I was inspired to replace the electronics in my Nechville Meteor, and I want to share my experience because it was fun, and maybe it will inspire you to try something new.
I have no criticism for the Nechville Meteor, but mine was custom ordered by the original owner to be cheap; he didn't have much money, so they cut corners, particularly with regard to the pickups: a noisy piezo and an equally noisy lipstick-tube magnetic pickup.
I have a Deering Crossfire, which I learned uses standard EMG magnetic humbuckers for guitars, and I know Nechville typically uses EMG magnetic pickups too, so I decided to go for EMG single coil pickups (to distinguish the sound of my Meteor from my Crossfire).
After some research, I fell in love with the sound of the EMG (standard) T-set telecaster pickups.
Installation required some surgery. I had to add a 'ring' to hold the neck pickup inside the existing (larger) hole and drill holes in the top to secure it. I created an under-head mount for the bridge pickup using pieces of paint-stirring sticks held to the rim on the ends of the head-tightening bolts with nuts for spacing and tightening. This pickup is a paper width below the head under the bridge. I added a full feeler gauge under the feet of the bridge for magnetic material (I could cut it into little rectangles under the feet alone, but I think it looks cool intact).
The hardest part of installation was the toggle switch standard to telecasters. It is too tall to fit in the top of the Meteor, and I probably should have just bought some other toggle switch, but I assumed they designed the system for this one (since it was part of the set), and I already had it, so I found the next best alternative. I cut a slot and screw holes into the edge of the Meteor at the body cut-out, where the bottom edge of the neck meets the body.
The result is fantastic. These pickups are quiet; you can use the tone knob to actually adjust tone, rather than filter noise. The bridge pickup in particular has a real banjo tone, including quite a bit of bass.
Originally I had planned to keep the piezo pickup installed and blend it into the magnetic signal, but, even with specialized electronics for blending magnetic and piezo signals, it sounded noisy and added noise even when I turned it all the way down in the blend. In the end, the success of the bridge pickup made the piezo redundant.
So basically, I turned my Nechville Meteor into a Crossfire-inspired banjo caster.
I would love to hear it and knowing about the amp would also be a fun fact
quote:
Originally posted by Tractor1I would love to hear it and knowing about the amp would also be a fun fact
I'm just a bedroom noodler, not a performer, so I just use practice amps (Bugera 5W tube amp and Fender Champion 20W) and I don't have a great way to record other than my phone. I'll post something if I can get it to do the job reasonably clearly.
quote:
Originally posted by Tractor1I would love to hear it and knowing about the amp would also be a fun fact
Here's a short video to show you what it sound like using the blended pickups (best sounding option).
I recorded it on a USB microphone plugged into my phone. The mic hung right in front of the speaker of a Fender Champion 20 amplifier (on the cleanest channel, with everything set to '5' and no effects)
https://youtu.be/UO8YsNnl_VY?si=5j7wnjmpXnj8XI8n
BTW, it's a snippet of Simple Pleasures by Alison Brown in D tuning (aDF#AD)
Edited by - aaronoble on 04/01/2025 16:00:54
nice workable mid range tone for electric use --good job on the mod and the song
Newest Posts
'Free video downloader' 5 hrs
'Kluson tuners' 6 hrs
'Liquidation Price!' 7 hrs
'Liquidation Price!' 7 hrs
