Jon's 2nd build: GSM-1

[jonwhitear]

Thanks guys.

As is happens, the chrome pickup rings arrived today. Unfortunately I received a set suitable for an arch top, rather than flat. Anyway, I don't really like them. Here they are along with a couple of telecaster-type chrome knobs I had lying around.



The actually look better with the pick guard, I think. Now I'm just confused.



Anyway, I think I might get some plain chrome rings, and some transparent or silver speed knobs, and see how that goes.

[JimC]

Its the pattern on those rings I think that complicates it. I agree that plain chrome rings are well worth trying. I like the plated knobs in principle, but a lower and wider knob, speed knob sized say, would be preferable to my eyes.

[Simon Barden]

Plain chrome for me as well, and I'd look for some knobs like the silver ones ones on this page (somewhere a bit more local to you) https://www.axesrus.co.uk/4-x-Gibson...s-p/bknobs.htm



I've bought some that may or may not go on my EX-1 (it's a choice between silver or black as I've got both available).

[jonwhitear]

Yes, I wasn't really sure about the pattern on those pickup rings when I ordered them, but they were the only ones I could get that are actually chrome plated metal. All the plain ones I could find (on ebay) were plastic, although there shouldn't be anything wrong with that.

I might source a couple of styles of knob, and see what works best. The idea of shorter, fatter chrome plated knobs sounds good, as does the silver speed knob.

I shall see what I can get. I(n the meantime, I decided to give the finish another wet sand to try to get rid of the orange peel. That's worked really well, and I now have a much more even finish. So even, I can even see bare wood through it on one edge ;-(

[Simon Barden]

I think 'sand through' must be my middle names.

Chrome covered plastic should be fine, at least until you can source metal ones. The standard rings are plastic after all. But if metal, they'd need to be brass or nickel underneath, something non-magnetic to stop them affecting the pickup.

[McCreed]

Since we're adding our own 2 cents worth... I actually prefer the original black p/up rings.

I think more chrome is too much. I do like the look of no scratch plate, but would be also concerned about scratching the finish, so a clear one would be ideal.

My scheme would be:
Black rings; clear scratch plate and either chrome dome top knobs or possibly amber top hat knobs.

[dozymuppet]

I like the black scratch plate, but I'd probably trim the shape a bit to the form of the body, maybe even enough to see the start of the fade.

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[DarkMark]

I also like the black pickup rings. Too bad the hog stain didn’t work out, in the photos I thought it looked good. The final finish looking just as good.

[jonwhitear]

I've received my Tonerider Alnico IIs, and have been working on the electronics. I ended up going for a push/pull on each volume control to switch between parallel and series coils, and another push/pull on each tone pot to select a bypass, i.e. when pulled, the output of the pickup goes directly to the switch, and bypasses the tone and volume pots. That makes a surprising difference to the tone. Unfortunately, even after testing this during assembly (and this was the fiddliest soldering I've done for a while), when I'd put everything together, my bridge pickup output is very low - a problem for another day.

I'm a bit confused about which way round Tonerider neck pickups should be installed. The instructions say "screws outwards" but a search around here suggested that would result in phase issues, so I've installed them with screws nearest to bridge.

[McCreed]

I'm a bit confused about which way round Tonerider neck pickups should be installed. The instructions say "screws outwards" but a search around here suggested that would result in phase issues, so I've installed them with screws nearest to bridge.

Looks great Jon, good work!

Typically (or traditionally) the slug coils are both on the "inside" IYKWIM.
Phase issues are a result of how the pickups are physically wired, not their orientation.

There is some argument as to the tone difference between slug coil vs screw coil when splitting due to added capacitance of the nickel cover. So theoretically, there could be a difference tonally depending on which coil you split to in the neck, but nothing to do with phase.

Personally I think the tonal difference between the two coils is mostly anecdotal, but people are funny about tone...