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Fellas,
Lately I have been working like a dog, and in my spare time did some nice gigs and recorded new stuff with my band. I always carry my LP around, and when I need a strat kinda tone, I just roll of the vol to 7.5-8.0K on both pickups in the middle or neck position. The timbuckers in mine do a great job creating somewhat quacky kinda tone.
Yet, still NO CIGAR!
I mean on cranked tones what I talked above does really good "Key To Highway" kinda tones. But clean they are so far away from delivering the clean tele/strat single coil tones.
Recently, I read about Lew and Curly's Duncan CS tele lead pickup. It is a tele pickup which with the help of a switch can work either ~6.80K or ~9.70K. I don't suppose the extra windings are reverse wound, otherwise 9.70K would not be a genuine tele lead. BTW guys correct me if I am wrong!
So for the last week or so I thought of the following idea:
Why not have a bridge HB wound with the slug coil wound with #42 gauge wire (I think that's what's used in JD tele lead no? Also with the same type of insulation as that on JD tele lead) to some DC levels like 7.50K or so. It even may be that the G and D is slightly raised (as that on JD). Moreover, the screw bobin would be a good old usual PAF clone screw bobin.
The "standard" setting would be both of the coils ~4.20K (of course of unbalanced coils we could get 4.00+4.50K or something to go in series you know, as is the case in PG's).
Now the "new part":
So as some of you already have figured out, I think of using a miniswitch so that when only the slug coil is active, I intend to use a miniswitch to add the extra windings (of ~3.50K) to the slug coil just like Seymour/Lew/Curly (man did you install yours, or is it still in its box ?
) do with their CS esquire tele lead.
The point of this exercise is to have JD and PAF HB in the same pickup!
Furthermore, the same goes for the neck position so that the idea there is to get a genuine surfer neck (6.30K) strat neck and PAF HB. I was thinking of doing all the above on the screw bobin in the neck, that's the one closer to the neck afterall. And especially because that LP have shorter necks, I guess the same experiment would not be producing that great results when this idea were to be used in the slug bobin in the neck position. But then again because of that new complications might arise, since this time the slug bobin of the bridge and the screw bobin of the neck gotta be RWRP for the strat tone.
To sum up the whole point of this story is to have geniuine JD and a bridge PAF HB in the bridge and strat a5 single coil and neck PAF HB in the neck.
I know that there will be differences because (1) the magnetic field is different (both in size and shape because on single coils the slugs are magnets, and on hb's the magnet is under the bobins, but the slug pieces sort of carry that field to the strings) (2) the shape of the position of the pickup will be different (3) ....
I know that this is a questions for the experts. But before going ahead and inquiring more I just wanted to see what you guys would think of that. Afterall, I know some of you guys here are experts.
What do you think? Any feedback?
Thanks,
B
PS: (1) I stopped using split HB's for more than 4 years now. I don't think the results of splitting a PAF clone is that convincing.
(2) If that whole thing were to be feasible, I think I am going to need the help of Kent/Artie/John, because I am sure that the wiring on that one would be a nightmare!
Lately I have been working like a dog, and in my spare time did some nice gigs and recorded new stuff with my band. I always carry my LP around, and when I need a strat kinda tone, I just roll of the vol to 7.5-8.0K on both pickups in the middle or neck position. The timbuckers in mine do a great job creating somewhat quacky kinda tone.
Yet, still NO CIGAR!
I mean on cranked tones what I talked above does really good "Key To Highway" kinda tones. But clean they are so far away from delivering the clean tele/strat single coil tones.
Recently, I read about Lew and Curly's Duncan CS tele lead pickup. It is a tele pickup which with the help of a switch can work either ~6.80K or ~9.70K. I don't suppose the extra windings are reverse wound, otherwise 9.70K would not be a genuine tele lead. BTW guys correct me if I am wrong!
So for the last week or so I thought of the following idea:
Why not have a bridge HB wound with the slug coil wound with #42 gauge wire (I think that's what's used in JD tele lead no? Also with the same type of insulation as that on JD tele lead) to some DC levels like 7.50K or so. It even may be that the G and D is slightly raised (as that on JD). Moreover, the screw bobin would be a good old usual PAF clone screw bobin.
The "standard" setting would be both of the coils ~4.20K (of course of unbalanced coils we could get 4.00+4.50K or something to go in series you know, as is the case in PG's).
Now the "new part":
So as some of you already have figured out, I think of using a miniswitch so that when only the slug coil is active, I intend to use a miniswitch to add the extra windings (of ~3.50K) to the slug coil just like Seymour/Lew/Curly (man did you install yours, or is it still in its box ?
) do with their CS esquire tele lead.The point of this exercise is to have JD and PAF HB in the same pickup!
Furthermore, the same goes for the neck position so that the idea there is to get a genuine surfer neck (6.30K) strat neck and PAF HB. I was thinking of doing all the above on the screw bobin in the neck, that's the one closer to the neck afterall. And especially because that LP have shorter necks, I guess the same experiment would not be producing that great results when this idea were to be used in the slug bobin in the neck position. But then again because of that new complications might arise, since this time the slug bobin of the bridge and the screw bobin of the neck gotta be RWRP for the strat tone.
To sum up the whole point of this story is to have geniuine JD and a bridge PAF HB in the bridge and strat a5 single coil and neck PAF HB in the neck.
I know that there will be differences because (1) the magnetic field is different (both in size and shape because on single coils the slugs are magnets, and on hb's the magnet is under the bobins, but the slug pieces sort of carry that field to the strings) (2) the shape of the position of the pickup will be different (3) ....
I know that this is a questions for the experts. But before going ahead and inquiring more I just wanted to see what you guys would think of that. Afterall, I know some of you guys here are experts.
What do you think? Any feedback?
Thanks,
B
PS: (1) I stopped using split HB's for more than 4 years now. I don't think the results of splitting a PAF clone is that convincing.
(2) If that whole thing were to be feasible, I think I am going to need the help of Kent/Artie/John, because I am sure that the wiring on that one would be a nightmare!
Let me know what happens...if this can really be done I want to know because right after you get yours...Im getting inline for the Dr. Barlo Custom Shop Humbucker Set! 
Believe if this can be done (a genuine PAF set that can BE a JD/Broadcaster and strat neck set) it is definitely worth a lot of money. 
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