Fender Electric XII Pickup Replacement

Discussion of vintage Jazzmasters, Jaguars, Bass VIs, Electric XIIs and any other offset-waist instruments.
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Steadyriot.
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Re: Fender Electric XII Pickup Replacement

Post by Steadyriot. » Tue Feb 06, 2018 11:05 pm

I have this sick feeling in my stomach this guitar will turn up somewhere else on this forum..
"If someone duetted with a Bald Eagle, they could rule the Country charts from here to eternity." ~shadowplay

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andy_tchp
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Re: Fender Electric XII Pickup Replacement

Post by andy_tchp » Tue Feb 06, 2018 11:49 pm

Steadyriot. wrote:
Tue Feb 06, 2018 11:05 pm
I have this sick feeling in my stomach this guitar will turn up somewhere else on this forum..
Probably right.

And if something with the pots/switch is causing the distortion, the (completely pointless) replacement of the original pickups will have no effect whatsoever.

::)
"I don't know why we asked him to join the band 'cause the rest of us don't like country music all that much; we just like Graham Lee."
David McComb, 1987.

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StevenO
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Re: Fender Electric XII Pickup Replacement

Post by StevenO » Wed Feb 07, 2018 3:02 am

Seriously.

Buy a can of Deoxit and spray the switch and pots. I know it's not the same, but one of my synths was sounding distorted and all it took to fix it was to spray the level-switch on the back with some Deoxit. It's never sounded better! My Jazzmaster even had some crackling awhile back that I kept hearing every time I'd strum hard. Turned out it was the switch. Fixed that with some Deoxit too (though a replacement is probably warranted eventually).

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Daddy Dom
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Re: Fender Electric XII Pickup Replacement

Post by Daddy Dom » Sun Feb 18, 2018 6:10 pm

I'm tragically late to the party.
All I can say is my Electric XII sounds nothing like the OP's description, so whether he wants compression or not, there seems to be something wrong with it.
DD

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Re: Fender Electric XII Pickup Replacement

Post by nonesuch » Wed Feb 21, 2018 3:37 am

I wonder if the OP got those new pickups that they ordered? It would be interesting to know what the outcome was.

And hopefully they’ve tried some of the suggestions here first.

Although it’s all gone very quiet hasn’t it…

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kamillebidan
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Re: Fender Electric XII Pickup Replacement

Post by kamillebidan » Sat Feb 24, 2018 9:38 am

I lurked a bit before making an account, but this thread was a factor in doing so. I really wanted to know what happened in the end! There was a tragic lack of pictures throughout as well. Overall this thread was pretty supplemental in understanding the, uh, responsibility of owning vintage gear.

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Embenny
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Re: Fender Electric XII Pickup Replacement

Post by Embenny » Sat Feb 24, 2018 3:12 pm

kamillebidan wrote:
Sat Feb 24, 2018 9:38 am
I lurked a bit before making an account, but this thread was a factor in doing so. I really wanted to know what happened in the end! There was a tragic lack of pictures throughout as well. Overall this thread was pretty supplemental in understanding the, uh, responsibility of owning vintage gear.
I'm glad I'm not alone in feeling that stewardship of vintage guitars is part and parcel of the ownership experience.

I'd also love to hear what became of this guitar.
The artist formerly known as mbene085.

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Re: Fender Electric XII Pickup Replacement

Post by andy_tchp » Sat Feb 24, 2018 5:54 pm

The OP can't hear you over all the 'distortion', and is far too busy hand routing the body to accept a pair of Rickenbacker Toasters to waste time on here.
"I don't know why we asked him to join the band 'cause the rest of us don't like country music all that much; we just like Graham Lee."
David McComb, 1987.

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Re: Fender Electric XII Pickup Replacement

Post by akpasta » Mon Mar 12, 2018 7:40 am

Hey Folks,

Finally have an update for you. I ordered a set of Curtis Novak replacement pickups for the Electric XII.

http://curtisnovak.com/pickups/xii-v.shtml

It took a while for him to make them, and then it took a while for the local shop to install them. So that's why I let this post idle for a bit.

The sound is RADICALLY different and pretty much exactly what I am looking for. It cut the nasaly, thin tone by boosting the lows and highs and scooping the mids. He uses a different gauge wire on one of the pickups and winds them looser than the stock ones. His claim is that it would solve exactly the issue I was experiencing and he was entirely correct. I highly recommend these pickups if you feel like your Fender Electric XII is nasaly and not jangly and bright enough.

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Re: Fender Electric XII Pickup Replacement

Post by Embenny » Mon Mar 12, 2018 8:43 am

I'm very glad that your guitar doesn't have a date with a router anymore!

Just hang on to those original pickups - if you ever sell the guitar, they'll mean a lot to the next guy or gal.
The artist formerly known as mbene085.

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Re: Fender Electric XII Pickup Replacement

Post by akpasta » Mon Mar 12, 2018 8:46 am

Honestly guys I wasn't gonna route the guitar even if the pickups didn't work. The plan would have been to return the Curtis Novak pickups for refund, put the stock pickups back in and sell the guitar to re-coop some costs... and "settle" for a Rickenbacker :D

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