Humbuckers in a 330 walnut

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wim
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Humbuckers in a 330 walnut

Post by wim »

I've got this lovely 330 walnut http://www.rickresource.com/register/vi ... ine%3Dtrue
Which has a superb tone acoustically. Very rich in overtones, very resonant, very good sustain.
The hi gains don't do it justice though.
The amplified sound is a bit dull and not much remains of the rich sound.
I installed a hb1 in the bridge position, which has a promising sound, yet the highs are still on the dull side.
I'm guessing this is the tone and volume pots doing this.
Is there a way I can install hb1's, be able to split the coils and have that clear rich humbucking sound I'm looking for?
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aceonbass
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Re: Humbuckers in a 330 walnut

Post by aceonbass »

The pots and tone caps in Rick's aren't optimized for single coil, let alone humbucking pickups. I build custom harnesses for Ricks with HB1's using 500K pots and .022uF tone caps that bring out more clarity in the tone, and also enable coil shorting the HB1's to sound more like single coils as well. PM me for details.
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jps
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Re: Humbuckers in a 330 walnut

Post by jps »

Right on cue! :mrgreen:
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jdogric12
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Re: Humbuckers in a 330 walnut

Post by jdogric12 »

I just got a Dane harness installed in my 650A. It's amazing. The HB's are super bright and useful now! I also opted for his push/pull treatment on all four knobs: the tone knobs do the coil taps, the treble volume does mono/stereo(aka ROS), and the other one is some kind of cap bypass IIRC.
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aceonbass
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Re: Humbuckers in a 330 walnut

Post by aceonbass »

jdogric12 wrote:..... and the other one is some kind of cap bypass IIRC.
The neck volume brings in a .01uF cap that, when both volumes are up full (or almost full) eliminates the mid scoop, or "comb filtering that occurs. This results in a fuller tone.
tcsmit29
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Re: Humbuckers in a 330 walnut

Post by tcsmit29 »

jdogric12 wrote:I just got a Dane harness installed in my 650A. It's amazing. The HB's are super bright and useful now! I also opted for his push/pull treatment on all four knobs: the tone knobs do the coil taps, the treble volume does mono/stereo(aka ROS), and the other one is some kind of cap bypass IIRC.
Apologize for derailing the thread a bit. When did you pick up the 650A? I know you were looking for one a few months ago. How do you like it?
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jdogric12
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Re: Humbuckers in a 330 walnut

Post by jdogric12 »

tcsmit29 wrote:
jdogric12 wrote:I just got a Dane harness installed in my 650A. It's amazing. The HB's are super bright and useful now! I also opted for his push/pull treatment on all four knobs: the tone knobs do the coil taps, the treble volume does mono/stereo(aka ROS), and the other one is some kind of cap bypass IIRC.
Apologize for derailing the thread a bit. When did you pick up the 650A? I know you were looking for one a few months ago. How do you like it?
Found one a month or two ago. I love it! It's got that big chunky neck, which I normally don't like, but I'm finding it useful for songs where I want to leave the high E open and do some low-fret, middle-strings work. The bigger neck (in all directions) prevents the part of my palm nearest my pinky from accidentally muting the high E string while doing stuff like that. I actually wrote a song based on that once I realized it!
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wim
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Re: Humbuckers in a 330 walnut

Post by wim »

Il thinking about the configuration.
Anyone has any experience or thoughts on splitting the humbucker coils and giving both coils a separate volume control?
I'm also thinking of a bass roll off for the neck pickup which would be a toaster.
The distorted sound in this position is often interesting, but the bass makes it buzzy
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jdogric12
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Re: Humbuckers in a 330 walnut

Post by jdogric12 »

wim wrote:Il thinking about the configuration.
Anyone has any experience or thoughts on splitting the humbucker coils and giving both coils a separate volume control?
Is this kind of how a Peavey T-60 works?
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wim
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Re: Humbuckers in a 330 walnut

Post by wim »

jdogric12 wrote:
wim wrote:Il thinking about the configuration.
Anyone has any experience or thoughts on splitting the humbucker coils and giving both coils a separate volume control?
Is this kind of how a Peavey T-60 works?
I honestly have no idea.
I just thought it'd be a nice idea to use the 5th knop as a volume for the second coil and have the normal volume act as master for the two coils or only for the other coil.
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aceonbass
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Re: Humbuckers in a 330 walnut

Post by aceonbass »

Using the 5th knob as a volume for one of the coils in an HB would act as a "progressive short", more than an actual volume. I don't see the usefulness of this compared to the two very useful tones you get when running the pickup as a humbucker, or as a single coil.
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wim
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Re: Humbuckers in a 330 walnut

Post by wim »

This evening I installed a hb1 with a 500k volume pot in the bridge position and a toaster with the standard 330k pot in the neck position.
I installed the toaster with a high gain cover (that must be a first) to have both pickups look the same.

Sounds excellent! exactly what I was after.
The hb1 sounds very clear now.
One thing; although both pickups are equally loud, in the selector middle position the toaster is very dominant in the sound.
Could it be the pots?
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wim
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Re: Humbuckers in a 330 walnut

Post by wim »

Tested today, with the possibility to play a little louder.
Clean everything is good, very clear typical humbucker sound, the toaster is perfect in the neck position.
I must say the hb1's output is rather low, not the sound I had hoped for in high gain settings.
Especially compared to the SD vintage mini humbuckers in one of my own built guitars.
These are higher output and have a much much richer sound.
So probably out goes the hb1 and in go the mini humbucker, the coils fit in a Ric pickup cover, with just a little adjusting.
Hb1 will probably end up in a neck position somewhere
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jps
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Re: Humbuckers in a 330 walnut

Post by jps »

Are you sure both coils are working properly in the HB-1; it doesn't seem so from your description?
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wim
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Re: Humbuckers in a 330 walnut

Post by wim »

jps wrote:Are you sure both coils are working properly in the HB-1; it doesn't seem so from your description?
They are working fine. Dc resistance 15K total, 7,5 each coil.
It's in phase with the toaster too, everything's fine.
It's just not loud and rich enough to my liking.
This is going through a 94 fender blues deville, which is not known for being a high gain amp, but they hardly make it break up, while the mini humbuckers give it that filthy fat but clear and rich sound.
Shame, because the guitar delivers it, the pickups are unable to translate it to the amp.
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