Brobucker questions

E

esandes

New member
wax
some wax would be beneficial to prevent bad feedback, right? how does it affect the tone? is a single dip good for bad feedback prevention but will still allow for some natural, wanted feedback?

mismatched coils
this creates that "airy" dynamic. does it also cause (excess) hum? how much of a mismatch would be too much? is the mismatch difference set? or can the shop wind each coil custom? i would rather trust them to make this call.

a5 magnet age and resistance
an aged magnet will soften the highs and lows and bring out the mids more, right. doesn't the overall resistance (wind count) have the same effect? i somewhat prefer a tad bit of high end shrill...not too much..so i may just get a full strength a5. i play clean alot and i like the high strings to ring and not sound muffled. to make that happen would it be possible to get the resistance closer to 9 rather than 10?

cover
from search results it seems like a cover tames the pickup a bit. is that a fair assessment?

trembucker pole spacing
this may be a stupid question but i just want to make sure. the trembucker spacing retains the slugs and adjustable screws, right? it's not going to be like the parallell axis trembucker design for the poles, right? when i think trembucker, i think of those blues saraceno pickups.

pole piece material
what are the characteristics of each material? was the original PAF nickel? i'd think each material has a strong effect on the magnetic field width and height.
 
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Re: Brobucker questions

A custom ordered Brobucker in Trembucker dimensions would have the same polepiece studs and screws, just slightly further apart. The necessary extension of the bobbins may affect the sound.
 
Re: Brobucker questions

thanks funkfingers. i just noticed the pole piece materials are also options. what differences do those make? the original PAF was nickel, right?
 
Re: Brobucker questions

esandes said:
wax
some wax would be beneficial to prevent bad feedback, right? how does it affect the tone? is a single dip good for bad feedback prevention but will still allow for some natural, wanted feedback?
Click to expand...

Lots of wax potting tends to reduce the treble response, but only very very slightly. Yeah it reduces microphonics caused by vibrations of parts, but if you want "natural" musical feedback, that's usually a function of gain and/or sheer volume and wax potting doesn't really figure into the equation in that case (apart from causing unwanted feedback at higher volumes)

mismatched coils
this creates that "airy" dynamic. does it also cause (excess) hum? how much of a mismatch would be too much? is the mismatch difference set? or can the shop wind each coil custom? i would rather trust them to make this call.
Click to expand...

technically, anything other than a perfectly matched set of coils will not be 100% hum cancelling. With the '59/C hybrid the difference is on the order of about 3kohms or so. Some people prefer a smaller difference. Seeing as the brobucker is a custom shop pickup, I'm sure you can get them to wind it however you want to, but if you want the brobucker formula, I wouldn't go changing things around.

a5 magnet age and resistance
an aged magnet will soften the highs and lows and bring out the mids more, right. doesn't the overall resistance (wind count) have the same effect? i somewhat prefer a tad bit of high end shrill...not too much..so i may just get a full strength a5. i play clean alot and i like the high strings to ring and not sound muffled. to make that happen would it be possible to get the resistance closer to 9 rather than 10?
Click to expand...

Yes and no. Generally speaking, a pickup that is overwound from the basic formula will have a bit less highs, and a bit more mids, as well as more output. But that said, there is a lot of artistry that goes into seymour's winds, and there is nothing that is hard-set in stone with regards to how the custom shop can tweak a wind for whatever you desire. I think you should be asking brobucker users how articulate the pickup is and decide if that's right for you. If it's not, then ask the custom shop about making it a bit more articulate when they wind it for you. Rely on their experience, expertise and knowledge, rather than dictating specs to them without knowing fully what it'll do.

cover
from search results it seems like a cover tames the pickup a bit. is that a fair assessment?
Click to expand...
Softens the highs a TINY bit. But doesn't really affect output or the overall tone.

trembucker pole spacing
this may be a stupid question but i just want to make sure. the trembucker spacing retains the slugs and adjustable screws, right? it's not going to be like the parallell axis trembucker design for the poles, right? when i think trembucker, i think of those blues saraceno pickups.
Click to expand...
Yeah, it retains the slugs/screws, and is pretty much exactly the same as any normally spaced pickup. The dimensions of a trembucker are such that the polepieces line up with the strings on floyd roses and other fender-style trem systems.
 
Re: Brobucker questions

The other obvious consideration is the host guitar. A vibrato bridge is not going to have the same tonal characteristics and dynamic response as a stud-mounted fixed bridge.
 
Re: Brobucker questions

esandes said:
wax
some wax would be beneficial to prevent bad feedback, right? how does it affect the tone? is a single dip good for bad feedback prevention but will still allow for some natural, wanted feedback?
Click to expand...

Details matter. There is no question that it is pretty easy to pot a pickup to death, just look at most of the Asian garbage (the cheap ones, they also make good ones). No potting doesn't have to mean a lot of squeal because SD will wind very tight. That's different from a 1970s DiMarzio or whatever that's more like a cable drum with loose wire.

I would order unpotted because I think there's some airieness in there you don't get otherwise. You can always pot later.

esandes said:
mismatched coils
this creates that "airy" dynamic. does it also cause (excess) hum? how much of a mismatch would be too much? is the mismatch difference set? or can the shop wind each coil custom? i would rather trust them to make this call.
Click to expand...

AFAICT I don't like this.

esandes said:
a5 magnet age and resistance
an aged magnet will soften the highs and lows and bring out the mids more, right. doesn't the overall resistance (wind count) have the same effect? i somewhat prefer a tad bit of high end shrill...not too much..so i may just get a full strength a5. i play clean alot and i like the high strings to ring and not sound muffled. to make that happen would it be possible to get the resistance closer to 9 rather than 10?
Click to expand...

More winds make it more powerful, although with less highs. Aged magnets just mellow it out. But the output is similar.

esandes said:
cover
from search results it seems like a cover tames the pickup a bit. is that a fair assessment?
Click to expand...

Yes, the effect is comparable to exchanging a 500 Ohm volume pot with a 250 Kohm.

esandes said:
trembucker pole spacing
this may be a stupid question but i just want to make sure. the trembucker spacing retains the slugs and adjustable screws, right? it's not going to be like the parallell axis trembucker design for the poles, right? when i think trembucker, i think of those blues saraceno pickups.
Click to expand...

No, the parallel axis is a different pickup. You get PAF style polepieces (screws + slugs) in the trembucker.

I still didn't do this test, but theoretically you can't make them sound the same. If you have the same amount of wire (same D/C resistance) you have less number of winds.

esandes said:
pole piece material
what are the characteristics of each material? was the original PAF nickel? i'd think each material has a strong effect on the magnetic field width and height.
Click to expand...

Pure nickel isn't possible.

I am unsure how much exactly you change using different mix screws and slugs. Test scheduled but ETA unknown (playing too much bass these days). Is the shop selling all these different alloys still alive?
 
Re: Brobucker questions

Depends which covers you get or have. Most covers don't touch the sound of the pickup at all because they're designed to be more magnetically transparent. Back in the day it used to be a much bigger change because they were included for a reason. It also depends which pickups you put them on or take them off that will yield more or less difference. An unpotted vintage pickup will have more of a difference between the two while a high output wax potted monster won't make much difference.

This video demonstrates the difference between the differences between a covered and uncovered using the traditional nickel and silver covers.


To me I wouldn't even consider the difference and would just decide on pickup covers for the aesthetics because it's such a small change.
 
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Re: Brobucker questions

good replies. i think i'm good with everything except for the pole pieces. yes the custom shop offers the following pole pieces:
-nickel
-gold
-aged
-black nickel
 
Re: Brobucker questions

esandes said:
good replies. i think i'm good with everything except for the pole pieces. yes the custom shop offers the following pole pieces:
-nickel
-gold
-aged
-black nickel
Click to expand...

Those aren't made from different material. There was or is(?) a seller on Ebay that sells you polepieces with different alloys.
 
Re: Brobucker questions

The offset coils have some of the same properties that outright hybrids have. The 78 has mismatched coils, all BK's except the Aftermath, Burstbuckers, almost every boutique winder, etc. Hum isn't a real issue in any of those, but I wouldn't be keen on anything over 1K in a 43 awg pickup.
 
Re: Brobucker questions

0v3nm4n said:
what is the brobucker actually? what coil has what wire? what magnet does it use etc..
Click to expand...

I believe it uses the enamel coated 42 gauge wire wound to 10ohms and a degaussed alnico 5. Just what I heard though. I'm not SURE about the wind pattern but I THINK its similar to a 59, just more of it.
 
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Re: Brobucker questions

0v3nm4n said:
I see...how does the Brobucker pair up with a Jazz Neck?
Click to expand...

i'm sure it would be good. the neck jazz has a DCR of 7.7k and the brobucker is closer to 10. someone here (forgot his username) really likes his brobucker/PG combo and the PG neck has a DCR of 7.3. i'm sure the custom shop will wind it to match the jazz neck better, if need be.
 
Re: Brobucker questions

esandes said:
again. what are the sonic differences, if any, with them?
Click to expand...

*sigh*

Not enough to matter.


The Bro is an overwound PAF, hotter, darker, more grind and midrange than your 59b. About as much 42 awg plain enamel wire as is possible to fit on a bobbin, slightly mismatched coils (slug coil overwound), degaussed A5 magnet. It's aggressive on the low end and low mids, high end is semi-mellow/sweet. More of a classic rock pickup with the stock magnet, I liked A2 a little better for that sound. It sounds ****ing awesome with a big ceramic in it, gets way more aggressive on the high end, PAF on crank.

Neck pickup to match I'd go 59 A2, Seth, or an Ant. Jazz will have quite a different vibe, but I'd still try it before I bought another pickup.
 
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