all of these, just scroll through them, or use the pdf version. Hopefully using the same definitions of these terms can make communication better when ordering a custom model, so we are both on the same page.
Bright - tonal spectrum has more high frequencies in it. The resonant frequency is centered higher in the audio spectrum. Setting the tone control on 10, or picking nearer the bridge is brighter. Also related: chimey, edgy, twangy, jangly.
Brittle – excessively bright, sharp and tense, clean but stiff, lacking harmonics, harsh and piercing.
Boomy – excessive bass response.
Buttery – Rich, warm, smooth, round, fat and sweet. Pleasing, and not harsh or metallic. Can mean different things to different folks. What is buttery to one, might be muddy to another.
Clean – usually refers to an amp or tone with little distortion, can also mean defined, clear, articulated.
Clear – well defined, distinct, not edgy, opposite of muddy (a) Also related: transparent.
Clipping, Clipped – an electronic effect in an overdriven amplifier caused when the peaks in the signal cannot be further amplified beyond the amplifier’s available power, resulting in flattening of the peaks of the waveform. Clipping also produces harmonics at higher frequencies than the unclipped signal.
Compressed – describes a kind of distortion due to intentionally altering the signal to make louder sounds softer and softer sounds louder. Compression also results from overdriving an amplifier.
Crunchy – somewhat distorted but not maxed out. Smoother than heavy and with some crispness. The more distortion, the crunchier.
Dark - tonal spectrum has less highs in it (less treble and upper midrange) Setting the tone control on 0 is darker. Also related: creamy, smooth.
Distortion – additional harmonics, sustain, and overtones created by clipping and compression of the waveform through electronics or by overdriving an amplifier. Mild distortion adds richness and thickness to the sound. More extreme distortion can be described as heavy, gritty and harsh.
Dirty – with gain and distortion, rough, raw, and somewhat noisy. Opposite of clean.
Edgy – having more or too much high frequencies. Distorted with harmonics that add raspiness, the opposite of mellow. Also related: steely, harsh.
Fat, Thick - resonant peak is broader and centered lower in the frequency spectrum. Also related: full, warm, creamy, beefy.
Full – Strong fundamentals relative to harmonics, opposite of thin.
Glassy – sharp, clear but grainy, ringing, reminiscent of a cymbal. Usually refers to a single coil sound. Hard to pin down, but in searching for a definition of this the names John Frusciante and Jimi Hendrix (on Little Wing) come up a lot, as well as the Fender Twin Reverb amp and sometimes Stevie Ray Vaughan.
“Greeny” Peter Green Tone – This is a clean, cutting, shivering, out-of-phase tone achieved by Peter Green in his Bluesbreakers and early Fleetwood Mac days on a 59 Les Paul that had the neck pickup rewound in reverse. The guitar was owned for a long time by Gary Moore who used it in the album “Blues for Greeny”. Flipping a magnet in a humbucker will give part of the effect, but is not all there is to it.
Gritty – dirty, somewhat clipped and distorted with emphasized odd order harmonics, a little biting, raspy, noisy, similar to mildly crunchy.
Grungy – lots of harmonic distortion.
Hard – too much upper midrange. Also related: harsh, honky, strident.
Heavy – thick, massive, forceful, and excessively loud, with much distortion. Also related: metal, thrash.
Honk – having a saxophone like sound character (as in some Strat pickups, a few Les Pauls) not quite the same as honky (as in hard or harsh). Also related: quack.
Hot - having relatively more output (than a pickup that is “normal, or not hot”)
Huge – a unique tonal quality mainly found only in descriptions of guitars that are offered on sale for a limited time, and on auction sites. Always followed by the words tone or sound. The more exclamation points after the word tone, the huge-er it sounds. Also related: killer, fantastic, perfect, (just about any word will do, with enough !!!!’s, since it doesn’t really describe anything meaningful.)
Icy – very bright and piercing, ringing, slightly echoing, and sustained. Not brittle or screeching. Best defined by the music of Albert Collins, who was famous for icy tones achieved with a very percussive finger style attack, open minor tuning, and a capo on the 5th fret. (being born a cousin to Sam Lightnin’ Hopkins and Willow Young didn’t hurt a whole lot either.)
Mellow – reduced upper mid-range – opposite of edgy. Also related: gentle.
Metal – loud, heavy, forceful, distorted, with emphasized bass and often with reduced (scooped) middle frequencies.
Muddy (a)– lacks definition, not clear, weak harmonics. Also related: smeared, indistinct.
Muddy ( b- refers to highs) – upper frequencies filtered out. Also related: muffled.
Overdriven – see clipped and compressed. A smooth overdriven but not excessively distorted tone is richer, fuller, and more sustaining than a clean tone.
Organic – natural, feral, untainted, stuff like that. Who knows... probably means woody if anything.
Out-of-Phase Tone - a distinct, instantly recognizable, hollow, trebly, very bluesy, almost harmonica-like tone. Achieved by combining two pickups that are wired out of phase with each other. Seems to be caused mainly by having megatons of natural talent. Some of the more famous players to exploit this kind of tone are: BB King, T-Bone Walker, and Peter Green.
Piercing – excessive highs, screechy, strident, hard on the ears. Also related: icy, cutting, brittle, stinging.
Punchy – having good reproduction of dynamics.
Rich - full with even-order harmonics.
Round – clear with high frequencies rolled off. Not edgy.
Scorching – heavily overdriven but with definition and sustain. Between crunchy and heavy.
Screeching - beyond piercing or stinging, excessive highs to the point of painfulness.
Smooth – balanced not harsh or edgy, like round, creamy, sweet, juicy, etc.
Stinging – bright but not piercing.
Strident – harsh, edgy, aggressive.
Sustaining – notes continue to ring longer than usual. After the initial attack, notes decay to the sustaining level before again decaying to zero.
Sweet – not strident or piercing, clear with low distortion.
Thin – fundamentals are weak relative to harmonics.
Tight - can mean anything. Usually means good low frequency response. Might be a bass response that is deep but not too boomy.
Tinny – reminiscent of a telephone or tin can, muffled lows with high frequencies emphasized.
Twang – bright, sharp, almost chimey sound (characteristic of a Telecaster or Gretsch).
Warm – having a more balanced sound spectrum. Broad and centered resonant peak. Good bass and not thin. (Not used to describe output levels) Also related: juicy, creamy, round, sweet, buttery.
Vintage – a tonal quality reminiscent of the collective imagination of what yesterdays’ 45 rpm recordings might have sounded like if you had heard them live instead of over the radio. (Just kidding, but it isn’t that far off either.) Also used as the opposite of “hot”, “modern”, or “distortion” when comparing humbucker pickup styles.
Woody – can mean many things. Mainly it’s an electric tone that sounds a tiny bit dirty but very natural, not muddy at all, and a little hollow like a loud acoustic. Picking in the middle of the neck over the frets is woodier than picking near the bridge. Also related: organic.
Woman Tone – not characteristic of any pickup or guitar by itself. Specifically refers to a tone associated with Eric Clapton and Cream. Articulated but overdriven and thick, distorted and muted. Achieved using the neck pickup of an SG guitar with the tone control all the way down, and all the Marshall amp controls all the way up, but has much to do with his technique, and maybe a wah pedal.
.....
Giving credit where it is due, many of these definitions were adapted from an audiophile’s glossary obtained here: http://www.faqs.org/faqs/AudioFAQ/part2/ and Wikipedia entries. The rest were just made up with a little help from my friends Al K. Hall and Nick O’Teen, who also dropped in random contributions in several other sections around the website as well.
Official Stetsbar Setup and Installation Videos
Stetsbar Setup After Installation
Stetsbar Stop Tail Installation
Stetsbar Telecaster Installation
Changing the Neck Angle
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