Time to make some hybrids?

alex1fly

alex1fly

Well-known member
Was doing some pickup swapping yesterday and accidentally nicked a coil on my Duncan Custom. Oops! So I did the testing on this page: https://www.seymourduncan.com/blog/latest-updates/how-to-test-guitar-pickups-with-a-multimeter and it appears that the adjustable south coil is toast. No reading at all on it. North coil reads at 7.0 or so. So of course being a tinkerer I'm thinking this is an opportunity to make a hybrid with the north coil, and I figured I'd share some thoughts here and see what you all think.

1. First, I know I've seen a guide to doing this, can someone link me? Having a bit of trouble finding it.
2. 59/Custom hybrid is an obvious choice. I have a 59 laying around. Done and done.
3. I love the 59, so why not make another hybrid with the other coil? Some pickups I haven't quite found a use for are the JB, Jazz, Super Distortion, and X2N... would any of these be enhanced by a 59 coil? (In general I find the Jazz a bit bland and the other three a bit too pummeling)
4. Why do I keep making rookie mistakes 20 years into this hobby? Silly man.
 
Hmm, I'd love to hear what an A2 or A4 jazz/jb hybrid would sound like.
I can't really help you through as my experience with hybrids so far is zero.

Nevertheless as you're thinking of a hybrid with the leftover '59 coil I guess, the '59/jazz neck hybrid seems to be well regarded.
 
I am not sure where the guide is, but what you'll want to do is back the filister screws out of the baseplate (I guess just take em out to use elsewhere), take the tape off, take the brass screws out of the bottom of the screw coil, wiggle/pry that bobbin gently away from the baseplate, find where the white and black start/finish wires from the coil are connected to their conductors in that little bundle coming from the lead wire, untape and desolder those, and then - having taken your new screw coil off the same way from the other pickup - hook the new coil up to the lead and reverse that process to put it back together.

It helps to have that narrow paper tape for the connections on the lead wire. Those are very thin wires so be gentle, use tweezers, and good light is essential. Avoid overheating and try to keep the wires from the coils intact as you pull those solder joints apart, because there isn't a lot of length to work with and it's very easy to break it if you need to strip the insulation.

I can't find other good pics right now but here's a shot of a Duncan screw coil hooked up to the lead, from when I was making Distortion hybrids for my 7 string... hope that helps.

20241208-143552.jpg
 
IMO, the key to a hybrid or mis-matched coils in general is to make the coils complementary. Take what one pickup emphasizes or lacks combined with a pickup that is the opposite. I did a couple of DIY 59/ Custom Hybrids before the official ones came. I thought it was too bright and thin in several 25.5" guitars which I was okay with a 59 bridge.. One of those threads beaubrummels posted talks about all this. The A5 59 and Custom are mid-scooped pickups, so instead of a best of both worlds combo it sounded like over-emphasized scoop. Might be great with a mid-heavy amp or in front of pedals but I was using a black panel Fender clone at the time...YMMV.
 
switchman said:
IMO, the key to a hybrid or mis-matched coils in general is to make the coils complementary. Take what one pickup emphasizes or lacks combined with a pickup that is the opposite. I did a couple of DIY 59/ Custom Hybrids before the official ones came. I thought it was too bright and thin in several 25.5" guitars which I was okay with a 59 bridge.. One of those threads beaubrummels posted talks about all this. The A5 59 and Custom are mid-scooped pickups, so instead of a best of both worlds combo it sounded like over-emphasized scoop. Might be great with a mid-heavy amp or in front of pedals but I was using a black panel Fender clone at the time...YMMV.
Click to expand...

Interesting. With this thinking then a JB/59 or maybe even a JB/Jazz hybrid would smooth out the JB’s honk?
 
I found that jumping 1 gauge won't give nice results. i.e.: 42+43, 43+44. 42+44 is no bueno. Jazz/jb hybrid is horrible. epic failure.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top