Black Bernie Arrives Today...

[Max Headroom]

Should be cool when complete.
Glad I snatched my black Bernie before you saw it...lol.
You are now officially the "black hole" for Bernie's!

 

[dmatthews]

If you keep this up, you may have to join BA (Bernie's Anonymous)! Starting to sound like an addiction!! Congrats on the new score, whatever makes you happy is what is right!!!

I think if Lew tried to lift them all at once he'd...

Wait for it...


Get a Bernia!

 

[Glide-bpm]

I think if Lew tried to lift them all at once he'd...

Wait for it...


Get a Bernia!

ROFLMFAO!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[SinSir]

If you get another set of wolfetone try the MH and DrV combo.. and congrats!

 

[Lewguitar]

Congrats Lew. Looking forward to your upgrades.

Me too!

 

[sergiodeblanc]

Whenever I’m Gassing for any single cut away guitar, I go grab my Bernie and play it, and realize I don’t really need/want anything besides it.

 

[Lewguitar]

So here's the plan: the Bernie is going to be a tribute to my favorite guitarist, Jeff Beck and the '54 LP he played on Blow By Blow.

Seymour Duncan wound the pickups Jeff Beck used on Blow By Blow.

I have a JB I put a roughcast A5 magnet in like Duncan uses in the Duncan Custom Shop for the JB. Makes it smoother and a little less sharp.

And I have a Duncan 59B that measures the same DCR as a PRS Dragon 1 neck.

The Dragon 1 neck has an Alnico 4 magnet like a 59 Gibson PAF. So that's what I put in the Duncan 59 and I'll use it as the neck pickup.

I'll split the neck pickup through a 1.1K resistor on one push/pull pot.

With another push/pull pot I'll have the option of series or parallel for the JB bridge pickup. Parallel gives a stronger sound than split, it's noiseless, but it sounds like two single coils both on.

It'll be cool and I'm working on it right now.

Here's what it'll look like. The parts are just laying on top of the guitar.

https://imgur.com/rf8oD0K

 

[Lewguitar]

 

[Max Headroom]

So here's the plan: the Bernie is going to be a tribute to my favorite guitarist: Jeff Beck.

Seymour Duncan wound the pickups in the Black/Oxblood '54 LP Jeff Beck used on Blow By Blow. That guitar has a '54 style wrap around bridge/tailpiece like Black Bernie and it originally had P90's but they were replaced by one of Seymour's first JB sets.

I have a JB I put a roughcast A5 magnet in like Duncan uses in the Duncan Custom Shop for the JB. Makes it smoother and a little less sharp.

And I have a Duncan 59B that measures the same DCR as a PRS Dragon 1 neck.

The Dragon 1 neck has an Alnico 4 magnet like a 59 Gibson PAF. So that's what I put in in that Duncan and I'll use it as the neck pickup.

I'll split the neck pickup through a 1.1K resistor on one push/pull pot.

With another push/pull pot I'll have the option of series or parallel for the JB bridge pickup. Parallel gives a stronger sound than split, it's noiseless, but it sounds like two single coils both on.

It'll be cool and I'm working on it right now.

Here's a shot of the parts just laying on the guitar.

https://imgur.com/Ll2aB8n

That's going to be fugging chugging awesome!

 

[Prina]

Seymour Duncan wound the pickups in the Black/Oxblood '54 LP Jeff Beck used on Blow By Blow. That guitar has a '54 style wrap around bridge/tailpiece like Black Bernie and it originally had P90's but it was routed for humbuckers and the P90's were replaced by one of Seymour's first JB sets.

Awesome guitar to base yours off of:

Definitely interested in a tone report of how it sounds with the JB/59 set!

 

[The Bird]

I think this might become the best one! The Bernie Beck.

 

[Lewguitar]

Awesome guitar to base yours off of:

Definitely interested in a tone report of how it sounds with the JB/59 set!

That's the one! Freeway Jam!

I know Seymour wound the humbucking pickups in the Tele/Gib Beck used on Cause We've Ended As Lovers and a bunch of songs on Blow By Blow. Beck still has that modded Tele and Seymour has the Esquire Beck played with the Yardbirds and which Beck traded to Seymour for the modded Tele with humbuckers.

I've always thought he wound the pickups for the Oxblood Black LP too.

Anyways, the project is coming along nicely although I had to drop the idea of putting the JB in series/parallel,

It'll be split PRS style through a 220K resistor. The neck pickup will be split through a 110K resistor.

Using a Push/Pull tone control.

About ready to test the wiring and then string it up.

 

[László]

You could open a shop specializing in modded Bernards!

"Do you think there's a market for modded Bernards, Laz?"

"Hard to say. Most of my brilliant ideas are 'Get Poor Quick' schemes."

"Your ideas aren't bad, they're just...I dunno...under-appreciated."

 

[Lewguitar]

And she is done!

Sounds wonderful!

The JB with the roughcast A5 magnet is much rounder sounding than a typical JB with a polished A5 magnet. Stock JB's are too bright for me but this one I've modded is really good.

The 59B I'm using for the neck pickup is modified with a roughcast A4 magnet and sounds a lot like a Dragon1 neck pickup now. The Dragon 1 neck pickup is an Alnico 4 pickup. The Duncan 59B has the same gauge copper wire and has the same DCR as the Dragon1.

It sounds a lot like a 59 paf. That's how Paul described the Dragon 1 neck pickup.

When I split it, it sounds like a single coil. Not a Strat pickup exactly, but it's clean, deep and bouncy. Both pickups split really well.

I reversed the neck humbucker so the slug coil would be closer to the 22nd fret. That coil is usually louder and sounds better as a single coil than the screw coil.

And I wired it so that the slug coil of both pickups is what's "full on" when they're split.

The single coil sounds are especially good. Almost an acoustic sound.

Here's Black Bernie...my tribute to Jeff Beck's '54 LP.

https://imgur.com/468IVxF

 

[Max Headroom]

And she is done!

Sounds wonderful!

The JB with the roughcast A5 magnet is much rounder than a typical JB with a polished A5 magnet.

The 59B with the roughcast A4 magnet sounds a lot like a Dragon1 neck pickup now.

When i split it, it sounds like a single coil. Very clean and bouncy. Both pickups split beautifully.

I reversed the neck humbucker so the slug coil would be closer to the neck. That coil is usually louder and sounds better as a single coil than the screw coil.

And I wired it so that the slug coil of both pickups is what's "full on" when they're split.

The single coil sounds are especially good. Almost an acoustic sound.

Here's Black Bernie...my Jeff Beck tribute:

https://imgur.com/468IVxF

The man with a plan!
looks perfect

 

[Lewguitar]

The man with a plan!
looks perfect

I'm really thrilled with how it turned out.

I didn't get a chance to play it before but it plays just as nice as my other Bernies.

And it sounds absolutely GREAT! These pickups sound very different from the Marshallheads, Antiquitys and 57/08's in my other Bernies.

Crisp and clean in the single coil mode but full and strong. Not thin or weak at all.

Loving it so far.

 

[Birdsofprey]

Could be wrong but I believe that Les Paul was a 54, P90 Goldtop that was modded to humbucker/Oxblood he found in a store (Strings & Things) Memphis when he was visiting the states. The G brand made a limited run of them not sure of the year.

 

[Lewguitar]

Could be wrong but I believe that Les Paul was a 54, P90 Goldtop that was modded to humbucker/Oxblood he found in a store in NY when he was visiting the states.

Might be right.

It was modified for sure.

Refinished too.

 

[frankencat]

Super cool. I know the Seymour 49/JB set is not exotic or anything but it is one of those classic combos that always sounds great in an LP style guitar!

 

[Lewguitar]

If you get another set of wolfetone try the MH and DrV combo.. and congrats!

I was looking at that set.

The DrV neck is 7.5K like my Duncan Antiquity. And they're both Alnico 2 humbuckers. Maybe they're similar.

After having the Marshallheads and the newer, stronger version of the PRS 57/08's, the Antiquitys seem a little underwound now.

I'm still thinking of another set of Alnico 2 Wolfetone MarshallHeads, but I'd put them in my '00 CE22 and move the BKP Abraxas pickups in it now to one of my Bernies.