Introducing the new Brad Paisley Secret Agent Esquire Neck Pickup!

[Lewguitar]

I was thinking the same thing, about the rough visual comparison.

So, it's leaning toward: Custom Shop guy was wrong.

It seems more posted specs are in order on the product page.

Could be.

Jason in the Duncan Custom Shop told me the coil was the same small size as a Tele neck pickup coil.

But I was thinking it looked bigger and that might be the reason there are no ht. adjustment screws.

That's why I asked.

I won't be surprised if its bigger because all along it looked at least as big as a Strat pickup and now, when I look at that Tele bridge pickup and compare those two photos above, the two coils look the same.

Ordered mine August 31st.

The order confirmation said it might be a 6 week wait.

Jason said less than 4 weeks.

Guess we'll see.

 

[Masta' C]

I think Jason probably meant that it would fit in the slightly smaller Tele neck pickup rout. Since it's essentially just a coil and doesn't have mounting tabs or a large baseplate profile, even a Strat-sized unit should fit in the body cavity.

Plus, there's no sonic advantage to sticking with the traditional Tele neck coil size...for a pickup like this, being so far from the strings, you want a short, wide bobbin to maximize the sensitivity of the coil and keep the sound as full as possible. The top half of a Hot Stack bobbin is perfect for that.

Of course, it's always possible they did something unique for this particular pickup. I mean, they recently did it with the Jupiter pickups. Just seems unlikely, that's all. Curious to see what the verdict is once Lew gets his :14:

 

[ItsaBass]

I wanted to get one if it was Tele neck sized. I'm building a guitar, and I want the pickups to be smaller than the normal single coil size, just for aesthetic reasons. Originally the idea was to use Tele neck pickups. The idea of a super high output rail magnet Tele neck pickup was very appealing for that guitar.

 

[Masta' C]

Maybe the Vintage Vibe VT-N-BL?

 

[ItsaBass]

^ Cool. Thanks. Had not heard of those. Magnets below, it looks like.

 

[Lewguitar]

I think Jason probably meant that it would fit in the slightly smaller Tele neck pickup rout. Since it's essentially just a coil and doesn't have mounting tabs or a large baseplate profile, even a Strat-sized unit should fit in the body cavity.

Plus, there's no sonic advantage to sticking with the traditional Tele neck coil size...for a pickup like this, being so far from the strings, you want a short, wide bobbin to maximize the sensitivity of the coil and keep the sound as full as possible. The top half of a Hot Stack bobbin is perfect for that.

Of course, it's always possible they did something unique for this particular pickup. I mean, they recently did it with the Jupiter pickups. Just seems unlikely, that's all. Curious to see what the verdict is once Lew gets his :14:

I was very specific and asked detailed questions about the coil size.

If Jason was incorrect I can understand. It's brand new.

If the pickup coil is larger than a normal Tele neck pickup, as I suspected all along, I would be pleased because a bigger coil without a metal cover is what I originally pictured and wanted.

 

[Masta' C]

^ Cool. Thanks. Had not heard of those. Magnets below, it looks like.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Blade-style...UAAMXQPatTHTHI

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Neck-Blade-...gAAOSwj-5eIJgP

 

[ItsaBass]

^ Thanks. I will inquire about those.

Turns out it is "similar" to an El Diablo/Slug coil. So it is neither Tele nor Strat sized...nor is it the size of a standard humbucker (or Trembucker) bobbin.

Knowing that, I wouldn't be at all surprised if it is simply half a Slug with some flatwork glued on the bottom. If so, you can buy a Slug for $160, get some flatwork, some eyelets, and some lead wire, and make two Secret Agents yourself, at the cost of about $90 each. I would imagine they tweaked the wind a bit to work well in an Esquire, but the splitting a Slug trick might still work in terms of providing enough output to work as a "stealth" Esquire pickup.

 

[jeremy]

i always thought the top bobbin of the hot stack and the el diablo bobbins were the same

 

[ItsaBass]

i always thought the top bobbin of the hot stack and the el diablo bobbins were the same

Not sure. Haven’t ever dug in to a Hot Stack.

Are the Hot Stack bobbins made from two bobbins glued on top of each other? Or are they a single bobbin with a divider?

 

[Masta' C]

FYI...Sweetwater has one in stock!

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/det...t-agent-pickup

 

[Lewguitar]

FYI...Sweetwater has one in stock!

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/det...t-agent-pickup

No they don't. I just bought it and cancelled my order with the Custom Shop. Thanks for the tip!

 

[Lewguitar]

No they don't. I just bought it and cancelled my order with the Custom Shop. Thanks for the tip!

Same price too.

Just got the confirmation that the Duncan Custom Shop received my cancellation although it was a form message probably not sent by a human. So I'll call on Monday as well.

The message also said they are NOT accepting any one of a kind pickup orders for the time being, due to being understaffed because of safety precautions due to to COVID 19.

Anyway, now I'm really jazzed. This baby ought to arrive next week!

 

[Lewguitar]

The Secret Agent has arrived! It'll be going in my '54 Esquire. I do have the original white Esquire pickguard with no cut out for a neck pickup.

 

[Mincer]

I wanna see it installed before the pickguard goes on!

 

[Lewguitar]

I wanna see it installed before the pickguard goes on!

Will do. I'll post some pics.

 

[Lewguitar]

Haven't installed it yet but I will today.

As I originally thought, it's larger than a traditional Tele neck pickup.

I'm putting it in my '54 Esquire, but I took some photos of it slid under the strings of my Strat just to show how it compares in size to a Stratocaster pickup.

It's slightly larger than a standard Strat pickup, and much larger than a standard Tele neck pickup!

So it does take up the entire rout under the pickguard as I suspected it would.

That's why there's no room for screws to hold it in place.

It uses a 1/2" x 2 3/8" ceramic magnet on its edge.

DCR is 11.06K

The pickup comes with two 1/2" x 3" dense foam strips with adhesive on one side.

One strip is 1/4" thick and the other is 3/8" thick.

It would appear that depending on the depth of the neck pickup rout of your guitar that you use one strip or the other under the pickup so it's pressed tightly against the underside of the pickguard.

Here's some pics of the pickup. I'm going to put this in my Esquire but I'm showing it next to a Strat pickup so you can see that the Secret Agent is slightly wider than a Strat pickup, and much wider than a normal Tele neck pickup.

I'm excited! This is exactly what I pictured and what I hoped for. And MJ signed the box. Hope she wound the pickup too because every pickup I've gotten from her sounds GREAT!

 

[Mincer]

I love the packaging.
But what a fat little pickup! I didn't get a sense of the size from the video.

 

[Lewguitar]

I love the packaging.
But what a fat little pickup! I didn't get a sense of the size from the video.

My initial impression was that it was a big pickup. Jason in the Custom Shop had not seen it though and sort of got me thinking it was the same size as a Tele neck pickup. Instead, it's more similar to the size of a Tele bridge pickup! Fine with me. Gives me the feeling it's going to sound really good.

 

[Lewguitar]

I love the packaging.
But what a fat little pickup! I didn't get a sense of the size from the video.

Actually, it is EXACTLY the same size as a Tele BRIDGE pickup!