Changing pickups on an Anderson Cobra?

[6stringjazz]

I have an Anderson hollow cobra S, 2 humbuckers, great ax, but I'm not so sure about the pickups. I think I'm more of a PAF sort of guy. Anybody have experience changing the pickups on these? If so, did you notice a tonal difference?

Thanks,

Robert

 

[sylvanshine]

Been down that road myself. Ended up back with Andersons. If you are looking for more of a vintage humbucker tone, you might try his HO series. My favorite combo in the Cobra is an H3 and an H1+. In my Drop Top Ts I've got HN3 and H1+.

You know if you want the 5-way switch to work the way it does now, you'll need 4-conductor pickups. That narrows down the list a lot.

 

[fuzzyguitars]

That's a tough one.

Anderson's do sound good with their own pickups.

That being said I have a solid cobra standard style that I just put a set of Wagner WCR goodwoods in.

It is very , very good.

Surprisingly hot pickups though.

If you are looking for more traditional PAF sound I would try the Darkburst or Crossroads.

My first recommendation is to try the HO- series first though.

Fuzzy

 

[Mr.Hanky]

I put Fralins in my Hollow Cobra, they work well.
I have had 5 Anderson's and never cared for his HB's, they have this weird compression going on that I do not like.

If I was going to get WCR's I'd try the goodwoods.
My hollow cobra has a great neck tone but being hollow, the bridge can sound a bit thin, so a darker beefier pup works best for me. It also has a brighter attack due to the hollow body.

It is certainly a unique guitar, part LP, part tele, part 335.
The question you need to answer is what do you feel is lacking, then work from there.

 

[6stringjazz]

Thanks for all the input. When installing the Goodwoods, were you able to get the pole pieces to line up on the neck pickup? The Anderson poles don't line up well at all, and I notice that the first string output is a little weaker, and I think it's due to that.

 

[fuzzyguitars]

Originally posted by 6stringjazz
Thanks for all the input. When installing the Goodwoods, were you able to get the pole pieces to line up on the neck pickup? The Anderson poles don't line up well at all, and I notice that the first string output is a little weaker, and I think it's due to that.

I don't know.

It sounded fine.

I will take a look tonight and see if they align OK.

when you say first string do mean the high or low e?

 

[fuzzyguitars]

If you do decide to get a set of goodwoods you will have to talk to jim first.

his pickups have the extra deep flanges.

I actually had to take a burr and remove some extra depth to get them to fit in the neck position and bridge position!!!!!

 

[eddyrox]

Originally posted by fuzzyguitars
That being said I have a solid cobra standard style that I just put a set of Wagner WCR goodwoods in.

It is very , very good.

Surprisingly hot pickups though.

thanks for the info Fuzz. what do you think of the WCR prices? Are they worth it?

 

[Mr.Hanky]

Jim at WCR is da bomb diggity!!

I have a GW and DB in my R7, Jim is the man!

 

[Urkoman]

Never liked Anderson pickups too...anyway a Cobra with H1+H2 sounds very good to me.
I´d replace them for a couple of Fralins

 

[6stringjazz]

The first string would be the high E. Roy at Anderson Guitars said that as long as the string is inside the magnetic field, it doesn't need to line up with the poles.

 

[fuzzyguitars]

Originally posted by eddyrox
thanks for the info Fuzz. what do you think of the WCR prices? Are they worth it?

i'll let you hear em and you can tell me what YOU think!

 

[smilefan]

I've been an Anderson player for years. Now on my fourth
Anderson and second Hollow Cobra. I only like Anderson's
pickups thru high-gain preamp circuits, like Boogies, or rack gear.

Thru vintage-style non-masters they blow IMHO. On my current
Hollow Cobra the best I did for humbuckers was a Fralin
6.5K in the neck and a Duncan Custom Custom in the bridge.
As stated earlier in Hollows the bridge always sounds puny
unless it is overwound (a Fralin 8K sounded like a kazoo).

I finally struck paydirt with a set of Wolfetone HP-90's.
A set of real Gibson-style P-90's suspended in a humbucker-
sized housing. Perfection. They are staying.

 

[6stringjazz]

So you put the wolfetone P90's in your hollow cobra? Any mods required to the guitar to do that?

 

[smilefan]

Originally posted by 6stringjazz
So you put the wolfetone P90's in your hollow cobra? Any mods required to the guitar to do that?

No. The P-90's are glued to the top cover of the pickup
assembly. They are just suspended, with no big "L"
shaped mounting brackets like on a standard Gibson-style humbucker.

The pickup routes are very shallow on Anderson Cobras. This setup that Wolfetone uses requires no mods to install.

I did change my wiring setup to an RS Guitarworks LP Junior-style
1 volume, 1 tone system which required a slight enlargement
of the control holes on the top. Worth it for the extra tone in the RS parts upgrade from stock Anderson pots/caps, though.