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OilCityPickupsOilCityPickups Frets: 9982
edited May 2014 in Made in the UK tFB Trader
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For your delectation ... a Topless Angel!
yer actual basic Oil City HonkyTonk Angel alnico 3 Tele neck pickup ... with larger top flatwork, a classic string wrapping ... and its naughty, pert little pole pieces on display phworrrrrrrr ....
(I must remember to take my pills).
Sweet, clear and defined, with plenty of authority for clean work ... and quite surprising when when you add some dirt. For everyone who thinks Tele neck pickups are boring.

Professional pickup winder, horse-testpilot and recovering Chocolate Hobnob addict.
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups  ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message  

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Comments

  • Adam_MDAdam_MD Frets: 3420
    I'd love to hear 2 clips of the same guitar featuring a Honky Tonk Angel with cover and one of these for comparison. Would be interesting to hear the difference without a cover.
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  • OilCityPickupsOilCityPickups Frets: 9982
    tFB Trader
    I'll have to arrange that. The guitar is a customers so don't have it to hand at the moment ...but I usually have a fair few Teles through. The poles are actually longer too on a 'Topless Angel', I saw in opportunity to break the mold a bit . There's definitely more straight out oomph there a touch more bite ... perhaps a hint more openness.
    I plan to try and get a series of caparisons done over the next couple of months: my alnico 5 Tele neck pickups like the Delta and the HardMan ... and my alnico 3 Angel in covered and topless guises.

    Soon to be some new alnico 3 Strat pickups joining the lineup too ...
    Professional pickup winder, horse-testpilot and recovering Chocolate Hobnob addict.
    Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups  ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message  

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  • rprrpr Frets: 308
    Any idea when the high output Cowtron is gonna be available? What are the specs of it by the way ?
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  • OilCityPickupsOilCityPickups Frets: 9982
    tFB Trader
    Technically it should be available now! But my workload is a tad silly at the moment. I have the super sized magnets ready to go ... just need to get around to building the buggers.
    On paper the output will still be fairly modest ... as DC resistance doesn't take account of the stuffing HUGE alnico magnets that will be going in. In actual terms they will be subjectively louder and fatter than the standard Cow-T-Rons.
    Professional pickup winder, horse-testpilot and recovering Chocolate Hobnob addict.
    Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups  ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message  

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  • firstly, i'm so glad that i found this forum...where everyone that i liked has migrated to.

    secondly...Ash, i saw that you now do Alnico 8 pickups...its really piqued my interest. 
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  • OilCityPickupsOilCityPickups Frets: 9982
    tFB Trader
    Good to see you as part of our 'rebel crew' :)
    Yep, I finally got to sourcing regular, high quality supplies of alnico 8, so not only can I make many of the bridge humbucking pickups I have done fore some time available as an '8' option ... but I've also introduced the 'V' which is around 19k and fairly brutal. My own favorite is arming a NightFighter bucker (normally 14k and alnico 4) with a 8. Keeps the balance and adds 'gurrrrrrrrr.'
    Professional pickup winder, horse-testpilot and recovering Chocolate Hobnob addict.
    Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups  ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message  

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  • sounds good man...my current dilemma is either my LP and V and buying another guitar...or selling the V and getting some new pickups in the LP...in which case i would do the A8 pickups...
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  • OilCityPickupsOilCityPickups Frets: 9982
    tFB Trader
    Did you never get the V firing on all cylinders? That's a shame ... it is a real looker.
    Professional pickup winder, horse-testpilot and recovering Chocolate Hobnob addict.
    Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups  ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message  

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  • EdGripEdGrip Frets: 736
    Today I got home from work to find a rather lovely string-wrapped strat pickup waiting for me. Pictures may very well follow.
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  • TheGuitarWeasel;29697" said:
    Did you never get the V firing on all cylinders? That's a shame ... it is a real looker.
    You know what...i did...i got tone zone in the bridge and it was all great until i got my SG with p90's. Now the V sounds dead and flat compared to the SG and the LP also feels great but sounds dead too.
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  • OilCityPickupsOilCityPickups Frets: 9982
    tFB Trader
    Hummmm not tried Tone Zones ... but I could see how a really live SG with P90s could spoil you :)  It's a shame though ...
    Professional pickup winder, horse-testpilot and recovering Chocolate Hobnob addict.
    Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups  ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message  

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  • i may still not sell...i'm still in two minds...since both guitar feel amazing to play.

    so...tell me about A8 pickups...how lively are they compared to my stock epiphone pick ups in my LP?

    i'm really after clarity and a bit on the bright side, whilst still maintaining a good bottom end.
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  • OilCityPickupsOilCityPickups Frets: 9982
    edited September 2013 tFB Trader
    There are a couple of different stock pickups used in Epis ... none of which are particularly bright or powerful if I remember correctly. Your Epi may be fitted with alnico 5 with possibly a ceramic pickup in the bridge position.
    Alnico 8 is not far short of ceramic for power ... but has a much more 'organic' tone. It's a very well balanced magnetic alloy, the top end cutting but not screechy (like a ceramic), the middle and bass nice and even and 'vintage' feeling ... while still being FOOKIN loud.
    I've sold a few combos of pickups for LP ... and my own favorite mix up is a Scrapyard Dog Plus alnico 5 in the neck: 10k ish and plummy, taught in the bass, a cutting top end and a really 'open' sound.
    In the bridge I like a custom 14k NightFighter ... normally fitted with alnico 4 ... I replace with an alnico 8 bad boy: this gives a balanced pickup with plenty of top and bottom end, mid sustain ... and loads of power to spare.
    Professional pickup winder, horse-testpilot and recovering Chocolate Hobnob addict.
    Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups  ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message  

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  • Dear Guitar Weazel, what would you advise from you line up to go in an (otherwise) excellent Korean Epi 335? grateful to hear
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  • Adam_MDAdam_MD Frets: 3420
    If it was me I'd stick a set of blitz spirits in a 335 low wind alnico ii. I had a set of tonerider alnico ii classics in mine and it was ace. I regret selling that guitar but if I'm being honest I miss the pickups more than the guitar.
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  • OilCityPickupsOilCityPickups Frets: 9982
    tFB Trader
    Yup ... Id stick with alnico 2 certainly in the neck ... with  an alnico 2 or even alnico 4  - it's a custom option for Blitz Spirits, and gives a slightly fatter bottom and more even balance in the bridge position. It depends on what you play: for clean and driven blues I'd go alnico 2 in both positions. If you want  a little more fire in the bridge (without going more windings) for rockier stuff ... I'd take the   alnico 4 option.
    If PAFness is your goal then it really should be 2 all the way ... though if you have a slightly darker 335 - as some are - you might consider a Scrapyard Dog ... it's more like a T Top Gibbo pickup (still low output) with lots of top and bottom and an aggressive bark (hence the name).
    Professional pickup winder, horse-testpilot and recovering Chocolate Hobnob addict.
    Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups  ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message  

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  • OilCityPickupsOilCityPickups Frets: 9982
    tFB Trader
    A cautionary tale for all bass players ... and all pickup swappers in general. This Rickenbacker ceramic magnet Hi-Gain bass pickup wound up on my bench today. The owner was careful taking out the pickup for some work on the pots etc ... but not careful enough. The Rick bobbins are very full ... not well potted, and only covered by a thin layer of poly tape. The poor chap caught some windings that had worked their way out from under the tape (it was a really loosely wound coil) and managed to break them in three places. Luckily for him all three breaks were in the first 100 turns so I carefully unwound past them, then spliced in some 44awg to replace the trashed coils.
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    The guy was quite lucky, as it would have been pretty easy to catch some deeper windings ... and then a complete rewind would have been necessary.
    Often Bass pickups are more susceptible to damage than guitar ones. Rick pickups in particular are quite vulnerable ... very fine wire indeed ... very full bobbins ... little protection. But then again I just re wound a jazz bass neck pickup that had suffered from chopped windings ... unfortunately that one was damaged further in. But there is little scope for error in putting on a JB cover ... plastic edges are sharp ... YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED :)
    Professional pickup winder, horse-testpilot and recovering Chocolate Hobnob addict.
    Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups  ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message  

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  • OilCityPickupsOilCityPickups Frets: 9982
    tFB Trader
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    For those of you who like a bit of pickup porn ... here's my new updated and upgraded Mighty Ninety.
    Shown is a bridge position example ... a hybrid that uses one alnico 4 and one alnico 5 magnet to smooth the top a little and let all that nasty bridge P90 growl out.  Seen under lovely, shiny new nickel covers,  the bridge has resistance of 8k while the neck is  7.6k and is an alnico 2/5 hybrid. Other magnet combos are available at no extra charge :)

    Professional pickup winder, horse-testpilot and recovering Chocolate Hobnob addict.
    Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups  ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message  

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  • Nice. :)
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  • Really like seeing your work, and I love your branding
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