ECP Build-a-Bucker review

[rclausen]

I was fortunate enough to win the pair of Build-a-Buckers from Bill at ECP. He was great to work with and provided me with an extra set of magnets because I couldn't decide between A2 and A4. The assembly was pretty straightforward except that his original video only showed it with a 4-conductor lead and I had requested 2-conductor. It wasn't too difficult to figure out what to do so I gave it a shot and assembled the first bucker in about 30 minutes, making sure to take my time and follow/rewind the video. The second one was completed much faster. I will say that I have a greater appreciation for the work that all of the winders do.

How do they sound? Excellent

I have only tried them with the A2 magnets so far and have them loaded in my R7 with a Dr Vintage wiring harness. I'm still tweaking them a bit as I don't have as much time to play right now. I set the pole screws to roughly match the 12 inch radius of the fretboard/bridge.

The clarity and punch that the pickups deliver is outstanding. The bridge is nice a fat with the tone rolled down and the neck pickup absolutely sings. Last night I was playing along to ABB Fillmore East through my 2061x/CX loaded with Scumback H75's and with volume rolled down was able to easily cop some great Dickey tones, turn up the volume and Duane was just about there. These really do nail the great PAF qualities that we all love. Clean to mean just riding the volume, with great interaction. I almost forgot to mention the sustain. I am able to hold notes for just about eternity when the amp is cookin. These offer a very musical and controllable feedback, very similar to a set of Shed PAf Daddies that I have. I plan on trying out the A4 mags on my next string change and will report back.

I highly recommend these pickups if you want to learn more on how they are actually constructed, and most importantly, if you want an excellent set of pickups for short money. Here are the pics I took during the build process. I want to work on getting some clips up. If anyone in the greater Boston area has recording ability and wants to give these ago then feel free to hit me up.

This is how the kit comes. Very neatly packaged






My work station lol

Ghetto vice grips

Getting ready to solder the lead to the baseplate



Slug bobbins in


Inserting the magnet


Maple spacer



Getting ready to solder the bobbin leads


Finished and taped



The completed set



If you can solder your pickups into your guitar, then you can easily put these kits together. Yet another excellent offering from Bill. Thanks again man and my apologies for taking so long to get up a review

 

[M@nChild]

Very cool, Bill is a fantastic person to deal with..

Super personable and just a real honest individual..

Lookin forward to receiving some pick ups from him this week!

 

[geetarfreek82]

Nice, I was waiting for this!

 

[PunkKitty]

Awesome! I think my next set will be Build-a-Buckers.

 

[rclausen]

You absolutely should. It's a great way to learn more about pickups and they sound great.

 

[bill m]

Thank You and nice job with the photo tutorial. I'm sorry I didn't have the video for installing vintage braid up at the time, but it's up now.

 

[rclausen]

No worries Bill. It wasn't too difficult to figure. Thanks again for offering an awesome product

 

[Shortscale]

Great idea. Very cool.

 

[polifemo]

I see that they offer: 7,1k, 7,5k, 8,1k and 8,5k.

Which models did you get?

Thinking about a 7,1k/A4 and a 8,1k/A2.

 

[rclausen]

7.5K and 8.1K

 

[50WPLEXI]

Sounds like a very cool idea. It's neat that you got to put them together.

 

[musicmaniac]

Looks like a winner for sure. Thanks for sharing.

 

[rclausen]

Sounds like a very cool idea. It's neat that you got to put them together.

Some people are guitar/amp/pedal junkies. I would definitely consider myself a pickup junkie. I've been through a lot, still own too many and I'm just fascinated by them. This really gave me an inside look without having to take apart any of my other pickups. I also learned how rugged pickups are (sans the wire which is very delicate). It's a great learning experience for any DIYer's

 

[korus]

Thank You and nice job with the photo tutorial. I'm sorry I didn't have the video for installing vintage braid up at the time, but it's up now.

Excellent idea. I just wonder if a 7.8k would be a nice addition. I do understand that it would be a 5th value/option but it seems it would sit well as a bridge for 7.1k neck and as a neck for 8.5k bridge ... just an idea.

@rclausen : Thanks for the photos/tutorial. If possible, some clips would be a nice addition ...

 

[Stinky Kitty]

+1 for Bill and ECP!

RD-59 LW FTW!

 

[geetarfreek82]

It's funny... This idea came from Bill because I've been getting pickups like this from him for years! If Bill was backed up and I needed a set of humbuckers I'd be like "just wind the bobbins and give me the parts, I'll throw it together!" Quicker for Him, cheaper for me, but same great product. Everyone wins.

I, too, would like to hear some sound clips of this set! I love the idea that you can tweak your own "custom" set by choosing different ohms and magnets.

 

[polifemo]

I see that they offer: 7,1k, 7,5k, 8,1k and 8,5k.

Are these the same winding pattern, only differing in total number of turns?

 

[korus]

Are these the same winding pattern, only differing in total number of turns?

If a pickup maker has as much positive reviews (and demo clips) as bill m has, there is almost no way he will use exactly the same winding pattern for a ~3.75k and ~4.25k coil as 7.1k is a neck and 8.5k is a bridge pickup. However, 7.5k and 8.1k might be used as both neck and bridge (esp. 8.1k) so this brings us to at least 3 winding patterns. Just guessing ...

Now, Build-A-Buckers might not have all the fine tuning and details (besides winding pattern, you can also vary type/make of ferromagnetic parts - slugs screws and keeper, dimensions of a bobbin, magnets used - e.g. different makes of the same Alnico type and how much magnetized they are...) regular ECP models have ( and website says so) but that is what the higher price of regular models is there for. I have no doubt these 'kits' will/do sound good, and as we all know - some winders 'good' might be unreachable for some other pickup makers' best ... regardless of price and/or hype. And most of the people capable of this kit's assembly are already fully aware why and how these will 'wipe the floor' with any of the SD or DMZ PAF like offerings if a customer is really aiming for a PAF tone and not only for a name/decal that 'wears'/implies term 'PAF'.

Sorry for this bit of rambling... Maybe, bill m will answer your question himself ...

 

[bill m]

Are these the same winding pattern, only differing in total number of turns?

They have different coil offsets and of course, different turns count.

 

[Brewdude]

I wanted to bump this thread because it and the 2 youtube videos from Bill were very helpful today putting one of these together. I didn't take any assembly photos as they look the same as above but figured I'd add a few completed ones. All said it took about 3 hours to build the pickup and rewire the guitar, so definitely a very doable project.

Also a big thanks to Matt at MSSC, he made a custom harness for my new (old) Epiphone. I went with the 7.5k ohm build-a-bucker in the bridge to pair with an ECP 59LW in the neck. The only slight complaint with my choice, if you can even call it that, is a 7.5k in the bridge position is a touch quiet in comparison but they both sound great. Now all my guitars are full but I'd definitely consider building another one of these if/when I get another guitar!