My weird quest - MFD like pickup

I'm a long time owner of a early 80s SC-2 and really appreciate the pickups. They are somewhat tele-ish, but with a wider, flatter frequency range and increased clarity. I also play a Jazzmaster that has a lot of positive attributes, but have struggled to find the right bridge pickup.

You've probably noticed that you can get almost any style pickup you want in the Jazzmaster form factor. You can get PAF and wide range humbuckers, tele-stlye pickups, stratish pickups, and even esoteric varieties like Mosrite and gold foil pickups. But nobody is building a MFD style pickup. They're just not in fashion, and they contain taboo ceramic magnets and they are hi-fi in a way that the conventional wisdom has labeled "boring."

I spoke with four different builders and finally found one willing to try to recreate the pre-nineties MFD. He's going to use hex pole pieces, thicker than average wire, ceramic bar magnets and a resistance of around 5K ohms. This is not a totally scientific reverse engineering, but I dropped a few bucks on an experiment and I'm going to find out soon. Could be terrible, could be good.

One more thing: if I could go back in time to kick some sense into my 1999 self, I would have bought an ASAT Special instead of an ASAT Classic. The unique voice of the G&L is the MFD and Leo put them there for a reason.

Sub,

This sounds interesting. Please keep us posted.

Don't kick yourself for buying an Asat Classic. They are wonderful guitars.


y2kc

I'm a long time owner of a early 80s SC-2 and really appreciate the pickups. They are somewhat tele-ish, but with a wider, flatter frequency range and increased clarity. I also play a Jazzmaster that has a lot of positive attributes, but have struggled to find the right bridge pickup.

You've probably noticed that you can get almost any style pickup you want in the Jazzmaster form factor. You can get PAF and wide range humbuckers, tele-stlye pickups, stratish pickups, and even esoteric varieties like Mosrite and gold foil pickups. But nobody is building a MFD style pickup. They're just not in fashion, and they contain taboo ceramic magnets and they are hi-fi in a way that the conventional wisdom has labeled "boring."

I spoke with four different builders and finally found one willing to try to recreate the pre-nineties MFD. He's going to use hex pole pieces, thicker than average wire, ceramic bar magnets and a resistance of around 5K ohms. This is not a totally scientific reverse engineering, but I dropped a few bucks on an experiment and I'm going to find out soon. Could be terrible, could be good.

One more thing: if I could go back in time to kick some sense into my 1999 self, I would have bought an ASAT Special instead of an ASAT Classic. The unique voice of the G&L is the MFD and Leo put them there for a reason.

Once you get your pickup(s), please post photos and audio.

BTW, G&L stills holds the registered patent on MFD pickups and that is why you will not find any of the major pickup builders making them.
I myself don't find any of the MFD pickups "boring". MFD magnets are the Ceramic 5 version. What version ceramic magnet is your builder using?
Also, what size pickup is it and what guitar are you putting it (them) in?

The pickup is in the Jazzmaster form factor and going into a 2008 AVRI Jazzmaster. Not sure what kind of ceramic magnet will be used. This builder is not making a clone of the MFD, just an approximation. I did talk to one builder who has the knowledge to build something that is electrically the same as a MFD, but he can't take on the project right now.

I think this is the patent number (expired) that is molded on vintage G&L pickup covers: https://patents.google.com/patent/US4220069A/en

I am very curious also why they have not been actively allowing the MFD humbuckers as an option throughout the line. I really want a true S-3 HB

Also I recently saw a 'custom ordered' S-500 with a seymour duncan humbucker and I thought, now why in the world isnt there an S-500 humbucker? Makes sense right?

Got my pickup, will try to post sound clips. It is not a recreation of a MFD. It sounds more like a MFD than the stock JM pickup, though.

It has ceramic bar magnets, hex screw pole pieces, 42 gauge wire (which was recommended to make the output where I wanted it), and 5.2k resistance. It doesn't have a baseplate (which I believe is the patented method of shaping the magnetic field, but I could be wrong). And it's not angled like an ASAT. But it is quite a pleasing pickup. Compared to my vintage SC-2, it doesn't have the aggressive bite, which is also attributable to the Jazzmaster bridge and to be expected.

I am very curious also why they have not been actively allowing the MFD humbuckers as an option throughout the line. I really want a true S-3 HB

Also I recently saw a 'custom ordered' S-500 with a seymour duncan humbucker and I thought, now why in the world isnt there an S-500 humbucker? Makes sense right?

They've done it as a one-off special order. The result is a guitar that doesn't have bad tone in its body. I'd love to see more MFD Humbuckers offered in different models. They are great!

I am very curious also why they have not been actively allowing the MFD humbuckers as an option throughout the line. I really want a true S-3 HB

Also I recently saw a 'custom ordered' S-500 with a seymour duncan humbucker and I thought, now why in the world isnt there an S-500 humbucker? Makes sense right?

They've done it as a one-off special order. The result is a guitar that doesn't have bad tone in its body. I'd love to see more MFD Humbuckers offered in different models. They are great!

That is one spectacularly looking geetahr! Kudos!

- Jos

Thank you Jos. Getting G&L to do the stain on the open grain Okume and mask and shoot the rest harrowing. They were so skeptical, but Darth admitted that the end product was killer. I love this thing!