(Subtitle "P270-EX Part II". For part one of the P270–EX saga check July’s edition of this Blog)
The P270-EX project had a dual purpose: to test my wiring idea, and try out some new pickups.
This project stalled a few times simply waiting - for parts, or just waiting for me. The first delay came as it waited for a trio of 250K pots with push-pull switches. Smell anything wrong in that sentence? Stay tuned.
The push-pull pots arrived and P270’s entrails (and my fingers) became another burnt sacrifice to Mr. Weller’s ravenous appetite.
For the neck position:The GFS Mini Crunchy Humbucker.
In the center, I stayed with the original equipment P90.
In the bridge position I chose a GFS Soapbar 180, their Dream 180 pickup in a P90 sized package. Both of the GFS pickups are available at guitarfetish.com for surprisingly reasonable prices. Guitarfetish has become my firstline goto for aftermarker/upgrade pickups.
I kept the 3V, 1T configuration but installed Vpots with push-pull switchs for on/off, allowing all 7 basic pup combinations. This also provides a master “off” position if you put the smackdown on all 3 knobs. I removed der Lesterswitcher completely installed a snap-in chrome plug from Ace Hardware ($1.59) which not only plugs the hole but also compliments the chrome hardware and Tele-Dome knobs for a sleek black-n-chrome theme.
So off we go for the first plugged-into-an-amp test!
It took about 30 seconds to discover my first big mistake.
All volume controls were in the circuit at all times. Oops. I wired the Vpots on the wrong side of the switches. Even if only 1 pup was on, any-or-all of the volume controls had the power to kill. This also mean a lot of load at all times, which equates to a lot of tone suck - at all times.
Round 2. We went back to Mr. Weller and rewired the selector switches. Now each pup had only 1 volume control and I was ready to evaluate both the switching plan and the GFS pickups.
At last, the pushmepullyou switching plan I’d been contemplating sooo long! and guess what? ... it stinks!
Sometimes when ya think “Why don’t people do ____________? It seems obviously perfect and perfectly obvious!” you can try it yourself. Most often you find out why it isn’t commonly done, and usually that reason is ...
It sucks.
The Pushmepullyou pickup plan is far too clumsy for stage use. Example: suppose it is time to switch from the neck pup to the bridge pup - on an ordinary guitar you can just slam the switch. On this thing it takes 2 complete operations - pull one knob up and push another down. To increase the challenge the 2 knobs are about 5 inches apart. It feel like it would be pretty tough to do in a cover band without missing a beat or accidentally turning the knob. I'm sure several of you guys could see this coming and have just been waiting for me to figure it out.
It remains that nothing else I’ve found is as fast and functional as Father Leo’s Stratocaster blade switch, waiting eagerly near your fingers and angled thoughfully to compliment the natural swing of your arm.
When it comes to push-pull switching for pickup selection ... kids, don’t do this at home. Just don’t do it at all. Although the clean uncluttered look appeals to me, I consider the switching experiment a complete failure.
The hunt-for-pickup-joy went a bit better.
But before we go there we run headlong into my next uckfup.
Remember I asked you if you smelled anything wrong with the parts I ordered? The 250K pot was perfect for the P90 in the middle, but not right at all for the little neckerbucker. It made “Mini Crunchy Humbucker” come off more like a “Muddy Clunky Dumbfucker”. The sound was muted with no edge or brightness to offer at all. I don’t think I’ve ever cranked the treble knob on any Fender amp UP until I tested this pup with the toofiddy V-pot.
So back on the wall it went until I got my hands on some 500K pushmepullyous, and then back to Mr. Weller - round 3. .
With a 500K V-pot on board the Mini Crunchy became a whole ‘nother animal - a tasty one - like smoky sweet BBQ beef complete with its own sauce. The unit is responsive to pick nuance and pleasantly organic, with enough treble to be assertive, a warm and slightly furry midrange and not too much ass.
The Soapbar 180 I chose for the bridge position has a bright present sound like their Dream 180 with a little bit of P90ish snarl. Change up your picking dynamics and this thing will live and breathe, jump and snarl, bite and snap. Mistakes played on this pickup are guaranteed to be front & center, in-yo-face obvious. A pair of these would probably work well in a slab-’o-hog with no maple cap, LP Junior style. It turned out to be a poor choice in my project because it doesn't play well with strangers. It was a world away form the Mini-crunchy and it was difficult to find amp/control settings useable for both.
The Good, The Bad, and the "Hmmm"
The Good - There were 2 shining spots in this project:
1. The GFS Mini Crunchy pickup. Three thumbs up! If you have a P90-sized slot and would like to sound a bit thicker & more focused plus get hum cancelling then a pair of these would be a good choice. The sound is flexible, organic, and responsive to nuance, with enough presence to be assertive but not too much treble. Any decent slab ‘o hog with or without maple on top, fittied wiith a couple of these would likely be a pretty tasty sounding guitar. GFS offers 4 models of this pup: crunchy, hot crunchy, vintage wound and overwound. I’m mostly curious to hear the “Hot Crunchy”.
2. The guitar itself. That’s pretty good stuff! Out of the box the setup was perfect, resonance is above average and the voices were surprisingly Stratty, but big and round. It responded readily to dynamic levels and finger nuance.
The bad - wiring. What part of the pushemepullyou plan will I ever use again? Here is your answer:
The Hmmm - The Soapbar 180 isn’t a bad unit but it was a poor choice for this project, because it was badly mismatched with the neck pickup. The GFS Dream 180 is useable if bright, but verges almost on the metallic sounding side for my tastes. I think they call it "modern". The Soapbar 180 used here retains much of those characteristics. It requires special attention in the control settings IMO. I should have probably tried the overwound version. Even better, I probably should have gone with the overwound mini crunchy in the bridge slot.
What next?
So far this project has been a major disappointment. I’m glad I discovered the Mini Crunchy but as a whole the guitar is an akward jumble of uncooperative bits and not particularly useable. Any 1 pickup by itself is OK but each one begs for different amp settings. The pickup combinations aren’t worth using at all Honestly it was better out of the box.
Will there be a round 4? Count on it. I've yammered on too long for this time, but I will tell you now that things get better. Stay tuned.
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What's coming up in October's edition of Mr. Weller & The Ballpark Franks? Help me decide. Would you prefer:
1. P270-EX Part III, the conclusion
or
2. shall we let the solder cool? I'm longing to tell you another true story about how enduring comfort can be found even in a work of mediocrity. It'll be sentimental, warm, and fuzzy - and about a guitar.
Finish this project, or tell a story? Vote your preference for October's edition by leaving a comment below. The winner will publish in October, and the other (probably) in November.
Thanks!
©2013, Raymond Blowers
