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Author Message Hazy Username: Hazy Registered: 10-2006 Posted on Sunday, November 12, 2006 - 1:53 pm:    I'm looking for a volunteer... Send me a set of Super 50s and I'll wax pot them for free. You have to pay shipping both ways...I don't sell or have any type of business. You'll be surprised at how great they really sound after any microphonic feedback is eliminated. Did you know...The 50s are wound to about 8.3k DC resistance as a set. That's a bit hot for a PAF neck but it's absolutely killer at the bridge. After using my AS120 for about a month, I have to compare the potted 50s to a SD Seth Lover type of sound, very woody at the neck and a honk/bite at the bridge. Also, if anyone wants to sell me their 50s, just make an offer...Actually they're horrible pups...you need to get rid of them...now!! Rick Ratfinks3 Username: Ratfinks3 Registered: 11-2004 Posted on Sunday, November 12, 2006 - 7:07 pm:    Your hooked Ricko. I'll check and see I may still have some I thought were 58's until you showed me what they really look like. So waxing really makes that much of a difference. My 58's need more wax. I think I'll try your method. I'll call you again to comfirm it one evening. I just bought a bunch of Florida bees wax if you need any. Michaelkaufman Username: Michaelkaufman Registered: 11-2002 Posted on Sunday, November 12, 2006 - 8:10 pm:    Sorry if this has already been covered, however, what are Super 50's?? mk Gemberbier Username: Gemberbier Registered: 05-2006 Posted on Sunday, November 12, 2006 - 10:01 pm:    OK, Michael, Super 50's are unpotted humbuckers, used in 1994 and the beginning of 1995 by Samick for the production of ArtStar guitars. If you don't wax pot them, they give a lot of microphonic feedback, but Rick's decided to wax pot the originals instead of buying Korean Super 58's, the ones Cort used from May 1995 or so, when Samick lost the contract. Mike, The Super 58's with the enormous wax layer you saw, could be Made In Japan. In your AS80's and our AS120's we have Made In Korea Super 58's. They're both wax potted, but differently. Ibanezfreak1960 wrote, that the new Chinese Super 58's are not wax potted. Your 1995 AS120 has a C serial#, so it was made by Cort using Super 58's. Same goes for the 2001 AS80's. But some extra wax won't harm. Ginger Hazy Username: Hazy Registered: 10-2006 Posted on Sunday, November 12, 2006 - 10:33 pm:    I appreciate the responses...but, I still don't have a victim...uh, volunteer. I'm not looking for 58s...I want 50s. Really, with all of the negatives on the 50s, why not send a pair or two to me? Rick Gemberbier Username: Gemberbier Registered: 05-2006 Posted on Monday, November 13, 2006 - 6:18 am:    Wow, the negatives were merely echos of your own comment on the Super 50's, Rick. You told us, they were originally unpotted, so in our opinion they're more or less half-finished products, which you can either replace or finish yourself, like you've been doing on that historical Saturday evening. Most of our ArtStars are post-Samick. It is not so that we have Super 50's in the parts bin. I don't, and IMO Mike doesn't either. He just saw that the very beautiful wax potted Super 58's you showed us look very different from his and now THINKS his are Super 58's. IMO he's mistaking: he's got KOREAN Super 58's from Cort made ArtStars and I think the ones you showed were either Japanese or of a much later date, or received an aftermarket wax potting treatment and a sticker. Did you realise that the Samick made ArtStars are a really small minority of the Korean ArtStar production? Maximum 16 month of Samick production against 80 months of Cort production. That's only 20% of the Korean ArtStars! And the rarest Korean ArtStars are the ones made by Cort from May-Dec 1995. Narrow headstock, Mickey Mouse Ears like the Samick production had, but Super 58's as improvement as seen in the specs lists in the later 1995 catalogue for the European market. I admire your efforts to keep your white AS120 original. Most owners either swap pickups or sell the guitar. (That's how you got yours.) Many of the people who swapped the pickups, don't even know what they took out, because there's a contradiction in the 1995 catalogues. To them they are just the "bad old pickups". Even Michael Kaufmann had never heard of them and neither did I until you brought it up and I went comparing catalogues. What you could do, is look on Ebay for ArtStars with Mickey Mouse Ears and narrow headstocks with replaced pickups, in case of the AS120 especially the white ones, they're easy to spot. Then you send the seller a message about the original pickups. Ginger Ibanezfreak1960 Username: Ibanezfreak1960 Registered: 03-2004 Posted on Monday, November 13, 2006 - 7:08 am:    Ginger it wasn't me who said the chinese 58's were not wax potted. I've never had mine off. And alao custom 58's and super 59's are different pups. the customs being ceramic magnet pups. Michaelkaufman Username: Michaelkaufman Registered: 11-2002 Posted on Monday, November 13, 2006 - 7:36 am:    FYI...just to clarify: I own no ArtCore or ArtStar guitars or Super 50 pickups. I have Super 58's on my AR3000 and they sound good to me. mk Ibanezfreak1960 Username: Ibanezfreak1960 Registered: 03-2004 Posted on Monday, November 13, 2006 - 8:23 am:    I meant to say super 58's not 59's. Custom 58's ceramic magnet and chinese, super 58's korean and japanese with alnico mags. Ibanezfreak1960 Username: Ibanezfreak1960 Registered: 03-2004 Posted on Monday, November 13, 2006 - 8:27 am:    Just thought of something. The Jet Kings are made in Indonesia does that mean there are Indonesian Super 58's as well? Hmmm. Hazy Username: Hazy Registered: 10-2006 Posted on Monday, November 13, 2006 - 8:47 am:    Back on topic... There was a AS120 on The Bay with an S5xxxxxx serial number that went for $406. It was the sibling to my AS120, white and from the Samick factory in 1995. I am only offering relief for anyone who has a microphonic Artstar pickup off of an IBZ. Actually, I don't care if it's a 58 or a 50, I'll wax pot either for anyone at ICW. Ginger, you bring up a good point about the number of potential AS120s out of the Samick factory, definitely fewer than the Cort plant. That means that there are less potential 50s floating around out there. Rick Hazy Username: Hazy Registered: 10-2006 Posted on Monday, November 13, 2006 - 9:03 am:    "Sorry if this has already been covered, however, what are Super 50's??" Michael, On a technical basis, my Super 50s are wound a bit hotter than the Super 58s. The Super 58s seem to be in the 7.5 - 7.8K DC resistance range. The Super 50s are about 8.3k DC resistance. The 58s DC resistance range would be considered more of an original PAF range where as the 8.3k DC resistance is more along the line of a Duane Allman range... Now, there is a lot more to a pickup than the DC resistance...but, both of these pups are good, the 50s just have that pesky microphonic quirke. Also, another thing that's interesting about the IBZ pups that I have been exposed to is that they are the same DC resistance at the neck/bridge. The guitar industry as a whole usually winds the bridge pup a bit hotter because (I don't know why) the string output is lower at bridge than at the neck of the guitar. Just a bit of useless trivia... Rick Fiveoclockfriday Username: Fiveoclockfriday Registered: 07-2006 Posted on Monday, November 13, 2006 - 12:49 pm:    Hazy, you rock man! I am definitely interested in doing this. Unfortunately, I am also a failure at anything electronics wise, so could you tell me the simplest way to safely remove the pickups (and will I be able to reinstall them myself)? I'd be happy to pay shipping both ways. I'd love to try this before I spend $150+ on new pickups for my 94 AS80 which plays like a dream, but ultimately was only $300 on eBay Hazy Username: Hazy Registered: 10-2006 Posted on Monday, November 13, 2006 - 2:13 pm:    Fiveoclockfriday, I'm serious about the wax potting offer...just need for you to pay any shipping. You now touch on a subject that I am still in the process of exploring...removing and replacing "stuff" from a semi-hollow body. I bought unwaxed dental floss. I'm going to tie it to each of the pots, the output jack and the three-way switch before I drop them into the body. Leave plenty of length so that the floss still sticks out of the holes and you'll use it to pull everything back into place. You'll need it all out because you'll have to fish the pickup wires back through the harness after they're done. It's not an easy project...but, we're not the 1st to do it. Good luck and e-mail me when you're ready to send them. Rick Fiveoclockfriday Username: Fiveoclockfriday Registered: 07-2006 Posted on Monday, November 13, 2006 - 10:35 pm:    Rick, Thanks for your info, I'm serious about sending them out too. I may not have conveyed just how little experience I have working with guitar electronics (despite playing for 8 years...hmm). Could you help me out, or point me to a resource that could detail the process of taking out and then removing the pickups (along with anything I'd need to do to pots, etc)? I had a soldering iron somewhere, but it's never been used so I'm truly a virgin. I apologize for needing the hand holding, but I truly love how the Ibanez plays and sounds (unplugged), more than guitars I've had in the past costing much much more, so I want to be careful with her and not mess anything up. Thanks. -Eric B. Fingersmcoy Username: Fingersmcoy Registered: 10-2006 Posted on Monday, November 13, 2006 - 11:04 pm:    Five! Better experiment on a cheap guitar first.I just replaced pickups on my Epiphone Dot. Yikes!Replacing pickups in a hollowbody guitar is not for the novist,I.M.O.Taking the pickups off the guitar and replacing them is the easy part,its getting the pots that can be a bi-otch.I dental flossed my pots and pulled them through the f-holes one by one. There are only 2 pots that are directly connected to the hummer pickups,that need to be desoldered and re- soldered.Once you replaced a few pickups you will be ready for prime time.Good luck!! Hazy Username: Hazy Registered: 10-2006 Posted on Monday, November 13, 2006 - 11:05 pm:    Fiveoclockfriday, Here's what I did today to change caps and pot the neck pickup (I didn't do it last time): 1) Tie all of the pots, the output jack and the 3-position switch with dental floss. Make them long so that all of the components have a piece of floss coming out of the holes. You need it to fish all of the "stuff" back into place. 2) Drop all of the parts into the guitar 3) Unsolder the pickups from the pots - take pictures or draw out where all of the wires connect 4) Do the opposite to reassemble It's time consuming but doable. Rick Gemberbier Username: Gemberbier Registered: 05-2006 Posted on Tuesday, November 14, 2006 - 8:49 am:    Freak, I was writing an answer yesterday, when I was interrupted for a while. And after that I couldn't reach the ADSL server anymore. So here's a summary of what I wrote: The one who SUGGESTED the Chinese Super 58's are not wax potted was Agr, who did a lot of pickup comparisons in one and the same guitar. He wrote about the Chinese Super 58's: "they don't look wax potted to me". You were in the same thread with lots of info to, but you're right, this quote wasn't yours. Rick, Very professional of you, that you made these pictures during the operation. I'd like to hear the voice recorder! I always used to trust on my memory, but as you see, I sometimes mix things up. Perhaps I should try to find a digital camera I can work with. Perhaps one of my favorite analog camera brand Olympus (Japan of course...) I hate the Mrs HP camera. Ginger Hazy Username: Hazy Registered: 10-2006 Posted on Tuesday, November 14, 2006 - 8:53 am:    Ginger, The voice recorder had to be silenced several times...to protect the guilty. Rick Gemberbier Username: Gemberbier Registered: 05-2006 Posted on Tuesday, November 14, 2006 - 9:24 am:    Oh Rick, The reason the string output above the neck pu is higher than above the bridge is that the neck pu is closer to the middle of the string where the amplitude of the string's vibration is maximal. The bridge pickup is closest to the bridge, where the amplitude is 0, because it is a fixed end, just like the nut. (If the amplitude on one of these two spots in not 0, we speak of buzz.) Ginger

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