Unknown pickup
, 21.03.2011, 10:57




Is this a Soviet pickup?

Resistance reading is 4,1 kΩ

I got the pickup separately with a Musima guitar.
But it does not seem to be any DDR make.

Similar pickups can be seen here
http://www.euroguitars.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=31&start=184&sid=e21e5266e606bce74e80f8286a3e030a
on an Otwin guitar.

And similar, but not exactly the same on a Maria here
http://sovietguitars.com/e107_plugins/content/content.php?content.100

There is some very faint text on the back.
It does not seem to be Russian alphabet, but the text is very faint, so I cannot be sure. Or could it be an export model?

It seems to read:
[a couple of letters] + la
[one or two letters] + n + [a or e] + "elmagnetsystem"
D + [possibly A] + [possibly M or N] (Three capital letters, it seems. Possibly "DAM" or "DAN".)

Any ideas?



Re: Unknown pickup
Я-Ха, 21.03.2011, 11:17

Knu, most likely, this is not the Soviet pickup.
Firstly, Soviet Union did not produce an electric guitars exported.
Secondly, the pickups of MARIA appear in parts like this: [link]
Third, the Soviet PUs could not have inscriptions in Latin alphabet.

Re: Unknown pickup
Zeddy, 21.03.2011, 12:45

Knu, I don't remember, such cable on Soviet pickup`s.
Ya-ha's conclusions are therefore accurate.

Re: Unknown pickup
, 22.03.2011, 06:40

Ok, thanks. So the pickup remains unknown.
It was not recognised on the European Guitars forum either.

But maybe someone some day...

Re: Unknown pickup
Басист Кайф, 22.03.2011, 08:37

I don`t think it`s unknown.
The upper "grill" is a well-known mark of Lunacharsky plant. And that plant had produced the Benjamin's portion of the semiacoustics in Russia.

This is a pickup for the acoustic and semiacoustic guitars, indeed.

And about letters... I cannot see them. More photos, please?

Re: Unknown pickup
GeorgeM, 22.03.2011, 11:21

and photo inside this pickup...

Re: Unknown pickup
Басист Кайф, 22.03.2011, 11:43

oh, YEEEEAHHHH!!!!

Re: Unknown pickup
, 22.03.2011, 11:49

Ok, I will take more photos...

Re: Unknown pickup
shlepakoff, 22.03.2011, 18:12

eagerly awaiting detailed images of the pickup and its insides!

Re: Unknown pickup
, 23.03.2011, 06:38

Here you are Sirs!

First the texts on the back.
Can you make something sensible out of that?



Then the internals.
In principle the internals seem quite like the Maria pickup.
Only here the magnets are small separate pieces.

But surprise, surprise!
Five magnets! The b-string magnet is missing.
Maybe someone needed one magnet for his own pickup...

I haven't ever tried the pickup on a guitar, but before I do, I probably need to find one more magnet of suitable size. Or otherwise the b-string will be weak.






Re: Unknown pickup
Я-Ха, 23.03.2011, 06:42

No Soviet!

Re: Unknown pickup
Басист Кайф, 23.03.2011, 07:45

Yes, it`s not a Soviet PU.
What about the magnets... u can try to place `em along all the length of the PU to create the isotropic magnetic field, so it must give a sound.

Then a few words about the manufacturer. I can recognize so: "D/B/S?"inaelmaanetsyst"em?" It`s not Soviet, but iе looks like Soviet very much!

I begin to suspect that it was maybe an example for Lunacharsky`s engineers of the good old 70`s. So, it`s a very important artefact! We shall find out the manufacturer!

Re: Unknown pickup
, 23.03.2011, 08:34


Yes, that's true!
I see first if I can find a suitable magnet, if not, I'll follow your advice.


"....elmagnetsystem" would make some sense.
"electric magnet system"

But the beginning "Dina"/"Bina"/"Sina"...????

Re: Unknown pickup
GeorgeM, 23.03.2011, 10:20

china?
)

Re: Unknown pickup
, 24.03.2011, 07:31


I don't think so

I think I will install the pickup on this DDR Otwin Harmony guitar.



The style is fitting, I think.

And it "needs" a pickup, see the pickguard shape.

But first I have to repair that guitar, it is in a rather sad state at the moment.
The top is split, the sides are loose and bulging, and the neck is badly glued.
And general wear, of course.


Re: Unknown pickup
shlepakoff, 24.03.2011, 18:18



I keep thinking that this writing is in Russian; the first letter of the 3-letter word on the bottom looks a lot like the way you write the Russian "D" longhand. Could you make a more in-focus picture of this inscription? Thanks!

Re: Unknown pickup
, 25.03.2011, 06:21


I will try, but the problem is that the text is very thin and worn.
The present picture is already better than what I can see with a magnifying glass


Re: Unknown pickup
, 28.03.2011, 07:09

This is the best I could get.
As you can see the text is worn and scratched.



And here are the text lines at full resolution:





Re: Unknown pickup
shlepakoff, 31.03.2011, 19:31

Thanks, Knu. No, it is definitely not Russian. I'll show it around, may be someone will recognize what the language is

Re: Unknown pickup
Басист Кайф, 31.03.2011, 20:25

And where is our irreplaceable Big beat?..

Re: Unknown pickup
bay, 31.03.2011, 21:42


I know that he is really busy now, maybe later..

Re: Unknown pickup
lordbizarre, 03.04.2011, 09:12

I would rather go to the Scandinavian country's , I've a feeling you might find there what you're looking for ...( I hope & think...)succes

Re: Unknown pickup
, 12.04.2011, 07:02


Hmm... what makes you think so?

I tend to think more in the DDR lines:

Shlepakoff says it is definitely not Soviet...
And I got mine with a Musima (DDR)...
And there are picturs of similar PUs on an Otwin (DDR)...
And now one more popped up in eBay, attached to a very strange instrument.
http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320683772943&ru=http%3A%2F%2Fshop.ebay.de%3A80%2F%3F_from%3DR40%26_trksid%3Dp5197.m570.l1313%26_nkw%3D320683772943%26_sacat%3DSee-All-Categories%26_fvi%3D1&_rdc=1


And that instrument is located in Dresden, so it's one more pointer to DDR.



Re: Unknown pickup
, 12.04.2011, 07:10

Well, this way or that way, I've now replaced the missing magnet.

I found three magnets roughly fitting the PU by the size, two round bars and a flat ring.



I did a very scientific "six inch nail test" to determine which one was closes in strength to the original magnets, and it turned out to be the black ring one.
The bar magnets were much stronger.

Luckily the black ring was so soft that it could be cut with a knife.



A bit surprisingly the magnetic field is across the ring, so the bit had also to be cut across the ring.





Now it should be better than new



Re: Unknown pickup
, 12.04.2011, 11:07

Snap solved the case:
http://www.euroguitars.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1659&sid=2f453b2102663b89da35ba38e8f5e4ea&start=12

It is an Otwin pickup. A DDR make after all.

Thanks for everybody for the help


Re: Unknown pickup
Big Beat, 12.04.2011, 23:41

I've never seen one of these. All I can say is that it is definitely Eastern European in origin. It is definitely not from USA, Japan or Italy, and unlikely to be West German. Other than that, your guess is as good as mine.

The missing B-magnet design is similar to American DeArmond pickups. It is done on purpose to equalize the sound of old thick flatwound strings

(Update) - oh, I see it's already been ID'd as Otwin...