MIJ Pickup Data thread

[Oranjeaap]

U-1000 is the most likely candidate for a 1976 pickup with no other markings.

What would we need to know for sure?
Resistance value, magnet material? So unless the magnet is clearly ceramic, you cant tell from just looking I guess.
What if the catalog says u-4000, is it possible?

 

[EG700]

Wulfman, may I ask, is it plausible that this pickup is indeed (as is described in an online auction) a late '80s Screamin' taken from a Greco Les Paul type guitar?

 

[nigelthebald]

Wouldn't it have braided wire if it were a Screamin' from a late 80s Greco singlecut? Mine did.

 

[EG700]

Wouldn't it have braided wire if it were a Screamin' from a late 80s Greco singlecut? Mine did.

I need advice about that. All I know is that Greco/Fujigen stopped putting the little black stickers on the Mint Collection Screamin' pickups from sometime around the mid-80s, rendering them "no-name" brand pickups from then on. But what else got changed? Did the Screamin' pickups continue with braided outer cable until 1990 at least? So this pick-up here in the photo could be anything? Is there any other way to tell if it's a "Screamin"" or not, as claimed by the auction seller?

 

[Roxy13]

It does have those 2 holes in the baseplate (the one where the wire comes out plus the one diagonal to it) which seem to be a Fujigen feature. Since you have no cover on take a look at your magnet and spacer from the side. Are they very tall to indicate a ceramic magnet.

 

[EG700]

It does have those 2 holes in the baseplate (the one where the wire comes out plus the one diagonal to it) which seem to be a Fujigen feature. Since you have no cover on take a look at your magnet and spacer from the side. Are they very tall to indicate a ceramic magnet.

I bought it anyway, coz it was cheap. But it hasn't arrived yet. Will update about magnet when it gets here.

Meanwhile, jk-guitars.jimdofree.com's scholarly research indicates that the in-house Fujigen "Dry" pups did switch from braided outer cable to black plastic at some point. Presumably the Screamin's would have followed suit.

 

[Roxy13]

I bought it anyway, coz it was cheap. But it hasn't arrived yet. Will update about magnet when it gets here.

Meanwhile, jk-guitars.jimdofree.com's scholarly research indicates that the in-house Fujigen "Dry" pups did switch from braided outer cable to black plastic at some point. Presumably the Screamin's would have followed suit.

Yes, I thought my 1991 Drys had plastic coated wire. I was just too lazy to go look. I just didn't know what year that might have changed.

 

[EG700]

Yes, I thought my 1991 Drys had plastic coated wire. I was just too lazy to go look. I just didn't know what year that might have changed.

As far as I know, only JK-sensei has taken the trouble to line up actual known-date examples of Greco pickups end-to-end and take pix for us to look at. Unless there are other resources out there about Greco pickups (in addition to this thread) which are also as scholarly? As in archaeology, "context is important". Ok so the wire is plastic, but "What year and model of guitar was it first sold in?" is the vital thing to focus upon. Back to Dry's - JK-sensei has pix of one Dry that he attributes to 1982 which has black wire, and another two that he says are of the same year which are braided. Plus pix of later-'80s Dry that are black wire only. So go figure. Who working at Fujigen in 1980s would ever have guessed that 40 years later there'd be people obsessing over such things?

 

[EG700]

Yes, I thought my 1991 Drys had plastic coated wire. I was just too lazy to go look. I just didn't know what year that might have changed.

Back to something that IS in our power to gather evidence about: our ears! Well, it's within our power IF we have the pickups handy, and IF we can be bothered to keep changing them in and out of the same guitar to find out what they sound like ...

... this MIK Cort Greco LP Std of circa 1990 that I've ended up with - it's pickups are leaving me feeling somewhat "meh!" To help me prioritise what pups combination I should maybe try installing first, what would be your preferred choice? (1) SD SH4 JB + SH2 JN, (2) 1977 U3000 + 1977 U1000, or (3) Black-sticker Screamin'82 + 1980 Dimarzio PAF?

 

[zeneffect]

Dimarzio neck, u3k bridge.

 

[wulfman]

Wulfman, may I ask, is it plausible that this pickup is indeed (as is described in an online auction) a late '80s Screamin' taken from a Greco Les Paul type guitar?


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I'd say it is quite possible. They used plastic shielded wire with the pickups that went into most semi-hollow/hollowbodies so you do see these around. If it has a ceramic magnet the odds are it could be a screamin'.
The only caveat is that Fujigen still makes similar pickups now so it is hard to say 100% that it is from a Greco. I have a Fujigen Epi Goldtop that has pickups with the same baseplates and wire from 2006.

 

[Roxy13]

^ That is interesting because yes, my Drys with the plastic coated wire came from the 91 FA 95, which is an es-175 copy. They are in the 1982 EGC 500 now though so getting a pic would be easy.

As for being able to document a lot of Greco pickups (whether Nissan Opna or Fujigen) though, I just havne't had anywhere near enough of them to write anything of value @EG700

 

[EG700]

^ That is interesting because yes, my Drys with the plastic coated wire came from the 91 FA 95, which is an es-175 copy. They are in the 1982 EGC 500 now though so getting a pic would be easy.

As for being able to document a lot of Greco pickups (whether Nissan Opna or Fujigen) though, I just havne't had anywhere near enough of them to write anything of value @EG700

Well, that's where this thread is handy. It's a community effort to get a big enough sample size.

But useful though, if only to be able to raise flags about which auction items are definitely NOT what is being claimed!

 

[EG700]

Dimarzio neck, u3k bridge.

Thanks for this suggestion. I'll give it a shot, and report back.

 

[MikeyH]

Hi guys, Ive just posted in a main thread before I found this one..typical! The pickups on my Aria Pro II LS800 has black pickups with a T stamped on the top of them - any ideas what they are? I havent been able to take them out because... well....Im not that techy so a bit scared!