Greetings! 1251 Breadwinner needs a pickup :)
BluesSlide
Posted 2018-01-31 4:56 AM (#541014)
Subject: Greetings! 1251 Breadwinner needs a pickup :)


Joined:
August 2015
Posts: 1

Greetings,
I have had a 1251 for a few years now. I don't use a guitar live very often because it has Real strong buzz when it is on the rhythm pickup. The rhythm pickup is the original single coil toroidal pickup, I'm kind of interested in trying it out with low distortion for compressor, when I use it with the fuzz box the rhythm pickup buzzes loudly. The bridge pickup was replaced with a DiMarzio before I bought it.

I saw a complete pick up and electronics replacement set on eBay this week. Has pick up switches the Control knobs. In fact it's everything including the jack. One thing I was surprised to see was what people sometimes call "the ashtray". You find this ind of thing in Gibsons and other high quality guitars. It is a piece of sheet metal that is formed to fit the control cavity and protect the guitars electronics from outside electrical interference.

My Breadwinner does not have a shield in the control cavity, and I think this might be one of the reasons it gets so much 60 cycle hum on the single coil pickup. My question is specifically for any guitar techs out there who have worked on breadwinners and deacons. Did they always come with a shield for the control panel?

I've thought about buying this full set, but the seller seems pretty set on asking $699 for it. At that price it is only a few hundred dollars more to buy a whole guitar. And all that I need is a bridge pick up in the control cavity shield.

Has anyone ever tried modifying the preamp in the Breadwinners? Did the preamps always come with a shield in the control cavity? I've really started to like this guitar for gigs, but it has this hum....
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alpep
Posted 2018-01-31 11:11 AM (#541022 - in reply to #541014)
Subject: Re: Greetings! 1251 Breadwinner needs a pickup :)


Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 10581

Location: NJ
Miles is the solidbody expert he should have some info for you

welcome and you can post anywhere now
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Mr. Ovation
Posted 2018-01-31 3:01 PM (#541024 - in reply to #541014)
Subject: RE: Greetings! 1251 Breadwinner needs a pickup :)


Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 7209

Location: The Great Pacific Northwest
So not all Breadwinners came with the shield. However, I can't say for sure if only the early ones had the shield because of the Toroidal pickups. I will say, that if there is an annoying hum, it may be more than a shielding issue. These are old pre-amps now with capacitors that have likely dried up and died long ago. Or, of course, could be a cold joint somewhere from vibration. Or it could be just bad wiring of the replacement humbucker.

Regarding the pickup set on eBay, that's actually a pretty good price. A body and neck for a couple hundred more and you have a complete Breadwinner.

All that being said... I believe I have a shield and a neck pickup. You can email me at mileskb at aol dot com and we can work out the details.
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