Variation in High Gain Pickup Tops

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LenMinNJ
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Variation in High Gain Pickup Tops

Post by LenMinNJ »

I have two pairs of High Gain pickups. One pair is from a '92 330 and the other pair from a '90 350.

The black tops on the 92's look like they were designed to fit into the chrome Toaster covers - there are two long & thin raised ovals that fit into the chrome Toaster cover's "slots". If you look at a Toaster pickup, you'll know exactly what I mean. They also have the usual six pole piece buttons.

The black tops on the 90's are completely flat except for the pole piece buttons.

Does anyone know how the High Gain pickups evolved over the years? Did they simply use and modify Toaster pickup tops when they ran out of the proper High Gain tops?
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wim
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Re: Variation in High Gain Pickup Tops

Post by wim »

The bobbins are probably standardised for both toaster and hi gain use.
I wonder if they use the same bobbins in the bass treble pups.
Personally I think the high gains look better with the toasterstyle bobbins in it.
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electrofaro
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Re: Variation in High Gain Pickup Tops

Post by electrofaro »

Both my 360 and 340 have the hi-gains with the toaster shapes on the black plastic
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LenMinNJ
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Re: Variation in High Gain Pickup Tops

Post by LenMinNJ »

Wildberry wrote:Both my 360 and 340 have the hi-gains with the toaster shapes on the black plastic
What years were they made?
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electrofaro
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Re: Variation in High Gain Pickup Tops

Post by electrofaro »

LenMinNJ wrote:
Wildberry wrote:Both my 360 and 340 have the hi-gains with the toaster shapes on the black plastic
What years were they made?
Easy, check my signature :wink:
'67 Fender Coronado II CAB * '17 1963 ES-335 PB * currently rickless
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LenMinNJ
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Re: Variation in High Gain Pickup Tops

Post by LenMinNJ »

I see. So they're recent.

I wonder if the situation changed between 1990 and 1992, and then remained that way since then?
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johnhall
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Re: Variation in High Gain Pickup Tops

Post by johnhall »

wim wrote:The bobbins are probably standardised for both toaster and hi gain use.
I wonder if they use the same bobbins in the bass treble pups.
Personally I think the high gains look better with the toasterstyle bobbins in it.
The Toaster® and the Hi-Gain™ may look similar on the top but the back is quite different. The bobbins are made from entirely different molds. There's also bass and treble position bobbins; each and all have their own part numbers.
Clint
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Re: Variation in High Gain Pickup Tops

Post by Clint »

Are the ridges on the Hi-Gains simply a design element then, or do they serve some function?
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electrofaro
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Re: Variation in High Gain Pickup Tops

Post by electrofaro »

johnhall wrote:The Toaster® and the Hi-Gain™
Toaster is a registered trademark? Really? :?:
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LenMinNJ
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Re: Variation in High Gain Pickup Tops

Post by LenMinNJ »

johnhall wrote:There's also bass and treble position bobbins; each and all have their own part numbers.
Uh oh - a veritable can of worms. Thanks, John!

How does one tell the difference between a treble position High Gain and a Bass position one?

And in guitar with three pickups, what's the middle pickup: a bass or a treble?

And another question: The bobbin tops on the High Gain pickups from 1990 are flat and look like some sort of impregnated woven fabric or textile, while the ones from '92 look like molded plastic. Did the transition to a molded bobbin happen around then?
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wim
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Re: Variation in High Gain Pickup Tops

Post by wim »

johnhall wrote:
wim wrote:The bobbins are probably standardised for both toaster and hi gain use.
I wonder if they use the same bobbins in the bass treble pups.
Personally I think the high gains look better with the toasterstyle bobbins in it.
The Toaster® and the Hi-Gain™ may look similar on the top but the back is quite different. The bobbins are made from entirely different molds. There's also bass and treble position bobbins; each and all have their own part numbers.
If so, standardising doesn't seem like a bad idea at all, in fact could make a lot of economical sense.
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johnhall
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Re: Variation in High Gain Pickup Tops

Post by johnhall »

wim wrote:If so, standardising doesn't seem like a bad idea at all, in fact could make a lot of economical sense.
Won't work. Each item has different spacings and other engineering requirements, otherwise we would have done so back when Bob D. and I redid the bobbin molds.
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LenMinNJ
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Re: Variation in High Gain Pickup Tops

Post by LenMinNJ »

LenMinNJ wrote:The black tops on the 92's look like they were designed to fit into the chrome Toaster covers - there are two long & thin raised ovals that fit into the chrome Toaster cover's "slots". If you look at a Toaster pickup, you'll know exactly what I mean. They also have the usual six pole piece buttons.
Here's an image of the High Gain pickups on a '91 360:

Image

You clearly can see the long, thin raised oval moldings.

Here's an '87 360:

Image

Flat, no ovals.

And here's a '90 360:

Image

Also flat, no ovals.

So for the moment, it looks like the transition happened in late 1990 or early 1991.
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LenMinNJ
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Re: Variation in High Gain Pickup Tops

Post by LenMinNJ »

Narrowing it down a bit more, here's a 330 from February 1991 that has flat pickup tops:

http://www.rickresource.com/register/vi ... lebrity%3D

Image

And another from June 1991 that still has flat pickpups:

http://www.rickresource.com/register/vi ... lebrity%3D

Image

And a 360 from July still with flat pickups:

http://www.rickresource.com/register/vi ... lebrity%3D

Image

And here's a 360 from September 1991 that has molded pickups:

http://www.rickresource.com/register/vi ... lebrity%3D

Image

And finally, a 350 from August 1991 that has molded pickups:

http://www.rickresource.com/register/vi ... lebrity%3D

Image

So it appears that the molded pickup bobbins started to be used around August 1991.
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Grey
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Re: Variation in High Gain Pickup Tops

Post by Grey »

Notice how all your post-1990 examples of Hi-Gain's with non-molded pickups are black? They are likely holdovers from past production and not current units from that time period.
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