The Electra Forums

I'll be listing this on ebay shortly - it's in very nice condition, and the price will be under $2000 LOL - like WAY under !! probably a BIN of 319.00 but as mortarman can attest I take best offers !! (he has 3 from me) -- Really nice neck, almost no fret wear, all original, missing trem cavity cover & trem arm, no issues, great player !!

It's at http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0681677972 BIN $309 (Just FYI I'd like to get around 240 or so)(but don't tell anyone else !! LOL)

Hope you get it Dr. Dave. I got a white one for $200 with the original case. I may never see another deal like that ever.

Be aware, though, that some of these STs can have a weak set of pickups; they were designed to have the UBC pickups in them but Uncle Matt didn't get 'em quite right until about 1986 or so; some had MMK45s (very good!) and some had UBCs which weren't unbalanced at all (not very good). However, being a Spectrum it will play beautifully...

I have a Spectrum MX that has one of the dodgy UBCs in the bridge, and it is a wishy washy sound; not unpleasant, just not really "there", you know??

My ST, on the other hand, - which has a s/n which possibly denotes a late 1986 build - has the proper UBC set in and it fair roars!

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"... and on the eighth day, God created New Zealanders.

Because even the Australians need heroes."

I never pulled the Pickups out to see what they are on mine but they sound good to me. It is an 86 and the pole pieces are silver instead of black. I know the body is supposedly solid maple and it is heavy but sounds very resonant.

I thought the UBC's were mythic - Are you confirming the Unbalanced Coils actually made it to market??? Is there a way to distinguish them by eye or do they need to be removed for measurement? I assume they are standard 4 leads and a ground? I guess what I'm getting at here is - How do you tell if they are UBC's?

Of course what I hope to get and what I get aren't always the same LOL -- how do you tell the difference on the pickups ?? thanx

I have an ST and it's from circa 1986 IIRC. I pulled the pups and they had "MMK45" on the bottom of the base plates. I prefer the frets on this model and the way the ends are dressed. Also, the FB is the nicest piece of Rosewood--far better than what's on current guitars these days.

I have a set of pups that reportedly (e-bong find)came from a Westone. I checked the coils and they are unbalanced. I don't remember the numbers though.

Probably not, but some that were very close did... Here's a monograph on the subject....

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

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"... and on the eighth day, God created New Zealanders.

Because even the Australians need heroes."

Pickups on this ST have no markings on back plate -- sure has a killer neck, tho