Windings on old early Sho-Bud pickups ???

Eddie Cunningham · From: Massachusetts, USA

I met up with Shot Jackson in the late 50s and had mentioned to him how rich the sound was on his new Sho-Buds. All the Fender pckps. that I had looked at were haphazardly wound so there was a big lump in the middle of the windings. He said he had developed a winding machine that wound evenly from side to side so that at each winding the wire lay next to the previous one flat across and that gave a stronger electomagnetic field and a wider frequency range output . He didn't mention how many ohms value they were wound to . Is this the way all modern pickups are wound or does it matter how you wind them ?? Just curious !! Eddie "C" ( the old non-pedal geezer )

Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

I'd hope some of that "rich sound" was in the guitar! Winking

I think most winders today use a "scatterwound" approach, and I don't think it's practical or very beneficial to have the wire wound in super-perfect, flat layers. Fender pickups were wound very lightly, and that helped give them those snappy highs and not a lot of bass. Sho~Bud was known for having a fatter-smoother sound than both the Emmons and Fender, and I think that some of that was due to the amount of wire on his pickups, and some was due to the design of the guitar.

Chris Lucker · From: Los Angeles, California USA

I don't notice the lump of windings you mention on early Fender pickups, nor do I agree with early Sho-Bud pickups sounding "rich." Just because you are scatterwinding does not mean that you will get a lump in the center. For example, it does not take much care to prevent making a center lump when loading a reel with fishing line or backing.

My 1957 Sho-Bud pickups are tapped around 8.5 and 13K ohms (apples and oranges when comparing to other pickups) and I would describe the guitar as bright bright bright. My Bigsby is rich sounding.

Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

Chris Lucker · From: Los Angeles, California USA

Or the feed guide on the pickup winder was not adjusted properly for the size of the coil.

I don't know of a pickup winder that is a "level winder" unless it is properly adjusted to do so.

I found it was easier to accidentally create peaks on the edges of the coil than a lump in the center.

Steve Waltz · From: USA

I'm thinking of having a original pickup from an early 60's sho bud permanent rewound. The wires are sticking out in a few places and they ground out to the body if the pickups are lowered. One tap is in the 9k range and the other is 18ish. I really want to make sure that the rewind can be done to be exactly like the originals. Jerry Wallace said he can rewind them and I'm sure he can, but is there anything to keep in mind? Did sho bud use a a specific type of wire or anything else that might be overlooked when rewinding? I doubt there is but I thought I would check.

Thanks,
Steve

John Bechtel · From: Nashville, Tennessee, R.I.P.

I had a ’57 Original Sho-Bud and I also bought (2) 8-string P/U's in ’60 when I was building a Short (22½”) Scale ‘Sho-Bud Clone’. Those P/U's were different, in that they were not the sealed p/u's and Shot told me they were wound to 22,000 Ohm. They were constructed similar to todays p/u's in that they had a seperate plastic plate on top and bottom and the coil was/is wrapped with electrician's tape. I never asked about the measurement on the Original, but; I do know they occasionally grounded out and could not be repaired!
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<marquee> Go~Daddy~Go, (No), Go, It's your Break Time</marquee> L8R, jb
My T-10 Remington Steelmaster

Richard Sinkler · From: aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana

While on the subject of Sho~Bud pickups, the Professional I just got has the original rewound by Jerry Wallace (the seller says they are the originals) on the E9th neck and although the C6th is a Truetone, he included the original C6th that was also rewound by Jerry.

My question, were the pickups on the Professional dual tapped? These are not.

What are the 2 small holes under the E9th pedal rod adjusters for? Almost all Buds I see nowadays have these holes plugged. I had a Super-Pro that also had the holes plugged. I assume one was a tone control, but what was the other? Volume.

John Bechtel · From: Nashville, Tennessee, R.I.P.

I don't know about that model, but; Original Sho-Buds had both Volume and Tone Controls.
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<marquee> Go~Daddy~Go, (No), Go, It's your Break Time</marquee> L8R, jb
My T-10 Remington Steelmaster

Richard Sinkler · From: aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana

Thanks John. Now that you mention it, I was the one who removed the controls on the Super Pro. Sho~Bud used really lousy mini pots and they were physically falling apart, so I removed them and plugged the holes.

John Bechtel · From: Nashville, Tennessee, R.I.P.

It was probably a matter of space available! My Original (one of the first few, in ’57) Sho-Bud used 500k [Audio] Allen~Bradley pots for both Vol. & Tone w/.05 cap. They were the going brand at the time and were also used in their Volume-Pedals. I have a Goodrich 120 pedal that I use with my non-pedal steels that fortunately has an Original A~B pot that still functions flawlessly! Eventually, both volume and tone controls were eliminated to help give PSG's a slightly brighter response. Any electronic component between the output-jack and the volume-pedal distracts from the output signal to the amp.,unless buffered somehow. Thus came along the L’il Izzy, Izzy~Plus, KLEEN~KICK, Goodrich Match Box and others. Many, if not all; External Effects-Processors have an on-board Buffered Pre-Amp.
_________________
<marquee> Go~Daddy~Go, (No), Go, It's your Break Time</marquee> L8R, jb
My T-10 Remington Steelmaster

Chris Lucker · From: Los Angeles, California USA

John Bechtel, my 1957 has the same pots -- volume pedal pots -- because it is such a long reach through the wood on the cabinet end of the guitar a pot with a shorter shaft would not reach through. No end plates.

Chris

David Cook · From: Florida, USA

Hi , The pickups on my early 70's Professional were double tapped.

Richard Sinkler · From: aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana

David,

Where were the switches to change coils located? This is a 1971 Professional according to the guy I bought it from.

John Bechtel · From: Nashville, Tennessee, R.I.P.

There was a Mini~Toggle mounted on the End-Plate for each Neck in addition to the Neck-Selector, larger toggle. Total = 3-Toggles for a Double-Neck, 1-Mini-Toggle for a Single-Neck.
_________________
<marquee> Go~Daddy~Go, (No), Go, It's your Break Time</marquee> L8R, jb
My T-10 Remington Steelmaster

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