Gotoh EB-1 pickup

wagdog · February 13, 2011, 04:06:39 PM

Hello everyone.

I bought a Gotoh EB-1 pickup years ago hoping to get some mudbucker goodness but then never got around to doing anything with it. Well I recently decided to give it a try in my 'log' but was surprised by how reserved it was. Let's say I was underwhelmed. The low E was anemic at best. I then hooked to to my meter and this is what it shows. Am I really reading this right, 1.9k? It was advertised as being 30k. Anybody know anything about these pickups?

Rob · February 13, 2011, 04:52:12 PM

I thought these were pretty heavy too.
See David Schwabs comments on this old thread
http://music-electronics-forum.com/t3162/

I wonder if you have a short within the wires or to the case??
Rob Francis

Just as a side note can you meausre without the connector. . . . right at the solder joints on the pick up?

wagdog · February 13, 2011, 05:39:11 PM

Thanks for the link Rob, that was an interesting read. And that's a good idea too about checking at the solder points. Unfortunately, they are buried under lots of wraps of tape so I'll need to do some careful unwrapping first.

wagdog · February 14, 2011, 07:38:48 PM

I took the pickup apart and checked each coil which read 1k individually. Weird, I guess it is supposed to be a 2k pickup although I don't know why and it's certainly not as advertised. Maybe I'll rewind it to 30k myself just for fun.

As a reality check I tested my SG RI neck pu - 8.6k.

Dave W · February 14, 2011, 09:08:14 PM

It could be wound using much thicker wire which would fill the coil and yet have a much lower reading.

clankenstein · February 14, 2011, 10:11:24 PM

mmm this is suspicious-i had an alparts mudbucker,im pretty sure it read 30k when i was using it,i took it apart with the idea of adding a coil to my eb2 mudbucker which was missing one.i didnt, because when i measured it the coil was about 1 k.

wagdog · February 15, 2011, 07:47:02 AM

Tubehead, that sounds like what I'm showing - each coil is 1k. And when hooked together in series the pickup showed 1.9k. I wonder if the AllParts are just re-branded Gotohs? I wish I understood how all this works a little better because this just doesn't seem right.

Dave, that makes sense but what gets me is I remember it being advertised as 30k.

dadagoboi · February 15, 2011, 08:08:18 AM

Allparts does not have manufacturing capability. They sell stuff they source, mostly in Asia. Judging from what they catalog, their "Mudbucker" probably comes from Gotoh.

Dave W · February 15, 2011, 11:20:31 AM

Quote from: wagdog on February 15, 2011, 07:47:02 AM
Tubehead, that sounds like what I'm showing - each coil is 1k. And when hooked together in series the pickup showed 1.9k. I wonder if the AllParts are just re-branded Gotohs? I wish I understood how all this works a little better because this just doesn't seem right.

Dave, that makes sense but what gets me is I remember it being advertised as 30k.

Quote from: dadagoboi on February 15, 2011, 08:08:18 AM
Allparts does not have manufacturing capability. They sell stuff they source, mostly in Asia. Judging from what they catalog, their "Mudbucker" probably comes from Gotoh.

I doubt the Allparts mudbucker is a Gotoh. Allparts lists Gotoh pickups separately, and the mudbucker they sell is not shown in the Gotoh section. Who knows how many Asian factories might be making mudbucker copies.

If it was advertised at 30k and it's really 2k, that's just false advertising, whatever factory it came from. I wasn't aware that Gotoh ever manufactured a mudbucker copy anyway. Are you sure yours is a Gotoh? Any markings or a part number? Or is that just what the seller claimed?

wagdog · February 15, 2011, 11:38:45 AM

Dave:

Unfortunately, I bought it years ago on Ebay and then put it in my parts box without ever checking it.

clankenstein · February 15, 2011, 01:52:58 PM

the base of my pickup looks like this.definitely reads 1 k per coil.

wagdog · February 15, 2011, 06:55:01 PM

tubehead - looks like our pickups are essentially the same.

Dave W · February 15, 2011, 07:06:43 PM

Well, that's a Gotoh all right!

The only bass pickups listed in their catalog in recent years are P and J types.

I found this interesting. From the description:

A home-made bass featuring a Gotoh EB-1 humbucking pickup. An ugly duckling, that sounds better than it looks! This was recorded into my humming Boss mixer (which is a bit rubbish!) and then into the PC with no effects. The demo consists of a passage with the tone control fully open, and then fully closed.

Maybe you just need to drop it into a J-type to hear it shine!

wagdog · February 16, 2011, 06:27:16 AM

My original intent with this pickup was to drop it into my SX Jazz just like the video but have it located where the neck j pickup is normally, sort of 'tractorish'. I was all set to start routing when it occurred to me that maybe I should stick it in my 'log' bass first just to hear what it sounds like. I was assuming it would be full of 60's 30k mudbucker goodness but that's not what I got. I'm glad I didn't start carving first! I could almost live with the tone in the video but mine was definitely much thinner sounding. Oh well, maybe I'll continue to experiment with it.

dadagoboi · February 16, 2011, 06:38:39 AM

Quote from: wagdog on February 16, 2011, 06:27:16 AM
My original intent with this pickup was to drop it into my SX Jazz just like the video but have it located where the neck j pickup is normally, sort of 'tractorish'. I was all set to start routing when it occurred to me that maybe I should stick it in my 'log' bass first just to hear what it sounds like. I was assuming it would be full of 60's 30k mudbucker goodness but that's not what I got. I'm glad I didn't start carving first! I could almost live with the tone in the video but mine was definitely much thinner sounding. Oh well, maybe I'll continue to experiment with it.

Sort of the silicone equivalent of the real things?