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Post by FireBall on Jan 28, 2008 20:29:06 GMT -5
Mmmm, so thats a single coil and a humbucker in the one housing? I'm guessing at normal 3-way switching from the toggle and a coil tap from the mini switch?? Have you found that that gives good tonal results? And I know that this is a bit off subject, but that arrangement reminds me of a friends idea of making a humbucker from a single coil and a P-90. Of course, the outputs would have to match up, but that could give some good coil splitting results. To be honest, I have never played one. I remember seeing one at a music store in the mid 80's and thought they were cool with the 3 pickups... I thought they were called mulitbuckers, but that googled Dimarzio's pickup. Of coarse I was a teenager and thought the more the merrier! Wait... I still think that way.. What about taking two of Axetec's IronGear Steel Twins and putting them together in the neck and bridge postion, then you could have 8 coils.... www.axetec.co.uk/axetec%20guitar%20parts%20spares%20pickups_082.htmwww.axetec.co.uk/irongear%20steel%20twin%20bridge%20800.jpgwww.axetec.co.uk/irongear%20steel%20twin%20bridge%20side%20800.jpg
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Post by Runewalker on Jan 28, 2008 22:26:00 GMT -5
.... a Strat guard with the bridge pup reverse-angled from the std Strat. Anyone have any experience with that setup?... Yes. Jimi Hendrix.
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Post by newey on Jan 28, 2008 22:56:32 GMT -5
Fireball- That's definitely a crowd, but we're after more than three. Isn't that kind of like a Burns "Trisonic" pup, at least in theory? The guit definitely gets a thumbs up for coolness, however, at least from me. And Rune, thanks for weighing in but Chris beat you to the punch with the Jimi reference. Of course I hadn't thought of the "left-handed-on-a-righty-guitar" thing. But you're both absolutely right. He had that setup, intentionally or not, and I know what that sounds like- although there may have been some other elements in the man's tone, methinks.
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Post by Runewalker on Jan 29, 2008 8:32:22 GMT -5
Fireball- And Rune, thanks for weighing in but Chris beat you to the punch with the Jimi reference. Of course I hadn't thought of the "left-handed-on-a-righty-guitar" thing. But you're both absolutely right. He had that setup, intentionally or not, and I know what that sounds like- although there may have been some other elements in the man's tone, methinks. Should'a know CK would get the jump. 5 pages and counting .... just missed it with sloppy scanning.
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Post by ChrisK on Jan 29, 2008 20:00:07 GMT -5
I love the recent Fender JimiCaster with the reverse pickguard and headstock. The Fender '60s Reverse Headstock Strat Electric Guitar They must be on the trail to the secret of Jimi's tone since, according to the description on the Musician's Friends web site " it reverses the length of the strings".............................. Seriously!. It really does say that. " Create your own screaming "Star Spangled Banner" with this unique Strat!
A modified version of a famous Strat seen at Woodstock, the flipped headstock reverses the length of the strings, and combined with the reverse-slant bridge pickup, delivers feel and tone uniquely different from traditional Stratocasters. 3 vintage-style single-coil pickups with staggered pole pieces, alnico magnets, and aged covers generate vintage styling and tone. Highly requested by players, a great addition to your Strat collection." Yee................huh? Now, if one REALLY wants Jimi's sound, buy a left-handed Strat and learn to play it right-handed. This will save you a few hundred dollars. (Oh, and learn to play like him - not.) Bright shiny objects strike again..............
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Post by newey on Jan 29, 2008 20:55:50 GMT -5
(Oh, and learn to play like him - not.) Yeah, there's a little thing called technique. Just finished Clapton's autobiography, and he mentions seeing Hendrix for the first time at a club in London, and thinking to himself "Why do I even bother trying to do this?" ,or words to that effect. Not a direct quote but close. But Chris, the claim about string length isn't actually false. Think about it. High E is the thinnest, and most likely to break, of the 6 strings. If High E is longer, as it is on a regular Strat, it presents a greater surface area to the outside world, and thus has a higher probability of being damaged, leading to breakage while playing. And if one's E string breaks, tone will suffer due to having only 5 strings. Q.E.D. ;D
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Post by sumgai on Jan 30, 2008 12:58:55 GMT -5
newey, Actually, it's properly called "soul". I've seen some of the most technically proficient players on the planet (Vai comes to mind), but they have less than no soul at all - you'd sooner listen to a cat in heat. What set Jimi apart from the crowd was his soul, plain and simple. The fact that he could express his soul in a manner so unusual for his time, that was just icing on the cake. I'll have to disagree with that one. When a string breaks, the pitch and elasticity of the remaining strings might or might not suffer, depending on other factors. One's technique might suffer (perhaps greatly), if an expected string is missing from one's usual muscle-habit patterns. However, given the constraint of mechanical means, the remaining strings won't be leaving the vicinity of the pickups, nor will they suddenly develop a case of jungle rot, nor will any other affliction cause them to "lose tone". Nor can one blame the guitar itself in any other way.... the 'tone wood' doesn't suddenly become stressed in some oddball way, nor the 'tone plastic', etc. At all times, one must remember that tone comes from one, and only one, source - you! Your fingers are merely translators for that which you hear in your mind, which is why practice is mandatory, even if your name is Jimi. Beyond your fingers, all else is optional, and has only marginal effect on tone. And that's Q.E.D.! ;D To summarize: Sound is defined as vibrations in the air, as perceived by one's ears. Tone is defined as an emotion that one perceives by listening to the expressions of another person's inner-most being. The words 'toneful' and 'soulful' are synonyms for a reason. To extrapolate a bit (and blow the notion of summarization all to smithereens), listen to a Poet. (Not a poetry reader, a real Poet.) He will make sounds with his mouth, but when he recites his poetry (gender neutrality intended), he's displaying for the whole world his exact emotional state at that moment. No other embellishments beyond his voice were involved. (i.e. Using a 'better' PA system would not have made any difference to the listener. Or for that matter, neither would have just using a PA system at all.) Recall that critiques often comment on such performances by claiming "He set a beautiful tone with his phrasing", and others statements like that. The bottom line here is, whether it be voice and poetry, or guitar/fingers and song, it's the tone that makes the listener either appreciate, or at least notice, the expression of one's soul. </rant> sumgai
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Post by ChrisK on Jan 30, 2008 13:19:42 GMT -5
3 2 1 0 FelderPuckey!The length of all strings remains at 25 1/2" on this guitar. Intonation being intonation, the actual length of each string remains the same regardless of its location. Scale length is scale length is scale length. The only string thing that is reversed is the length of each string from the backside of the nut (JUST SAY NO! ) to its tuner, with the high E being the shortest rather than the longest as on a standard right-handed headstock. While the overall length of the high "E" string is longer, its exposure to damage only comes into play if one is playing behind the.... (uh, on that aforementioned part of the string). I might argue that the increased overall string length on the higher strings on a regular headstock may actually help in preventing breakage in that it allows a greater length of string to be stretched when plucked. Elasticity is. In the end, as it was in the beginning, this whole reversal of string length thing was just ad copy, stupidly written. But, then, most folk a'planet don't know what most of the words mean anyway...........Marketing is. And I don't even want to think about if one's G string breaks....
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Post by newey on Jan 30, 2008 13:26:27 GMT -5
Sumgai- good point about the difference between technique and that indefineable "soul". You are absolutely right.
Not to belabor my Rube Goldberg-esque explanation on string length affecting tone (just kidding after all .. .), if you break an E you end up playing those notes on the second string up the neck, which will give the notes a slightly different tone, at least to my way of thinking about it. But it was only a lame attempt at humor in the first place.
And in reviewing this post, it occurs to me that our younger members may not know of the late great Rube. They are much the poorer for it.
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Post by sumgai on Jan 30, 2008 13:47:43 GMT -5
newey, I'm truly sorry, I failed to find the humor you intended. Like I said earlier today, it must be my meds. But I like the fact that you tried! +1 for you, just for the effort. You could have included a link to show who you were speaking of, like this: Wikipedia article on the Rube Goldberg MachineAnd once that's been made clear (hah!), here's one of my favorite demonstrations: www.break.com/index/best_rube_goldberg_ever.htmlOr, one could just google for others. YouTube has quite a few, most of them not very complex. sumgai
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Post by newey on Jan 30, 2008 21:19:48 GMT -5
Well, Chris' post and mine must have crossed in the server. But, Chris and Sumgai, I clearly failed in the humor department if both of you took that ridiculousness seriously! Hard to convey sarcasm, I guess, or maybe too many barley pops before I posted. And nice Rube links, Sumgai. I didn't realize, there seems to be a whole dorm culture devoted to Rube Goldberg machines, so I guess he hasn't been forgotten after all. When I lived in a dorm many moons ago, playing "guts" Frisbee in the hallway (with walls, floor and ceiling all in play) was about as creative as we got. But I'm taking this post back to where it started- Designing and building a 4 pup Strat. A few of the questions that have been tangentially touched upon, but never asked directly, are: 1) Is noise/hum going to be a huge bugaboo? 2) Would using so-called "noiseless" pups be a big help in that dept? I've kind of been thinking of using Lace Sensors, I know there's a big debate about their sound. I personally have no experience with these at all- never played them, know nothing about the concept or how they work (apart from the sales fluff on the website). What's the story with those?
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Post by ChrisK on Jan 30, 2008 22:56:47 GMT -5
No, I took the seriousness ridiculously. (I don't 'ave a clue what that might mean, but it sounds ok.) I yearn for the opportunity to use words like FelderPucky. ;D And, no, there ain't any hops to worry aboot. I picked up on your humor some time ago (I'd actually thought twice aboot posting that countdown in case you would read me the wrong way.) It's all good 'n goofy. And in this example, physics isn't.
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Post by newey on Jan 30, 2008 23:36:51 GMT -5
Chris- Headstock Logo for your next guitar:
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