Ideal electronics for Gibson BR-9?

Phillip Hermans · From: Berkeley, California, USA

I have an old BR-9 with a P90 in it. Its wired with 500k tone/vol pots and a .047 mfd cap. I am wondering if y'all have any advice on changing either the pots, cap or anything else.

My issues are, that the output of the guitar is low when compared to my Strat or PRS. Additionally, it is so bright that I often end up rolling the tone all the way off.

I figure that switching the cap could make my tone knob more useful by changing the cutoff frequency. I'm guessing I want the cutoff frequency to be lower. Any thoughts on that or on a good cap choice?

With regards to the low output, I know its an old pickup, is that just par for the course? Will changing the value of the volume pot have any effect? Could this be an impedance matching issue?

Another thought, I am using Scottys semi-flat nickel strings: .015 .018 .022 .024 .030 .036

Maybe I should just get a higher gauge of string and tune down to A so I get less shrill highs?

I guess it doesn't hurt for me to try all that stuff out, just curious if y'all might have any other suggestions. Thanks

Jack Hanson · From: San Luis Valley, USA

Loss of strength and excessively bright tone are signs of a defective pickup. Have you put a meter on it to measure resistance? Should be approximately 8k. If it needs a rewind, Jerry Sentell in Sacramento can make it as good as new.

250k pots most likely will make it a tad less trebly. I have two rescue BR-9s, one with a factory P-90, and one with a Sentell P-90. Both have 250k CTS pots and .047uF orange drop tone caps. Neither would I consider to be overly shrill (to my old ears).

Charlie Thompson · From: South Carolina, USA

I had an EH 150 that had the same symptoms. I took it to two different local guitar repairs who replaced the pots but it never was right. I sent it back to Gibson who rewound the pickup and replaced all the electronics and it sounds great.
Its been a while but this turned up on a search just now:
https://www.gibson.com/Support/Repair-And-Restoration

Phillip Hermans · From: Berkeley, California, USA

Thanks for the responses y'all!

I was hesitant to send the pickup off for rewinding, because I have a gig this month and this is my only steel! (that's a separate issue Winking

So I decided to triple-check the electronics and pickup to make sure there wasn't anything else that could possibly be wrong.

It turns out that there was a brittle, cold solder joint between the pickup and volume pot, and additionally the pickup chassis was connected to the back of the volume pot.

I fixed the bad solder connection and removed the chassis/signal ground loop.

And, now it sounds excellent! Not too barky, very low noise floor, pretty incredible for 70+ year old pickup! (Shielding everything with copper tape + finally understanding to keep signal and chassis grounds separate helped with this!)

So at this point I am happy with the guitar. Still wouldn't mind finding a local luthier to really dial this thing in and fix up the little blemishes. (I have the vintage knobs but they don't fit on my pots. the bridge is homemade, I'm sure a pro could do better. the input jack cover is an old piece of plexi-glass and isn't the strongest... a few dings here and there...)

Anyway, now it seems every single one of my tube amps is faulty... if it's not one thing its another!

Thanks again y'all, this forum is an invaluable resource for me!

Forum Index > Electronics		Next oldest topic :: Next newest topic

All times are GMT - 8 Hours	Jump to: