Are Dark Stars exactly like to original Hagstrom pickups?
No. When I first approached this project I was obsessed with detail. I took carefull measurments as I reverse engineered the original Hagstrom pickups that I used as models. As time went on I became more familiar with the function and “logic” of it’s construction. One of the first things I noticed was that there were at least 3 different methods that Hagstrom used to mount connection terminals over the years. I found all of them “wanting” in some way. The terminal location seemed to be an after-thought to the design. One of the methods caused the plastic bobbin to melt when I tried to remove the old wire. Rick Turner encouraged me to make improvements where ever I could and suggested that I mold the bobbin from tougher and more heat resistant Lexan. I was then able to press mount terminal posts right on the bobbin itself. Other improvements include using thinner and better insulated steel laminations in the bobbin core. I was able to put 8 laminations instead of 5 in the same space. Th
