7 string single coil pickups

[stretcher7]

A little update on my quest. Called dimarzio, nothing. Duncan will make any stacked or regular single coil in 7, $160. Will make dual blade in 7 for..ahem $350!!! Too much. Called Joe Barden, my ultimate choice. Might see some stuff in summer 03. Maybe. If it happens it is worth getting. Believe me. Okay, called Rio Grande. WILL make the muy grande 7 single WITHOUT that little protrusion to fit a 540s7. Yipee!! How much? $125. So, I'm gonna do that. Dave at Rio Grande was very cool and if any of you all (Scott) wanna get a single for your 540s7 I will let you know how how they turn out.

[kennydoe]

$125 is a LOT of money for a pickup. I'd reconsider the options.
~K

[stretcher7]

Well thats why I posted this here. What are my other options? The blaze pup sounds like ass in a mahogahy guitar. I personally feel like I am taking the most cost effective and tone effective option available to me at this time. To me its more than worth the $ to make my 540s usable again. Sorry, didn't mean to sound defensive.

[kennydoe]

isn't the odd-shaped piece on the bottom of strat-type pickups just an extra piece of metal? wny not try to file it down to size?

You were going to route an expensive guitar...why not try to route the pickup instead?

~Kenny

[Scott of Actual Time]

Originally Posted by stretcher7

I personally feel like I am taking the most cost effective and tone effective option available to me at this time.

the Muy Grandes are really nice pickups. you will be paying a lot for a custom pickup, but it should sound really good. are you getting two, neck and middle positions? what did Rio Grande say the delivery time might be? it took them a month to wind one of my RWRP Muy Grandes, but i think they forgot about it for a couple weeks.

please do post back once you get and install the pickup.

Originally Posted by kennydoe

isn't the odd-shaped piece on the bottom of strat-type pickups just an extra piece of metal? wny not try to file it down to size?

it's an extention of the baseplate where they solder the tiny wires from the pickup coil to the colored wire leads coming off the pickup. sure, you could file it down, but you'd have to unsolder those tiny coil wires, file away up to 3/4" of stock without damaging the pickup windings, and then remount and reconnect the coil wires to the pickup leads. certainly could be done, but it'd be a lot easier and safer for Rio Grande to file the baseplate before they build the pickup on top of it.

once you break off those tiny coil wires, they're nearly impossible to get ahold of and solder back - i lost an Ibanez C2 this way years ago. then you've got a nice fridge magnet.

[Profane_Oath]

I have used Ibanez H-S-H combinations, and I have always liked the H-H with two dual coil positions (2 and 4) to sound much better to my ears. I also don't like the look of sticking a single coil in there between the Hums, but that's all just personal pref.

[Akhenaten]

kennydoe...anyone willing to pay for Joe Barden's pickups will not miss 125 bucks for a pickup...lol

We just had a guy come into the shop and have us rip all the Bardens out of his guitars. Two Albert Lee's and a tele and a Strat. He tried some Bardens from a friend and loved 'em, so went about replacing all his pickups with them. When they didn't make him happy, he had us rip them all out again, and put in his older ones. So, if anyone is looking for Bardens for a 6 string...these are the "rails" type in a single coil slot, they will be hitting Ebay soon from this guy...about 12 of them...lol

[Scott of Actual Time]

Originally Posted by Scott of Actual Time

sorry to have crimped your plan to put the Rio Grandes in your 540S7. i would have done that to my 540S7's if i could have.

turns out i was able to mount stock Muy Grande 7 string single coils in one of my 540S7, after carefully chiseling a groove in the back of each pickup cavity for the extended baseplate of the pickup. [NOT recommended unless you're a pretty skilled woodworker and the guitar is in player condition].

they sound fantastic , a great match with the Duncan Custom HB i've got in that guitar, especially with a clean sound and the different coil cut combinations i get from a Megaswitch. a highly recommended mod if you have two Rio Grandes laying around and a sharp chisel!

[stretcher7]

I did actually get one custom made to fit in my 540s7 and I agree. It is a GREAT soundind single coil. Balances very well with the stock blaze I have in there. I will probably get one of their humbuckers for a change of pace for some of my other 7's