Post by antigua on Jun 26, 2017 11:20:31 GMT -5
www.aliexpress.com/item/Set-of-2-Vintage-Sound-Alnico-5-Tele-Pickup-7-6K-7-4K-Pick
ups-for-Telecaster/32735198795.html?spm=2114.13010608.0.0.iEMMu
These pickups don't appear to have a model number or anything. If you wanted to buy this set, you'd just have to follow the link. This is one set among a few others I've measured from KAISH, so I have an emerging profile of overall brand quality. The other Made In China brand I've focused on is Donlis, and I like what I see from them far better.
The reason I bought this set in particular is because it does use AlNiCo pole pieces. You see a lot of cheap ceramic pickups from China, and I think it's worth a look whenever they're offering a set with real AlNiCo pole pieces, which are critical to achieving vintage Fender tone.
The bridge pickup...
The specs I measured don't come close to what they published on AliExpress. The most shocking difference is that the bridge pickup I have here measures 2 henries inductance, which is very low, and they spec'd it at 3.6, which would be normal for a Tele bridge, like a Fender Original Vintage. Instead, what we have here is the the most underwound Tele bridge pickup I've ever come across. The loaded resonant peak of 4.22kHz says this Tele bridge will sound similar to a Fender CS '69 bridge, not what anyone really expects from a Tele.
The Q factor and the capacitance are both really high. The base plate is steel, with what might be a shiny brass plating, so the inductance shouldn't be as low as it is if it has 6.1K ohms of 42 AWG wire. A Strat pickup wound to 6.13k usually has an inductance of 2.6H, so the cause of that 600mH shortfall is a bit of a mystery that I will set out to solve later. The takeaway in the mean time is that this pickup should probably be avoided, unless you want a really bright bridge pickup.
The neck pickup...
The very low Q factor shows that the neck pickup has a brass cover, but thanks to the AlNiCo pole pieces, the eddy currents are not nearly as bad as import Tele neck pickups that have both a brass cover, and steel slugs for pole pieces. The lower inductance of 1.8H is closer to the average for a Tele neck pickup, but it's still on the low side. The capacitance of the coil is rather high at 261pF, which will warm it up slightly.
They did cloth tape the coils, which is a nice touch, so the neck cover can be removed and you won't have an exposed coil, not see some ugly vinyl tape, as is often the case otherwise.
Another since feature of the Tele neck pickup is that it has a proper sized, flat topped Tele cover. Even though it is brass, it is the correct shape and size. A lot of Chinese Tele neck pickups feature a particular cover that is both too tall and too round. Considering the first Fender Tele neck pickups used a brass, you could say this cover is especially vintage correct.
Overall, the Donlis Tele offerings are much better, and reviewed in detail here. www.tdpri.com/threads/donlis-telecaster-pickups-analysis-and-review.734657/ I would recommend buying the Donlis set, but the quality of these KAISH pickups make them not worth the money. Not only are the electrical values way out there, but they use plastic bobbins where as Donlis uses fiber flat work (in the reviewed set). The Donlis set is a killer deal, cheaper in price as buying the parts unassembled on Stewmac.
KAISH AlNiCo 5 Tele bridge
- DC Resistance: 6.13K ohms
- Measured L: 1.994H
- Calculated C: 208pF (218 - 10)
- Gauss: 1050G
unloaded: dV: 13.5dB f: 7.63kHz (black)
loaded (200k & 470pF): dV: 6.9dB f: 4.22kHz (red)
KAISH AlNiCo 5 Tele neck
- DC Resistance: 6.96K ohms
- Measured L: 1.798H
- Calculated C: 261pF (271 - 10)
- Gauss: 1000G
unloaded: dV: -1.7dB f: 7.21kHz (green)
loaded (200k & 470pF): dV: 0.6dB f: 3.76kHz (gray)
Bode plot:
Pics:
ups-for-Telecaster/32735198795.html?spm=2114.13010608.0.0.iEMMuThese pickups don't appear to have a model number or anything. If you wanted to buy this set, you'd just have to follow the link. This is one set among a few others I've measured from KAISH, so I have an emerging profile of overall brand quality. The other Made In China brand I've focused on is Donlis, and I like what I see from them far better.
The reason I bought this set in particular is because it does use AlNiCo pole pieces. You see a lot of cheap ceramic pickups from China, and I think it's worth a look whenever they're offering a set with real AlNiCo pole pieces, which are critical to achieving vintage Fender tone.
The bridge pickup...
The specs I measured don't come close to what they published on AliExpress. The most shocking difference is that the bridge pickup I have here measures 2 henries inductance, which is very low, and they spec'd it at 3.6, which would be normal for a Tele bridge, like a Fender Original Vintage. Instead, what we have here is the the most underwound Tele bridge pickup I've ever come across. The loaded resonant peak of 4.22kHz says this Tele bridge will sound similar to a Fender CS '69 bridge, not what anyone really expects from a Tele.
The Q factor and the capacitance are both really high. The base plate is steel, with what might be a shiny brass plating, so the inductance shouldn't be as low as it is if it has 6.1K ohms of 42 AWG wire. A Strat pickup wound to 6.13k usually has an inductance of 2.6H, so the cause of that 600mH shortfall is a bit of a mystery that I will set out to solve later. The takeaway in the mean time is that this pickup should probably be avoided, unless you want a really bright bridge pickup.
The neck pickup...
The very low Q factor shows that the neck pickup has a brass cover, but thanks to the AlNiCo pole pieces, the eddy currents are not nearly as bad as import Tele neck pickups that have both a brass cover, and steel slugs for pole pieces. The lower inductance of 1.8H is closer to the average for a Tele neck pickup, but it's still on the low side. The capacitance of the coil is rather high at 261pF, which will warm it up slightly.
They did cloth tape the coils, which is a nice touch, so the neck cover can be removed and you won't have an exposed coil, not see some ugly vinyl tape, as is often the case otherwise.
Another since feature of the Tele neck pickup is that it has a proper sized, flat topped Tele cover. Even though it is brass, it is the correct shape and size. A lot of Chinese Tele neck pickups feature a particular cover that is both too tall and too round. Considering the first Fender Tele neck pickups used a brass, you could say this cover is especially vintage correct.
Overall, the Donlis Tele offerings are much better, and reviewed in detail here. www.tdpri.com/threads/donlis-telecaster-pickups-analysis-and-review.734657/ I would recommend buying the Donlis set, but the quality of these KAISH pickups make them not worth the money. Not only are the electrical values way out there, but they use plastic bobbins where as Donlis uses fiber flat work (in the reviewed set). The Donlis set is a killer deal, cheaper in price as buying the parts unassembled on Stewmac.
KAISH AlNiCo 5 Tele bridge
- DC Resistance: 6.13K ohms
- Measured L: 1.994H
- Calculated C: 208pF (218 - 10)
- Gauss: 1050G
unloaded: dV: 13.5dB f: 7.63kHz (black)
loaded (200k & 470pF): dV: 6.9dB f: 4.22kHz (red)
KAISH AlNiCo 5 Tele neck
- DC Resistance: 6.96K ohms
- Measured L: 1.798H
- Calculated C: 261pF (271 - 10)
- Gauss: 1000G
unloaded: dV: -1.7dB f: 7.21kHz (green)
loaded (200k & 470pF): dV: 0.6dB f: 3.76kHz (gray)
Bode plot:
Pics: