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Throbak Peter Green pickups

CK6

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 5, 2020
Messages
449
Hey guys, hope everyone is well!

Does anybody have these installed in their Les Paul? I’ve seen a couple of clips but they are not very well recorded and I would like to know firsthand of our former members experience with his pick ups. I am very strongly considering buying a pair to put in my aged and signed Ace Frehley burst. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks.
 

Texas Blues

Active member
Joined
Apr 13, 2008
Messages
4,641
Hey guys, hope everyone is well!

Does anybody have these installed in their Les Paul? I’ve seen a couple of clips but they are not very well recorded and I would like to know firsthand of our former members experience with his pick ups. I am very strongly considering buying a pair to put in my aged and signed Ace Frehley burst. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks.

Throback makes great pup's.

But the notion of Peter Green pup's in an Ace Frehley guitar just sounds bizarre.

Then again.

Its just another Les Paul.
 

JLee

Member
Joined
Nov 27, 2010
Messages
89
I’ve had WB, WCR Moore/Greens, Bare Knuckle PG Blues, Shed Supernaturals and flipped magnets in several sets of pickups. Throbaks are the best I’ve tried.
 

CK6

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 5, 2020
Messages
449
I’ve had WB, WCR Moore/Greens, Bare Knuckle PG Blues, Shed Supernaturals and flipped magnets in several sets of pickups. Throbaks are the best I’ve tried.

Thanks, appreciate it.
 

El Gringo

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Joined
Apr 8, 2015
Messages
5,657
Greetings , I am huge fan and user of tThroBak MXV-SLE-101 Plus pickups with A5 magnets . ( 10 sets , loaded in 8 Les Paul's and soon to be 10 when my 2 newest M2M R9's are built ) Seriously , ThroBak makes the best pickups and they are awesome and very responsive to my needs ! Cant say enough wonderful things about ThroBak !!!!!!!!!!
 

CK6

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 5, 2020
Messages
449
Greetings , I am huge fan and user of tThroBak MXV-SLE-101 Plus pickups with A5 magnets . ( 10 sets , loaded in 8 Les Paul's and soon to be 10 when my 2 newest M2M R9's are built ) Seriously , ThroBak makes the best pickups and they are awesome and very responsive to my needs ! Cant say enough wonderful things about ThroBak !!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for the feedback, I know that they make very good pickups but do you have any experience with the Peter Green set specifically?
 

duaneflowers

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 13, 2013
Messages
2,522
Never tried the Throwbacks but I've had Sigil, Deacci, Bare Knuckle, Shed, a prototype set Monty's wound for Phil Harris, Stephens Design and 3 different Wizz prototype sets in my CC#1 at one time or another. My favorites, and the ones currently in there are the Wizz set that went into production. The neck rings like a bell, the bridge soars like an eagle and the middle position is spooky good!! :salude
 

CK6

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 5, 2020
Messages
449
Never tried the Throwbacks but I've had Sigil, Deacci, Bare Knuckle, Shed, a prototype set Monty's wound for Phil Harris, Stephens Design and 3 different Wizz prototype sets in my CC#1 at one time or another. My favorites, and the ones currently in there are the Wizz set that went into production. The neck rings like a bell, the bridge soars like an eagle and the middle position is spooky good!! :salude

Cheers, I actually have a set of Wizz premium clones in my CC 13 and they sound great! Which Wizz wiring option did you choose? Formvar or PE and was it wound normally or in reverse? Thanks!

I have yet to try Throbak pickups and that is why I’m looking at them instead of Wizz.
 

duaneflowers

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Joined
Aug 13, 2013
Messages
2,522
Cheers, I actually have a set of Wizz premium clones in my CC 13 and they sound great! Which Wizz wiring option did you choose? Formvar or PE and was it wound normally or in reverse? Thanks!

I have yet to try Throbak pickups and that is why I’m looking at them instead of Wizz.

It was Formvar wound normally with a flipped mag. One of the other prototypes was reverse wound Formvar, but I went with the regular wind in case I want to flip the mag and put it back in phase at some point.

The Phil Harris set gave me a lot to go on since it was wound side by side with Greeny on Matt's workbench during Phil's custodianship days. There were only 2 sets of these wound before Phil pulled the plug on the joint venture. They sounded awesome and maybe closest to Greeny, but since I've never played Greeny I can't say for sure. To my ear he Stephens Design pups edged them out so they went up on the shelf, soon to be joined by the SD too, as the Wizz set thoroughly ticked all the boxes for me and knocked it out of the park.

As far as putting them in your Ace, I have a specially made set of Rewind Crème Brûlée pups, which are Rewind Electrics take on the Pearly Gates. In my case they are special made as he added a 3rd pickup voiced in between the other 2 for the middle pickup and they sound awesome. So I have no problem with putting Greenys in your Ace. :salude
 

jwalker

Les Paul Forum Sponsor
Joined
Dec 10, 2004
Messages
2,592
Kid Andersen just did this Peter Green tribute. The Les Paul he is playing has ThroBak PG-102 MXV pickups installed.

 

CK6

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Joined
Feb 5, 2020
Messages
449
As far as putting them in your Ace, I have a specially made set of Rewind Crème Brûlée pups, which are Rewind Electrics take on the Pearly Gates. In my case they are special made as he added a 3rd pickup voiced in between the other 2 for the middle pickup and they sound awesome. So I have no problem with putting Greenys in your Ace. :salude

Haha cool! Thanks for the insight, much appreciated!
 

CK6

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 5, 2020
Messages
449
Kid Andersen just did this Peter Green tribute. The Les Paul he is playing has ThroBak PG-102 MXV pickups installed.


Thanks for the clip, they sound great & will be in touch shortly to order!
 

duaneflowers

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Aug 13, 2013
Messages
2,522
Haha cool! Thanks for the insight, much appreciated!

FOrgot to mention... they are in my Ace replica :hee

ZmCEsVC.jpg
 

El Gringo

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Joined
Apr 8, 2015
Messages
5,657
Kid Andersen just did this Peter Green tribute. The Les Paul he is playing has ThroBak PG-102 MXV pickups installed.


That was awesome and reminds me of my visit to NOLA - The Crescent City . That middle pickup sound is awesome !!!!!!!!!!!
 

Bulwark

Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2019
Messages
52
I’ve had them! Had the 4-conductor set, did the whole four push-pull pots thing for separate coil tap, series/parallel, and phase switching.

They were hot enough that coil tapping didn’t leave you with a singular, anemic coil. It actually did the dig-in-with-the-right-hand SRV thing surprisingly well, compressed quite a bit in that context.

In humbucker mode, I found they were fantastic, but had just a tiny bit less “airy and open” top end than I personally wanted, and were perhaps just a pinch more output than I’m after. The site says they’re “mid-focused,” which I’d say is a pretty apt description. But make no mistake, they have enough low-end for some solid chug.

Damn they can do a good balls-out rock tone.

For anyone going for the 5 Watt World answer to the “what if you could only have one guitar to satisfy all needs” question, I think those pickups w/ the aforementioned wiring setup are it. There was no such thing as a bad or unuseful sound. I was surprised at how BB King-like the both tapped, series, nasal phase setting was.

Now that I’ve got a decent Strat, I don’t feel the need to single-coil with my R9. Jack of all, master of none, right? Personally, I think my next attempt at pickup Valhalla will involve A2 mags and 7.7-8.0k output, front-to-back as close as I can get.

If you think the PG-102 set are what you’re after, odds are, you’re right. And if you reach out to them, I’m sure they can make that middle pickup... what, the average of the two? *shrugs*

Good luck!
 

CK6

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 5, 2020
Messages
449
I’ve had them! Had the 4-conductor set, did the whole four push-pull pots thing for separate coil tap, series/parallel, and phase switching.

They were hot enough that coil tapping didn’t leave you with a singular, anemic coil. It actually did the dig-in-with-the-right-hand SRV thing surprisingly well, compressed quite a bit in that context.

In humbucker mode, I found they were fantastic, but had just a tiny bit less “airy and open” top end than I personally wanted, and were perhaps just a pinch more output than I’m after. The site says they’re “mid-focused,” which I’d say is a pretty apt description. But make no mistake, they have enough low-end for some solid chug.

Damn they can do a good balls-out rock tone.

For anyone going for the 5 Watt World answer to the “what if you could only have one guitar to satisfy all needs” question, I think those pickups w/ the aforementioned wiring setup are it. There was no such thing as a bad or unuseful sound. I was surprised at how BB King-like the both tapped, series, nasal phase setting was.

Now that I’ve got a decent Strat, I don’t feel the need to single-coil with my R9. Jack of all, master of none, right? Personally, I think my next attempt at pickup Valhalla will involve A2 mags and 7.7-8.0k output, front-to-back as close as I can get.

If you think the PG-102 set are what you’re after, odds are, you’re right. And if you reach out to them, I’m sure they can make that middle pickup... what, the average of the two? *shrugs*

Good luck!

Thanks, I ordered a set with magnet flip and look forward to getting them!
 

CK6

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 5, 2020
Messages
449
Hey Guys, got these last week and installed them with a Throbak harness - amazing! Sound killer through a small tweed amp or cranked with a 100w Marshall. Enjoying the out of phase sound too for certain applications.
 

Bulwark

Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2019
Messages
52
Hey Guys, got these last week and installed them with a Throbak harness - amazing! Sound killer through a small tweed amp or cranked with a 100w Marshall. Enjoying the out of phase sound too for certain applications.

Niiiiice, enjoy!

Aspects of them I honestly miss. I swapped into a set of Doyle Coils, and honestly can’t say it was an upgrade. I gained some qualities I like, but gave up others. Pretty sure my next set will be one of Jon’s, just have to work out which.

Do you have their heights in their respective “sweet spots,” and are the covers on or off?
 
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