Devil's Monday

I'm taking every opportunity to remind everyone that some of your guitar's default mounting ring is unable to frame Seymour Duncan pickups, especially the TB models. Just a gentle reminder that SD widened the pickup's dimension (length) in addition to the pole pieces spacing to accommodate the F-space.

This version you see above, was provided by the manufacturer to specifically fit the TB pickups. The entire pickup passes through easily.

Length matters

After years of handling pickups, I thought this would be good info for both seasoned & beginning players alike. The pickup depicted above is the Seymour Duncan trembucker version of the JB.

This here, is the F-Spaced version of DiMarzio's Evolution humbucker. Notice the length difference for both pickups.

Yes, I'm highlighting a minor length difference between these pickups but it makes a lot of difference if you intend to install these into the various guitar brands / models out there. Do keep these in mind:

• For guitars with pickguards, there is a high chance that a little trimming / filing needs to be done if you opt for the SD trembucker. Yes, it's only a mere mm difference but the trembucker would either not fit into some pickguards or the fitting is so tight, the sides of the pickup are scraping against the pickguard.
• For guitars with pickup mounting rings, the same issue would manifest. Notice Seymour Duncan includes a complementary mounting ring for all its trembucker pickups. So this is what it's for, please do not discard that.
• For guitars with direct mount pickups, the trembucker would again scrape against the sides of the pickup cavity. Filing this away is a little tricky but from experience, it's a tight fit as opposed to an impossible fit.

Not available (temporarily)

If you visited the Seymour Duncan web page recently, you might have seen the above notice. The TB version of all humbuckers are currently unavailable. No, they are not discontinued. There is currently a supply issue for raw materials contributing to the parts production of this model. Do understand that this will translate into supply shortages at the distributors' end. Simply put, you won't see them at your local dealers' for some time - at least some weeks (might go into months with winter & COVID compounding the situation). 

Guard & gates

Was restless, decided to give this one a makeover:

1. Mint pickguard. Added contrast, together with the burst body, it now has a Strat vibe. Wasn't going for that but it happened.
2. New pickups: Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates set. Had second thoughts initially knowing how bright the PG could be & my Mira here isn't a full solid instrument so it might go into treble overkill but it didn't happen. The PG has good clarity with a rather spongey overall tone, close to what a Custom Custom has to offer.

Fresh strings while I'm at it.

But this is my main highlight for now; the guitar is F-spaced / Trembucker-spaced. We assume guitars with fixed bridge, tune-o-matic, hard tail & other iterations that don't whammy, to manifest standard spacing instead but this proves otherwise. There shouldn't be convenient assumptions any more, measure & know your instrument's features, it doesn't take much effort.

TB59

SDs in trembucker spacing in chrome cover are a little difficult to come by & here's a hint to another tone-chasing project happening in the upcoming week 😎

TB, yes?

Saw this at the Charvel webpage, waiting for a reply from them.

I've been using SD pickups for a long time, the ones with three holes on the mounting flap are the TB version; there's spacing difference in terms of the pole pieces as opposed to the SH version. Is this important? For bridges with Fender dimensions, the pole pieces align correctly under the strings for the TB. The SH is for guitars sporting non-Fender measurements (eg. Les Paul). 

F/ TB-spaced

The objective of this entry is to prevent myself from preaching the F-Space/ Trembucker string spacing without a visual reference. This is an issue when it comes to Ibanez guitars featuring a non-whammy bridge. The guitar in question here is my Ibanez RG521, that fixed bridge there is a Gibraltar 2. The measurement as seen above, from E to E, has a clear reference to the need for an F-spaced (DiMarzio)/ Trembucker (Seymour Duncan) pickup model. The general observance here is that anything exceeding 5.2cm +/- warrants this consideration. No such provisions for the neck pickup, do take note.

You are what you instal

Saw this guitar being offered in the after-market. Note the compromised pickguard; an additional hole was drilled to accommodate the replacement humbucker. If you are diligent enough to read up on stuff before you commit to purchase, this won't happen. Seymour Duncan offers 2 versions of their production pickups, the standard & trembucker. The former is denoted by an SH abbreviation prior to the assigned model number (eg: Duncan Distortion = SH-6), the latter a TB abbreviation (eg: Duncan Distortion = TB-6). In addition to the slightly wider pole pieces spacing to accommodate the Fender bridge, the TB models feature 3 holes on the mounting bracket should you need to have one fixed into a Fender pickguard. 

But the darn thing still works, there's still sound coming out from the speakers! Yes, you're right but it shows the type of owner you are & how much commitment you put into product knowledge. Such anomaly invites the potential buyer to further negotiate the deal price, do keep this in mind. 

Seymour Duncan: Perpetual Burn

This here is the Seymour Duncan Perpetual Burn trembucker, developed with lots of Jason Becker DNA in there. OK, just tone DNA. It's an Alnico 5 at the core, it sounds blistering with drive, very Distortion-like but due to its non-ceramic nature, there's a sweet top end polish. Being an alnico pedigree, the pickup sounds sweet, clean. In summary- the PB can get as hot as it wants to be but it's not forgetting its alnico roots.

Selling: TESLA Plasma 3 humbucker set (SOLD)

Selling: Tesla PLASMA 3 humbuckers (F-Spaced/ Trembucker spacing for bridge model):

• TESLA Plasma 3 humbuckers (no screws/ springs)
• Condition: 8.5/10 (rust-free)
• Self-collect: CCK mrt station or Sengkang MRT station after 8.00PM
• No reservations/ No trades
• Queries/ confirmation: dark1349@hotmail.com
• Price: $39 each or $70 both (final)

Phat Horizon

Was at BEEZ's today to have the neck pickup of my new ESP Horizon FR-II installed. This is how things are in the pickups cavities- very neat & tidy, even the shielding paint had been applied evenly.

Ditto the controls cavity; everything prim & proper in there. I'm very happy that ESP made a point to have Orange Drop caps in the Horizons- it's a statement of quality. I don't see the point of naming my guitars after girls, I just have stickers pasted on them, strategically, of course.

The Horizon FR-II features a push-push coil split pickup switch.

The current pickups in there:

• Neck: Duncan Phat Cat
• Bridge: Duncan JB trembucker

 I have the JB-'59 combo in my ESP Phoenix II so the neck '59 here made way for the Phat Cat. It's now a single coil + humbucker pickup guitar, would it be any lesser than it's previous H-H feature? Definitely not, it's what I want to hear from this guitar & I got want I wanted; a brighter, less boomy tone in the neck pickup position.

Thanks BEEZ, for the splendid job, as always.

PS: Vanessa, if you are reading this, nice meeting you today.