Pickup for Selmer style guitar

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MWaldorf
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Pickup for Selmer style guitar

Postby MWaldorf » Mon Mar 31, 2014 1:36 am

I've got a cheap knockoff Selmer/Maccaferri style guitar, and I wanted to amplify it. Pickups for Selmers are special purpose and expensive, so I decided to take a crack and making my own.

My main requirement is that whatever I made couldn't include permanent modifications. There's not much room under the strings, so I decided the best solution was a pickup/bridge combo. I made a steel base plate and mounted a coil from an Epiphone humbucker. The coil is held in place by the pole screws. It was important to use pole screws so I could adjust for the lower output of bronze wound strings. There was no room for a magnet below, so I mounted it alongside the coil in a channel in the plate - the steel holds the magnet in place, and the magnet magnetizes the steel plate and the poles. I used a couple of screws mounted from underneath to be the bridge posts. Finally, I sprayed the base plate with some bronze rustoleum.

As you'd expect from a pickup mounted so close to the bridge, it's very bright. Kind of goofy, but it works!

Here's the result:


View from below:


And mounted:
Oy vey - it's MESHUGGA BEACH PARTY - The world's premier Jewish Surf Music Band!

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Bob Shade
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Re: Pickup for Selmer style guitar

Postby Bob Shade » Mon Mar 31, 2014 5:25 am

Reminds me of an early Les Paul gizmo.

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Re: Pickup for Selmer style guitar

Postby Mr. Bill » Mon Mar 31, 2014 10:02 am

Yes, but made with a higher level of craftsmanship. Nice job, Mel.

Technically there are some things that I don't understand, but if it works, cool.

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dubtrub
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Re: Pickup for Selmer style guitar

Postby dubtrub » Thu Apr 03, 2014 5:00 pm

New ideas are always spinning around in Mel's head. What will he think of next! :o
Danny Ellison

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Dennisthe Menace
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Re: Pickup for Selmer style guitar

Postby Dennisthe Menace » Fri Apr 04, 2014 7:02 am

A THREE Pick-up Version :shock:
make the Mos' of it, choose the 'rite stuff.
.........Owner of 9 Mosrites...
.....proud owner and documented:
1963 "the Ventures" Model s/n #0038
http://www.thevintagerockproject.com/

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MWaldorf
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Re: Pickup for Selmer style guitar

Postby MWaldorf » Mon Apr 07, 2014 11:29 pm

Three pickups??? Why, I never thought of that!

Here's a quick video demo:
http://youtu.be/uI1_AR7pahc
Oy vey - it's MESHUGGA BEACH PARTY - The world's premier Jewish Surf Music Band!

Image

What? Couldn't tell the logo is a link? So click here, what's the hold up? http://www.meshuggabeachparty.com

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Re: Pickup for Selmer style guitar

Postby Haole Jim » Sun Dec 28, 2014 12:42 am

Mel, tres clever and great process-engineering, good on you.

Finished project looks reaaly nice...a vibrato on a Selmer-style! Whodathunkit?


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