Minibucker reference post

SFIV1967

Venerated Member
Joined
Nov 20, 2010
Messages
18,442
Reaction score
8,956
Location
Bavaria / Germany
Guild Total
8
how am I supposed to connect the wires to the 60ies little bucker?
Well, on the T-400 you first need to remove the big black heat shrink tubing (Schrumpfschlauch) carefully with a little knife or little scissors. Now you can desolder the green and grey pickup wires from the internal grey shielded guitar wire and you will also see which wire of the green or grey is ground and which is lead. If I see it correctly the thin green seems to be the ground wire and it is soldered both to the pickup bottom and also goes maybe to the Bigsby?
Now you just connect the shielding to the red tab on the old pickup and the lead to the brown wire tab. You might have to connect the bigsby ground wire to the pickup ground as well, assuming the green one on the NS goes there? In your picture I can't see what is under that big loop of the green wire on your NS pickup, your picture is hiding that detail.
Ralf
 

krysh

Guildarist in the mod squad
Joined
Apr 28, 2007
Messages
4,416
Reaction score
899
Location
near hamburg*germany
Guild Total
6
Well, on the T-400 you first need to remove the big black heat shrink tubing (Schrumpfschlauch) carefully with a little knife or little scissors. Now you can desolder the green and grey pickup wires from the internal grey shielded guitar wire and you will also see which wire of the green or grey is ground and which is lead. If I see it correctly the thin green seems to be the ground wire and it is soldered both to the pickup bottom and also goes maybe to the Bigsby?
Now you just connect the shielding to the red tab on the old pickup and the lead to the brown wire tab. You might have to connect the bigsby ground wire to the pickup ground as well, assuming the green one on the NS goes there? In your picture I can't see what is under that big loop of the green wire on your NS pickup, your picture is hiding that detail.
Ralf

thanks ralf,
I believe you are right. here is another pic of the green wires solderd to the pickup ground:
krysh_com_20150921_11_43_31_Pro_zpskxicpycq.jpg
 

Default

Super Moderator
Platinum Supporting
Joined
Jul 30, 2007
Messages
13,595
Reaction score
3,008
Location
Philly, or thereabouts
Guild Total
11
Fwiw, the minibuckers I just bought from Guild have solder points on a circuit board on the back just like the reissue HB-1S .
 

SFIV1967

Venerated Member
Joined
Nov 20, 2010
Messages
18,442
Reaction score
8,956
Location
Bavaria / Germany
Guild Total
8
Steve,
are your pair embossed with GUILD R (Rear = Bridge) and GUILD F (Front = Neck) on the bottom? Just curious. I only now noticed that detail. Or you didn't buy a pair, you just bought one of them, right?
Ralf
 

Default

Super Moderator
Platinum Supporting
Joined
Jul 30, 2007
Messages
13,595
Reaction score
3,008
Location
Philly, or thereabouts
Guild Total
11
I bought a pair. Because of the construction, I suspect that I can unsolder the leads from the neck pickup's coils and replace the bridge coil in the T-400's bridge pup.
 

krysh

Guildarist in the mod squad
Joined
Apr 28, 2007
Messages
4,416
Reaction score
899
Location
near hamburg*germany
Guild Total
6
pickup swap finished:
krysh_com_20150921_15_27_51_Pro_zpspypxkg99.jpg


this bridge PU has 7.23K resistance.
A short test in the studio shows that this 60's PU is no way louder than the original new one, but the string spacing and so the string balance suits a little better.
I believe it has a bit more low end and seems to sound a little bit more creamy and also has a little bit more warmth. But there are also new strings on the guitar.

Do I like it better? yes.
Was the swap worth it? hmm, not really. My original new bridge PU really sounded good.
Will I keep it? yes.

So, my advice to the ones who are disappointed with the original bridge pu is to raise it as high as possible and then match the neck pickup. if you still don't like what you hear, get another new neck pu or buy an old original for a reasonable price.

cheers.
 

krysh

Guildarist in the mod squad
Joined
Apr 28, 2007
Messages
4,416
Reaction score
899
Location
near hamburg*germany
Guild Total
6
a quick update on my T-400.
after I tried the the original 60's LB-1 for some months I found it way too microphonic and a bit too muddy.
I swapped back to the korean and what can I say, I love it now: less feedback and much more definition and dynamics. I believe the secret for great sound with the new little buckers lies in lowering the pickup on the neck to max and adjust the bridge pu to match and then lowering the pole pieces below the cover (1-2mm) and carefully match each string in volume. sounds great in each position now.
 

Quantum Strummer

Senior Member
Joined
May 26, 2015
Messages
2,382
Reaction score
118
Location
Michigan
I believe the secret for great sound with the new little buckers lies in lowering the pickup on the neck to max and adjust the bridge pu to match and then lowering the pole pieces below the cover (1-2mm) and carefully match each string in volume. sounds great in each position now.

Yeah, makes sense to me. I'm finding with the HB-1s in my S-100s that I like the neck p'up definition better if I lower it a bit while also raising up the polepieces a bit. With the "anti-hums" in my Bluesbird I keep the polepieces of both p'ups low…but they're both low wind (a touch above 5KOhms) to begin with.

-Dave-
 

GAD

Reverential Morlock
Über-Morlock
Joined
Feb 11, 2009
Messages
22,582
Reaction score
17,798
Location
NJ (The nice part)
Guild Total
112
Just an addition because I happen to have a 2016 NS S200 in-hand.

Neck: 7.11 k
Bridge: 5.24 k

I have a vintage pair around here somewhere but the pickup fairy seems to have made off with them at the moment.

Does anyone know if they fixed this in later guitars or is this still the norm? Looking at the pickups on their website they're still advertising as Neck: 7.20k and Bridge: 5.06k. Unless you get them in gold in which case they're both 7.20k. :rolleyes:
 
Last edited:

GAD

Reverential Morlock
Über-Morlock
Joined
Feb 11, 2009
Messages
22,582
Reaction score
17,798
Location
NJ (The nice part)
Guild Total
112
I have collected every AnitHum reading I could find online and put them into a spreadsheet. Here's what it looks like:

Guild-Minihum-Readings.png


Right now the majority of them are in the 6.5-7.5k range. If not for the people here reporting their M75s I'd discount the other two as flukes. I can't seem to find a whole lot of other information about AntiHums in the '69-70 timeframe.
 

Default

Super Moderator
Platinum Supporting
Joined
Jul 30, 2007
Messages
13,595
Reaction score
3,008
Location
Philly, or thereabouts
Guild Total
11
Just an addition because I happen to have a 2016 NS S200 in-hand.

Neck: 7.11 k
Bridge: 5.24 k

I have a vintage pair around here somewhere but the pickup fairy seems to have made off with them at the moment.

Does anyone know if they fixed this in later guitars or is this still the norm? Looking at the pickups on their website they're still advertising as Neck: 7.20k and Bridge: 5.06k. Unless you get them in gold in which case they're both 7.20k. :rolleyes:

I had it from the factory that the pups were never vetted. The NS pups are not correct and no one at CMG seems willing to correct it, so, whatever.
 

GAD

Reverential Morlock
Über-Morlock
Joined
Feb 11, 2009
Messages
22,582
Reaction score
17,798
Location
NJ (The nice part)
Guild Total
112
I had it from the factory that the pups were never vetted. The NS pups are not correct and no one at CMG seems willing to correct it, so, whatever.

That's fine, but I'm going to make public claims to that effect (without being quite so blunt... probably) and want as much data as possible to back me up.

Also, gathering all this data on the Anti-Hums makes me feel like I need to write up some cool info on them, so the more data I can get my hands on, the more accurate it can be.
 

Default

Super Moderator
Platinum Supporting
Joined
Jul 30, 2007
Messages
13,595
Reaction score
3,008
Location
Philly, or thereabouts
Guild Total
11
That was when Fender owned the company, not CMG. I have not pulled the cover off the new minibuckers, but if they are like the old pups, there is a rectangular gap where the pole pieces are. All you need to do is stop making the 5k coils and sub in the 7k's. Easy peasy.
 

GAD

Reverential Morlock
Über-Morlock
Joined
Feb 11, 2009
Messages
22,582
Reaction score
17,798
Location
NJ (The nice part)
Guild Total
112
I have now gathered 40 pickups worth of information.

* Colored lines are less than 6k ohms.
* The orange one is an outlier and I think it's because GibsonDependable fat-fingered the listing.
* The yellow lines were listed simply as "1960s" or some such.
* Blue are Quantum Strummer and NEONMOONY's guitars from this thread.

Given the data collected it seems to me that Guild changed the AntiHum pickup around 1969 or so. It looks like they changed the winding recipe for some reason. Those of you with '69 and '70 M75 Bluesbirds - I'd love to know if your pickups have the Guild stamp on the backs. I've found only one pic of such a beast online.

Guild-Minihum-Readings2.png
 
Last edited:

Quantum Strummer

Senior Member
Joined
May 26, 2015
Messages
2,382
Reaction score
118
Location
Michigan
I'll be giving my Bluesbird a restring before too long, and will try to remember to pop the pickups and have a look at the backs.

-Dave-
 

GAD

Reverential Morlock
Über-Morlock
Joined
Feb 11, 2009
Messages
22,582
Reaction score
17,798
Location
NJ (The nice part)
Guild Total
112
I'm up to 44 pickups. I asked someone on eBay to measure the pickups in the guitar and found another set f ~5k Anti-hums - in (you guessed it!) a 1969 M75.

Guild-Minihum-Readings-3.png
 
Top