Post by antigua on Jan 27, 2019 4:53:56 GMT -5
www.toneemporium.com/product-page/te-o3-big-city-69-blues-strat-pickup-set
The specs of this Strat set put the bridge pickup in "Fat 50's" territory, and the neck and middle in 57/62 or CS '69 waters. The listed price of this set is $99 CAD, which comes out to $76 USD, which is a good deal for vintage spec Strat pickups.
The fiberboard and cloth hookup wire is the "good stuff", same as Fender (Tonerider or GFS use a bright colored nylon), and the labels on the back are even hand written, all of these things being very unusual for pickups made in China. The coils are even taped, which makes the pickup a lot more durable and easy to handle. Tone Emporium appears to have a similar business to BYO, selling a variety of guitar parts in addition to pickups, and these in house pickups they sell appear to be manufactured by the same company, based in Hong Kong. They bear a strong resemblance to the D Allen sets, including the tape on the coils and the rigid foam insert that the pickups arrive in.
Tone Emporium TE-O3 Big City '69 Blues Strat Pickup Set
Bridge
- DC Resistance: 6.274K ohms
- Measured L: 2.812H
- Calculated C: 86pF (96 - 10)
- Gauss: 1100G EAD, 650G GBE
Middle
- DC Resistance: 5.806K ohms
- Measured L: 2.301H
- Calculated C: 90pF (100 - 10)
- Gauss: 1150G (AlNiCo 5)
Neck
- DC Resistance: 5.807K ohms
- Measured L: 2.304H
- Calculated C: 94pF (104 - 10)
- Gauss: 1050G (AlNiCo 5)
Bridge unloaded: dV: 14.8dB f: 9.70kHz (black)
Bridge loaded (200k & 470pF): dV: 6.7dB f: 3.81kHz (blue)
Middle unloaded: dV: 15.2dB f: 10.5kHz (red)
Middle loaded (200k & 470pF): dV: 7.4dB f: 4.22kHz (green)
Neck unloaded: dV: 15.2dB f: 10.3kHz (pink)
Neck loaded (200k & 470pF): dV: 7.4dB f: 4.22kHz (gray)
The only unusual thing about this set has to do with the AlNiCo 5 pole pieces. First, it appears that the G-B-E pole pieces on the bridge pickup are AlNiCo 2 or 3, due to their low Gauss readings. That might not sound all bad, taking a little edge off the treble side of the treble pickup, but this is not part of the pickup's spec, so I suspect this is a manufacturing mistake. The biggest problem is not knowing if every set they sell is this way, or just this particular example, or if it's completely hit or miss. If you're a pickup junkie like me and want to know what magnets you have on hand, you just have to pickup up one of these guys www.amazon.com/dp/B075XDSTQD/?tag=strattalk05-20
The second unusual issue is that the pole pieces on the middle pickup are stronger than typical AlNiCo 5, by ~199 Gauss. It seems to be a frequent occurrence with Chinese AlNiCo pole pieces, either being stronger or weaker than expected. The BYO Storm, which appears to made by the same manufacturer, also showed about 100 Gauss higher with two of the three pickups, which just makes be suspect all the more that they share OEMs. A difference of 100 Gauss doesn't make much practical difference. By contrast, AlNiCo 2 pole pieces usually measure 500 to 600 Gauss lower than AlNiCo 5, and that more extreme difference is noticeable. A difference of only 100 Gauss can is compensated for by simply raising or lowering the pickup slightly.
The capacitance is very low at ~90pF. The lower capacitance doesn't matter too much in situ, but some domestic pickup makers like to boast a low capacitance (scatter winding) as a selling point, while these and the BYO sets have shown the same low capacitance as pickups from American makers. Whether they are wound with some sort of scatter, I don't know, but they get the job done.
It appears to me that BYO and Tone Emporium both sell the same OEM pickups, but their specs vary slightly, so between the two you have about five distinct Strat sets for pretty cheap, $76USD for the Tone Emporium models and $65 for the BYO sets. This set from Tone Emporium shows lower inductance values that either of the BYO sets, so if you're shopping for a low cost Fender CS '69 equivalent with a slightly "hotter" bridge, this set would be a good deal. They also offer Tele, bass, P.A.F. and P-90 type pickups for a low price as well.
One concern with low cost Chinese pickups is customer service, but these companies are based in North America, and I have emailed both companies to ask questions about their products have received replies from both companies within a matter of hours on business days.