F-100 vs 25th Anniversary PUP's

Hey guys,

I'm looking for some info on the difference between the F-100 PUP's and the 25th Anniversary PUP's. I have an old F-100 with original pup's that I'm mighty unhappy with the sound of. Way too bright and harsh as many have said before me. I have played a 25th anniversary and found it to be much more pleasant. I understand that the DFS vs the Saddle lock can contribute to the difference I heard, as well as the body wood. The difference seemed to go way beyond that. I checked the pickup list here and its states the F-100 pups have a resistance of 6.9-7.2 from 80-86 while the pickups MFG'ed after 86 have a resistance of 9.9k-15.6k.

If this is indeed the case, can anyone shed any light on any other difference the pickups might have? Did the 25th anniversary also have ceramic magnets? Was it the typical 42-43 gauge wire combo used on either? Any dampening material put between the magnets and pole pieces? Or was it simply wound using the same gauge wire to a much higher resistance to offset the ceramic magnets?

My goal is to get these F-100 PUP's much warmer. Similar to the 25th anniversary PUP's. Before I have the original F-100's rewound I would like to get as much info as possible before I desecrate Leo's design!

Any information at all would be much appreciated!

Thanks

Hey guys,

I'm looking for some info on the difference between the F-100 PUP's and the 25th Anniversary PUP's. I have an old F-100 with original pup's that I'm mighty unhappy with the sound of. Way too bright and harsh as many have said before me. I have played a 25th anniversary and found it to be much more pleasant. I understand that the DFS vs the Saddle lock can contribute to the difference I heard, as well as the body wood. The difference seemed to go way beyond that. I checked the pickup list here and its states the F-100 pups have a resistance of 6.9-7.2 from 80-86 while the pickups MFG'ed after 86 have a resistance of 9.9k-15.6k.

If this is indeed the case, can anyone shed any light on any other difference the pickups might have? Did the 25th anniversary also have ceramic magnets? Was it the typical 42-43 gauge wire combo used on either? Any dampening material put between the magnets and pole pieces? Or was it simply wound using the same gauge wire to a much higher resistance to offset the ceramic magnets?

My goal is to get these F-100 PUP's much warmer. Similar to the 25th anniversary PUP's. Before I have the original F-100's rewound I would like to get as much info as possible before I desecrate Leo's design!

Any information at all would be much appreciated!

Thanks

First, see this post for some background on the original F-100 pickups: viewtopic.php?p=20031#p20031 .

All G&L MFD pickups have ceramic magnets.

The main difference between the '80-'86 G&L MFD Humbucker used in the F-100 and the current G&L MFD Humbucker is the
amount of wire used. Also, the early pickups were all hand wound. For the current pickups see: How are G&L pickups currently made?

The 25th Anniversary model, Custom Creations F-100 Return Edition, current production F-100 and 30th Anniversary F-100 model all have the same pickups.
They also have the same wiring (which is much less complex than the original F-100 models). The 25th Anniversary does not have the Push/Pull Tone pot for
coil splitting of both pickups.

Here is a link to the wiring schematics and diagrams we have on the various versions of the F-100 model: Album: F-100 Wiring Schematics and Picture Diagrams.

Here is a link to the original F-100 instruction sheets, also located in our Gallery, which describes all the settings: F-100 and F-100E Instructions.

Many years ago, Gabe (GPD) posted details on a mod to the F-100 circuit to be more like the G-200 circuit and
those who have done the mod felt that it was a big improvement to their F-100. Unfortunately, I don't have any of
these mod details nor a G-200 schematic. Perhaps one of our long time members who have done the mod, will see this
and post about it.

I would not recommend modifying your F-100 pickups, but focus on the F-100 circuit to tame the too bright and harsh
sounds.

Perhaps other owners of the early F-100 will provide some insight to what they do to tame theirs.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the information, Craig. I've referenced that material plus the original patent information in the gallery to understand the basic fundamentals of the MFD design. What I was unclear on was how exactly it had been changed in the later years. You have cleared that up for me, thank you.

Modifying the pickups isn't something I necessarily want to do but the pickups are almost to the point of unusable for what I do. I have modified the circuit and it has helped to some degree but it's a long way from good. There is still one more circuit I know to try but I feel as if I'm putting a band aid on the problem rather than fixing the problem.

I would be very interested in purchasing the new production F-100 MFD's but I've yet to see any available in the G&L store. Would anyone happen to have any insight if this is something that would be available at a later date? I'm sure my S-500 could hold me over for awhile!

Thanks again!

I would be very interested in purchasing the new production F-100 MFD's but I've yet to see any available in the G&L store. Would anyone happen to have any insight if this is something that would be available at a later date? I'm sure my S-500 could hold me over for awhile!

Thanks again!

I have not heard that the MFD Humbuckers are going to be made available any time soon on the G&L Online Store.
You might check with your local G&L dealer and see if they can order them for you.

[Craig]

I've got 2 F-100 and both are unmodified. I wouldn't say, they have a harsh sound. At least there's a tone control on the amp-side and one may use the tone control on the guitar too.

Do you call following sounds harsh?

Some examples with the F-100:
http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=8500189
http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=8436940



The F-100 E, active mode (no treble boost), and bass control rolled off for about 50 %



I've got an SC-2 which really is able to produce a harsh sound.

The preowner did modify the circuit, by adding a cap, which did constantly filter high frequencies:

(<- click for high res)



I immediately removed that cap and now I have mostly to roll off the tone control a bit, but I like to have control by myself.

The tone control on that SC-2 is btw. working somehow flat, even rolled off full the sound is still useable, so that remaining capacitor might have another value as usual.

Last edited by Craig on Fri Sep 02, 2016 6:36 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: fixed video links

I would be very interested in purchasing the new production F-100 MFD's but I've yet to see any available in the G&L store. Would anyone happen to have any insight if this is something that would be available at a later date? I'm sure my S-500 could hold me over for awhile!

Thanks again!

I have not heard that the MFD Humbuckers are going to be made available any time soon on the G&L Online Store.
You might check with your local G&L dealer and see if they can order them for you.

Good news, these pickups are now available on the G&L On-Line Store.