The BG-1400 Arrives!

skhan007 · June 27th, 2009, 09:33 AM

The UPS man delivered this yesterday- exactly 7 days after I phoned in my order direct with Seymour Duncan. I guess they're not busy and MJ was able to wind my pickup right away.

Check out how tall this pickup is! Hope it fits OK. I was told over the phone that it'll be fine in standard tele routes. The best part is the DC resistance- over 30K!! Can't wait to wire this bad boy up and play some blues. I'm also wiring a push/pull pot to split the coils.

SushiDanWah · June 27th, 2009, 12:50 PM

My "one that got away" pickup - had one and never got it installed before I sold it. Let us know what you think once it is wired up and breathing fire!

skhan007 · June 27th, 2009, 01:05 PM

OK, here are some pics of me putting it in place and wiring it up. My tone pot is my push/pull to tap the coils. This thing fits, but barely. I think it is the same depth as the standard bridge route, so just enough of the pickup sits above the bridge plate and the other 90% is underneath- reminds me of an iceberg.

Initial impression of tone: This thing is truly a fire-breathing beast of a pickup. LOUD, LOUD, LOUD. I would definitely compare it to an overwound P-90. When coil tapped, it tames down, but not to vintage specs. Still sounds like a hot single when tapped. I can mellow it out with my volume knob and turn the tone down a bit on position 2. It'll get a hot Keef sound there. Full strength, well it's pure hot smokin' Texas blues solo tone. As you would expect, it also takes away some of that really bright tele chime and focuses more on the mids and lower mids.

As another point of reference, this pickup is NOT as hot as hot rails or similar pickups. Even though the DC resistance is 30K, it tonally does not sound like a 'metal' pickup. I think the best description I've heard is "pearly gates for tele". This is somewhere between a P-90 and an Antiquity humbucker or Pearly Gates humbucker. Probably not for everyone, especially if you're a fan of vintage tele tones. But if you like to rock, then look no further.

shades · June 27th, 2009, 05:32 PM

The BG1400 is a real fire breather. IMO the finest of the Duncan custom shop offerings. I have a BG1400 in one of my Esquires and love it big time. Worth every dollar,yep.

mgwhit · June 27th, 2009, 10:36 PM

Thanks for the information and the pictures! I am soooo putting one of these in my Esquire build.

Jaxson612 · June 29th, 2009, 01:13 PM

How does it do clean country?

Flashback · June 29th, 2009, 02:29 PM

WANT. BAD. Nao.

caliban335 · July 4th, 2009, 01:21 PM

What value did you use for the tone and volume control pots? Did you stick with the standard Esquier wiring or use the "cocked wah" option in place of the "bassy" tone?

Thanks.

skhan007 · July 5th, 2009, 11:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jaxson612

How does it do clean country?

In my opinion, this pickup does not do country music tones well at all. This pickup is definitely flat out rock. For country, I would use my Duncan Alnico II tele bridge pickup or something similar. This BG1400 removes some of the bright twang and bounce that I associate with country music. I think if you used this and split the coil with a push/pull pot, it would get you somewhat of a country tone, but more full and more punch, but less twang.

Quote:

Originally Posted by caliban335

What value did you use for the tone and volume control pots? Did you stick with the standard Esquier wiring or use the "cocked wah" option in place of the "bassy" tone?

Thanks.

I used audio taper 250K pots for vol & tone. The tone pot is the push pull. There's nothing standard or traditional about my wiring. I did my own wiring schematic based on a bunch of things I've observed from other guitars. I use a 4-way switch that utilizes two "cocked wah" settings. Here's my schematic:

caliban335 · July 5th, 2009, 01:19 PM

Very cool indeed. Thanks for sharing the wiring. It looks similar to mods on my partscaster Esquire, but I used .001 uf in the fourth position and the pickup was a Fender Broadcaster. It looks like your setup will be more flexible. Any chance we can see some photos?

Thanks again.

skhan007 · July 6th, 2009, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by caliban335

Very cool indeed. Thanks for sharing the wiring. It looks similar to mods on my partscaster Esquire, but I used .001 uf in the fourth position and the pickup was a Fender Broadcaster. It looks like your setup will be more flexible. Any chance we can see some photos?

Thanks again.

Cool. Yeah, here are some photos from the other thread when I was assembling the guitar. In the pics, you'll see that I have a Duncan Alnico II pickup, which was in there for 5 days until the BG-1400 arrived.

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-home...ire-build.html

Memphisbound · September 12th, 2009, 10:07 PM

Just replaced the pups in my '62 Custom RI with the BG-1400 and a Tele Quarter Pounder. Tassssssssssssssssssty.
Got 'em both for $100 clams off Craigslist...

ESQUIREoholic · September 14th, 2009, 05:59 PM

I've got a BG 1400 in the bridge of my 72 Custom along with a Telenator WRHP.

Oh Yeah.. nice pickup but I would agree that it is more of a blues rock pickup which is what I wanted.

nasonm · September 24th, 2009, 02:26 PM

Just out of curiosity, what did the BG1400 run you $$$ wise?

Rich_S · September 24th, 2009, 03:01 PM

A coupel questions:

1) Is the BG-1400 a humcanelling "stacK" or a tapped sinlge-coil?

2) Have you ever played a tapped Quarter Pound Tele bridge, and can you compare the two?

June 27th, 2009, 09:33 AM	#1 (permalink)
skhan007 TDPRI Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Indianapolis, IN Posts: 69	The BG-1400 Arrives! The UPS man delivered this yesterday- exactly 7 days after I phoned in my order direct with Seymour Duncan. I guess they're not busy and MJ was able to wind my pickup right away. Check out how tall this pickup is! Hope it fits OK. I was told over the phone that it'll be fine in standard tele routes. The best part is the DC resistance- over 30K!! Can't wait to wire this bad boy up and play some blues. I'm also wiring a push/pull pot to split the coils.

June 27th, 2009, 05:32 PM	#4 (permalink)
shades Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Pittsburgh,Pa. Age: 52 Posts: 1,707 8 Photos	The BG1400 is a real fire breather. IMO the finest of the Duncan custom shop offerings. I have a BG1400 in one of my Esquires and love it big time. Worth every dollar,yep. __________________ It's 106 miles to Chicago,we've got a full tank of gas,half a pack of cigarettes,it's dark and we're wearing sunglasses...

July 4th, 2009, 01:21 PM	#8 (permalink)
caliban335 Tele-Meister Join Date: May 2007 Location: Cleveland, Ohio Age: 55 Posts: 382	What value did you use for the tone and volume control pots? Did you stick with the standard Esquier wiring or use the "cocked wah" option in place of the "bassy" tone? Thanks. __________________ Jemima surrender. That's all ya hafta do. I'll bring over my Fender & I'll play all night fer you.

July 5th, 2009, 01:19 PM	#10 (permalink)
caliban335 Tele-Meister Join Date: May 2007 Location: Cleveland, Ohio Age: 55 Posts: 382	Very cool indeed. Thanks for sharing the wiring. It looks similar to mods on my partscaster Esquire, but I used .001 uf in the fourth position and the pickup was a Fender Broadcaster. It looks like your setup will be more flexible. Any chance we can see some photos? Thanks again. __________________ Jemima surrender. That's all ya hafta do. I'll bring over my Fender & I'll play all night fer you.

September 14th, 2009, 05:59 PM	#13 (permalink)
ESQUIREoholic Tele-Afflicted Join Date: May 2005 Location: Silver Spring, Md. Posts: 1,049	I've got a BG 1400 in the bridge of my 72 Custom along with a Telenator WRHP. Oh Yeah.. nice pickup but I would agree that it is more of a blues rock pickup which is what I wanted. __________________ Alright, hand over the Tele...and no one gets hurt!

June 27th, 2009, 12:50 PM	#2 (permalink)
SushiDanWah TDPRI Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Santa Rosa CA Age: 44 Posts: 66	My "one that got away" pickup - had one and never got it installed before I sold it. Let us know what you think once it is wired up and breathing fire!

June 27th, 2009, 01:05 PM	#3 (permalink)
skhan007 TDPRI Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Indianapolis, IN Posts: 69	OK, here are some pics of me putting it in place and wiring it up. My tone pot is my push/pull to tap the coils. This thing fits, but barely. I think it is the same depth as the standard bridge route, so just enough of the pickup sits above the bridge plate and the other 90% is underneath- reminds me of an iceberg. Initial impression of tone: This thing is truly a fire-breathing beast of a pickup. LOUD, LOUD, LOUD. I would definitely compare it to an overwound P-90. When coil tapped, it tames down, but not to vintage specs. Still sounds like a hot single when tapped. I can mellow it out with my volume knob and turn the tone down a bit on position 2. It'll get a hot Keef sound there. Full strength, well it's pure hot smokin' Texas blues solo tone. As you would expect, it also takes away some of that really bright tele chime and focuses more on the mids and lower mids. As another point of reference, this pickup is NOT as hot as hot rails or similar pickups. Even though the DC resistance is 30K, it tonally does not sound like a 'metal' pickup. I think the best description I've heard is "pearly gates for tele". This is somewhere between a P-90 and an Antiquity humbucker or Pearly Gates humbucker. Probably not for everyone, especially if you're a fan of vintage tele tones. But if you like to rock, then look no further.

June 27th, 2009, 10:36 PM	#5 (permalink)
mgwhit Tele-Meister Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Louisville, KY Posts: 326	Thanks for the information and the pictures! I am soooo putting one of these in my Esquire build.

June 29th, 2009, 01:13 PM	#6 (permalink)
Jaxson612 Tele-Meister Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Somewhere in the swamps of Jersey Posts: 172	How does it do clean country?

June 29th, 2009, 02:29 PM	#7 (permalink)
Flashback Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Swamps of DOOM, South Carolina Posts: 1,040 1 Photos	WANT. BAD. Nao.

September 12th, 2009, 10:07 PM	#12 (permalink)
Memphisbound TDPRI Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Nashville Age: 46 Posts: 58 2 Photos	Just replaced the pups in my '62 Custom RI with the BG-1400 and a Tele Quarter Pounder. Tassssssssssssssssssty. Got 'em both for $100 clams off Craigslist...

September 24th, 2009, 02:26 PM	#14 (permalink)
nasonm Friend of Leo's Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Bangor, Maine Age: 32 Posts: 2,088 16 Photos	Just out of curiosity, what did the BG1400 run you $$$ wise? __________________ "i have learned to just grit my teeth, change the subject, consider their deep total ignorance, fondle the thumb picks in my pocket and go on my way" - bender-freak It's been lonely in the saddle since my horse died

September 24th, 2009, 03:01 PM	#15 (permalink)
Rich_S Tele-Meister Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Potsdam, NY Age: 50 Posts: 115	A coupel questions: 1) Is the BG-1400 a humcanelling "stacK" or a tapped sinlge-coil? 2) Have you ever played a tapped Quarter Pound Tele bridge, and can you compare the two?

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