nonies

Impedance matching is often necessary in various circuits, and depending on how sensitive the Variax electronics are, a change in the impedance match will affect its performance I'd imagine. I'd thought about trying an Alumitone Deathbucker, but at 5.2K it's probably on the "thin" side, and those pickups are already trebly. 8K-ohm is pretty bog standard for "PAF" style pickups, and it will be fairly trebly as well. More winds = higher DCR and inductance, which decreases treble response. Since the spec is 6-8k, the nominal is probably 7k, which is what a hotter strat-style single coil can use, or a "PAF" style humbucker. Even a mini humbucker can work. Tons of options. This raises another question: has anyone tried wiring a resistor between hot and ground leads of a higher DCR pickup to mimic something within spec? It would load the pickup, which would decrease volume, and possibly treble response, but would be interesting to note the differences.

I would say the example I have is not standard, and I probably would like the pickup more if it wasn't anomalous. I'm not going to dissect the pickup, but with it reading a bit high (I don't know the standard DCR) my first guess is a break in a wind that happens to function, or perhaps it was left on the winding machine for a few extra turns. Ambient temp can have an effect, but the room was mid 60s, making it unlikely. I've designed and wound my own pickups before, so this is nothing new - but interesting given the spec. I'd considered sending the guitar in for troubleshooting, as it's only a couple months since purchase, but cost of shipping and time without were two additional issues I wanted to avoid. If you want to take a look at the stock one I have, and can spare a return label, I'll send it your way.

Thanks for the reply, psarkissian. I had looked up pickup height spec (some of your previous posts show it), and that didn't make a difference. The pickup DCR reads that, so I suspect the stock pickup is itself iffy or out of spec. I had a neck pickup sitting around (Carvin M22V) which reads around 7.02K. Treble response and harmonics are there in spades now, and the pickup itself sounds like it has greater output compared to stock. I can at least confirm that the 9K DCR is indeed "too dark" for me. Kind of a bummer it happened that way, but at least I had a spare pickup. Thanks again.

Hi there. I've looked around on here and noted a few people swapping pickups, and the notes to stay within spec of 6-8Kohms DCR. Has anyone measured the stock pickup that's included in the Shuriken? I thought mine sounded - not so great. So I measured it, and it reads 9.097k for DCR on my meter (which has been calibrated). Perhaps an iffy pickup, or do the stock pickups actually measure outside the necessary range? Thanks all!