John Birch Pick-up Info?

[goldstar66]

Hi team, newbie here with a question.
I've recently inherited a vintage Fender 400 pedal steel guitar and I'm in the process of renovating it. I noticed that the pick-up was an oversized retrofit, sndyon close inspection I can see it's marked 'Hyperflux Supreme by John Birch'
Google searching so far seems to indicate that it's a rare and possibly valuable pup.
I plan to source the correct pup for the Fender, so I'll need to sell the Hyperflux to fund this plan.
I've no idea where best to advertise it and more importantly, what price to list it for.
I'd appreciate any advice on this, thanks in advance!

[Stuart79]

Reverb.com is a good place to start. A Google search for the pickup probably turned up some previously sold items from there. It also shows the selling price history for specific items when you search for them.

Or the good old SOS readers ads.

[zenguitar]

Rare yes, valuable, who knows?

John Birch worked at a time when there were very few UK guitar makers. Probably most famous for the Superyob guitar he built for Dave Hill of Slade and the guitars he made for Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler.

The pick-up certainly has historical interest as it represents a slightly different approach to pick up design. But as to value, you need to follow the previous advice to establish the price previous examples have sold for.

Andy

[BigRedX]

It will also depend on when the pickup was made. Do you know? One produced in the 70s will probably fetch a bit more than a 2000s re-issue.

[Wonks]

A photo would be interesting (you'll have to host elsewhere and link I'm afraid).

It's not a company with a great deal of info on the pickups and there are a lot of Hyperflux pickups out there with different suffixes e.g Hyperflux 5 (presumably with an Alnico V magnet) and I have no idea what are the more valuable ones. In 1977, the catalogue lists all the humbucking pickups at £28 (presumably including fitting and guaranteed 'forever'). For comparison, a Dimarzio Super Distortion was £20 at that time (I know as I bought a couple). No mention of a 'Supreme' though, so it may well be later than 1977.

John Birch made guitars from 1970 to around 1980, and then stopped. His partner, John Diggins carried on under the JD brand name (most famous for their basses). John restarted making guitars in 1993 until his death in November 2000. The company continued after his death. So yours may be from a later range of pickups rather than being a (far more valuable) 70s one.

Obviously the Tommy Iomi usage puts up the price of some of these pickups - if they are of the sort he's used. The Magnum is probably the most valuable, which has double the windings (and output) of the Hyperflux and was apparently the Tommy Iomi favourite.

Have you tried contacting John Birch guitars directly to see if they can provide any more info?

[BigRedX]

Apparently John Birch guitar have changed hands yet again and are in the process of re-organising back in Birmingham and John Diggins is going to be involved in some form.

Having lusted after a custom John Birch as a teenager in the 70s and also having owned their catalogue when I finally got to play a 2000s version of the J1 I was seriously underwhelmed from both a sound a playability PoV, which was a double disappointment since their workshop in Nottingham was very local to me.

[resistorman]

If it sounds good, why not leave it?

[Wonks]

The original pickup would be an 8-pole single coil, rather like an extended Jazzmaster pickup. So quite a different sound to a humbucker. If you want to get back to a cleaner, standard steel guitar sound, rather than use it for rocked-up blues like a few players now do, then you will want an original pickup style.

Though the standard John Birch Hyperflux pickup has 9 adjustable pole pieces per coil, it really has only marginally wider overall spacing than a standard humbucker. The individual strings (8 of them) are 3/8" spacing, so the overall spacing is 2 5/8" (76.2mm). Even Trembucker spacing is only just over 2" (at 52.6mm), so any standard guitar humbucker is going to fall short on width.

As the John Birch pickup is described by the OP as an 'oversized retrofit', this may indicate that it is specially made for a steel guitar and so a lot wider than standard.

This would definitely make it a far more specialised pickup, which (I am guessing here) would probably make it worth far less than a standard humbucker equivalent as you can't fit it on an SG and make like Black Sabbath.

[Sam Inglis]

If you're not already a member, do visit the British Steelies Society forum. There are lots of very knowledgeable and friendly folk there, and there's a chance some of them will know your instrument already. John Davis, who posts there a lot, is a diamond bloke and and absolutely invaluable source of advice, parts, strings and so on.

[goldstar66]

Many thanks for all the replies, much appreciated. I'd prefer to fit a pick-up more in keeping with the original, especially as the guitar is only for home recreational use. If the Hyperflux is of interest to a more serious picker, I'd be happy to move it on.
The dimensions comment is worth considering, I may well list it on Reverb 'in situ' with pics and measurements, if there's interest that's fine, if not then I'll leave it as is.
Season's Greetings to all!

[Basil Henriques]

Hello Goldstar66, I'm the man who collaborated with John Birch on the pickup design, and the initial prototypes were fitted to my Fender 1000 just before my EMI Recording dates. The 400 that you have/had is also fitted with a prototype STEEL GUITAR pickup of which there were only 3 made, two for my fender 1000 twin 8 and one that John fitted later. To whom it was sold I do not know, but it is of historical interest.

[Philbo King]

Off-topic comment removed --ED.

[Basil Henriques]

My good friend John Birch was British through and through, read about him here:--->
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Birch_(luthier)

[Eddy Deegan]

Thank you for your insight Basil, and welcome to the forum

[Dynamic Mike]

Interesting Wiki page, although I don't recall the Yamaha SG2000 ever being a 'low cost' guitar. Back in the day, as a huge Sabbath fan, I lusted after Tony Iommi's SG Custom & Jaydee SG.

I seem to recall (although not 100% sure I've got the right person) that there was some speculation regarding John that appeared in Guitarist magazine in the 80's, as he seemed to disappear around the same time that someone of a similar name, local to him, was sent to prison. If I recall correctly John had actually moved away to care for a sick relative & was totally unaware of all the fuss about his 'disappearance', which was later clarified by a letter to the magazine.

[Wonks]

Interesting Wiki page, although I don't recall the Yamaha SG2000 ever being a 'low cost' guitar.

The sentence is missing the term ‘relatively’.
The SG2000 was cheaper than a Les Paul (the guitar it was designed to compete with) and much better made than the Gibsons of the time.

When I bought my SG3000 in 1984, it was still a bit cheaper than an LP Standard (I think something like £680 vs £740) and all the LPs I tried were awful in comparison. I’d originally wanted a Les Paul but the ones I tried were almost unplayable IMO.

At the time the less-fancy SG2000 was around £600 IIRC. Not cheap, but significantly less expensive than a Les Paul.

[Wonks]

…and welcome Basil.

By encouraging John, you’ve played an important role in British guitar making.

[Sam Spoons]

I met John Birch back in the early '70s (I think) when the other guitar player in the band blagged an invite down to the factory in Rubery. We were given the tour and a chance to play a couple of guitars. The memory of the day is a bit vague but he came across as a nice fellah and he was a keen advocate/salesman of his instruments (which were very good). Sadly I was not in a position to afford one at the time.