Tron Guy loves Lollartrons
Jason was kind enough to sit down with us and answer a few frequently asked questions about our newest sensation, the Lollartron humbucker. Check it out below:
You can also check out the Lollartron page on our website here.
Hi Lollar fans! We sometimes get requests to verify the authenticity of Lollar pickups, whether its a set that pops up on eBay, or a used guitar that is said to be stocked with our stuff. Sometime in 2003 or 2004 we standardized how our pickups were marked, and it is still done the same today. The only way to know for sure that you have a genuine Lollar pickup is to check the bottom and look for the proper markings. We label them in a few different ways, from humbuckers to Strats… there are certain things to look for to insure authenticity.
CURRENT PRODUCTION:
HUMBUCKERS: All our humbuckers have tags screwed to the bottom and are stamped with “LOLLAR IMPERIAL” followed by the year, and if it is a neck or a bridge. Color is important as well… a black label is standard wind, grey is a Low Wind, and red is a High Wind. The name of the builder will be initialed in the right bottom corner.
STRATS AND TELES: All of our Strat and Tele style pickups have this info hand written on the bottom: Lollar, the type of pickup (position if it’s a Strat), initials of the builder, and the year it was produced. LOLLAR is also stamped on the top middle on Strats. We use either white or black paint pens to handwrite on our pickups. A few models like Thunderbird and Johnny Smith pickups have black baked on enamel that we apply with a laser.
P90s: On our P90 pickups, all the info is stamped like a humbucker, except for our Special winds which are indicated by a hand written label, such as 50’s, -5% or +5%. Same for soapbar or dog ear.
Besides the markings, our overall construction is top notch. If the pickup seems a bit off- not as solid as it should be, it might not be a Lollar. For instance, wax is usually completely wiped off after potting leaving little to no trace, instead of drippy gooey globs all over. We also buff any exposed forbon (like on Tele bridge pickups) so it has a satin sheen instead of dull, matte type finish. Our lead wires on single-coil pickups lay flat, and there are no frays in the cloth wiring. We also tape all of our coils to protect them from damage. We even buff our plastic pickup covers! Our humbuckers come with clear plastic tape over the top to protect the finish on the pickup cover. We only use high quality lead wires.
OLD SCHOOL LOLLARS:
If it says Custom on the bottom (along with Lollar and the date) it could be anything- it may not be in phase with anything else we make and it may not match any specs. If you know the name of who originally purchased the custom item we can usually look the job up and see what the specifications were.
Occasionally we get asked questions about pickups for sale on eBay that are supposedly Lollar made. It is rare for people to try to pass off fake, uninstalled pickups for Lollars, but here are a couple photos of horribly made pickups that have Lollar written on the bottom.
Fake
Loller? Uh, no.
Crap-tastic
Yikes.
More often, a guitar was sold claiming to have Lollars installed and was purchased by someone and resold. The purchaser had been told Lollars were installed and they never verified it. Even this is not common (but it happens) , so here’s how you can tell…
Going as far back as I can remember (before ’96 or ‘97) the bobbins could have been made out of anything other than vulcanized fiberboard – maybe wood, or often I would make them out of the thin plastic that cassette tape cases were made of- these would be fairly roughly made and would have no markings.
After ‘96 or ‘97 I would have made my bobbins out of vulcanized fiberboard- this is the same material Fender makes their pickups out of. The quality of construction would be quite high, as all of my parts were cut by hand using jigs – everything would be uniform, but nothing would be signed yet unless someone asked me to. You can tell if a P-90 is mine because I have always made the bobbins by hand and after ‘96 or ‘97 they would be made of vulcanized fiberboard.
After my book came out I started to see a few other manufacturers making P-90s using the plan I drew up- vulcanized fiber assembled bobbins. The only time I might use the standard cast plastic bobbin on P-90s would be to restore and old Gibson P-90 that had bobbin rot beyond repair.
Sometime around ‘98 or ‘99 I would have started to write model names on the bottom of pickups and dating them- still no signature unless asked for it. If the pickup in question has a model name that corresponds to something I still make then the specs are the same- same magnets and turn count. If you bought a pickup in 1996 and you buy another one today to match with the old pickup, the new pickup will be in phase with the old one- I never changed that.
Also, if you have an old single coil neck pickup (like a P-90) and you buy a new bridge pickup, not only will it be in phase but the set will be hum cancelling. Around 2001 or 2002 most of my pickups had established model names, and you’ll see the model name either abbreviated or written out on the bottom- usually in paint pen along with the date and my initials or last name.
If all else fails and you are still not sure, take a picture of the bottom and send it to info@lollarguitars.com and we’ll take a look for you.
This article is dedicated to all of our left handed guitar-playing customers. Although most players – right or left handed – will enjoy the technical information in this article because it applies to other questions that come up regarding the orientation of the pickup in the guitar.
In particular, this article will address our most frequently asked question from left handed players:
Do left handed players need “left handed” guitar pickups for their left handed guitars?
Generally speaking, the only time you will need a “left handed” guitar pickup is if you are ordering a pickup with staggered pole pieces. For example, a set of staggered Lollar strat style pickups or a Lollar AlNiCo 3 staggered tele bridge. Because there is 180 degrees difference between a right-handed guitar and a left-handed guitar, the magnet pattern needs to be reversed for left-handed players. But it is ONLY the magnet pattern that is affected by left versus right-handed instruments.
If you are ordering a flat pole Lollar pickup, you will not need a “left handed” guitar pickup. This applies to all of our Lollar single coil pickups and Lollar humbucking pickups.
Here’s why:
The magnet polarity and wind direction of the coil wire are the two variables we want to look at here. These two variables interact to affect phasing and hum-cancelling operations when pickups are combined. The interesting thing is that these two factors do not change when the pickup’s orientation changes. In other words, the pickup can be rotated in the guitar and the polarity and wind direction will stay the same.
First let’s start with polarity. As you know, pole piece magnets have one end that has a north polarity and one end that has a south polarity. So regardless of the orientation of the pickup in the guitar, assuming you orient the top of the pickup toward the strings, the same polarity of the magnet will always be facing outward toward the strings. In other words, if the magnet pole pieces are facing “north up” you can orient the pickup anywhere on the guitar, and it will remain “north up.” The pickup’s north poles will be facing toward the strings.
Next let’s talk about the wind direction of the coil wire. By this we mean the circular pathway the coil wire takes as it travels from hot to ground. In other words, the pathway the electricity takes as it “flows” from the hot lead, circles around the pickup pole pieces a few thousand times, and then passes to ground.
There are only two possibilities for wind direction: clockwise or counter-clockwise. In other words from the hot lead – then around the coil in a clockwise rotation – and then out to ground. Or, from the hot lead – then around the coil in a counter-clockwise rotation – and then out to ground.
A simple visual illustration will help you see that polarity and wind direction are not affected when a pickup is put in a right handed or a left handed guitar.
This Lollar strat style pickup is north up and has a counter-clockwise wind direction.
In this first photo we have the outline of a more familiar right handed strat pickguard, with a Lollar strat style middle pickup. We build all of our strats so that the colored cloth lead (either yellow or white) is hot, and the black is ground. As you can see the coil wire travels from the hot (yellow) lead – around the coil in a counter-clockwise path – and then out to ground.
Even though the pickup's orientation has changed for use in a left-handed guitar, its polarity and wind direction are still the same.
Now take that same Lollar strat style middle pickup and rotate it for use in a left handed strat pickguard. As you can see, the coil wire STILL travels from the hot (yellow) lead – around the coil in a counter-clockwise path – and then out to ground.
Bottom line: It makes no difference if your flat pole pickup is in a left handed guitar or a right handed guitar. Your pickup’s polarity and wind direction will stay the same.
For a related discussion take a look at this blog article, Guitar Pickup Phasing & Lead Wire Direction.
Our most popular pickups are flat pole pickups. So leftys that’s good news for you. Give us a call: what you’re looking for is likely in stock and ready to ship.
This the second part of our series about some important considerations for Gibson and Fender pole piece spacing. Part one talked about things to consider for humbuckers. This section will cover things you’ll want to know when setting up instruments with single coil pickups.
First, to review – the main focus of this series is to understand that there is a slight difference in the pole piece spacing between typical Gibson style pickups and Fender style pickups. By “pole piece spacing” we mean the amount of space in between the pole pieces of the pickups. This roughly relates to the spacing in between the strings of the guitar, but not entirely. More on this point later.
If you were to measure the distance between the high E string and the low E string you would get different measurements if you were measuring a Gibson style pickup versus a Fender style pickup. When measured from center to center of the two outside (E) strings, a standard Gibson style pole spacing is right around 50 millimeters. A standard Fender style pole spacing is between 52 and 53 millimeters, depending on the pickup.
Just like in part 1 of this series, the best way to proceed is to review the most common questions.
Question 1: A soapbar is traditionally a Gibson style pickup, is there any way to get one with Fender spacing (F-spacing) instead?
Yes. We actually make an F-spaced soapbar P-90. Currently we make them when ordered, so they are not on our web site. To order one you’ll need to call the shop and place your order by phone (206) 463-9838. The turnaround time for those is a week or two. We can build them in all of the different soapbar versions we make – standard wind, 50’s wind, and +5% overwound.
Question 2: I want to put a soapbar into the neck of my Tele; will I need an F-spaced pickup?
Probably not. Because the strings get closer together as you move from the bridge to the neck, in most cases a standard Gibson spacing will be fine in the neck position. (See question 4 for more detail).
Question 3: I’m installing a 3-piece set of soapbar pickups into my Strat; do I need an F-spaced bridge?
That would be a good idea. Read the discussion for question 4 for more detail.
Question 4: I notice that the strings on my Strat line up differently over the pole pieces, is something wrong?
This is an interesting question. We discussed it in the previous blog, using humbuckers as the example. But since it applies to almost all guitars, it’s worth discussing using a single coil example also. As you know, the string spacing is the widest right at the bridge and the narrowest at the nut. So in other words, as the strings span from the bridge saddles to the nut, they become closer and closer together. Put another way, they are never quite the same distance apart anywhere along the guitar. They are either getting closer together as you travel from the bridge to the nut, or getting further apart as you travel from the nut to the bridge. That means the strings will always relate to the pole piece spacing of the pickups a little differently, depending on the position along the guitar.
Notice how the strings and pole pieces line up a little differently at each different pickup position.
The Strat is a perfect example. Take a look at this photo. If you look closely, you can see that closest to the bridge – where the strings are their widest apart – they actually sit a little to the outside of the two E pole pieces. If you travel down the guitar and look at the relationship at the middle pickup, you’ll see that the strings sit nicely centered over the pickup’s pole pieces. And if you travel even further toward the nut – as the strings get even closer together – you’ll see that the strings actually sit a little to the inside of the two E pole pieces. Like we mentioned in last week’s discussion, this is true in most instances. If the string spacing at the bridge is wider than at the nut, the strings will always relate to the pickup pole piece spacing a little differently, depending on the location on the guitar.
We are asked these three related questions on a regular basis:
Does it matter which side of the guitar pickup that the lead wires exit? Does it matter which way I point the lead wires when I install the guitar pickups? Do the lead wires have to be oriented out of the same side for both guitar pickups when I install them?
Generally speaking, the direction the lead wires come out of the pickup has no bearing on guitar pickup phasing. You can rotate the pickup left or right (clockwise or counterclockwise) and it will not matter. The only time left and right orientation comes into play is with staggered pole pickups, and even then there are people that use a reverse from normal stagger.
The only way phasing could be affected is if you installed the pickup completely upside down, which would reverse the phase. In other words, accidentally installing a guitar pickup with the pole pieces pointed into the guitar cavity. But this seems highly unlikely – this would mean the base of the pickup would be pointed toward the strings.
The misconception that the lead wires need to come out of the “same side” of the pickup most frequently comes up when customers are installing humbucker pickups.
If you take a look at this photo, you’ll see that the lead wires are coming out of “opposite” sides of the pickup. This will happen if you are installing your humbuckers in the “conventional” way. That is, installing them with the adjustable poles of the neck pickup sitting closest to the fingerboard, and the adjustable poles of the bridge pickup sitting closest to the bridge.
Our recommendation is to install the guitar pickup with the lead wires oriented whichever way installs the best, easiest, or most conveniently oriented toward the control cavity. Also base your decision on what goal you want to achieve, as with the humbucker example.