http://www.cwhdallas.com/fender-tube/
Fender Tube
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FENDER MODEL TWIN REVERB-AMP AA270 LAYOUT T SHIRT TUBE VINTAGE LG |  |
0 Bid | US $8.99 | 2h 27m |
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Fender Deluxe Tube Guitar Amp PR 246 40 watt combo | |
0 Bid | US $400.00 | 3h 25m |
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Rivera Suprema 55 All Tube Combo Recently Serviced w/ JJ tubes (marshall fender) | |
5 Bids | US $495.00 | 4h 33m |
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Fender Pro. Jr. Tube Amplifier | |
15 Bids | US $255.00 | 7h 18m |
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1969 Fender Champ Tube Amplifier Made in USA For Parts or Restore | |
13 Bids | US $202.50 | 9h 23m |
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1977 Fender Champ Tube Amp | |
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US $600.00 | 9h 33m |
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Fender Vibro Champ XD 5-watt Class A Tube Guitar Combo Amp w/ DSP | |
7 Bids | US $130.50 | 10h 57m |
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RCA 6V6GT tube Fender Bassman Vintage Tested Guitar Amp Tube | |
0 Bid | US $3.99 | 11h 8m |
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GE 6V6 Power tubes Pair Fender Bassman Tested Guitar Amp Tube Matched NICE | |
1 Bid | US $9.99 | 11h 25m |
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GE 6V6 Power tubes Pair Fender Bassman Tested Guitar Amp Tube Matched NICE | |
0 Bid | US $5.99 | 11h 26m |
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Fender Pro JR Tube Amp Clean | |
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US $275.00 | 13h 45m |
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Vintage 1964 Fender Princeton Blackface Pre-CBS Tube Guitar Amp AA964 AMAZING! | |
16 Bids | US $560.00 | 15h 31m |
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Fender 2002 Pro Reverb Reissue Tube Guitar Amp w/ Wheels & Manual Made in USA | |
3 Bids | US $601.00 | 16h 30m |
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Marshall fender tube set 50 watt Electro harmonix tung sol tubes new 6l6gc 12ax7 | |
1 Bid | US $49.99 | 19h 32m |
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Mached Vintage Audio Tubes Bendix 6106 sim GZ32 5V4 Leak Fender amp | |
0 Bid | US $24.99 | 21h 40m |
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Fender Hot Rod Deluxe 40 watt tube amp, footswitch and replacement tubes | |
0 Bid | US $450.00 | 1d 1h 31m |
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FENDER MODEL TWIN REVERB-AMP AA270 LAYOUT T SHIRT TUBE VINTAGE 2XLG | |
0 Bid | US $8.99 | 1d 6h 34m |
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Fender Vintage '63 Tube Reverb - Nearly New! | |
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US $499.00 | 1d 17h 32m |
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One of a Kind Custom Fender Champion 600 Tube Amp | |
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US $154.00 | 1d 18h 17m |
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Fender 57 Champ 5 watt Hand Wired Tube Rectifier Guitar Amp Combo | |
0 Bid | US $700.00 | 1d 19h 21m |
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Fender 140, all tube guitar amp, extremely rare!!! Europe | |
0 Bid | US $1,299.00 | 1d 22h 2m |
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Kawasaki Z1 KZ900 KZ1000 Z1R Rear Fender Tube Damper Rubber 92075-132 NEW NOS | |
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US $9.99 | 2d 8h 26m |
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Fender Hot Rod Deluxe III 40W 1x12 Tube Guitar Combo Amp | |
0 Bid | US $449.99 | 2d 9h 28m |
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VINTAGE 15" GUITAR FENDER BASS TUBE AMP CTS SPEAKER | |
0 Bid | US $65.00 | 2d 11h 25m |
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FENDER VINTAGE TWIN REVERB AMP LATE 70'S? ALL TUBE SQUARE MAGNETS ON SPEAKERS | |
20 Bids | US $670.00 | 14h 20m |
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Vintage Fender Amp Vacuum Tubes/Pair of 5U4GB | |
0 Bid | US $34.99 | 2d 15h 29m |
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Smittybilt 76872 XRC Textured Black 1.5" Tube Front Fender with No Flare, Pair | |
0 Bid | US $.99 | 2d 16h 54m |
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Fender Champion 600 6'' 5 watt Guitar Amp Guitar Amp Combo - NO RESERVE - TUBE | |
14 Bids | US $52.00 | 2d 18h 6m |
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7 tungsram 12ax7 tubes great for fender and marshall and bogner amps rare dual | |
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US $199.99 | 11h 25m |
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Premium Tubes for Fender Twin Reverb Amp | |
0 Bid | US $189.00 | 3d 1h 42m |
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2-Pack Fender Vacuum Tube for Amp 12AX7 7025 | |
7 Bids | US $6.49 | 3d 5h 28m |
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1970s Fender Guitar Bandmaster Tube Amp & New Cabinet *NO RESERVE* | |
1 Bid | US $400.00 | 3d 5h 53m |
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FENDER TUBE AMP AMPLIFIER COVER,BLACK,BLUES DEVILLE,HOT ROD,OTHERS | |
1 Bid | US $3.00 | 3d 6h 28m |
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FENDER,PEAVEY,MARSHALL ,AMPEG,TUBE AMP AMPLIFIER COVER,BLACK,OTHERS | |
0 Bid | US $3.00 | 3d 6h 32m |
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Hytron 6V6 Tubes For Audio Equipment Guitar Amps Fender, Gibson etc | |
5 Bids | US $7.08 | 3d 9h 5m |
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Vintage 1976 Fender Vibro Champ Silverface 6W Tube Guitar Combo Amp! | |
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US $499.00 | 3d 11h |
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Fender Bassman Amp Tube Amplifier Made in USA Rebuilt | |
0 Bid | US $750.00 | 3d 12h 4m |
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Vintage 73 Fender Princeton Reverb, Original, VGC, All Tube combo | |
0 Bid | US $900.00 | 3d 13h 48m |
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Vintage 64 Fender Princeton Amp, Original, VGC, All Tube combo | |
4 Bids | US $810.00 | 3d 14h 2m |
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Fender Blues Junior ORIGINAL U.S.A. American made tweed tube amp combo amplifier | |
0 Bid | US $699.99 | 3d 14h 32m |
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Fender 6l6gc guitar amp tube | |
0 Bid | US $9.95 | 3d 14h 44m |
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Fender Blues Junior, Limited Edition, Blue Jensen, Tube Tweed Amp, great!! | |
18 Bids | US $199.40 | 3d 14h 47m |
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FENDER SUPER-SONIC CUSTOM HEAD TUBE AMP W/REVERB!!*USA* | |
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US $849.99 | 3d 15h 3m |
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Fender Pro Reverb Tube Amplifier Vintage 1970's Guitar Amp No Reserve | |
14 Bids | US $378.00 | 3d 15h 12m |
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Fender Champ Silverface Tube Amp 1970's NO RESERVE!! | |
0 Bid | US $275.00 | 3d 15h 32m |
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Fender Hot Rod Deluxe Ltd Edition, Dr Z Brakelite, Tungsol tubes | |
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US $575.00 | 3d 15h 58m |
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FENDER Silverface Vintage VIBRO CHAMP all TUBE Guitar Amplifier..sweet tones | |
1 Bid | US $250.00 | 3d 17h 13m |
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Fender TBP-1 Tube Bass Preamp, Vari-Q smart semi-parametric EQ | |
15 Bids | US $223.50 | 1d 6h 20m |
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Motorcycle Rego Tube Registration Label Holder Fender | |
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US $6.32 | 7d 19h 34m |
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Pair of Vintage RCA 12AX7A ECC83 Same Code Tubes for Fender & More Amps | |
2 Bids | US $11.50 | 4d 4h 39m |
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Esta Bueno List Price: $14.98 Sale Price: $9.50  |
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All products are BRAND NEW and factory sealed. Fast shipping and 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed. |
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Lone Star: Original Soundtrack From The Film List Price: $16.98 Sale Price: $17.46 |
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Writer-director John Sayles's complex, adult mystery delves deeply into borders at myriad levels, a theme echoed beautifully in this collection of country, blues, norteño, R&B, and folk songs that appear as source cues in the film. Sayles's hand in picking them is evident in terms of both quality and thematic resonance: in a telling gesture, Ivory Joe Hunter's mournful "Since I Met You Baby" is answered with a Spanish cover version, created for the film, featuring Freddie Fender. Whether reinforcing the film's cultural milieu or underlining its emotions, strong performances from Lucinda Williams, legendary Mexican songstress Lydia Mendoza, Little Willie John, Little Walter, and Conjunto Bernal give Lone Star heft far beyond most cinematic song compilations. --Sam Sutherland |
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WARN 76873 Winch Clutch Handle List Price: $1.00 Sale Price: $4.54 |
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Photo's are for reference only. Please read item title carefully as the manufacturers part number is the item you will receive. |
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FENDER PASSPORT SPKR WALL MOUNT S/O List Price: $29.99 Sale Price: $21.52 |
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FENDER PASSPORT SPKR WALL MOUNT S/O |
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FENDER GROOVE TUBES THE BRICK TUBE PRE-AMP List Price: $499.99 |
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Groove Tubes 931-2003-000 The Brick Tube Microphone and Instrument Pre-Amplifier |
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Groove Tubes FENDER GROOVE TUBESGT HARDTOP GT HARDTOP (Pro Sound & Entertainment / Microphones) |
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FENDER GROOVE TUBESGT HARDTOP GT HARDTOP. Shock mounted GT Hyper Cardoid capsurePerfect hand-held vocal mic for stage or studioRemovalbe ball-end pop filterHyper-cardioid fixed polar patternWarm FET circuitry produces low-noise and high quality sonicsRequires 48V phantom power for operationFrequency response: 20HZ-18kHz 146dB maximum SPLIncludes rugged zipper-case and HM2 swivel hard mount |
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IK Multimedia AmpliTube iRig List Price: $39.99 Sale Price: Too low to display |
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AmpliTube iRig is a combination of an easy-to-use instrument interface adapter for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad mobile devices, and the new AmpliTube for iPhone software for guitar & bass. Simply plug the iRig interface into your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad, plug your instrument into the appropriate input jack, plug in your headphones, amp or powered speakers, download AmpliTube FREE for iPhone, and start rocking! You'll have at your fingertips the sound and control of three simultaneous stompbox effects + amplifier + cabinet + microphone - just like a traditional guitar or bass stage rig! Add amps and effects as you need them - you can expand your rig with up to 10 stomps, 5 amps, 5 cabinets and 2 microphones in the AmpliTube iRig app custom shop! |
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Channel Master Distribution Amplifier 8-Way 4 DB 50-1000 MHZ Professional Grade Performance List Price: $160.70 Sale Price: $89.80 |
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Channel Master by PCT multimedia RF amplifiers and splitters are commercial grade, and can be used in HDTV, CATV, off-air, analog, and digital RF distribution applications where performance and reliability are required. Gain: 8 dB. Operating frequency: 50 |
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CE Labs HDMI 1X4 Distribution Amp Enhanced Amplified Signals For Longer Cable Runs List Price: $446.49 Sale Price: $258.41 |
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Multiple amplifiers can be cascaded for additional high definition. |
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Kawasaki KX12 Girls' Bike (12-Inch Wheels) List Price: $79.99 Sale Price: $73.99 |
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The good times will roll for your daughter with the Kawasaki KX12 12-inch bike--perfect for young beginners. It features a stylish coloring in cornflower blue and lime with oversized, knobby white tires. The full bearing construction enables ease of repair and the fully enclosed chain guard keeps little fingers safe from the chain. It offers a pair of training wheels that can be easily installed or taken off when no longer needed. This single-gear bike also has rear coaster brakes, front and rear fenders to protect against the elements, comfortable padded seat, tall handlebars with an 8.5-inch rise, and tires that measure 12.5 by 2.25 inches. It also comes with a handlebar bag to carry all your child's essentials. It's backed by a lifetime warranty on the frame and forks and a one-year warranty on other components (excluding tires and tubes). Some assembly required. The Kawasaki® 12-in bike for girls features genuine air tires for a smooth ride, a full-bearing construction for easy repair and a fully-enclosed chainguard to help keep little fingers safe from the chain. The bike also comes set-up with a padded frame, a full-size coaster brake and training wheels. |
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3M 08061 Plastic and Emblem Adhesive Tube - 5 oz. List Price: $15.22 Sale Price: $7.86 |
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Strong, quick-drying adhesive can be used for bonding plastic or metal emblems, interior rigid plastic, tall light lenses, vinyl side moldings or upholstery |
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4pc Blue Flexible LED Wheel Well Fender Light Kit List Price: $89.98 Sale Price: $59.99 |
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LEDGLOWs Blue Flexible Led Wheel Well Kit is a four piece flexible tube kit designed to illuminate your vehicles wheel wells and is jam-packed with an assortment of features. Each kit includes a total of four 24inch flexible tubes with 20 ultra bright LEDs per tube giving you a total of 80 wide angle LEDs. Each tube includes 9 ft of wire for maximum mounting possibilities. This is a perfect addition to your cars exterior giving you a sophisticated style and a unique look. The included control box features multiple patterns such as strobe, fading, and sound activated effects. All mounting hardware and detailed installation instructions accompany each kit. LEDGLOW stands by every kit with a one-year limited warranty and free technical support. |
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Smittybilt 76873 XRC Textured Black 1.5" Tube Front Fender with 3" Wide Flare, Pair List Price: $389.98 Sale Price: $360.85 |
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For the ultimate in off-road style and trademark Smittybilt toughness, Smittybilt XRC Tube Fenders are the perfect combination of top quality design and dependability in all conditions. XRC Tube Fenders sport a high clearance design that's practical, sleek, and sturdy, all in an easy-to-install package. Manufactured from 1.5 inch x .120 wall tubing and 5/32 inch plate. |
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Guitar Amplifier Handbook - Understanding Tube Amplifiers and Getting Great Sounds (Softcover) List Price: $24.99 Sale Price: $15.49 |
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(Understanding Tube Amplifiers and Getting Great Sounds). Book. Softcover. 240 pages. Backbeat Books #087930863X. Published by Backbeat Books |
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Design and Construction of Tube Guitar Amplifiers List Price: $29.95 Sale Price: $26.95 |
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Full details can be found at translucidamps.com. Written for musicians, amp builders, and tube audio enthusiasts, Design and Construction of Tube Guitar Amplifiers provides a complete yet easy-to-understand explanation of how to design, modify, construct, and test tube amps. Profusely illustrated, the book uses graphic aides and basic algebra and scientific principles to teach you everything you need to know to fully understand tube guitar amp technology from both technical and musical perspectives. Chapter 1 introduces basic audio engineering concepts used in tube amps, which are used throughout the book. Chapter 2 teaches you how to design and interconnect all of the five stages in a basic amplifier. You also learn how changes in the design of a stage affect its performance. Chapter 3 discusses distortion, overdrive, tremolo, reverberation, and effect loop design. Chapter 4 shows you how to select the components you need to build an amp, how to mount and interconnect the components, and how to test, adjust, and troubleshoot an amplifier. |
When we think about Leo Fender, we usually think about the guitars that he introduced to our world. The telecaster, the Stratocaster, and the electric bass, all invented and developed by Leo Fender in Orange County California, way back when.
But actually, what may be more important is that Leo Fender was the primary architect of the guitar amplifier as we know it, and it is the guitar amplifier that enabled the development of the electric guitar.
Back at that time when Leo ran his small radio shop, tube-type amplifiers were already widely used. They were used in record players and radios, radio transmitters, public address systems, the sound systems in movie houses, and in telephone switchboards.
Realize that these amplifiers really didn't sound worth beans, but it was their presence that brought to mind the novel idea that folks could make a guitar louder. And as a spinoff of that idea as it developed, there naturally came the development of the electric bass.
In those old movies you've seen of the war years you've probably noticed those very fancy nightclubs with the big band music and people dancing and drinking and having a great time. But after that time as movie theaters became more common, and as radios appeared in almost every home in America after the rural electrification act of 1940, live music experienced a decline of popularity.
Those fancy nightclubs grew smaller, devolving into the American roadhouse, in parallel with the emergence of a car in every garage and better roads linking our fevered nation.
And given the high expense of hauling a busload of big-band musicians to an ever-dwindling set of nightclub venues, what happened was that the rhythm section stepped up front to become the entire band.
The drummer, the guitar player, the electric bass player, and the singer were everything needed in these new smaller roadhouse venues. I mean, if you take your best girl and you're drinking well hey, you got sex, drugs (alcohol), and rock and roll. Yeah, man!
Basic amplifier design of those times enabled the development of the electric guitar, Leo Fender transformed the lame record-player amps of the time into good guitar amps, and the amplified electric guitar enabled the development of the rock 'n roll band.
Thank you, Leo Fender!
From new arrangements of vacuum tubes to enable good tone, to the coupling of high-power vacuum tubes with low-power output transformers (to get a good sound), to the persuasion of the Lansing Speaker Company to produce a new design of speaker that wouldn't blow up, Leo Fender basically drove most of the innovation in guitar amplifier design for 20 years and more.
There is no actual single Fender amplifier.
From the very first there was a series of amplifiers, all of which have their own distinctive sound. However, usually we describe them most easily by describing their distinctive appearance. For example, the Woody, the Tweed, the Blond, the Brownface, the Silverface, and the Red Knob.
Still popular today. Although we most know Leo Fender for his guitars, even had he never made a guitar in his life, we'd revere him as the father of modern guitar amplifiers.
Thank you, Leo!
Traktor Topaz has been writing intriguing articles and entertaining micro-stories on the web since 2003. Not only does this author specialize in how to get the best playing action from your guitar, and news ways to use the two-handed tapping method, but you can also see his latest review site about cheap guitar amps which describes, for example, the Fender Guitar Amplifier and other amps, for guitarists who want to get the absolute best sound, and for the least money.
Dan Torres on Guitar Pickup Mod and restores
By Mark Grove
Co-writer: Dee Curtis
02/29/04 Back Catalog Article wanted by readers
When you hear the name Dan Torres and pickups in the music industry, ears tend to perk up or pickup, that's a joke get it.I know a bad one. And pickup makers like Seymour- Duncan and Di Marzio tend to take note. Introduction of this article and information on Dan Torres the amp and pickup Master from California, is by Canadian Guitar Player Music Consultant Dee Curtis.
The first time I heard of Dan Torres was when I was out in Los Angeles in the early 80's with a group of musicians, who were talking about Dan Torres who was and still is a guitar moding guru,moding their amps and guitars for them.
These guys back then got in touch with Dan through an ad in (Guitar Player) when mail order was the rage in the music business. So I sent away for some info on how to hop up your guitar and do mods to your amp, through his free brochures, and wound up getting some reprints of his articles which were in (Vintage Guitar).
I had a bit of electronic know how at the time which was helpful but nothing with tube amps. But through some of his articles I started tinkering with The capacitors and resistors in the amp head along with changing tubes, to reshape the sound coming through the cab. I wound up using his Midrange tone control switch on every guitar I had back then. Currently I'm not using them and I miss them.Dan is one of the top experts on amp and guitar modification and one a lot of top musicians use.
Very recently, I contacted Dan about my (Sovtek Midget Combo Amp) and asked him what tubes he recommended because the Sovtek was sounding a little dark to me. I had some feedback from Sovtek on this and made some mods, but it was still sounding too dark.
I love the amp, but I wanted more sparkle and cleaner tones. Dan suggested I try( 6L6 GC Tubes) which will give me clearer top end and less mid-range and darker tones. I have them on order now and I know it'll sound beautiful.
Now, anyone who's a guitar or bass player I implore you to get Dan Torres book (Inside Tube Amps), which is literally the bible on tube amps, and it's in laymen terms so anyone can understand how to--mod their amps or guitars.
Mark Grove: We first started this article with an intro on how Dee Curtis was first introduced to the amp and pickup master himself Dan Torres, but we'll end this section where we originally wanted to go, and that's talking about Dan Torres take on restoring pickups and the fact he was one of the first techs to start rewinding pickups for musicians in California. Dan also has a line of single coil and custom made pickups, along with new ones called (Torres P90's) and custom Humbuckers -- as well as SRV midrange and blues pickups.
This man is the master of pickup tone control along with other gurus like Bill Turner (EMG founder and current resident pickup expert for Fender. In this interview with Dan Torres we'll venture into Pickup restoration and how to keep those vintage pickups just"hummin" along.
<a href="http://www.torresengineering.com">www.torresengineering.com</a> This is a "uber cool" site for players
I know another bad line. Dan is also known for his amp and guitar building kits which are popular for the more astute musician. This will be an interview you'll want to archive in your e-mail or site, so get ready to be amazed by Dan Torres fellow musicians. Canadian Guitar Player talks to Dan Torres about the intricacies of pickup restoration and when to toss that old heap.
M.G: At what point has a regular or vintage pickup for that matter outlived it's usefulness sound wise and mechanically?
D.T: Currently, since the beginning of magnetic pickups, virtually none of them have actually worn out. Even the earliest pickups, unless damaged, are still functional sound wise and mechanically.
M.G: What's the most common form of pickup wear and tear that has to be addressed when restoring a pickup?
DT: Most common wear is user wear. Pick damage to the top of the pickup, getting jabbed with screwdrivers, stripped screws and results of mistreatment. Magnets and hardware may rust quite a bit from an instrument that is allowed to get damp. Rust can push magnets out of contact with the pole pieces, causing the pickup to stop working correctly.
<a href="http://www.torresengineering.com">www.torresengineering.com</a>
M.G: Is re-magnetizing a pickup important to gain back the original sustain and solid string pull?
DT: This is a very tricky question as the target tonal character of our most popular guitars (and pickups) is based on those instruments being old at the time they were used/recorded. That is--one does--not seek out a 1959 Gibson Les Paul with Patent Applied Hum-bucking pickups to play "how high the moon" (a Les Paul hit of the 50's) they seek it out to play "Sunshine of your Love" (Clapton" or "One Way Out" (Allman Bros”)
The guitars that are the most treasured were in their "second life" as used instruments picked up by the young musicians of the mid 60s' from pawn shops, etc. as very inexpensive, used, good sounding guitars. Therefore, the original magnet strength - that is the magnet strength when this particular guitar was manufactured in 1959, is not the desired "effect". The desired sound is the "old guitar" heard in the 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's and today.
A lot of effort has been put into demagnetizing magnets or finding old ones. Currently my collection of patent applied for original Gibson magnets sell for $150+ per magnet if I will let go of any of them. (only about six left.)
M.G: Does the magnetic field become weaker over time yet produce mellower and fatter tones?
DT: This is easy, yes. But the magnet field has quite a long life. Even the oldest pickups we commonly see, such as the "Charlie Christian" pickup found on the 1939 Gibson with cobalt magnets still have more than enough flux to this day. Jazz Great Barney Kessel used to bring in his far-too-famous Gibson with the Charlie Christian pickup.
Those huge, very old magnets were still very strong and the best pickup (he had several) was very high impedance, 10,000 ohms. This pickup sounded absolutely wonderful, a magical musical instrument. A lot of experimentation was done in the 80's by many pickup manufacturers, with stronger or exotic magnets.
But the point of diminishing return was reached instantly. Stronger magnets may produce a louder pickup with more output, but the excess string pull caused damping, pulling the strings out of pitch so the pickups had to be placed quite a ways below light gauge strings, canceling out most of the improvement. The exotic magnets did not sound as nice as the wider flux range alnico or ceramic magnets.
M.G: Do hum-bucking or single coil's wear down faster and why?
DT: A tough one. Single coils, such as Strat pickups die more frequently, but usually due to damage. It is not hard at all to wear through the top of a strat pickup cover and damage the coil. P-90 type single coils use hum-bucking magnets (2) and have a plastic coil form, so we have a cross over in pickup structure between the hum-bucker and P-90.
The cylindrical magnets of the Strat and Telecaster pickup have a large amount of flux and will last several life times if they are not damaged. The earliest guitars still sound spectacular. Jerry Garcia replaced his DiMarzio hum-bucking pickups frequently saying they had worn out, but these pickups have been moving around here in the San Francisco Bay area, and do not seem to have lost anything noticeable. But musical perception is far, far more sensitive then any instrument.
Not hearing them brand new makes it impossible to hear what Jerry heard. By their nature, single coils may wear down faster as the magnets are more subject to the real magnet killer, shock being hit by the pick, strings etc.
M.G: With your handling some of todays top players pickups, do they think twice about throwing out their singles or hums, or even going to a different company for restoration?
DT: I usually encourage pros and amateurs to consider keeping vintage pickups in place if they are providing the type of tone they want. I find if the guitar feels right, but doesn't sound right, hand wound or new pickups from ourselves and or all the other manufacturers can be selected along with appropriate potentiometers, tone controls, etc.
To fine tune the guitar to do exactly what one wants without butchering a fine vintage guitar, many pros are choosing new guitars, or fine quality imports (Ibanez, Aria, Cort etc.) so they can make as many changes as they wish and have several identical guitars on hand without the super high cost of vintage instruments. Restorations are done if pickups have been severely damaged, are dead or partially dead, or in some cases--when they just look ratty, ugly.
Rust can be removed and/or new pole piece screws and studs fit to hum-buckers, delicate work with steel wool can clean up strat--tele magnets. Most restorations are to dead vintage (valuable pickups) getting them back to life without losing their inherent musical character.
Broken coils are the main problem by far. With a very good eye, steady hand, and knowing exactly what to look for, the broken coil wire can be located and reattached without losing any more than one or two ohms of a 5,000 ohm pickup.
The most difficult part of this process may not be finding the broken wire. It is treatment of it after finding it. Usually you only have one chance. The wire is coated with insulation that must be removed before you can re-solder to it. Since the wire is thinner than a hair, and in some cases one is working with just 1/16 to 1/8 in of wire. This is delicate work.
M.G: What is the most common type of pickup that is replaced?
DT:Currently it is running about 55% strat--tele type and 45% hum-buckers, but it shifts constantly pretty much keyed by the current popular guitars in use on TV, Concerts and other media.
M.G.: Is restoring pickups for the most part something you should leave to luthiers or guitar parts restoration specialists?
DT: If the pickup has high value, yes, get someone with experience. A good eye, practice, and knowing what to look for can rescue a $200.00 Patent Applied for that may be totally destroyed by an inexperienced (or unsteady) hand trying to fix a broken coil wire. attention to detail will bring the pickup back to life as it should be.
M.G.: When restoring a pickup are single coils or hum-buckers easier to restore?
DT: Single coils are usually easier - they are simpler, everything is out in the open and easy to see, there are no layers of age-old tape to peel off,(a real difficulty with old hum-bucking pickups.) But -"funky" type single coils. Harmony, Silvertone, Danelectro, Kay etc. are REALLY hard to restore as they are often made on a budget.
Cardboard coil forms, glue and masking tape are all used in assembly pretty difficult to dig through. Some of these old inexpensive guitars do not even have coil forms. Just a coil of wire and magnet. It is often hard to tell what it was supposed to be in the first place!
M.G: Are there any special ways of repotting, re-magnetizing or rewinding a pickup to actually improve it's tone and sustain in regards to string pull?
DT: I would not say "special ways" as much as the application of very good technique in all these technologies. Potting or repotting in wax (or lacquer) has to be at the right temperature so the wax soaks the whole coil, but not so hot it melts a coil for tricky re-pots. But once you have it right it is easily repeated.
This will prevent microphonics, allowing the pickup to perform at a much higher volume level without squeal. Re-magnetizing may improve or restore the tone of a damaged magnet. Shock can demagnetize the magnet enough so it does not produce a signal. In this case re-magnetizing will bring it back to life.
Often more powerful magnets, such as Alnico 5 are demagnetized or redone to a lower "aged" level, to reduce string pull and get the effect we hear from vintage guitars.
A fairly effective process that may well increase sustain of a given pickup. But with our stock of new Alnico 2 magnets, it is often easier to just install a lower flux Alnico 2 magnet in place of an Alnico 5 for the lower magnetic pull, sweeter tone. Pickup winding is another story. Most of the "classic" guitars made in the 50's had hand wound pickups to some degree.
In a conversation with Doc Kauffman, Leo Fender's original partner he told me it was quite some time before he and Leo thought " maybe we should measure these pickups?"
In winding a pickup to get a good vintage tone a "scatter wound" technique works the best.The wire is not laid down absolutely perfect, but somewhat random, filling the coil by eye as it spins. This gives the pickup a more harmonic tonality - not so perfect is often more musical. Hum-bucking pickups, having two coils, are essentially unbalanced in the original Gibson Design. Each coil has a different iron load, therefore a different impedance. If the coils themselves are also not exactly equal, there is an effect of, again, less perfection and more harmonic quality due to the slightly different tonalities of each coil.
Additionally the distance between the two coils picking up the guitar string signal at different locations (called phase cancellation) gives the hum-bucking pickup its distinct character. These factors can be manipulated to vary the pickup's tonality to very extreme extents.
DiMarzio is quite skilled at developing more and more new sounds from techniques like this,(and many others.) Observation of dozens of real Patent Applied for Gibson Humbuckers,show coils that are "pretty close" but not exact when read with Digital Vom Meters,which were not available when they were made.
M.G.: When wiring a pickup are there techniques used to give your guitar a tone based on the type of music you're playing?
DT: This is one of our specialties. Besides all the variations in pickups we have discussed, we introduced the concept of varying the potentiometers to decrease or increase the load on the pickup, vastly changing the frequency response, gain and tone.
We also make a range of passive midrange controls that can be applied to any guitar to give the musician still farther range of tones from the "same old" pickups. One can start with new or custom pickups and optimize them still further for their use, or work with existing pickups by varying the volume controls, tone controls and wiring harness.
M.G.: Do higher prices for vintage pickups make it more attractive to restore the originals?
DT: Certainly, and my customers, friends, are always on the lookout for guitars that "don't work". Restoration often does not cost much and we have about 90% success on dead pickups. The balance are rewound. Very few are discarded, maybe 2 a year out of hundreds. Finding a dead pickup and having it restored or even rewound is certainly the least expensive way to get "the sound".
Dan Torres
Mark Grove-CGP
To contact Dan Torres for amp or guitar pickups mods:
<a href="http://www.torresengineering.com">www.torresengineering.com
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About the Author
Mark Grove,music industry writer from Canada.I write how to material
for musicians on guitar and gear tips,music business and artist
profiles.
We also offer an article writing service for musicians called:
The Musicians Instant Press Kit.
http://canadianguitarplayer.blogspot.com
Our site is called:Canadian Guitar Player
Is there a REAL difference between a Solid State Amp, and a Tube Amp?
I need to get a new amp, and I was thinking of getting an old Tube Amp, but they are really expensive. I was also thinking of maybe getting a 100W Marshall Solid State Amp. But, say that I got a 50W Fender Tube amp, which one would be actually better? I like to play Old Rock, like Jimi Hendrix, and I like to play Nirvana, mostly Nirvana
Tubes have a much richer sound, and when you are playing the classics, you need that sound. I'll put it this way: Hendrix and Kurt both had tubes.
NAHBS 2010 day 1: Cielo, Vanilla, Pegoretti
Sixth North American Handmade Bicycle Show kicks off in Virginia
Thanks for visiting!
