Help in Identifying an SD HB Pickup

[JQUEPUB]

Hello to all. First time poster. I hope Im posting correctly and not hosing-up the SD World Order. Anyways, I picked up an early eightys Epiphone Firebird at a yard sale, and someone had installed a SD humbucking pickup in the bridge position. It's a black open coil, with a singel row of nicklel slot head screws. On the reverse there is the SD logo etched into the plate with a single sticker with B-J. I have been researching prior posts, and the xref chart for pickups, and do not see this specific reference. This pickup ohms out at 13.46. It's has great clarity, bite and attack. (I put in my SG out of curosity, and it's going to stay. Much better definition than the 498T. Anyone have any ideas what this might be? The person I bought it from also purchased the guitar with the SD installed, so no help there.

[GuitarDoc]

Is it a full sized humbucker? Only one row of screws? Is there also a row of studs? One or four conductor wire? Do you know if it has a ceramic magnet or Alnico?

[JQUEPUB]

Thanks for the reply. It's a double coil, standard size. 4 leads. It has 1 single row of slotted, round head pole screws in one coil , and the typical round poles that are even/flat with the surface of the other coil. I do not know the magnet type. Wouldn't know how to make this determination.

[cakire82]

May it be a Duncan Custom SH-5? It has DC resistance reading of 14.1 and seems like the closest match to yours.

[hamerfan]

Very hard to decide: It looks like a standard humbucker (slugs and fillister screws), the DC-Resistance near 14k - i would say a mislabeld Duncan Custom, but i should read DCJ on the label.
If your measurement of the resistance was off and should be around 16k, it could be a JB (the labeling should be JBJ then.) Still a mystery......

[GuitarDoc]

My first guess would also be a Custom, but don't know for sure. Not enough info. If we knew if it had a ceramic mag (determined by its black color and light weight, compared to an Alnico), then I would feel better about saying it's probably a Custom.

[JQUEPUB]

Thanks to all of you for your input. I put this on 2 meters and it's a correct ohm reading. I don't know if this means anything, but the lettering on the sticker is in blue ink. Whatever it is, it's a keeper for sure. How would one get to the magnet to determine if it's ceramic or alnico? Looks like it would be a surgical procedure to me. Probably not worth the risk of turning it into a conversation piece. Thanks again Group!

[GuitarDoc]

Thanks to all of you for your input. I put this on 2 meters and it's a correct ohm reading. I don't know if this means anything, but the lettering on the sticker is in blue ink. Whatever it is, it's a keeper for sure. How would one get to the magnet to determine if it's ceramic or alnico? Looks like it would be a surgical procedure to me. Probably not worth the risk of turning it into a conversation piece. Thanks again Group!

Simple operation. Loosen 4 screws on baseplate. Pull baseplate away from bobbins slightly. If the PU is wax potted, loosen the magnet from the baseplate. Slide it out 1/2 way and look at it. If it is grey or shiny metalic, it is Alnico. If it is black and looks like glass or plastic, it is ceramic. If there is still some doubt, slide it out all the way being careful not to break any of the wires and to mark which side is up and which end is coming out first (to make sure you put it in the same way to keep polarity correct). If it is heavy like metal, it is alnico. If it is light like plastic, it is ceramic.

It may sound complicated or like a dangerous surgical proceedure, but it is quite simple. You may even find that it is so easy, you'll get into magnet swapping as a means to getting your perfect tone.

[jafo]

Also, SD color codes their Alnico mags with a colored strip: if there's blue paint, it's A2; black = A5.

[JQUEPUB]

Ok....Im going in..I've got the jacks and timbers at the ready. Ill separate the truth from the facts on the magnet type here shortly. Stay tuned...story at 11.

[JQUEPUB]

It was quite a project extracating the pickup out of an SG, but here's what I discovered: not ceramic magnets. These are obviously made of a metal alloy. I did not see any discernable color markings. The patient was up and walking after closing the wounds. Still works. Since this was an elective exploratory procedure, Im sure it's not covered under my health care plan either. The industry needs to standardize pickup connections so that one only needs to insert the unit into fixed socket. Plug and play.

[DrNewcenstein]

I agree about the standardization, but then you'd have 4 different opinions on who should set the standard - Fender, Gibson, Dimarzio, or Duncan.


At any rate, does the sticker look like it might have room for another letter before the B? Could have been smudged off over the years but then again those stickers were usually put on before the wax job, which basically sealed them. Wouldn't make sense if the wax cooked off one letter but not the others.