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OX4 Low wound A4 pickups

nayoud

New member
Joined
Oct 13, 2013
Messages
25
Howdy all, Some help needed here, please!

I bought a pair of 4 conductor wire OX4 low wound Alnico 4 pups from Mark Stow recently.

I got the Gibson connectors and soldered them to fit with my 2016 Les Paul Standard T's PCB board. It's got the 500 pots in it. As much as I hate the PCB board, I bought this ax new and I'm still not willing to gut it out completely at this point in time.

Once all was set, I noticed that the sound was very thin, especially the bridge pup, which was also not very loud and timid as well as shrilly. I had to put the tone on 6-7 ( I play through a DRRI).

When I split the coils, the sound on the pups would be louder than when in humbucking mode? They sounded single coily/throaty so the wires were not reversed or anything.

I checked the wiring again, and all was normal.
I contacted Mark, who was very helpful, and said that this is his signature sound of the low wounds. He suggested replacing the PCB board with normal pots and a .022 cap.

The thing is that my strat with David Allen 54/59's are rounder than my OX4's. This can't be normal, or could it be?

What could be the problem here? I'm at a loss.
Any ideas are highly appreciated.
Cheers Folks
H
 

Big Al

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 24, 2002
Messages
14,537
All I know is despite how much some people go on about how great AlNiCo IV magnets sound in pickups, they all sound flat and lifeless to me. Not the magnet for me I guess.
 

nayoud

New member
Joined
Oct 13, 2013
Messages
25
All I know is despite how much some people go on about how great AlNiCo IV magnets sound in pickups, they all sound flat and lifeless to me. Not the magnet for me I guess.

Thanks Big Al

I think I have an issue with the pickup or the wiring somehow, the a4 have a flat eq but what I'm experiencing is more shrill on the bridge pup. The sound is also a bit thin overall. Thinner than my strat.
Cheers
 

duaneflowers

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 13, 2013
Messages
2,522
You really do have to get rid of that PCB and put in some decent pots and caps if you want any decent tone... one little scratch is all it takes to set them off...
 

Hamerfan

Active member
Joined
Dec 20, 2004
Messages
791
Thanks Big Al

I think I have an issue with the pickup or the wiring somehow, the a4 have a flat eq but what I'm experiencing is more shrill on the bridge pup. The sound is also a bit thin overall. Thinner than my strat.
Cheers

I have medium wounds A4 with 7.6 and 8.1 k. I pretty sure that there is a wiring issue with yours. They should sound much more stout as humbuckers do.
Do have a multimeter? If not get one. Put in the guitar cable and measure between the tip and the sleeve, with coil tap and and without. This should tell you whats wrong.
 

jwalker

Les Paul Forum Sponsor
Joined
Dec 10, 2004
Messages
2,592
It sounds to me like you have the wiring pinout wrong. Check with OX$ to see what color code he uses for 4 conductor and transpose it to the Gibson color code. Gibson uses a different pinout for neck and bridge pickups and also flips the bridge magnet. Your symptoms sound like you don't have the pinout and phase properly set-up.
 

nayoud

New member
Joined
Oct 13, 2013
Messages
25
AM
duaneflowers
AM
Hamerfan
AM
jwalker

Thank you all for your comments

I must have done something wrong with the wiring because the pups don't sound right. I just did a one to one color wiring.
I already measured the pups with Mark's help and they were within normal average.
This PCB board is a hassle!!!!
 

nayoud

New member
Joined
Oct 13, 2013
Messages
25
Something went wrong yesterday on the board. All my delayed messages appeared after I thought they didn't register
 
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LtKojak

New member
Joined
Apr 5, 2015
Messages
208
I bought a pair of 4 conductor wire OX4 low wound Alnico 4 pups from Mark Stow recently.

I got the Gibson connectors and soldered them to fit with my 2016 Les Paul Standard T's PCB board.

Once all was set, I noticed that the sound was very thin, especially the bridge pup, which was also not very loud and timid as well as shrilly.

When I split the coils, the sound on the pups would be louder than when in humbucking mode? They sounded single coily/throaty so the wires were not reversed or anything.
That's faulty wiring 101, directly taken from the manual.

I checked the wiring again, and all was normal.
That's what you think. The PCB's internal wiring is NOT standard. The p'up's themselves are NOT wired in a standard manner. Gibson's way to discourage users in putting aftermarket p'ups into their instruments.

He suggested replacing the PCB board with normal pots and a .022 cap.
That should've been your first move. PCBs are not there for tone's sake, mind you.

HTH,
 

nayoud

New member
Joined
Oct 13, 2013
Messages
25
OK Folks
Lesson learned

I plucked out the PCB board, I ordered a set of CTS 500 area 59 pots with true vintage tapers (std) and a couple of bumblebees.022muF.
Will report back ....
Thank you all for your help
Cheers
 

nayoud

New member
Joined
Oct 13, 2013
Messages
25
Reporting back folks

This is just a preliminary report, it would take me at least a few weeks to settle down on an opinion. I installed the pups, with CTS 500 area 59 pots, Bumblebee caps, configured in a 50's wiring scheme. I ran it through a DRRI with a clipped bright cap.

Clean

They are A4 magnets, and they sound like A4 magnets with a balanced eq. Compared to the Burstbucker pro's (A5), the neck pickup is very clear, but it sounds drier than the pro, and being low wounds they sounded thinner, but they'll be great for jazz runs. I have a parametric eq and it works well with the new set.

The bridge pup is quite thin clean and not as harsh as the pro. I have to fiddle a bit with the height to find the sweet spot. The tone pot did little to change that, but maybe my SD booster would help.

The bridge and neck together with the same volume level sounded EXCEPTIONAL!. It's got that Gibson gnarly bite and it's my favorite clean setting so far.


Overdriven (OKKO Diablo plus and a 1982 Japanese DS-1)

This is where these pups really shine. They really sound good with light to medium gain. It had a loose vintage fiery growl. Very pleasing to my ear. On a Marshall head, I guess they would be beyond outstanding.

I tested them next to a Gibson Custom on a Laney combo, and they were substantially MORE powerful than the custom. I have no idea what kind of pickups were on that custom, but it didn't get close to being as powerful.

You can get very close to Paul Kossoff territory on the neck pup or N/B of this baby. The Bridge, with a little bit of tweaking, is quite good for piercing solos, especially in a band setting (It will cut through the mix like a knife).

Overall, these pups are exactly what Mark said they would do, it has the OX4 signature sound, they're manufactured very well, but I might be more of an A2 kind of person. That remains to be seen. I'll report back in a few weeks.

Cheers folks
 
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