All there is to know about MFD pickups

[Ceylon]

I see MFD pickups getting a lot of love, not just here but pretty much from everyone who tries them. I used to have an S-500 myself for a while before I knew what it was, had it in the bridge of my Strat at the time and later switched back to the original pickup, for whatever reason, even though I clearly remember the MFD sounding better.

Thing is, there's not a whole lot of technical data out there, and I figure since I'm hardly the only one interested, it might be good to compile what info there is and some opinions in a thread. Things like what roughly is the output of these? What's the difference between the Jumbos and the others, soundwise? What kind of pots would you use them with? I hear some people say they're the logical conclusion of the ideas behind the JM and Jaguar pickups, but is there anything to that or is it merely because they were the last pickups Leo designed that you say such things?

Anyone with anything to say about them, please feel free to chip in!

[Embenny]

They use powerful ceramic magnets and screw polepieces with metal baseplates. On the most basic level, they're not unlike the marriage of a Telecaster bridge pickup and a P90, but that is oversimplifying. They are fairly high output for singlecoils, and use really strong magnets so that they can employ relatively fewer cool windings to achieve a given output. That's why they avoid the "overwound" pickup tone of losing highs and hyping mids.

I believe the baseplate has a fair bit to do with the hefty bass response, which is why they do well with Leo's PTB wiring. They have enough high and lows that you can roll either off (or both) and still have a very usable tone.

The size of the pickups affects the tone similarly to any other single coil - the wider ones have a fuller tone and the narrower ones have a bit snappier and more focused tone (think strat vs JM, or strat-sized P90 vs full P90), but none of the designs are lacking in either top or bottom end.

The z-coils are the dullest/warmest, but that's because their default wiring is in series. If you put them in parallel they're as snappy as S-500 pickups.

I currently have a modern set of Z-coils and a couple of vintage ('80-'81) G&Ls with both singlecoils and humbuckers, and I have to say that MFDs are probably my favourite pickup designs of all time. They have all the snap I love of singlecoils but with more girth and less noise, and PTB is so far superior to 50's-70's tone knobs that it's almost comical that it hasn't become the standard.

[Ceylon]

They use powerful ceramic magnets and screw polepieces with metal baseplates. On the most basic level, they're not unlike the marriage of a Telecaster bridge pickup and a P90, but that is oversimplifying. They are fairly high output for singlecoils, and use really strong magnets so that they can employ relatively fewer cool windings to achieve a given output. That's why they avoid the "overwound" pickup tone of losing highs and hyping mids.

I believe the baseplate has a fair bit to do with the hefty bass response, which is why they do well with Leo's PTB wiring. They have enough high and lows that you can roll either off (or both) and still have a very usable tone.

The size of the pickups affects the tone similarly to any other single coil - the wider ones have a fuller tone and the narrower ones have a bit snappier and more focused tone (think strat vs JM, or strat-sized P90 vs full P90), but none of the designs are lacking in either top or bottom end.

The z-coils are the dullest/warmest, but that's because their default wiring is in series. If you put them in parallel they're as snappy as S-500 pickups.

I currently have a modern set of Z-coils and a couple of vintage ('80-'81) G&Ls with both singlecoils and humbuckers, and I have to say that MFDs are probably my favourite pickup designs of all time. They have all the snap I love of singlecoils but with more girth and less noise, and PTB is so far superior to 50's-70's tone knobs that it's almost comical that it hasn't become the standard.

I completely forgot to say thanks, but thanks! This was exactly the information I was after, and very well put. You even touched on my follow-up question about the PTB circuit.

I sense a Jaguar mod in my future...

[Embenny]

You're welcome!

I've been itching to try some jumbo MFDs, myself, since they (and the new Doheny pickups) are the only ones I haven't used yet.

A jaguar would be a great platform for MFDs - the lead circuit it basically already a PTB (the bass control is, in essence, just a variable version of the jaguar's strangle switch).

The main functional difference is that MFDs have so much bass to begin with that the bass-cut tone is more versatile than the jag's (which most people tend to use on the neck pickup but not the bridge). It's great for making driven tones more focused in my experience.

[Maggieo]

You're welcome!

I've been itching to try some jumbo MFDs, myself, since they (and the new Doheny pickups) are the only ones I haven't used yet.

A jaguar would be a great platform for MFDs - the lead circuit it basically already a PTB (the bass control is, in essence, just a variable version of the jaguar's strangle switch).

The main functional difference is that MFDs have so much bass to begin with that the bass-cut tone is more versatile than the jag's (which most people tend to use on the neck pickup but not the bridge). It's great for making driven tones more focused in my experience.

Wow, that's a great idea!

[Ceylon]

A jaguar would be a great platform for MFDs - the lead circuit it basically already a PTB (the bass control is, in essence, just a variable version of the jaguar's strangle switch).

The main functional difference is that MFDs have so much bass to begin with that the bass-cut tone is more versatile than the jag's (which most people tend to use on the neck pickup but not the bridge). It's great for making driven tones more focused in my experience.

That was pretty much what I was thinking. If one re-wires the rhythm circuit rollers to stand in for the PTB controls, instead of having the off/on switch and the strangle switch, you'd have the same kind of effect plus two free switches for series/parallel and in/out of phase switching if so desired. Or so it works in my mind at least.

[Embenny]

A jaguar would be a great platform for MFDs - the lead circuit it basically already a PTB (the bass control is, in essence, just a variable version of the jaguar's strangle switch).

The main functional difference is that MFDs have so much bass to begin with that the bass-cut tone is more versatile than the jag's (which most people tend to use on the neck pickup but not the bridge). It's great for making driven tones more focused in my experience.

That was pretty much what I was thinking. If one re-wires the rhythm circuit rollers to stand in for the PTB controls, instead of having the off/on switch and the strangle switch, you'd have the same kind of effect plus two free switches for series/parallel and in/out of phase switching if so desired. Or so it works in my mind at least.

This is a JM rather than a Jag, but Rothstein has been all over this style mod for a while

[Ceylon]

This is a JM rather than a Jag, but Rothstein has been all over this style mod for a while

Ah man, with the exception of a phase-switch, this is exactly what I want. I expected to have to figure out all the small changes by myself but I should have figured someone had gone before me there

Thanks a million! I've gone from tentative to ready-to-order-parts just like that. Nowhere but on OSG

[sirspens]

The other unique characteristic of the MFD is that that powerful ceramic magnet is turned 90-degrees to how they are typically laid below the poles. Because of this, the elliptical shape of the magnetic field is tall instead of wide, meaning it is more concentrated on the string above the pole and less likely to pick up neighboring strings. This is a big part of what gives MFD pickups a lot of the snap and brightness of a pole magnet pickup.