Pickup on Springy Sound ST-80?

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amunro

amunro

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Hi, can anyone help identify the bridge pick-up in my ST-80? It has a grey bobbin but no stamp (the other two are E-stamped) and the wires are cloth-insulated. On the top-side, the pole-pieces are level rather than staggered like a vintage style pup (and like the other two). The guitar has a fantastic strat-like bark in the Bridge/mid position. Also, just for info, the guitar has a really pronounced v-neck and plays like a dream. Many thanks to Gottfried Schmid from whom I bought it back in November.

TokaiST80007.jpg


TokaiST80011.jpg



There are more pictures at the following link: http://cid-dc250af1c8df891e.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/Tokai Springy Sound ST80

many thanks in advance for your collective help.

Andrew
 
Cloth-wire and flat polepieces makes it look like a Seymour Duncan to me. But I'm not sure if they come with grey bottom plates. Someone will probably correct me. But the flat polepieces makes it look like an aftermarket type of thing.
 
Hi Andrew

So you got yourself an ST80? Glad to hear you're enjoying it. :p

Everything about that pickup points to it being a later Springy or Goldstar pickup - except for the flat pole pieces. What year is the Springy? If it's a late model I guess it could have been made at some sort of transition period from plastic coated wires to cloth. I assume you have asked Gottfried?

I'm pretty sure Seymour Duncan never used grey bottoms on his pickups. I have a set of Duncans from the 80s, & they have black bottoms, like the more recent ones. I'm not sure if flat pole pieces were an option on Duncans till a bit later anyway.

My black Goldstar ST50 has unstamped grey bottom pickups with cloth covered wiring - but they have staggered poles. Apart from that they look the same. I reckon mine are Us, they measure the same and sound the same as Us.

127_2721.jpg

124_2465-1.jpg

124_2466-1.jpg


Have you measured your three pickups with a multi-meter? That might give us a clue. Silver Star pickups had flat pole pieces, but I don't recall seeing any of them with cloth wiring.

:eek:

Mike
 
thanks all. Stupidly, I didn't think to ask Gottfried :oops: If he doesn't pick this up on line, I'll drop him a mail.

The guitar is, I believe, a 1981. It sounds and feels fantastic and presumably will be even better once I've passed it through the hands of Chandlers in Kew for the kind of tender loving care which is beyond my technical abilities. On which subject, what is a multimeter? :wink: . I haven't done that either. Suitably chastened, I'l go away and try to be smarter in future :)
Andrew
 
A multimeter is a portable device that measures all kinds of electrical things, including the resistance of pickups. It will measure other stuff too, but I'm still trying to work that out! You can get one at Maplins, if you have one near you, though you may not think it's worth the expense of buying one?

If the guitar is going in for a set-up, you could ask them to measure the resistance of each pickup for you - it's an easy enough job if you have a meter. It should be a figure somewhere between about 5.5k & 6.5k, & if it has a similar reading to the two Es, it might be a close relative?

How much are Chandlers charging for a set-up these days? They have always struck me as being very expensive.
 
Stratman, I'm not sure about the price yet but they've done all my other guitars over time and always do a fantastic job - especially on my ST50 and my Fender Classic Player 60s Strat (damned stupid name). I tend to default to them because other places have produced results no better than I can manage myself :)
 

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