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Post subject: Re: Ybarra pups great because...?
Posted: Wed Jan 05, 2011 9:16 pm
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I think some of y'all would just rather not see the bigger picture here...

Abby is a piece of history doing work that is frozen in time. Her work is not at all unlike finding a mint, unsold, NOS '59 Bassman, with all the original parts intact. Fortunately for those of us here who admire Abby's work, wire and magnets haven't become lost in time like some of the original components of a '59 Bassman have.

Okay... maybe it's a strange parallel, but it does demonstrate the way many of us feel about Abby. She's a piece of Fender history still doing today what she did best back in the '50s and '60s, and still doing it that same way with much the same materials and equipment. No corner cutting... no efficiency upgrades... just the same pickup winding quality that went into the pickups that resulted in the tones that were made by Hendrix, Clapton, Marvin, Blackmore, Knopfler... the list goes on.

Everyone around here has their version of what's boutique and what's vintage. Abby is all of that to us.

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Post subject: Re: Ybarra pups great because...?
Posted: Wed Jan 05, 2011 10:28 pm
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What's "good" to some isn't alway's good for other's. It's a matter of taste for the tone you're trying to get. There are magnet's, wire, wire tension, RW/RP on single coil's, Seth
Lover inventing humbucker's for Gibson and then as you say boatload's of other thing's.
The point with Abby's apprentice IMO is just Fender trying to keep that type of tradition going and hopefully great vintage sounding scatterwound PuP's. I don't know I'm just a guitar player so I think I'll go play. BTW, my Abby handwound's sound great !!

SMark said better than I ever could in his thread, Yea Baby ! 8)


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Post subject: Re: Ybarra pups great because...?
Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2011 3:47 am
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Then why are there so many variations of "good" pickups on the market by both Fender and aftermarket/boutique manufacturers? By this line of reasoning there should be only one way to make a "good" pickup.
-------bluesky

No, that's not mean that. You can change size of wire, insulation on the wire, number of turn ,type of magnets and .......use the same way to winding PU and this give differents PU.

Another thing; At the time of Leo Fender, can we say that all Abby pickups have the same sound ?

I'm sure not, winding by hand could be different each time. Maybe most of the time we can't ear the difference ? Maybe yes ?

Resistor of the pickups could be the same but micro-henrys differents = not exactly the same sound.


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Post subject: Re: Ybarra pups great because...?
Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2011 8:20 am
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Of course handwound's can sound different if wound with different amount of turn's,etc.
That's why you have to try different guitar's to see what you like best.


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Post subject: Re: Ybarra pups great because...?
Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2011 9:01 am
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Not only number of turn wich is easy to control, but if one or many wire cross other wires when you wind pickups. This change magnetic field and the sound.

Or if tension is not the same when the wire turn the "corner" of a pickup the tension could be not the same each time, this could be a higner tension. This could also change magnetic field and sound.

Have you try to turn a wire around something with or without cross another wire ? And repeat that in the same manner hour after hour ? IMO good luck.


And Abby can do all of this the same way pickup after pickup ? And teach how to do that. And only Abby can do that ?
Nobody at Seymour Duncan, Dimarzio, Lolar etc can ?

If an perfect winding machine exist, ( I think it exist) this machine could do a better job if you said to this machine what you want.


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Post subject: Re: Ybarra pups great because...?
Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2011 10:35 am
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We could go forever ! I'm not privy as to why Fender does thing's. I can say that they
probably want thing's to continue as in the original's, maybe some sound a little different. That's the nature of the beast (handwinding) and the beauty !
Nothing crazy, just PuP's my friend, know what I mean ? :?


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Post subject: Re: Ybarra pups great because...?
Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2011 11:41 am
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What were we talking about? :? :?: :lol:

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Post subject: Re: Ybarra pups great because...?
Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2011 2:08 pm
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stratele52 wrote:
Not only number of turn wich is easy to control, but if one or many wire cross other wires when you wind pickups. This change magnetic field and the sound.

Or if tension is not the same when the wire turn the "corner" of a pickup the tension could be not the same each time, this could be a higner tension. This could also change magnetic field and sound.

Have you try to turn a wire around something with or without cross another wire ? And repeat that in the same manner hour after hour ? IMO good luck.


And Abby can do all of this the same way pickup after pickup ? And teach how to do that. And only Abby can do that ?
Nobody at Seymour Duncan, Dimarzio, Lolar etc can ?

If an perfect winding machine exist, ( I think it exist) this machine could do a better job if you said to this machine what you want.


It appears to me that, in your mind, you are trying to equate consistency with quality. That isn't the point with handwound pickups. In fact, inconsistency IS the point with handwound or scatter-wound pickups. That is much of what makes them desirable. You might ask... Is it possible that you might get a set of handwound Abby's that just doesn't float-your-boat? Absolutely. But in practice, I've found that there is very little about Abby's handwound pickups that is not to my liking. And I think that is probably a result of her vast experience winding pickups. She's just very good at what she does.

You ask if the "perfect winding machine" exists. John Suhr claims to have invented it. It sounds like an interesting concept. And I do have a set of Suhr pickups that were wound on his machine. They are good sounding pickups, you might like them.

Still, what Abby has that no one else can have claim to is her excellence combined with her history that gives her this larger than life persona amongst vintage and boutique affectionatos. She is the epitome of that which makes vintage guitars so sought for.

To quote a popular song from the '60s...
"Yeah baby, She's got it!"

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Post subject: Re: Ybarra pups great because...?
Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2011 3:52 pm
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SMark, Man I love the way you write. That's what it's all about, the inconsistency that
make's handwound's great. If you want the exact same thing - machine wind them and sound the same ALWAY"S. :roll: BORING !! Abby is the best ... period ! 8)


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Post subject: Re: Ybarra pups great because...?
Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2011 4:26 pm
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If you want the exact same thing - machine wind them and sound the same ALWAY"S

No,no ! Maybe I dream but if you can tune the winding machine, different setup you will have the pick up you want;

1- Abby monday pickup ;long weekend, tired; you never know what sound, low output
2- Abby weekday pickup; regular winding, standard production
3- Thursday Abby pickup; between monday and week day pickup
4- Friday Abby pickup : Abby does'nt work, pickup low output, very very low output

posting.php?mode=reply&f=18&t=48511#


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Post subject: Re: Ybarra pups great because...?
Posted: Fri Jan 07, 2011 10:34 pm
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its kinda like basting a turkey..
you can be good
you can be great
or you can be a master...... :wink:

some of abbys coveted pickups are wound by a machine but the person still controls the wire
applies just the right tension, and guides it a certain way. im sure theres some more mojo than hype.

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Post subject: Re: Ybarra pups great because...?
Posted: Fri Jan 14, 2011 12:31 pm
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SMark wrote:
I think some of y'all would just rather not see the bigger picture here...

Abby is a piece of history doing work that is frozen in time. Her work is not at all unlike finding a mint, unsold, NOS '59 Bassman, with all the original parts intact. Fortunately for those of us here who admire Abby's work, wire and magnets haven't become lost in time like some of the original components of a '59 Bassman have.

Okay... maybe it's a strange parallel, but it does demonstrate the way many of us feel about Abby. She's a piece of Fender history still doing today what she did best back in the '50s and '60s, and still doing it that same way with much the same materials and equipment. No corner cutting... no efficiency upgrades... just the same pickup winding quality that went into the pickups that resulted in the tones that were made by Hendrix, Clapton, Marvin, Blackmore, Knopfler... the list goes on.

Everyone around here has their version of what's boutique and what's vintage. Abby is all of that to us.


I think you nailed it with this. Abby is one of the original employees. Imagine if you could still buy a guitar with a neck made by Leo Fender or George Fullerton themselves? She has been there through the years. She might have made pickups for Keith Richards, Jimi Hendrix, or David Gilmour - and she made yours too!

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Post subject: Re: Ybarra pups great because...?
Posted: Fri Jan 14, 2011 1:55 pm
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A pickup from Abby is great yes, but can we be shure at 80 years ( ?) she do the job herself ?

I won't bet on that.

And Abby's pickup is a piece of history, but IMO today it is easy to find many other good and maybe better pickup; it is not a rocket science.

Don't need Abby or his student to be sure the pickup is the best.

Leo is the genious , Abby is only one of his many hands to do basic ( but important) job.


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Post subject: Re: Ybarra pups great because...?
Posted: Fri Jan 14, 2011 5:02 pm
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stratele52 wrote:
A pickup from Abby is great yes, but can we be shure at 80 years ( ?) she do the job herself ?

I won't bet on that.


I gotta admit man, I find this comment rather insulting. I have known many 80 year olds (and older) who are sharper and more qualified at what they are doing than someone half their age. Making a generalization like this about someone's capabilities based solely on age is wrong.

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Post subject: Re: Ybarra pups great because...?
Posted: Fri Jan 14, 2011 5:15 pm
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bluesky636 wrote:
stratele52 wrote:
A pickup from Abby is great yes, but can we be shure at 80 years ( ?) she do the job herself ?

I won't bet on that.


I gotta admit man, I find this comment rather insulting. I have known many 80 year olds (and older) who are sharper and more qualified at what they are doing than someone half their age. Making a generalization like this about someone's capabilities based solely on age is wrong.


Yeah, no kidding. Stratete52, you obviously don't get the reasons around a Ybarra set of pickups. You keep trying to quantify it in technical terms, but it's not a technical thing. Seriously dude, if all you have left are insults then your argument is done. If you don't think they're worth money, go buy some off the shelf pickups that were wound by machines since you think they're all exactly the same and that's what matters to you.

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