I just picked up a neat, project Kawai 175 Clone of a Gibson ES-175. It looks amazing, but there is 1 Pickup Pole missing from the pickup. Where do I find this part? :)
I have all of the original parts, I just removed them all so I can resolder some parts.
Thanks!
Welcome to TFF! The more technical folks will likely have a better answer, but my first question would be, "Why not just replace the pickup?" There's a good chance the pole has become demagnetized, and some of the coil wires could be damaged. Replacing the entire pickup might be the easiest solution, overall.
Depending on the size, you might pick up a set on Reverb: https://reverb.com/item/10907208-ele...-15mm-set-of-6
Striving to be ordinary
Proud to be a TFF Dumbass!
You really need to know the exact diameter, length and magnet type.
You have two choices.
1) Find the same pickup for sale on Reverb, Ebay, etc, and just replace the whole thing with.
2) Measure the exact diameter with a micrometer, or vernier caliper. Then measure the length. Then call Jason Lollar, Curtis Novak, or one of the other vintage style pickup manufacturers and tell them what guitar the pickup is in.
They will be able to at least tell you the type of magnet and if they have something to replace it with.
You can't just throw another magnet in there without knowing the type. AlNiCo II, AlNiCo IV etc. Each magnet type has it's own strength and characteristics.
If you're bored, you're not groovin'.
+1Originally Posted by Tele-Bob
Likely the least expensive option.
"When injustice becomes law then rebellion becomes duty."
....and the easiest. No need to match magnet sizes and types and risk getting it wrong. 1 AlNiCo V magnet among 5 AlNiCo II magnets isn't going to sound very good. Then there's the magnet charging and polarity issues.
If you're bored, you're not groovin'.
You really need to replace BOTH pickups. With the imports you can never be sure the pickup is phased correctly. You need to at the very least measure the resistance of the original to get a basic idea of what you need so the replacement will play nice with the other pickup. It it's out of phase you'll have some problems with the middle position which you may be able to deal with by going all Peter Green on the neck pup and reversing it which would definitely give the guitar a vibe, but maybe not. So I'd just plop down for some Burstbuckers or T-tops. Leave the Dirty Fingers to the metal shredders.
All that said, purchasing a well built import and replacing the ALL the electronics with high end stuff can yield a very, very nice guitar. Or not. You just never know.
That, and replacing electronics in a hollowbody is probably more of an Advanced project rather than a Beginner project.
Old Kawai from the 70's?
Chuck
"No harmonic knowledge, no sense of time, a ghastly tone, unskilled vibrato, and so on. Chuck is one of the worst guitar players I know" -Gravity Jim
I hate to say this, but on hollow bodies there’s been a time or 2 I pulled the pup, cut the pup lead short, then butt joined the new pup lead to the old wire. I’m lazy. Infinitely faster than fishing through F holes.
Mark
Does the pickup work? If it were my guitar, & the pickup actually worked, I'd leave it as is until I ran across another one exactly the same
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote