The Electra Forums

I am a novice here so be kind, how is the MMK45 pickup versus the super magnaflux pickup? I am interested in an X290 with MMK45's. I originally liked the super rocks of the 70's with the double magnaflux pickup. I am a beginning guitarist and looking for a nice Electra guitar to get rockin' with. Any help would be appreciated!
Thanks,
Dave

In my opinion on that particular model the MMK 45's work best as you have the coil tap oprtion. The MMK 45 pups are a strong pickup also but the older model pups have the distinctive Gi**son sound. In the coil tap node the MMK 45 are tough to beat as they deliver plenty of power and great tone clean or distorted. Hope this helps. Welcom to the Forums.

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Awesome! Thank you for the info.

This one has 2 mmk45's and a single coil. They are pretty awesome - you can get something like 18 distinct sounds with all the combinations. BTW - I am also the seller so this can be considered a shameless plug.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... :MESELX:IT

There are many different versions of the MMK45's. I do not consider myself an expert, and there are a couple of threads about this. The earliest 45's had a row of adjustable slot head screws and a row of poles on the other coil, these can be found on early Phoenix's as well as others. Eventually the MMK45's would have dual rows of allen head adjustable pole pieces. It is around this point that the fabled 'Unbalanced Coils' or UBCs start showing up. Instead of both coils being basically the same, in this pickup the coils use different components and the number of windings vary, I'm assuming one coil is hotter than the other. Not certain which coil is used when in Single Coil mode, probably the hotter of the two, but don't quote me!

In addition, not all MMK45's were multi-conductor. I have a number of guitars where there is only one lead and a ground... so unless you do some delicate surgery you can't wire up a coil tap or phase switch. The Workingman's (X280 and X290) used these pickups.

So, while many, many pickups have MMK 45 stamped on them, they are not all the same. In addition, there are MMK53 pickups in my X250, X270 and some Endorsers. I again do not know the differences between the 45's and 53's... they all sound powerful and bright to me, I think one thread I found states that the magnet structures were different.

Also, none of these Japanese pickups are waxed (or potted). They will sound just fine at low to medium volumes, but if you play loud or significantly overdriven, they will squeal. Any guitars that I use on stage I have the pickups waxed... which some experts say will change the tone slightly, but frankly I can't tell the difference except that they don't squeal as badly. This procedure is not for the backyard mechanic and can be delicate as the wax has got to be at just the right temperature to melt and flow freely, but not damage the bobbins... I always have someone else do it for me! I hope this helps, Mike.

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To add on here, one of the best pair of MMK45's I've ever heard were an older set (row of screws, row of solid poles) was on an 1982 Phoenix X130na... specifically the 'Burn Victim' from ElectraFest 2009. This particular guitars pickups were awesome. I got to play her again at EF2010, and through my Mesa Boogie they were just heavenly. Redeye, enjoy that guitar man, and make sure you bring her to EF2011! Cheers, Mike.

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Electra Guitar Videos ===> http://www.youtube.com/user/mjm33mjm?feature=watch

I posted this somewhere else, but it's worth posting again; the bloke who wrote this is a bit of a whizz with electronics and is a Westone guru as well...

http://www.westone.info/ubc.html

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