Gibson BR-9

[Steve Rosko]

I just received my Gibson BR-9. I have a few questions for the experts (I'm a PSG player).
- Based on what I've read, the dog-ear mounting for the pick up would mean this is a '47-'49 guitar?
- This pick up doesn't look original to me. Correct? If it's not original, I'm thinking of ordering an LS-69 from the Sentell folks I've read so much about to get a period correct pup. I should probably check the ohms, which I haven't done yet. The pole pieces are not adjustable. On the other hand, if you all think this is an original pick up, I may need to rethink that?
- The tone pot seems to have a dead spot. As pots are pretty cheap, I'll probably just replace them. CST 500K short solid shaft 10% audio taper. correct?
- In my reading, I've seen two different caps mentioned. What are the correct specs for the cap?
- The tuners seem functional so I'll probably leave them alone for the time being.
- I already ordered a flat cover plate

Any other thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Steve

[Jack Hanson]

Everything in the two photos appears original to me, aside from the white buttons on the Klusons, which are most likely replacements. Few (if any) of the white plastic-buttoned Klusons of that era have survived intact. It would not hurt to flush out the housings with naptha, and relube with Teflon grease. If you'd rather upgrade, a new set of Gotoh SD90 strip tuners will drop right in to the original ferrules. To use the new Gotoh ferrules, you will need to ream the top of the holes slightly.

If the pickup works fine, there's really no need to replace it. If there's an issue, I would pull it and send it to Sentell in Sacramento for a rewind. Jerry's rewound at least two of the Gibson wide-oval/racetrack 6-string lap steel pickups for me, and they have sounded as good as the originals to my old ears. FYI, the original pickup should measure somewhere in the neighborhood of 7-8k.

Before changing the pot(s), it would be worth the time and effort to attempt to bring them back to life by cleaning and lubing with a proper product such as DeoxIt D5. The tone cap in your picture appears to be an .022MFD.

[Michael Kiese]

I just received my Gibson BR-9. I have a few questions for the experts (I'm a PSG player).

1) The tone pot seems to have a dead spot. As pots are pretty cheap, I'll probably just replace them. CST 500K short solid shaft 10% audio taper. correct?

2) In my reading, I've seen two different caps mentioned. What are the correct specs for the cap?

Any other thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Steve

Aloha Steve,

Just my 2¢ in my attempt to be helpful...

First off, just check the resistance of the pup to make sure it still has continuity. Hopefully it does.

1) If that pickup is a single coil, I'd suggest going with a 250K pot so that you can bleed the high frequencies to ground. Single coils are brighter than humbuckers. If you want to get experimental, get yourself a Resistor Decade box and experiment with values from 250K down to 25K. Use your ears and find the pot value you like best, then install an audio taper volume pot with that value your ears like.

I know PSG players always go with 500K pots. It's probably because most PSG pups are humbuckers. Many of the old lap steels have single coil pups. Just think about how a Fender Stratocaster or Telecaster would sound if one used a 500K volume pot instead of a 250K (normally used) volume pot. It would be super harsh and brittle sounding. Same thing with your BR9 if that is a P90 or some other type of single coil pup.

2) In my opinion, go with the cap values you like best. You can get yourself a capacitor decade box, and test various cap values for the tone pot. Then install a capacitor with the value your ears like. Capacitor values of 22nF (0.022mF) or 47nF (0.047mF) are the most common for single coils. The higher the value capacitor, the more treble rolloff occurs. Also, in my opinion, the voltages in electric guitars are so minuscule (50-100mV) that the materials of the cap (ceramic, paper in oil, orange drop) is insignificant. Any perceived differences in tone is negligible. The value of the cap matters more than the material for use in electric guitar. For amps, where the voltages are much higher, material choice comes into play. Some people claim that an oil in paper cap in their guitar makes it sound better, so they pay $28 for that one capacitor. I'm happy to use ceramic caps. I did the experimentation and am happy with my choice.

You can purchase decade boxes, resistors, and ceramic caps on Amazon for fairly cheap. I'll include a picture of the decade box I use, I think it's like $42. Super handy little doo-dads! I found it an essential tool to hone in on my tone.

When you experiment with values back to back, and play test, you hear for yourself with your own ears the differences in values in real time. Then you also learn how they affect your tone. This knowledge is very empowering. It's cheap and easy to do. Hours of fun.

Enjoy!

[Tony Oresteen]

What Jack said! Jerry rewound my "racetrack" BR-9 as I bought a BR-9 knowing it had issues.

If you decide to replace the pickup, Get one from Jerry. The BR-9 has wider string spacing (60mm).


Herr's my 1st BR-9. I bought a husk and rebuilt it:

viewtopic.php?t=399823&hilit=BR+9


Here's my 2nd BR-9

viewtopic.php?t=401674&hilit=BR+9

Good luck!