Pick up ID

waynepunkdude

Hi guys, I'm new here, I found these in a spares box I had knocking around but I don't know what they are, I'm hoping they're sutible for a Strat copy I'm modding, I'm hoping they'll work in the neck position, any ideas?

Cheers

Funkfingers

waynepunkdude said:

I found these in a spares box I had knocking around but I don't know what they are

Some generic SE Asian "Hot Rails" type pickup. Looks as if it conforms to DiMarzio four conductor + shield colour coding.

waynepunkdude said:

I'm hoping they're suitable for a Strat copy I'm modding, 

Offer up one of the pickups to the cut-outs in the pickguard that you plan to use. It is possible that the ends of the Rails pickup will foul on the rounded ends of the aperture. Even if the bobbin tops clear the gap, take care that any bulges in the coils also fit through.

waynepunkdude said:

I'm hoping they'll work in the neck position

If you have more than one of these pickups, it is possible that their output strengths are calibrated to suit bridge, middle and neck positions. This can be determined with a d.c. resistance meter. Another clue will be the output cable on some pickups having been cut considerably shorter than on others.

KKJale

^ Exactly all this.

Maybe sold as an Artec SB73C-WH? Would be 12kOhm if so. 

waynepunkdude

Thanks guys for the advice, both rails are 6K.

OilCityPickups

KKJale said:

^ Exactly all this.

Maybe sold as an Artec SB73C-WH? Would be 12kOhm if so. 

The DC resistance is no real guide on these ... in order to fit the amount of wire on those tiny bobbins they normally go down to 44awg wire (super fine) which means their DC resistance is WAY higher in proportion to their turn count than say a PAF in normal size. This means that a 12 or 13k pickup will be about the output power of a 8k normal PAF style HB. The very fine wire also compresses the tone to heck and back ... which along with the tall, super-narrow coils makes for a pickup with rather honky and abrasive mids (and not much bass to speak of ... even though fitted with a ceramic magnet). 

Funkfingers

waynepunkdude said:

both rails are 6K.

I interpret this to mean that each coil reads 6K. Connecting them together in series yields KKJale's 12K figure. 

TheGuitarWeasel said:
about the output power of a 8k normal PAF style HB. The very fine wire also compresses the tone to heck and back ... which along with the tall, super-narrow coils makes for a pickup with rather honky and abrasive mids (and not much bass to speak of ... even though fitted with a ceramic magnet). 

This description perfectly reflects my experience with a Eighties Korean Kent Armstrong rails pickup. 

Pickups of this general type that I have tried and which, in my opinion, sounded musical, tend to originate from Seymour Duncan and DiMarzio. The ones with Alnico magnets sounded nicer.

I do not doubt that UK makers can build something just as good as the American stuff. Check their websites for product info.

In my opinion, Artec rail'buckers will neither satisfy in terms of outright power or Fender clarity.

impmann

Funkfingers said:

TheGuitarWeasel said:
about the output power of a 8k normal PAF style HB. The very fine wire also compresses the tone to heck and back ... which along with the tall, super-narrow coils makes for a pickup with rather honky and abrasive mids (and not much bass to speak of ... even though fitted with a ceramic magnet). 

This description perfectly reflects my experience with a Eighties Korean Kent Armstrong rails pickup. 

It wouldn’t be an 80s Kent Armstrong pickup - Kent didn’t move production to the Far East until the 90s. Initially called “Sky” brand pickups too - to distance them from Kent’s superb hand wound units from the 1980s and early 90s.

Funkfingers

impmann said:
Kent didn’t move production to the Far East until the 90s. Initially called “Sky” brand pickups too - to distance them from Kent’s superb hand wound units from the 1980s and early 90s.

I know.

The pickup I tried said SKY on the packaging and Kent Armstrong on a sticker on its underside. I think that it went into a Sunn Mustang that I bought cheaply to rob out the Don Lace S100 pickups.

impmann

Little known fact... made in the same factory as the pickups fitted to PRS SE guitars today, in Incheon, South Korea....

Sadly Kent’s pickups get tarred by the Sky brush. His earlier stuff was amazing