DeArmond 1100 Rhythm Chief in nickel?

[Hot Vibrato]

It's only available in gold? You've got to be kidding me. Please tell me I'm wrong and I've missed something, but I can't find it in nickel or chrome.

They offer this in nickel: https://shop.guildguitars.com/produc...-mount-pickup/ ...but it has no adjustable pole pieces, and more importantly, the D.C. resistance is 15.4K! as opposed to the 1000, which has a more appropriate D.C. resistance of 6.6K. Why the huge disparity? The only pickups I've seen measuring in the 15K range are humbuckers for metal players. I can't imagine that a single coil jazz pickup would sound right with that kind of resistance. So I would be inclined to instead purchase the 1100, but it's only available in gold... AARRGH!!!

[Steve DeRosa]

Most GC's have a new Gretsch New Yorker on hand; since they now come with the nickel "Brunette" DeArmond 1000 (new Guild A-150's use the "Redhead" version) it's a perfect opportunity to see if it meets your needs...

[Jabberwocky]

The original DeArmond 1100 measures over 15.4K Ohms. That is the correct original specification. The ones measuring 6.6K Ohms are the shorted out ones.

Humbucker specs do not carry over to the DeArmond.

If you wish to take off the very thin goldplating, Simichrome or Autosol removes it in a hurry. You find nickel under it.

[Hot Vibrato]

Originally Posted by Jabberwocky

The original DeArmond 1100 measures over 15.4K Ohms. That is the correct original specification. The ones measuring 6.6K Ohms are the shorted out ones.

Humbucker specs do not carry over to the DeArmond.

Thanks for the info! I've never seen a single coil with a reading that high. Usually they're in the single digits.

What I meant to say in the OP was the Rhythm Chief 1000 has a D.C. resistance of 6.6K, as opposed to the 1100 with 15.4K.

Originally Posted by Jabberwocky

If you wish to take off the very thin goldplating, Simichrome or Autosol removes it in a hurry. You find nickel under it.

Thanks. I assumed this was possible, since I've seen plenty of gold plated hardware that had worn through.

I stumbled across this youtube video. Both pickups sound nice in this demonstration, and tonally, they seem to sound more similar that I would have guessed considering the huge discrepancy in their impedance. The 1100 has a noticeably better string balance, and the 1100 is also less microphonic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpjF_GNiBXY