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Does anyone know anything about the super 70's pickup in the roadstar II 140?

5K views 10 replies 5 participants last post by  fab.regnaut 
#1 ·
I cant find any spec's on this pup?
 
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#3 ·
I would imagine it's just a prequel to the V1. But you'd have to measure it. I've seen Japanese "V1" style pickups (slug and screw poles) from way back to the Roadstar days, and as recent as the SCA420 that basically are a match. Within manufacturing tolerances or slight variances, they're all standard output PAF types. Maybe slightly beefier if you consider +/- 8.5kohms to be a "hot" PAF. I have one Ibanez pickup here like those that measures around 15k. That's the only one I've seen that deviated from the typical V1 style. So measure your resistance and that will tell you most of what you want to know.

Your guitar could have been made in Korea, and I don't know if the lower line RS' had Japanese pickups in them or not. Some of the hardware was the same on Koreans vs. Japanese ones from those days. It wasn't like it is now, where there is a clear divide between the factories. They used to ship parts back and forth more than they do now. So if it's a Korean made pickup then who knows.

Either way, it's not a "first quality" pickup. Any suitable Duncan or Dimarzio would be an upgrade. The manufacturing on the Japanese pickups (if it is in fact Japanese) is great, but whether it's magnets, wire, or wind tension, something about them sounds a little lifeless when compared to a top grade replacement pickup.
 
#4 ·
I have one and have used them a lot over the years. They're about almost 8K resistance and they have an Alnico 7 magnet (reason for the name) which is a little larger and more powerful than a standard Gibson of the era. They made the guitar a little hotter without making it darker. I like them a lot. The Roadstars were a great no frills, working musician's guitar. Very much at the level of import Fenders.
 
#5 ·
LarryN said:
I have one and have used them a lot over the years. They're about almost 8K resistance and they have an Alnico 7 magnet (reason for the name) which is a little larger and more powerful than a standard Gibson of the era. They made the guitar a little hotter without making it darker. I like them a lot. The Roadstars were a great no frills, working musician's guitar. Very much at the level of import Fenders.
yeah the RS's are all i play i love em!
i have four of them
i have heard that the magnet is a alnico 8 not a 7?
 
#7 ·
Interesting fact. I know their premium pickup of the day was the "flying finger" Super 80. Another cool but not as vintage sounding pickup. A lot of the pop Steve Miller was the 80 pickup. 80 was probably a reference to the magnet. It's funny how I got stuck on some mis-information in regard to the Super 70. Enjoy your Roadstars!
 
#8 ·
Super 70 have alnico8 magnet witch are veryy close to ceramic without the harshness . The dc resistance is around 7.4 neck and 7.9 kz for bridge .
The EQ is very full from lows to mids , highs are not agressive but with a very high chime that remind of violin , harmonics are very easy even if the treebles are not pushed like in Seymour pickups .
They are very quiet and pick very fast , cause low dc and no compression , very punchy . They clean very well with tone knob .
The only weakness i see in those p-u is the clean ; being full of mids it is not as nice as than classic pafs .
I have a roadstar with Duncan Jazz and Demon and another with two super70 and the duncans are more vintage sounding , super 70 more punchy and modern souding .
 
#10 ·
Yes they are vintage in a way because they are wounded lightly so they make you feel the strings with more clarity than hot humb .
But they are modern because of the alnico magnet that sound more like a ceramic ( without the harsh treebles ) loaded humb : each note is thick and no scooped mids .
So you probably have the best of both world here .
A recent thought is that the bridge humb could have been a bit hotter .
 
#11 ·
Yes they are vintage in a way because they are wounded lightly so they make you feel the strings with more clarity than hot humb .
But they are modern because of the alnico 8 magnet that sound more like a ceramic ( without the harsh treebles ) loaded humb : each note is thick and no scooped mids .
So you probably have the best of both world here .
A recent thought is that the bridge humb could have been a bit hotter .
 
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