Building an Oil City Masterwound Bean-0

OilCityPickups

As previously promised here is a glimpse into the time and effort that it takes to produce one of my flagship pickups ... the Masterwound Bean-0. Note these were requested to be fitted with modern Gibson style covers, but I also supply super accurate 59 pattern nickel silver covers to order.

The Bean-0 being a late 50s PAF style unit I start with Butyl Butyrate bobbins 

With modern bobbin materials you can drive the pole screws straight into the plastic and let them cut their own thread. With Butyrate wou should tap the bobbins or you risk splitting them. It's quite laborious :-)

The start wire pigtail is soldered to the 50s spec 42awg PVA coated 'plain enamel' wire ... a cow to work with as it's dark in colour and practically invisible in all but super strong lighting. Many modern humbuckers, even so called PAF types don't use a start wire pigtail ... but that's how it was done in the 50s so that's how I do it! 

All wound ... and with a technique that duplicates that caracteristic wedge shaped and slightly uneven wind pattern of the vintage original.

Somwhat confusingly Early PAFs had coil leads that were both black... so even though its unlikely that anyone will ever see them on this particular pickup (it was ordered with a nickel cover) this is what this Bean-0 gets too. And of course exactly the sort of black, paper 'Toyo' tape used in the fifties ... it's actually nicer to work with than modern products.

Next a nickel silver base-plate is prepared with a vintage style braid and core hookup cable attached. A concession to modernity and in fact the law ... is that I am using lead free solder as required by the EU. 

A magnet is selected ... in this case a rough cast alnico IV ... as was fitted to fifties Gibson pickups. There is a subtle but not undetectable difference between rough cast magnets and polished ones: the top end is slightly more rounded and smooth with rough cast ... and smooth and creamy tones with plenty of harmonic sparkle are what we are after here :-)

Time to fit the slugs to the slug coil. These are different to the ones used in my more modern designs ... and are of the original composition steel and lacking a chamfer ... again exactly like a 50s slug. They are a very firm push fit!

 Notice the rougher, slightly textured surface of real butyrate bobbin tops .... I still mask them till the last moment to prevent unintentional scratches ... even if a cover will hide them.

To be continued ... 

 

Rowby1

My pickups?

OilCityPickups

They are indeed :-)

earwighoney

@TheGuitarWeasel

Sorry to ask but what is the difference of a 'normal' vintage lower output HB (with Alnico 4's) like your Forces Sweetheart and the Bean-O PAF?  I presume some of the things above are not part of the process for 'normal' HB's and just for PAF's.  What are the butyrate bobbins?  

How would you describe the difference in terms of sounds for them as well? 

Apologies for the overload of questions.  I came across a 58 Les Paul Custom online which sounded amazing.  Always difficult to tell from one aspect being the pickups, but the pickups seem to have an incredible clarity to them.  More so than other HB's I've come played.  

OilCityPickups

earwighoney said:

@TheGuitarWeasel

Sorry to ask but what is the difference of a 'normal' vintage lower output HB (with Alnico 4's) like your Forces Sweetheart and the Bean-O PAF?  I presume some of the things above are not part of the process for 'normal' HB's and just for PAF's.  What are the butyrate bobbins?  

How would you describe the difference in terms of sounds for them as well? 

Apologies for the overload of questions.  I came across a 58 Les Paul Custom online which sounded amazing.  Always difficult to tell from one aspect being the pickups, but the pickups seem to have an incredible clarity to them.  More so than other HB's I've come played.  

Right ... I have already done a thread and photo story detailing the theory of PAF construction here of which this photo-story is a follow on ... that should answer most of your questions. In a nutshell there is only one major component that is the same between a Forces Sweetheart and a Bean-0, and that's the base-plate. Bobbins wire, slugs, pole screws keeper bars, shims and magnets are all different or upgraded.

Butyrate bobbins are made of a primitive 40s-60s plastic that is more brittle and has a lower melting point than modern injection moulded bobbins. It has no core air gaps either ... and I've found that helps with resistance to feedback in un-potted pickups.

You will find that a combination of factors, from tapped baseplates to rough cast magnets and not being potted that makes a genuine PAF sound clear and bright, but smooth and rich. 

earwighoney

Thanks for the reply Ash, 

I took a long time to read the PAF construction thread, it was an absolute delight to read and I learnt a huge amount from it.  The thing I learnt more than anything is my guitar wants such a PAF...

Thanks again for the info. 

OilCityPickups

earwighoney said:

Thanks for the reply Ash, 

I took a long time to read the PAF construction thread, it was an absolute delight to read and I learnt a huge amount from it.  The thing I learnt more than anything is my guitar wants such a PAF...

Thanks again for the info. 

That's what I'm here for ... giving a bit back in info :-)

OilCityPickups

Right on with the build

The Maple spacers are fettled on a sanding block so they just grip the slugs with no slop

Them spacer and drawn steel keeper bar are laid out with the magnet ready to have the bobbins added

Unlike modern humbuckers, the base-plate screw pole holes are tapped to take the poles so the pickup is much more solid.

Solid as a rock!

now the tape can come off

The 49.2mm spaced modern Gibson pattern covers (I do 59 spec ones too) are going on next. I use lead free solder and a massive 150w soldering iron for this.

No potting for these ... so on withe the Masterwound green labels and jobs a good'n.

And here they are in @Rowby1 s gorgeous 335

koneguitarist

Brilliant. Love to see a makers love for their product to shine through without bullshit.

earwighoney

Superb. 

Seems the pickup was crafted with a huge amount of love and I have no doubts it would come across in the sound. 

olafgarten

Nowhere near authentic enough, that maple spacer should have come from the same tree they used in the 50's, and I'm pretty sure the air composition was different then aswell.

OilCityPickups

olafgarten said:

Nowhere near authentic enough, that maple spacer should have come from the same tree they used in the 50's, and I'm pretty sure the air composition was different then aswell.

Lol and of course lead free solder sounds totally different ;-)

olafgarten

TheGuitarWeasel said:

olafgarten said:

Nowhere near authentic enough, that maple spacer should have come from the same tree they used in the 50's, and I'm pretty sure the air composition was different then aswell.

Lol and of course lead free solder sounds totally different ;-)

I know, I bet you haven't even got the same imperfections in the magnet that they would have... I expected better from you.

NPP

well what we really expect now is a sound clip from that 335

Rowby1

NPP said:

well what we really expect now is a sound clip from that 335

I'm trying my best to get to that this week if I can, honest!

Incidentally, its a Heritage H-535 actually.....sorry to disappoint

OilCityPickups

The fact that it's a Heritage H-535 Certainly doesn't disappoint me ... it's a stunning instrument, that flame is awesome :-)

robinbowes

@TheGuitarWeasel Out of interest, what do the '59 spec covers look like? And how do these sound when coil-tapped?

Am super-tempted to get a pair for my new acquisition:

OilCityPickups

Not my picture, but it shows the cover difference very well. I really wouldn't recommend coil splitting any low output humbucker without putting in a resistor to make it a partial split. One coil alone is never very satisfactort to my ears. 

robinbowes

TheGuitarWeasel said:

I really wouldn't recommend coil splitting any low output humbucker without putting in a resistor to make it a partial split. One coil alone is never very satisfactort to my ears. 

What would you recommend? 

R.

murraypops

Oldie but love these builder blogs. Wondering if these pups will make a worthwhile upgrade to my classic 57s?

OilCityPickups

Depends if you like the 57s :-)

I had a pair in my SG from new ... and wasn't keen