Post by antigua on Dec 28, 2016 17:57:40 GMT -5
www.aliexpress.com/item/Sell-Free-Shipping-great-sound-Cream-color-Alnico-5-rod-strat-guitar-pickups-3S-SET-single/494803458.html?spm=2114.13010608.0.0.CGPKLo
A few days ago I reviewed the Donlis DS53 , and this here is a second set I received from Donlis. Where as that set costs about $35 USD, this set goes for about $24 USD, and the difference in price comes a difference in quality.
First, the obvious, the bobbins are plastic, the leads wires has insulated with plastic, and the coils are insulated with a generic polyester film tape. The pole pieces are AlNiCo, so none of that stuff matters once the pickup is in the guitar, but there is something unusual about the "AlNiCo 5"; it's strange to see such low inductances, around 1.9 henries, for 5.8k DC resistance.
I haven't tried this set in a guitar yet, but in all likelihood, they're probably rather bright and thin. Some might perceive this as the tone of poor quality, but if you like really, really bright AlNiCo pickups, they can be a little hard to find on the market otherwise, and they might sound fine. Rolling the tone knob back might yield a good tone, too.
Donlis DS51 Bridge
DC Resistance: 6.43K
Inductance: 2.249H
Calculated C: 137pF (147-10)
Coil width: 0.6045"
Resonant Peak: dV: 16.1dB f: 8.75kHz (black)
Loaded (200k & 470pF): dV: 6.7dB f: 4.17kHz (red)
Donlis DS51 Middle
DC Resistance: 5.78K
Inductance: 1.935H
Calculated C: 124pF (134-10)
Coil width: 0.6165"
Resonant Peak: dV: 16.1dB f: 9.16kHz (green)
Loaded (200k & 470pF): dV: 6.9dB f: 4.46kHz (gray)
Donlis DS51 Neck
DC Resistance: 5.75K
Inductance: 1.911H
Calculated C: 141pF (151-10)
Coil width: 0.5850"
Resonant Peak: dV: 15.6dB f: 9.37kHz (pink)
Loaded (200k & 470pF): dV: 7.0dB f: 4.52kHz (black)
Pole piece flux density: 900G - 1100G
Bode plot:
It's unusual to see such low inductances of 1.9 henries for a 5.8k DC resistance. By comparison, a Fender CS 69 measures inductances of 2.2H for DC resisitances of 5.4k, that's more inductance for less coil. I checked a little loose piece of coil wire around the eyelets and it did measure the correct diameter for 42AWG, so process of elimination puts the blame for a low inductance on the AlNiCo pole pieces. This means that the AlNiCo 5 in these Donlis singles have a lower permeability than typical AlNiCo 5 pole pieces. The dB at resonance is also a little higher than typical, at 16dB, as opposed to 15dB, which probably also owes to a lower permeability. The Gauss strength of the AlNiCo pole pieces measures good, so there is no problem there.
The end result of the strange AlNiCo poles and the lower inductance is that this set has loaded resonant peaks between 4.2kHz and 4.5kHz, making them much brighter than even Fender CS '69's, with their loaded peaks around 4.1kHz, despite having a lower DC resistance than the CS 69's.
The capacitance measures between 120-140pF are not great by boutique "hand wound" standards, but they're consistent with the capacitances observed in most of Fender's stock Stratocaster pickups.
A few days ago I reviewed the Donlis DS53 , and this here is a second set I received from Donlis. Where as that set costs about $35 USD, this set goes for about $24 USD, and the difference in price comes a difference in quality.
First, the obvious, the bobbins are plastic, the leads wires has insulated with plastic, and the coils are insulated with a generic polyester film tape. The pole pieces are AlNiCo, so none of that stuff matters once the pickup is in the guitar, but there is something unusual about the "AlNiCo 5"; it's strange to see such low inductances, around 1.9 henries, for 5.8k DC resistance.
I haven't tried this set in a guitar yet, but in all likelihood, they're probably rather bright and thin. Some might perceive this as the tone of poor quality, but if you like really, really bright AlNiCo pickups, they can be a little hard to find on the market otherwise, and they might sound fine. Rolling the tone knob back might yield a good tone, too.
Donlis DS51 Bridge
DC Resistance: 6.43K
Inductance: 2.249H
Calculated C: 137pF (147-10)
Coil width: 0.6045"
Resonant Peak: dV: 16.1dB f: 8.75kHz (black)
Loaded (200k & 470pF): dV: 6.7dB f: 4.17kHz (red)
Donlis DS51 Middle
DC Resistance: 5.78K
Inductance: 1.935H
Calculated C: 124pF (134-10)
Coil width: 0.6165"
Resonant Peak: dV: 16.1dB f: 9.16kHz (green)
Loaded (200k & 470pF): dV: 6.9dB f: 4.46kHz (gray)
Donlis DS51 Neck
DC Resistance: 5.75K
Inductance: 1.911H
Calculated C: 141pF (151-10)
Coil width: 0.5850"
Resonant Peak: dV: 15.6dB f: 9.37kHz (pink)
Loaded (200k & 470pF): dV: 7.0dB f: 4.52kHz (black)
Pole piece flux density: 900G - 1100G
Bode plot:
It's unusual to see such low inductances of 1.9 henries for a 5.8k DC resistance. By comparison, a Fender CS 69 measures inductances of 2.2H for DC resisitances of 5.4k, that's more inductance for less coil. I checked a little loose piece of coil wire around the eyelets and it did measure the correct diameter for 42AWG, so process of elimination puts the blame for a low inductance on the AlNiCo pole pieces. This means that the AlNiCo 5 in these Donlis singles have a lower permeability than typical AlNiCo 5 pole pieces. The dB at resonance is also a little higher than typical, at 16dB, as opposed to 15dB, which probably also owes to a lower permeability. The Gauss strength of the AlNiCo pole pieces measures good, so there is no problem there.
The end result of the strange AlNiCo poles and the lower inductance is that this set has loaded resonant peaks between 4.2kHz and 4.5kHz, making them much brighter than even Fender CS '69's, with their loaded peaks around 4.1kHz, despite having a lower DC resistance than the CS 69's.
The capacitance measures between 120-140pF are not great by boutique "hand wound" standards, but they're consistent with the capacitances observed in most of Fender's stock Stratocaster pickups.
