A3/42AWG tele bridge pickup at 6k or less?

[gimmieinfo]

Anyone seen this spec, and if so have you used one? I have not seen an A3 tele bridge pickup with 42 gauge that is 6k or less. But i have one thats 6.4k and i like it but for one thing...like all A3 tele bridge pups i find them very middy. So i am thinking about pulling .4k (note the period...POINT 4, not 4k) or more off it in hopes that i can get rid of some of the nasally middiness. But never having seen one would that low has me wondering if theres a reason. Nt even sure if 6k would be low enough to change it in the way i want, and more then that will probably leave me with too weak a pickup. Anyways, any thoughts on this and whether it would be a likely fail that would leave me with a doorstop? I actually like the pickup tin all other respects so i'll likely just use it as is if i must, but if i could lose enough of those mids it wold be a great pickup. And no, i'm not going to use an EQ and destroy my neck pickup's tone that i am 100% happy with among other reasons.

 

[eclecticsynergy]

A3 is fairly midrangey by nature, though usually in a nice vintagey way.
IMO unwinding by a little is unlikely to change that by much.

My advice would be to replace it with a more typical A5 vintage wind pickup.

 

[gimmieinfo]

Thats what was in it before and it;s a pretty bright tele. I tried a high wind A5 and lower and both were just a bit much because of this tele's bright nature. I tried the A3 for that very reason and it fixed the issue but added too much mid. I may just go back to the A5 and live with that fault which is the lesser of 2 evils. A3 destroys what i tele should sound like to me because of that nasal mid..

 

[freefrog]

A3 brings more mids mainly because it rises inductance more than any other alloy. It can't really be paired to underwound coils because it has a weaker magnetic field than any other alloy.

Theoretically possible solutions are...

-to increase the resistive load by mounting 500k or 1M pots. But it would/will work only if the resonant peak of the pickup is not located in the high mids;
-to decrease stray capacitance - by using a buffer just at the output of the guitar, or a really short cable from guitar to amp, or a wireless transmitter without cable capacitance emulation, or a low capacitance cable - which is not necessarily expensive: the Sommer LLX has the lowest capacitance on the market, is not costly and is sturdy;
-to decrease the inductance. That's exactly what would happen with 0.4k less wire on the coil and it can be done with a LR filter in parallel with the pickup, in the Bill Lawrence Q filter fashion - but it would/will weaken the output level and such a circuit ideally must be "tuned" with lab gear.

FWIW.

 

[GuitarDoc]

A3 = too middy. A5 = too bright. 42 g wire in a 6k Tele pup.
Sounds like you should put a rough cast UOA5 mag in it. But I definitely would NOT take any windings off of it...it's on the weak side already.

 

[gimmieinfo]

A3 = too middy. A5 = too bright. 42 g wire in a 6k Tele pup.
Sounds like you should put a rough cast UOA5 mag in it.

It's a tele bridge pickup with alnico poles.

 

[GuitarDoc]

It's a tele bridge pickup with alnico poles.

Yeah, of course, my bad.

I guess you can't get UOA5 rods?
How about A4?

 

[jeremy]

if its a vintage type pup where the coil is on the rods, dont pull the rods out

ive unwound pups before, gotta be careful but it can be done. takes a lot more time than you think. if you pull a few hundred turns off, it will be a little brighter and a little thinner and have a touch less output.

 

[copperheadroads]

Try adjusting the pickup closer to the strings ,you can get the A3 rods a little closer than an A5

 

[eclecticsynergy]

Not aware of anyone currently making one, but a Tele bridge with UA5 rods seems like a great idea.

Maybe something like a Broadcaster pickup would be a good choice here: finer wire, more winds.
If you're not sold on low output, some of the beefy Tele bridges have richer mids: Muy Grande, Paul Bunyan.
I love my Paul Bunyan. Still all Tele, just bigger.
Zhangbucker has lots of experience making unconventional Tele bridges and will customize to your wishes.

In readily available/less expensive options, maybe consider the Quarter Pound Tele?
Might be just the ticket for a bright, thin guitar - if you're okay with a hotter-than-vintage output.
It's still lower output than a truly hot pickup like a Hot Rails or the Tone Zone T.

 

[gimmieinfo]

Well, ya know what....I put the A5 back in and it sounds great now. It just hit me i haven't used it since i started using a different amp ! So while the A3 always sounded overly middy, i guess this amp has more mids so it started getting on my nerves more than before and the A5 now sounds more rounded. Issue solved !

 

[GuitarDoc]

Congrats.

 

[eclecticsynergy]

Nice; problem solved.