CLASSIC SERIES BANJO PICKUPINSTALLATION GUIDE

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Read Me First!

2. Loosen the wing nut and position the pickup
directly over the blue shim. The magnet will
self-locate the pickup over the shim. For a darker
response, leave the pickup positioned directly overthe shim. For brighter response, move the pickup ¼”
away from the shim, towards the neck.

Installation of this product is a simple procedure,
but we recommend this job only if you are anexperienced repair technician.

Requirements

3. Set the pickup about 1⁄16” from the surface of thehead. You can make a 1⁄16” spacer cut from the boxfor this pickup and use it to set the gap between thehead and the face of the pickup.

The Classic Series Banjo pickup is designed for
installation on banjos with dual coordinator rods.

COORDINATORRODSParts list
• Banjo Pickup• Jack Assembly with: Switchjack™; Curved
Bracket; 3⁄8” Nut; 3⁄8” Dress Washer; 15⁄32”
Dress Washer; Plastic Spacer for Jack; 2
Plastic Spacers; 2 Off-center Washers; 2 Flat
Washers; 2 10-32 x ¾” Screws; 2 Locknuts;
Blue Steel Shim (sensing element)• 3⁄8” Wrench

4. After the pickup is secured to the coordinatorrods, disassemble the jack then attach the curved
bracket to the flange. To accommodate different
styles of flanges, we provide two types of washers(sets of standard and off-center washers).

• ½” Wrench

BANJO HEAD

Tools required• 1⁄8” Hex Wrench• Soldering Iron

1Installation
Mount the pickup
CURVED BRACKET

1. Remove the backing paper from the small
rectangular blue shim to expose the sticky-backadhesive. Attach the shim to the head (inside theinstrument) so that the shim is centered under thecoordinator rods, perpendicular to the rods andabout ½” (12.7mm) from the edge of the middle
bridge foot.

2FLANGE

34OR

5BLUE SHIM
1. Screws; 2. Plastic Spacers; 3. Off-Center Washers;
4. #10 Washers; 5. Locknuts

NECK

½”

5. Re-assemble the jack assembly. Wind the pickup
wire several times around the coordinator rod, thenroute the wire through an opening in the flange.

TAILPIECE
BRIDGE FEET

1

Alternative Installation

Solder the wire to the jack1234 5 6Negative Battery Wire(white) to Switch

Adapter for banjos with asingle coordinator rod
Two adapter blocks can be made to fit the pickup toa banjo with a single coordinator rod. A hard woodsuch as maple is suitable for the blocks.

Shield toSleeve

1. A split block can be made by first drilling ahole one drill size larger than the diameter of thecoordinator rod through one of the blocks. Trimthe block as thin as possible on the pickup side tominimize offset and cut in half as per the illustration.

Pickup Signal(red) to Tip

1. 15⁄32” Dress Nut; 2. 15⁄32” Dress Washer;
3. Plastic Spacer; 4. Curved Bracket;
5. 3⁄8” Dress Washer; 6. 3⁄8” Dress Nut

Remove the shielding barrel from the jack, run thewire through it, then solder:• Red wire to Tip (shortest terminal)• White wire to Switch (longest terminal)• Shield to Ground (hooked terminal)
Attach a 9 Volt alkaline battery to the battery clip.
Slip the battery into the holder on the back side ofthe pickup.

Speciﬁcations
Pickup Coil:Stacked Humbucking

Preamp:Low Noise, Discrete,
0 Feedback Circuit

Nominal Output:-10dBuNoise:-94dBu, A Weighted

Output Impedance:

3k OhmMinimum Suggested
Load Impedance:

10k Ohm

Power:

9V Alkaline Battery

Battery Life:

Over 5000 Hours

2. To provide friction between the clamping surfaces
and the rod, take a fine grit open mesh sanding
sheet and wrap it around the rod’s circumference.
Fit the split block around the sanding sheet. If
sanding sheet isn’t available, glue pieces of 220 grit
sandpaper to the drilled surfaces of the block andfit it around the coordinator rods.
3. Now cut a solid block, equal in width to the split
block fitted in place. This will fit in the other halfof the clamp assembly. Note that the rubber strips
should be removed from the inside of the clamps
when fitting the pickup in this manner. There will
now be a small offset between the ideal center ofthe pickup and the center of the middle foot of thebridge, but the pickup should still function properly.
Follow the rest of the instructions for pickup
installation.
CENTEROFFSET

BODY OFPICKUPSPLIT
BLOCK

SANDPAPER
COORDINATOR
ROD

SOLID
BLOCK

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514-300-110 Rev B 9-11