Zhangliqun Tele Pickups!

[kjrocks]

I just want to take a minute to tell you all about a set of pickups Zhangliqun wound for me. I picked up a Squire tele in a trade and absolutely had to get rid of the stock pickups.I told him I wanted something hot that would really rock this thing. Well let me say he did it again. First he sent me bridge wound at 10k and sound great but had a little feedback issue so he wound me another and starting potting some until he got it just right.This one is now 11k, and potted perfectly. It didn’t effect the tone at all but now you can run this thing with full gain and it just screams.The neck pickup was another labor of love too. He wound a few until he got two he thought I might like and actually sent me both to try and decide with one I liked better. The first was a 9k that was just perfect.It was clear loud and strong ,cleans were just beautiful.The second was right up my alley though.Its like 10.7k and is killer. It sounds almost identical to the 9k but with just a little more hair.It like having an OD pedal built into it.If you just dig in hard it just starts to give you a little break up, very cool.So now I have two pickups that I love to hear in a guitar I’m not so thrilled to play but that’s another story. Dave is a terrific guy to work with and will get you whatever you want until you’re happy.Thanks so much Dave, I’m sure we’ll be doing more business together in the future.

[Gearjoneser]

Sounds cool. If they sound good in that guitar, maybe you could pass the guitar along, but save those pickups for a good US Tele.

[kjrocks]

Thats exactly what I'll do some time.I would love to hear these in nice guitar.I'm not lettin' em go....

[firebirdVII]

Congratulations

[Aceman]

I think Seymour had better start an intern program before someone snatches Zhang up! What are you calling them?

Twangliquns? Zhangbangers?

[OlinMusic]

I played a couple of Zhang's 10k Tele pups
I bought an A3 humbucker set

The man is a GREAT player with a GREAT ear for tone!

[ratherdashing]

Good to know - thanks for the review. I need me a good Tele lead pup myself.

[joelap]

Zhang's been very helpful with myself since I want to try winding my own pups eventually or someday. He was very informative and honest with me. A big +1 for him.

[Zhangliqun]

Not someday, Joe -- do the Nike thing and just do it!

[MonkeyKnifeFighter]

This isn't helping my Tele GAS.

~MkF!

[jeremy]

zhang, when you wind your tele neck pups how big a magnet do you use? ive found using a taller magnet can really help with the tone of the neck pup

[Zhangliqun]

In kjrocks' rhythm pickup, there is no cover, which I think improves the tone a lot. Plus the magnets are radiused (not a vintage stagger and not flat either) and the top flatwork is set high enough to get 10.7k worth of #43 wire on it. The magnets are 0.688" on the E, A, B and E strings and 0.719" on the D and G. For a vintage stagger, you would normally have a 0.656" for the B but I'm not a fan of the weaker B string so I just use another 0.688". (So these are pretty standard height magnets.)

I'll sometimes set the B string pole a shade higher to make a better radius for even-ness of output from G to B to high E, and will usually set the G magnet just a shade lower than the D since the D is wound and needs a little extra.

As for whether a taller magnet will give better tone just in an of itself being taller, I can't say but would guess the answer is no.

BUT...in addition to manipulating the height of each magnet for a custom radius, taller magnets will allow you to get a lot more wire on the bobbin and that will certainly affect tone. One of the advantages for a winder of Fender-style (Tele/Strat) bobbins is you can set the height of the top flatwork wherever you want and thereby affect the width of the coil in addition to the height. And if you have taller magnets, you can set it higher to make room for more wire for a higher output pickup. Or if you are making a more vintage output pickup but want a little extra warmth, you can set the top lower so the coil ends up being wider than it would be otherwise and the coil will see more low freq's.

So it's a bit more complicated than just a taller magnet in and of itself affecting tone.

[beerdrinkingtech]

11k-to-12k Tele's are the bomb!

Regards’
BDT

[LesStrat]

A forum brother helping a forum brother. I love it.