"hacking" G&L S-500 pickups

prophetofthor

New member
i have a set of G&L S-500 pickups. this is the official blurb

The patented Magnetic Field Design® pickups use a ceramic bar magnet installed underneath each coil, with soft iron adjustable pole pieces to transfer the magnetic field to the surface of the pickup. By contrast, traditional Alnico type pickups, such as used in the Legacy and George Fullerton models, use nonadjustable Alnico pole pieces leaving the only adjustment being pickup height. The Magnetic Field Design has this adjustment, but further offers individual adjustment of each pole piece, letting the player effectively adjust the output of each string on each pickup. Magnetic Field Design yield about twice the output per wind, making the pickup quieter while allowing a greater overall output. The sound of Magnetic Field pickups is slightly warmer with a broader frequency response. One major Nashville session guitarist remarked that the G&L S-500 with Magnetic Field single coil pickups sounded as balanced and "sweet" as his favorite old vintage Alnico equipped axe. The difference is that the S-500 sounds that good right into his amp without all the EQ tweaking of his mixing console that made his other guitar sound so good. When he ran his S-500 though his studio rig, he was truly amazed at the rich and warm, yet clear and sparkly sound.

i bought a G&L S-500 guitar in my younger years. i was a high gain player. the guitar sounded great in store, but on stage or louder volume i got horrible microphonic feedback. i enjoyed the feel and neck of the guitar so i just swapped the pickups out and threw the S-500 pickups on the "pickup pile".

to the present ::

i've been looking at noiseless or noise reduced pickups for a mexi strat i have. from memory i would say the S-500 pups are too hot for "vintage" strat tones. i did some googling and ppl seem to rave about these pickups. so i go to the pickup pile and inspect the S-500 pups. i dont have easy access to a digital camera so i will try to explain what i'm looking at.

the back of the pickup has a brass or copper looking metal plate with a solder point on it (probably from the ground of the pickup winding). i'm assuming it works like the famous fralin baseplate. i gently pulled on the plate and to my surprise the ceramic magnet popped right out. i've never handled a humbucker magnet, but from pictures i've seen it looks about the same size. above the magnet was the steel poles with 2 wires coming out. i could not see the copper wiring because there is a black plastic housing the wind and the steel poles. there was a VERY small amount of wax between the magnet and black plastic housing.

my main 2 questions ::

1) if the amount of wax was very small, could that of caused the microphonic feedback? and if so would a "repotting" or a generous amount of wax fix the microphonic feedback?

2) if the baseplate was removed from the pickup, would that lower the output?

i've read somewhere that the DC rest of the S-500 pickups are very low, like 4.6k or something like that. but the monster ceramic magnet makes up for that.


what i would like to do ::

1) repott the pickups (use alot more wax)
2) remove the baseplate from the neck and middle pickups (reduce output)

thoughts/opinions PLEASE ! ! !
 
Re: "hacking" G&L S-500 pickups

someone here may be able to help, but I'd suggest you also try the G & L forum -- there are a bunch of G & L players there, and they should know
 
Re: "hacking" G&L S-500 pickups

What exactly about the pickups is patented? Both Lindy Fralin and Harmonic Design have steel poled single coils.
 
Re: "hacking" G&L S-500 pickups

Potting pickups is very easy to do. It is possible that they weren't potted very well or they became microphonic. If the baseplate wasn't secured well that might have caused the microphonics. I had a set of Carvin pickups with a metalic base and when the epoxy dried up they became microphonic.

The baseplate itself doesn't make the pickup louder, as much as it changes the tone slighlty by modifying the magnetic feild of the pickup. A single coil with a metalic baseplate sounds rounder and darker than one with a plastic base. A pickup with a metalic base also works as a RFI shield.

Does it look like these?http://http://cgi.ebay.com/G-L-Lega...712?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item1e6050db98
 
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Re: "hacking" G&L S-500 pickups

I have an S500, which I bought in '97, and I consider the pickups 'warm vintage'. The ceramic mag is there to 'make up' for the lack of winding, not to push it into high gain. The point is that you get the right tone without the string pull.

They have more sizzle than a stock fender s/c for sure, but I always found these wimpy and toneless (I sold an Am standard strat to buy the G&L). SRV and general blues tones are perfectly done with these. Its best to have the height adjusted so they are slightly further away from the strings than normal s/c's, otherwise the harshness of the ceramic magnet becomes apparent. Suitably backed off they are mellow.
 
Re: "hacking" G&L S-500 pickups

Perhaps, you should put the MFD pickups up for sale/exchange in the Trading Post zone? Get what you really need that way.
 
Re: "hacking" G&L S-500 pickups

G&L sells these pickups directly from their web site.

There's a Youtube video that does a S-500/Legacy comparison

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Getting the boosted low end from an underwound pickup is amazing to my ears.

I'd really like a shoot out between these pickups and the Fralin and Harmonic Design steel poled single coils. Seymour Duncan should come out with its own model.
 
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Re: "hacking" G&L S-500 pickups

*ahem*
 
Re: "hacking" G&L S-500 pickups

I just learned about the technique of vacuum wax potting from Harmonic Design's site. I don't know how common or uncommon the technique is. I have had problems with ~20 year old Duncan pickups. Maybe it's standard practice nowadays?

Harmonic Design offers was-repotting service at $10/pickup, not counting S&H. If you want to repot your G&L pickups, that's where I'd send them.
 
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Re: "hacking" G&L S-500 pickups

I just learned about the technique of vacuum wax potting from Harmonic Design's site. I don't know how common or uncommon the technique is. I have had problems with ~20 year old Duncan pickups. Maybe it's standard practice nowadays?

Harmonic Design offers was-repotting service at $10/pickup, not counting S&H. If you want to repot your G&L pickups, that's where I'd send them.
That's a common method. If you are having problems with older pickups it is because the wax has dried out and broken down. I have a Dimarzio PAF from 1979 and the wax is like toffee.
 
Re: "hacking" G&L S-500 pickups

That's a common method. If you are having problems with older pickups it is because the wax has dried out and broken down. I have a Dimarzio PAF from 1979 and the wax is like toffee.

Jon Suhr says the technique is unnecessary and tends to deform the coils.
 
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