UPDATE (new pickups and pickguard): NGD Cyclone II

Dokterrock · Post by **Dokterrock** » Wed Mar 28, 2012 10:01 pm

Not for $35, though. Still, reasonably low price ($240) due to all weird mods that have been done and what will be needed to return it to stock. I couldn't resist, and it'll be a good platform to better learn setups and wiring. I've been lurking a while and now I finally have a good reason to post.

Those pickups were claimed to be humbuckers from "some 70s Italian guitar" by the seller, but they look like Filtertrons to me. The other weird thing is that the bridge pickup is way bassier and louder than the neck pickup. They're getting replaced soon at any rate.

It'll need a new pickguard once the proper pickups get installed, maybe red tort.

hotrodperlmutter · Post by **hotrodperlmutter** » Wed Mar 28, 2012 10:21 pm

not filtertrons, but kewl anyhow.

serfx · Post by **serfx** » Wed Mar 28, 2012 10:24 pm

should you ever decide to get rid of that, i'ma just call dibs right now.

Dokterrock · Post by **Dokterrock** » Wed Mar 28, 2012 10:28 pm

Yeah, I guess they are not Filtertrons, which look like this:

Whatever they are, they don't sound terrible, so they can chill for a few weeks.

willc · Post by **willc** » Wed Mar 28, 2012 10:45 pm

The pickups that were thrown in there do look wrong.
Otherwise you got a great deal.
I always liked the look of these and wish I picked one up when they were new.

DGNR8 · Post by **DGNR8** » Thu Mar 29, 2012 12:11 am

Eko? Otherwise Vox or Crucianelli. All the fine craftsmanship in Italy for thousands of years, but not much in the guitar department. I guess we were surfing a post war boom and still had tons of lumber. Can't do shit with olive trees.

P90s? Look pretty bitchin. Good deal too.

taylornutt · Post by **taylornutt** » Thu Mar 29, 2012 12:41 am

serfx wrote:should you ever decide to get rid of that, i'ma just call dibs right now.

Beaten to the punch again. 2nd dibs.

Cyclone IIs are just hot looking.

Dokterrock · Post by **Dokterrock** » Fri Mar 30, 2012 7:58 am

I've learned a few more things since I bought it:

1). That middle pickup is dead, so I'm going to have to replace all three of them. Previous owner tried to move the pole pieces and shorted out the windings.
2). The hole for the tremolo arm is stripped out, so if I want to make the trem usable I'll have to get a new block/bridge, etc.

With all the repairs and stuff it won't have been a SUPER great deal, but I do have the satisfaction of rescuing the guitar from someone who was slowly destroying it.

Fran · Post by **Fran** » Fri Mar 30, 2012 3:51 pm

SLOANTASTIC! Love it

kypdurron · Post by **kypdurron** » Fri Mar 30, 2012 3:56 pm

Dokterrock wrote:I've learned a few more things since I bought it:

1). That middle pickup is dead, so I'm going to have to replace all three of them. Previous owner tried to move the pole pieces and shorted out the windings.
2). The hole for the tremolo arm is stripped out, so if I want to make the trem usable I'll have to get a new block/bridge, etc.

With all the repairs and stuff it won't have been a SUPER great deal, but I do have the satisfaction of rescuing the guitar from someone who was slowly destroying it.

sucks. but you'll get it back to beauty

Sparky · Post by **Sparky** » Fri Mar 30, 2012 4:01 pm

Have you played it yet? I'd ditch the stock pickup and leave those two metal thingies in there. Your call of course, but I think it'd look sexy as hell with just those two in there on a 1-ply white guard. They probably sound wicked, though are probably weak and prone to feedback. Depends on the type of music you're going to be making I suppose. DO AN DEMO FIRST!

Dokterrock · Post by **Dokterrock** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 1:59 am

How about this?

It'll have to do until I get new pickups. The current ones aren't the greatest, for sure, but they're not terrible. They're definitely weak and don't have a big range, as was mentioned.

By the way, can anybody share some insight regarding pickups and wiring?

Fender's service manual states that it has two neck ("Rhythm") pickups and one bridge ("Lead") pickup. At least that's how the part numbers in the service manual correspond to my search results. And if that's not confusing enough, the bridge/"Lead" pickup actually goes in the middle position according to the manual (images below).

So, I'm of course confused, especially when I try to figure out if I need to make sure I'm supposed to be getting any hum canceling. If I just buy the AVRI pickups as listed in the manual and install them according to Fender's wiring diagram, then there won't be any hum canceling but I will be putting this together exactly the way the Cyclone II was designed, correct? Or, did Fender make one of those pickups reverse-wound and reverse polarity when in this guitar? I'm worried it's going to be super noisy when I have all three pickups selected.

How different would a set of vintage strat pickups sound (they're much cheaper than the AVRI jag pickups but seems to have nearly identical specs)? Thanks!

cur · Post by **cur** » Sat Mar 31, 2012 2:27 am

That is a hot looker.

Dokterrock · Post by **Dokterrock** » Sun Jul 01, 2012 7:08 am

Got some really nice handwound pickups from forum member toez10 - let me know if it's cool to post a link to his website, because he really did a great job.

Those plus a new pickguard that finally arrived this week... this thing is starting to come together quite nicely. I posted this photo in another thread but it also belongs here. Really starting to bond with this guitar:

bottom rung · Post by **bottom rung** » Sun Jul 01, 2012 7:40 am

Really nice. Where could I get a similar pickguard from?

Dokterrock · Post by **Dokterrock** » Sun Jul 01, 2012 7:44 am

bottom rung wrote:Really nice. Where could I get a similar pickguard from?

Thanks! I got mine from Pickguardian.com but I had to send in a tracing. $60 for the tortoise shell plus shipping. Other colors/materials will be less expensive.

robroe · Post by **robroe** » Sun Jul 01, 2012 10:46 am

I LOVE IT.

being completely honest here though the photograph is shit. half is in shadow, the other half is in light and there are crazy cloud reflections all over it. you cant tell any kind of definition in the tort.

can you take another photo outside all the way in the sun?

*trying to make n00bz better posters 1 by 1*

taylornutt · Post by **taylornutt** » Sun Jul 01, 2012 2:38 pm

The restoration looks nice. I even like the tort on sonic blue.

What pot values does the Cyclone II use? I was curious if it was 1meg pots like a Jaguar.

How much does the middle Jag pickup vary in output from the neck and Bridge pickups? I have an idea for a guitar similar to this.

Any chance you would part with the original pickguard?

taylornutt · Post by **taylornutt** » Sun Jul 01, 2012 2:40 pm

Fran wrote:SLOANTASTIC! Love it

[youtube][/youtube]

Ankhanu · Post by **Ankhanu** » Sun Jul 01, 2012 2:55 pm

taylornutt wrote:How much does the middle Jag pickup vary in output from the neck and Bridge pickups? I have an idea for a guitar similar to this.

Should be a neck pickup... if set up anything like a Bass VI, which used 3 Jaguar pickups. My Hellcat VI uses Duncan SJAG-1 bridge/neck/neck too.