Quote:
Originally Posted by LWJ
What about the magnets? If impedance is the same, what other variables are there? Same shape / size I would assume.
Come on Wolf! I want to know as well.
Larry
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Ok.. a couple things I can think of here.
First thing that comes to mind is that if the control pots on the '76 are wonky (read; out of spec) that can cause a noticeable difference in volume and toen sweep. I'm not real up on Mini-humbuckers (especially on basses), but I believe they should use 500k pots. Check. If they read much lower than the pots on the '79, this could account for the volume difference. Choking the output, basically.
The other thing.. even though the pickup may read identical resistance, the output may not be the same. Kohms resistance really has nothing to do with actual output. It's all about the millivolts output...
Even though both pickups may have exactly the same number of turns of wire, the tension that the coils were wound with may be different, which will affect size the the coil... even the actual diameter of the wire... A smaller coil will produce more millivolts output when compared to a larger coil, even though they are "ohm identical" - this is basically because more coil deeper inside the magnetic field to produce current. The smaller coil pickups will also give a brighter, "thinner" sound, all other factors like magnet strength being equal.
Magnet strength also plays a
huge role. Stronger magnets will usually mean more output. Supposing the coils on both guitars are the same (they should be pretty dang close) the weaker magnets will, again, give less output... BUT... will generally NOT sound thinner.. they'll be warmer, smoother, and sweeter sounding... generally. At least, this is so of 6-strings...
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It's a very fine balancing act.
I'm betting on the culprit being the pots and magnets... I'd be happy to check the gauss and recharge the magnets for you if they're weak.