PICKUPS - Proudly Handwound in the USA
Pronounced: JONG-bucker (rhymes with "long")
(816) 284-9859 - [email protected]
Praise Him with the vintage single coil! Praise Him with the menacing black hex screw metalhead bucker! Praise Him with the twangy Tele* bridge and the warm woody jazzbucker with gold cover! Praise him with the buzzing P90 and the quiet mini! Let everything that has a magnetic field praise the Lord! --- Psalm 150 (paraphrased, of course)
1 outTa 3 ain't bad...
No, I’m not cutting Meatloaf in half (RIP, Meat). And okay, maybe 1 out of 3 isn’t all that great. But it’s far better than an o-fer – ask any hitter – and most years it would get you at least a shot at the batting title.
What am I babbling about? Not baseball, especially with the season months away (disregard if it's now July). No, this is about how you can have a killer sounding hum-cancelling Strat pickup in the bridge position – just not in the neck or middle. See the photo above right:
Two 3-pole coils in tandem, RWRP to each other. This is hardly an original idea, and I had even tried it out myself about ten years ago, wondering why no-one else was doing it. The problem is, which I quickly learned the hard way, when you bend the string, especially the 3rd string (G), there is a phasing no-man’s land between the G and D rods where when the string is over it, the signal totally or mostly cancels out. I learned this trying it in the neck position, which made me give up on the idea entirely.
Then someone recently pointed out to me what should have been obvious -- that the string doesn’t move nearly as much over the bridge position on a bend as over the neck or middle (see above left photo). It turns out so little, in fact, that it never enters that no-man’s land.
So the tandem RWRP coils will work in the bridge position. And because the bridge is the one most complained about for tone -- too shrill (and shrillness is a problem I can fix for you for sure, with or without hum!) maybe it’s actually slightly better than 1 out of 3. Which would get you that tone batting title after all…
(P.S. There is also the possibility of a version with one 4-pole coil and one 2-pole coil that would fix this problem in neck and middle – IF you promise never to bend the A or D strings, heh-heh…)
What am I babbling about? Not baseball, especially with the season months away (disregard if it's now July). No, this is about how you can have a killer sounding hum-cancelling Strat pickup in the bridge position – just not in the neck or middle. See the photo above right:
Two 3-pole coils in tandem, RWRP to each other. This is hardly an original idea, and I had even tried it out myself about ten years ago, wondering why no-one else was doing it. The problem is, which I quickly learned the hard way, when you bend the string, especially the 3rd string (G), there is a phasing no-man’s land between the G and D rods where when the string is over it, the signal totally or mostly cancels out. I learned this trying it in the neck position, which made me give up on the idea entirely.
Then someone recently pointed out to me what should have been obvious -- that the string doesn’t move nearly as much over the bridge position on a bend as over the neck or middle (see above left photo). It turns out so little, in fact, that it never enters that no-man’s land.
So the tandem RWRP coils will work in the bridge position. And because the bridge is the one most complained about for tone -- too shrill (and shrillness is a problem I can fix for you for sure, with or without hum!) maybe it’s actually slightly better than 1 out of 3. Which would get you that tone batting title after all…
(P.S. There is also the possibility of a version with one 4-pole coil and one 2-pole coil that would fix this problem in neck and middle – IF you promise never to bend the A or D strings, heh-heh…)
NEW OPTIONS FOR A FENDER BRIDGE POSITION TONE IN A HUMBUCKER OR P90 SLOT!
Pictured here is a Rod-90-Bucker with Alnico rods in a Fender slant.
For those not familiar with the 90-Bucker, it is a P90 designed to fit in a humbucker slot. The Rod-90- Bucker is a 90-Bucker with -- surprise! -- rod magnets intead of screws.
The slant of the rods (vs. straight down the middle) gives a more authentic Fender tone in the bridge position. This can also be done with soapbar or dogear P90s, though the angle would be a bit less.
For those not familiar with the 90-Bucker, it is a P90 designed to fit in a humbucker slot. The Rod-90- Bucker is a 90-Bucker with -- surprise! -- rod magnets intead of screws.
The slant of the rods (vs. straight down the middle) gives a more authentic Fender tone in the bridge position. This can also be done with soapbar or dogear P90s, though the angle would be a bit less.
INTRODUCING THE MINI-90-BUCKER
A true single coil direct replacement for minihumbuckers
It’s far more common to replace P90’s with minis – typically because of the hum – but sometimes players who do that start to miss that P90 growl and are willing to put up with the hum again to get it back.
Now if you have an LP Deluxe (or other guitar with minis mounted via a ring that’s basically a P90 cover with a big skylight in it) and you’re a pretty good DIYer, then you know you can replace your mini with a standard soapbar P90 fairly easily, meaning the Mini-90-Bucker may not be for you.
BUT...if you have a Firebird or other guitar with routs too small to fit a soapbar and you want to avoid the irreversible woodwork required to make one fit, the Mini-90-Bucker is at your service. Still you’re thinking, HEY ZHANG, WHO CARES ABOUT ALL THAT CRAP IF IT DON'T SOUND LIKE A REAL P90 -- DO IT OR DON'T IT? (Yes, I know you think in a NY accent...)
100%? No. But extremely close. Far closer than I thought it would be when I started it, I would say 95% easily. With certain mods or options, closer still...
The prototype pictured here is a Mini Honk 90 at 12.5k with 43 gauge PE and two A2 bar magnets while the full-size Honk 90 is 9.7k/42 gauge with one each A5 and A2 bar. The mini version is about 95% there on tone, just the tiniest bit thinner with the usual A5/A2 formula. But switching to double A2’s gets the tone 100% there with maybe a bit less punch, which can be made up by raising the pickup a little closer to the strings. (I also guarantee you authentic, vintage-correct annoying P90 hum and I won’t even charge you extra for it. You better believe it, baby...)
All kinds of winds are available in this new design, from hardcore vintage to Alnico 8 semi-high output models. Let me know what you want and we'll come up with something.
This prototype has slightly narrower magnets at 7/16” but your Mini-90-Bucker can be made with full 1/2” wide magnets for even beefier tone. And though the larger bar mags will protrude a little bit, they shouldn’t cause any fit problems; they’ll just look a little tacky when the pickup is outside the guitar. (See photo with red arrows.) It is also a bit taller than standard minihumbuckers by 2 or 3 mm but again it shouldn’t cause any fit problems.
This prototype has a forbon bobbin but the Mini-90-Bucker can be made with a black or cream plastic top too, just like my 90-Buckers. And as you can see from the main photo, it can also come mounted in a LP Deluxe-style ring for you Deluxe owners who want the swap to be even easier.
BASS PICKUPS:
Has the toe dipped in the bass pickup market become an entire foot? -- or at least another toe?
you be the judge...
Some of you may have actually looked at my humble bass pickups page where there is only (so far) the equally humble '51 P-Bass pickup to offer -- albeit in a few varieties of wind, rod magnet size, etc. Several months back I wound a Pure Handwound Donny D (1/4" rods) with raised A and D and sent it to Daniel Thompson of Guns and Guitars fame. I had forgotten all about it -- or given up on it, I don't know which -- but just recently he did a demo of it on his Youtube channel:
You don't need me to tell you this is a really good demo. To be fair, as he explains in the video, he wired it straight to the jack, so with standard volume and tone pots, some of the treble and presence may roll off slightly, but not much. Most of what's lost would likely come back just by hiking the top on the amp EQ.
Some of the fans on his site have requested a bridge model for this same bass and, of course, a demo of the two together. I have suggested to Daniel a J-Bass for the bridge, we're working on it. The response to the video has given me confidence in trying to expand into J-Bass pu's, including 5-strings, or maybe even P-Bass pickups. So if your jazzed (so to speak) by this video and are interested in a J-Bass pickup -- or you would like a '51 like the one above or one with traditional smaller rods or whatever, you know what to do. If you don't, just click on ORDERING at the left or just hit me at [email protected].
Some of the fans on his site have requested a bridge model for this same bass and, of course, a demo of the two together. I have suggested to Daniel a J-Bass for the bridge, we're working on it. The response to the video has given me confidence in trying to expand into J-Bass pu's, including 5-strings, or maybe even P-Bass pickups. So if your jazzed (so to speak) by this video and are interested in a J-Bass pickup -- or you would like a '51 like the one above or one with traditional smaller rods or whatever, you know what to do. If you don't, just click on ORDERING at the left or just hit me at [email protected].
CUSTOM PICKUPS TO A NEW LEVEL
DO YOU HAVE A NEED FOR A DIFFERENT PICKUP SHAPE, something with unusual geometry, number of poles, etc? See the photos below -- this was a very special custom job I did for a customer with a Skervesen 10-string guitar:
Not only did it require 10 poles per coil, the pickups had to be slanted (and slanted in opposite directions -- it's a fan-fret guitar!). And the spacing between the strings was not the same all the way across; it's gradually wider as you go from high strings to low.
As with nearly all guitars, the spacing gets narrower as you get farther from the bridge, so no, the photo is not distorted! (Or at least not that much.) The customer was adamant that all the poles line up dead center so the spacing not on just each pickup BUT ON EACH COIL had to be custom -- four coils with identical spacing just would not do. Yes, lots and lots of precise measurements had to be made. I also had to cut the Alnico 8 magnets to work with the slant.
TO GET ALL THIS RIGHT, I had to have the guitar shipped to me so I could make precise measurements. Also, if you look closely at the 2nd photo (below) which is pre-Zhangbucker, you'll see that the spacing on the polepieces is just awful.
As with nearly all guitars, the spacing gets narrower as you get farther from the bridge, so no, the photo is not distorted! (Or at least not that much.) The customer was adamant that all the poles line up dead center so the spacing not on just each pickup BUT ON EACH COIL had to be custom -- four coils with identical spacing just would not do. Yes, lots and lots of precise measurements had to be made. I also had to cut the Alnico 8 magnets to work with the slant.
TO GET ALL THIS RIGHT, I had to have the guitar shipped to me so I could make precise measurements. Also, if you look closely at the 2nd photo (below) which is pre-Zhangbucker, you'll see that the spacing on the polepieces is just awful.
The builder, Skervesen, which otherwise has top notch build quality, chose some off-the-shelf 10-string pickups (yes, there is such a thing) that had spacing that did not come close to matching the spacing of the strings. The slant also did not match. The pickup length was is a bit shorter so the pu cavities were shorter as well -- but this meant that in order to make pickups with spacing that matched the string spacing, the pu cavities had to be lengthened.
I got this gig on a request from James Hood Guitar (www.jameshoodguitar.com). I told them about this and they said, don't worry, we'll rout the cavities out to fit your new pickups. As you can see below, they did a very fine job:
I got this gig on a request from James Hood Guitar (www.jameshoodguitar.com). I told them about this and they said, don't worry, we'll rout the cavities out to fit your new pickups. As you can see below, they did a very fine job:
You can also see the poles line up with the strings now. The neck pu appears to be slightly skewed to the bass side but I made the mount screw holes a little wider so there's some play for adjustment -- a little nudge toward the treble side would have all 20 screws lined up dead on as they are in the bridge pickup.
THE BOBBIN MATERIAL IS FORBON, the same stuff used on traditional Strat/Tele bobbins (as opposed to the 1-piece plastic bobbins). Have not yet tried plastic material to duplicate the traditional look of humbuckers but am looking into some material that doesn't warp when dropped in the wax pot.
If you have a guitar with geometrically unusual pickups, give me an email at [email protected] or call (816) 284-9859. Depending on what you need, you may have to ship me the guitar as was the case with this job, but that will guarantee the best results.
THE BOBBIN MATERIAL IS FORBON, the same stuff used on traditional Strat/Tele bobbins (as opposed to the 1-piece plastic bobbins). Have not yet tried plastic material to duplicate the traditional look of humbuckers but am looking into some material that doesn't warp when dropped in the wax pot.
If you have a guitar with geometrically unusual pickups, give me an email at [email protected] or call (816) 284-9859. Depending on what you need, you may have to ship me the guitar as was the case with this job, but that will guarantee the best results.
NEW P90'S FROM ZHANGBUCKER R&D LABS!
aLSO: SEE THE SPECIALS PAGE FOR NEW P90-PALOOZA AND STRAT-O-RAMA DEALS -- NEW MODELS, PROTOTYPES AND OLD FAVORITES...
LOLLIPOP P90 SOAPBAR NECK:
A brand new model from our R&D labs, the Zhangbucker Lollipop is a low-wind (6.0k with 42 PE) neck P90 soapbar originally intended for Telecasters to match better with Tele bridge pickups but on testing could be used in the neck in almost any guitar/context. My neck P90's always have narrower magnets (3/8" vs. standard 1/2") to trim the fat but there is usually a mix of an Alnico 5 on the neck side and an A2 (or A3) on the bridge side but to somewhat counter the loss of warmth from the lower wind, both are Alnico 5. This gives it a paradoxical combination of roundness without darkness, warmth without ANY loss of detail -- a tone big and round and sweet like a lollipop but with tons of woody/flutey, hollow, vintage jangle, snap, air, detail and dynamics -- with a little extra push than the standard A5/A2 combo.
SNARK 90 SOAPBAR:
Brand new from Zhangbucker R&D labs, the Snark 90 is wound to 8.8k with Alnico 4 magnets but -- most importantly -- with double-build formvar magnet wire instead of the usual plain enamel. It was an experiment resulting from just asking, what would a Cherrick bridge sound like if wound with formvar? Well, the formvar gives it a lot of snark and honk and extra rudeness. But to keep it from crossing over from rude to grating, the A5 bar was replaced with an A4, while the A2 was also replaced with an A4 to keep it from getting at all squishy. Pairs very nicely with a good neck P90 to give you some righteous Pagey chirp in the middle position.
SWEET V DOGEAR:
Wound to 7.8k with 42 PE and two A3 bar magnets, this one is for the LP Special or similar type guitar that's plenty loud and rude naturally and would be complimented by a sweeter mellower wind/magnet combo. It would also be great in a semihollow or archtop (but not the neck, neck dogears are very different, require much shallower pickup and thus a pain). It's also unpotted for you no-potting fiends. Braid lead, South polarity.
A brand new model from our R&D labs, the Zhangbucker Lollipop is a low-wind (6.0k with 42 PE) neck P90 soapbar originally intended for Telecasters to match better with Tele bridge pickups but on testing could be used in the neck in almost any guitar/context. My neck P90's always have narrower magnets (3/8" vs. standard 1/2") to trim the fat but there is usually a mix of an Alnico 5 on the neck side and an A2 (or A3) on the bridge side but to somewhat counter the loss of warmth from the lower wind, both are Alnico 5. This gives it a paradoxical combination of roundness without darkness, warmth without ANY loss of detail -- a tone big and round and sweet like a lollipop but with tons of woody/flutey, hollow, vintage jangle, snap, air, detail and dynamics -- with a little extra push than the standard A5/A2 combo.
SNARK 90 SOAPBAR:
Brand new from Zhangbucker R&D labs, the Snark 90 is wound to 8.8k with Alnico 4 magnets but -- most importantly -- with double-build formvar magnet wire instead of the usual plain enamel. It was an experiment resulting from just asking, what would a Cherrick bridge sound like if wound with formvar? Well, the formvar gives it a lot of snark and honk and extra rudeness. But to keep it from crossing over from rude to grating, the A5 bar was replaced with an A4, while the A2 was also replaced with an A4 to keep it from getting at all squishy. Pairs very nicely with a good neck P90 to give you some righteous Pagey chirp in the middle position.
SWEET V DOGEAR:
Wound to 7.8k with 42 PE and two A3 bar magnets, this one is for the LP Special or similar type guitar that's plenty loud and rude naturally and would be complimented by a sweeter mellower wind/magnet combo. It would also be great in a semihollow or archtop (but not the neck, neck dogears are very different, require much shallower pickup and thus a pain). It's also unpotted for you no-potting fiends. Braid lead, South polarity.
BIG BIRD HAS LANDED
The first prototype of the bigger Firebird (larger mags and bobbins) is complete, weighing in at 10.5k/A5 with 42 PE with a full-size no-hole nickel cover. How does it sound? Just like the name suggests, a big Firebird.
For those familiar with the Paul Bunyan Tele pickup, you know it keeps all the vintage twang but adds a big midrange to widen the tone. A very similar transformation has happened here -- the classic Firebird top end remains all but untouched (I thought it would be a bit more affected) but the mids and bottom spread the tone out wide and give it a downright panoramic tone. As with most pickups I make, there's a lot of room for variation on wind and magnets so don't feel like you're stuck with the 10.5k/A5 spec for bridge and 8.0k/A5 for neck. This prototype specs are just the tip of the spear.
The prototype for the other line of Firebirds for full humbucker slots -- a true Firebird sound in a full-size bucker package, complete with true Firebird bobbins/magnets/construction -- is next. (Thinking I'll call it the Big Little Bird but if you have a better idea, let me know. I may have a contest to name it...)
For those familiar with the Paul Bunyan Tele pickup, you know it keeps all the vintage twang but adds a big midrange to widen the tone. A very similar transformation has happened here -- the classic Firebird top end remains all but untouched (I thought it would be a bit more affected) but the mids and bottom spread the tone out wide and give it a downright panoramic tone. As with most pickups I make, there's a lot of room for variation on wind and magnets so don't feel like you're stuck with the 10.5k/A5 spec for bridge and 8.0k/A5 for neck. This prototype specs are just the tip of the spear.
The prototype for the other line of Firebirds for full humbucker slots -- a true Firebird sound in a full-size bucker package, complete with true Firebird bobbins/magnets/construction -- is next. (Thinking I'll call it the Big Little Bird but if you have a better idea, let me know. I may have a contest to name it...)
FRIENDS OF ZHANGBUCKER (FOZ's)
Be sure to scroll down this page to see luthiers who use Zhangbucker pickups and other FOZ's with links and videos (in no particular order -- and with links right here): CP Thornton Guitars, Maudal Musical Machines, La Grange Custom Guitars, Jonesy Blues wiring harnesses, Tone Report and more to come...
Be sure to scroll down this page to see luthiers who use Zhangbucker pickups and other FOZ's with links and videos (in no particular order -- and with links right here): CP Thornton Guitars, Maudal Musical Machines, La Grange Custom Guitars, Jonesy Blues wiring harnesses, Tone Report and more to come...
THANKS, TONE REPORT!
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Zhangbucker was featured in Tone Report Magazine!
To read the original article, click the link below and go to page 37.
Tone Report article here
The print is a little small so in case you can't read it, see below. (They were off on some of the specs, corrections in italics.)
ZHANGBUCKER
ORIGINAL SLUGBUCKER BRIDGE/WOODBUCKER NECK
(NECK 7.6K, BRIDGE 8.3K)
David Plummer of Zhangbucker Pickups says he got into winding because most humbuckers he tried were either too muddy or too bright. His mission is to provide a no-nonsense solution to the PAF, with a balnced and 3D sounding pickup. He offers Alnico II magnets as standard, but he can put in Alnico IV's as well. The tone from these are almost tube hi-fi, and offer detail and clarity for cleans, as well as a whole new dimension of harmonic complexity for dirt.
Inspired by: Pickups being too muddy or too bright. Seemingly '57 inspired.
Magnets: Alnico II or Alnico IV. (Actually, A3, A5, A6, A8 and A9 are also available depending on model and customer need. Death to ceramics!!!)
Bobbins: Butyrate plastic. (Sometimes, usually not.)
Mismatched Coils: Yes.
Wax Potted?: Not specified. (Light potting standard, no potting upon request if you accept that I can't guarantee against squeal, especially with covers.)
Tone Report article here
The print is a little small so in case you can't read it, see below. (They were off on some of the specs, corrections in italics.)
ZHANGBUCKER
ORIGINAL SLUGBUCKER BRIDGE/WOODBUCKER NECK
(NECK 7.6K, BRIDGE 8.3K)
David Plummer of Zhangbucker Pickups says he got into winding because most humbuckers he tried were either too muddy or too bright. His mission is to provide a no-nonsense solution to the PAF, with a balnced and 3D sounding pickup. He offers Alnico II magnets as standard, but he can put in Alnico IV's as well. The tone from these are almost tube hi-fi, and offer detail and clarity for cleans, as well as a whole new dimension of harmonic complexity for dirt.
Inspired by: Pickups being too muddy or too bright. Seemingly '57 inspired.
Magnets: Alnico II or Alnico IV. (Actually, A3, A5, A6, A8 and A9 are also available depending on model and customer need. Death to ceramics!!!)
Bobbins: Butyrate plastic. (Sometimes, usually not.)
Mismatched Coils: Yes.
Wax Potted?: Not specified. (Light potting standard, no potting upon request if you accept that I can't guarantee against squeal, especially with covers.)
Maudal Musical Machines & Zhangbucker
ON THE LEFT: Thompson's Creek guitar by Maudal Musical Machines - semi hollow with a silver maple top with a redwood body, maple neck. X-bridge piezo pups in the bridge, a pair of Zhangbucker humbuckers and a Zhangbucker strat single coil in the middle. 5-position switch, stereo/mono output.
ON THE RIGHT: Woodface (TM) electrico resonator. Black walnut and maple. Zhangbucker Bell Tone Tele* neck pu (7.0k/A5) and a proprietary mic on the cone. Designed as an 'electric' resonator, it utilizes a top of the line Beard 9 1/2" biscuit cone.
Based on a Tele* neck pup with a proprietary mic. Purely passive so the magnetic pup interacts with your amp the way the gods intended. (Sounds fantastic through a PA as well so I recommend an A/B box.) Volume, voiced tone control, low end roll off.
If you want to blaze away or drive your amp ridiculously hard there's a mic cutout switch in case of feedback.
Check out Maudal Musical Machines here!
ON THE RIGHT: Woodface (TM) electrico resonator. Black walnut and maple. Zhangbucker Bell Tone Tele* neck pu (7.0k/A5) and a proprietary mic on the cone. Designed as an 'electric' resonator, it utilizes a top of the line Beard 9 1/2" biscuit cone.
Based on a Tele* neck pup with a proprietary mic. Purely passive so the magnetic pup interacts with your amp the way the gods intended. (Sounds fantastic through a PA as well so I recommend an A/B box.) Volume, voiced tone control, low end roll off.
If you want to blaze away or drive your amp ridiculously hard there's a mic cutout switch in case of feedback.
Check out Maudal Musical Machines here!
Zhangbucker is the First Choice Winder for La Grange Guitars!
La Grange is a brilliant luthier in Israel. Check out the blonde Lazer in the video (right) and the blonde and sonic Blue in the photo gallery below. (Also see La Grange's Facebook site for more details and photos.) Both are loaded with Paul Bunyan flange-less bridge and neck Strat pickups, the Sonic Blues 2 with a "stealth" Tele-neck (wound with 43 gauge to 8k on a Strat bobbin with Strat cover) in the middle and the blonde with a straight ahead covered 8k/43 Tele neck in the middle. |
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Beatdown Bunny
The beatdown discount is long over, but I'm leaving him up here because he's just so funny. For that very reason, just pause here for a moment if you're having a rough day. You need this. Stay right there, I'll be back with some herbal tea...
Need a wiring harness?
JONESY BLUES
www.jonesyblues.com
Professional wiring upgrades for Fender & Gibson guitars.
JONESY BLUES
www.jonesyblues.com
Professional wiring upgrades for Fender & Gibson guitars.
