Thread: Guitar parts

OK, I am looking to rebuild a single coil electric that died when I moved to Sedalia. It's an early 90's Peavey predator, I got from my dad (American made!) and it USED to be awesome.

I have wanted to stick some different pickups, tone switches etc etc in it. Basically a complete rebuild of the electronics.

I have been lookin around for different pickups and frankly...I'm lost. I want some pickups that keep the clear tonality and versatility of low to moderate output pickups. (I have effects pedals for everything, so I don't need really high output pups.)

Lindy Fralin pickups are supposed to be good, but they are too damn expensive for me, since I don't do gigs.

Lace makes some fancy new pickups with supposedly wider and more even response across frequencies... But I have read reviews that they sound thin and flat.

Seymour Duncan, of course, has a bunch of stuff and they are middle of the road re: cost and overall ratings.


I dunno, any suggestions?

Can't help you... but I'll try to help. Nest time I talk to a buddy of mine that is into stuff like that, I'll ask and report back to you.
Now, if you ever need to rebuild a piano...
Good luck!

Hey! post number 350! And I spent it on you, Joe!...

I really like the Fender Noiseless (all around) or their custom shop Texas Specials (especially for blues).

I have a recording of the Texas specials on Home if you want to hear them.

Originally Posted by hults

I really like the Fender Noiseless (all around) or their custom shop Texas Specials (especially for blues).

I have a recording of the Texas specials on Home if you want to hear them.

I have been toying with the idea of Texas Special's too.

Originally Posted by fpessanha

Can't help you... but I'll try to help. Nest time I talk to a buddy of mine that is into stuff like that, I'll ask and report back to you.
Now, if you ever need to rebuild a piano...
Good luck!

Hey! post number 350! And I spent it on you, Joe!...

Right on Franciso! I just passed 777 the other day.

for what it's worth, I really liked my EMG DG20 (david gilmour) set of pickups and electronics. Really nice sounding active pickups with an expander circuit and a presence control. you can find them on the bay... also the seymore duncans have always been great for me (consider a mini humbucker for the bridge)

The questions that pop into my mind are:

How come it USED to be awesome, but isn't any longer? Has any of the hardware/electronics been changed over the years? Anything else that isn't what it used to be? Do you play it through the same amp?

Chances are that it just needs a proper setup to play like a million bucks again. Even the tiniest amount of fret buzz can effectively kill the tone in a guitar. If you've changed the amp, that may be worth investigating; some guitars just don't jive with certain amps.

Pickups rarely go bad in my experience. In some cases, the coil windings in the pickup may loosen up, and the pickup will go "microphonic" and start to squeal uncontrollably. In case that has happened, you can have the pickup wax potted and it will be as new again (often it will be better than new!).

It is more common that pots go bad after a few years of service. You may want to upgrade the electronics with quality components. Buddies of mine are always recommending pot kits from RS Guitarworks, claiming they make a world of difference for the tone of the guitar.

As for pickup recommendations, I may not be the one to ask in your case...since I'm a chronic gain junkie. I love moderate-to-high output pickups, and singlecoils aren't my forte. However, I would second the idea of putting a singlecoil sized humbucker in the bridge position. If you're interested in keeping the singlecoil look, there are also "stacked singlecoils"; these look like traditional singlecoils, but are really humbuckers with the coils stacked on top of each other.

+1 on that sunbane... It would help to know what you mean by "used to be awesome but it died". There isn't really much that can make a guitar have no sound at all unless you have a loose connection (like if the input jack has a wire get loose, or your guitar cable is dead). In some cases even a broken pickup will make useable sound, in fact, some artists have used broken pickups to get the right squeal they want for a certain recording. What are you experiencing, and what amp are you using.

Originally Posted by Sunbane

The questions that pop into my mind are:

How come it USED to be awesome, but isn't any longer? Has any of the hardware/electronics been changed over the years? Anything else that isn't what it used to be? Do you play it through the same amp?

Chances are that it just needs a proper setup to play like a million bucks again. Even the tiniest amount of fret buzz can effectively kill the tone in a guitar. If you've changed the amp, that may be worth investigating; some guitars just don't jive with certain amps.

Pickups rarely go bad in my experience. In some cases, the coil windings in the pickup may loosen up, and the pickup will go "microphonic" and start to squeal uncontrollably. In case that has happened, you can have the pickup wax potted and it will be as new again (often it will be better than new!).

It is more common that pots go bad after a few years of service. You may want to upgrade the electronics with quality components. Buddies of mine are always recommending pot kits from RS Guitarworks, claiming they make a world of difference for the tone of the guitar.

As for pickup recommendations, I may not be the one to ask in your case...since I'm a chronic gain junkie. I love moderate-to-high output pickups, and singlecoils aren't my forte. However, I would second the idea of putting a singlecoil sized humbucker in the bridge position. If you're interested in keeping the singlecoil look, there are also "stacked singlecoils"; these look like traditional singlecoils, but are really humbuckers with the coils stacked on top of each other.

It used to be awesome... but it died when I moved. As in no sound at all, not even a pop when I plug/unplug.

I have been itching to replace it's guts since someone gave it to me. Without taking a meter to it, I would guess it's the pickup switch or pots too.

As I said in my first post, I am going to replace EVERYTHING wired in it. I already have a good idea re: tone switch et al. The pickups are the only part I am hung up on.

As far as setup goes, I know that's not the problem. I checked it from nut to bridge, and it's all good.

I already have a guitar with humbuckers in it, so I was wanting to keep the single coil sound on this geetar though.

I see.

If you decide to go for ordinary passive pickups, you will find that pots aren't included, and that they will have to be purchased separately. In that case, I would recommend a kit from RS Guitarworks (purely on hear-say) to go with the pickups. I've heard so much good about them that I wouldn't have any second thoughts.

If you decide to try a pickup kit from EMG (active, battery powered), then the pots and the jack are included, and you will only need to bother with the selector switches.

About pickup models - I don't think I have much experience with the sort of pickups you're after, so I don't really have anything to suggest.