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Post by newey on Aug 30, 2011 20:32:46 GMT -5
Some may recall my purchase of a Hofner travel guitar with a single HB, and the story of its subsequent damage (still unrepaired) at the hands of the airlines: Carry-On Guitar threadBut the HB never filled me with joy, it was weak and muddy sounding, no bite or guts to it. It came strung with .009s, and I've been meaning to go beefier on the gauge so as to get some tone and help the tuning stability. My vacation is coming up next week, so it was time for some changes. Out with the HB, in with a GFS Dream 90. A copper tape shielding job, since I'm moving to a SC pickup. And, a DPDT On-On-On switch to give me a solo setting, a "cap bleed" setting, and the std V and T controls. It's wired like this: Here's the new pickup going in, shielding is installed: The switch mounts between the 2 pots: All buttoned back up, tested and working fine! Restrung with Fender XL flatwounds, .011-.050 Sound samples are coming, soon as I can get the recording rig up and running. But my first impressions are entirely favorable. The GFS Dream 90 is a vast improvement, a tad noisier than the HB even with the shielding, but not objectionably so. With the new pickup, I've got some brightness now that was lacking, and some grit added with higher gain. The tone circuit is a winner, I think. The center position is the std. volume and tone, nice and bright at 10, but smoothes out when you knock both knobs back to about 7-8 or so. Flick the switch down, and I'm on the solo setting, back to "10+" instantly. The cap position is a bit muffled but definitely jazz-oriented. It's a useable setting for sure, not too terribly muddy with the .033µf cap. I like being able to "dial in" a rhythm tone with the pots, and then toggle to the solo setting and back without fuss.
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Post by newey on Sept 1, 2011 20:52:16 GMT -5
OK, got a sound sample, such as it is. There's a bit of clipping, I should have EQ'd things a bit in the transfer to Cubase, but I didn't, this is straight outta the recorder, so not as good sonically as it might be. And then there's my guitar playing . . . But if the purpose is to demonstrate the sounds available then this will do that, at least. Hofner Travel Guitar Test 1EDIT 1: Apparently there is a problem with the link that I am trying to solve, maybe this one works better: www.drivehq.com/file/index.aspx#m=file&view=&catID=0&subCatID=0&curPage=0&sort=&isInc=&isGallery=false&share=&shareID=0&parentID=47739230&search=&parentPath=&fileID=772988235EDIT 2: Mebbe the third times the charm? Hofner Travel Guitar TestOK, that last one should work, you have to click on the .wma icon, I can't seem to get it to link straight to the player.
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Post by cynical1 on Sept 1, 2011 22:32:49 GMT -5
Hey, all link problems aside, I just downloaded the file and played it back... I really liked the CAP tone...but then, I like dark sounding guitars anyway... The middle tone was very clean and articulate. I was surprised at how good that little travel guitar sounded. The final tone is the newey I know and love...I bet you get stray dogs running up and barking on your deck when you use that one... ;D All in all that was a very useful and clever mod. +1 to you, sir. Happy Trails Cynical One
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Post by roadtonever on Sept 2, 2011 22:58:11 GMT -5
Very nice. All settings sound sweet, even the solo setting.
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Post by newey on Sept 3, 2011 7:42:53 GMT -5
Thanks, guys. The more I play with this the happier I am. I only wish I had thought to make a "before" recording for comparison, so that the dramatic difference the Dream 90 makes could be appreciated.
Granted, it was a crappy HB to begin with. After all, I only spent $100 for the guitar. But I find myself wondering if the fact that this small body offers very little in the way of mechanical sustain doesn't adversely affect the HB as opposed to the P90.
In other words, is most of the "goodness" of a HB related to the dual coils in conjunction with a beefy full body, whereas the SC is driven more by the strings and less by the body resonances?
To extend this line of thinking, could we say that people seem to prefer a guitar with a thick, heavy mahogany body, like an LP to have HBs, as opposed to a thinner, lighter body like a Strat, which is preferred with SCs? Or is it just a matter of a decent pickup vs. a crappy one, and body resonance has nothing to do with it?
Just thinking out loud here, but this guitar with a HB seemed to emphasize all the things I dislike about HBs without the positives. I'm wondering if the small body was therefore a poor fit with a HB and whether that matters less with the P90?
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Post by cynical1 on Sept 3, 2011 10:38:56 GMT -5
...But I find myself wondering if the fact that this small body offers very little in the way of mechanical sustain doesn't adversely affect the HB as opposed to the P90. My, these are deep waters to be expounding in... Without dropping into the same old shtick, always keep in mind that your are electrically enhancing any physical characteristics of the guitar\bass when you drop in pickups, controls, pedals and feed said signal into an amp. To veer off for a moment, whenever I initially play a bass or guitar I always play it unplugged first. I want to feel what comes through. I want to see how long I can feel the notes...if that makes any sense. If it rings, sounds musical and doesn't make you strain to hear the notes then I plug it in. If not, then it goes back in the rack and I move on. To veer even more, this is why I constantly harp on using the highest quality bridge\tailpiece, nuts and tuners you can afford. But I've digressed enough... My guess is that most of the improvement in sound was gained by dumping the cheap humbucker. While the little voice still has a problem with GFS pickup, I must admit they sounded very sweet in your travel guitar. As far as mass goes...well...look at the guitars that Allan Holdsworth uses...there are banjos bigger then some of his guitars... Carvin made a semi-hollow body for him that was smaller then Project #1, and it sounds incredible. I'd like to expound further on this thought, but today is garbage day and duty calls. Happy Trails Cynical One
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popsaka
Meter Reader 1st Class
I'm tired a'playin' so low...
Posts: 87
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Post by popsaka on Sept 16, 2011 12:13:33 GMT -5
...Real nice 'sano' bit of modding, Newey. (your typical excellence) The added briteness when you backed things off wuz profound. I wonder... have you ever checked out a Steinberger? My Hohner is magical. (:-p)
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Post by newey on Sept 16, 2011 13:51:54 GMT -5
Thanks for the props, popsaka.
I have played a Steinberger, although it was probably 20+ years ago. I remember liking it but disliking the need to always use a strap, althoug I usually play standing up anyway.
The Hofner travel guitar was only $100, so not in the same league as a Steinberger. I did look at the Steinberger "Spirit" line before I bought this, those are the wood-bodied ones in the $300-400 range. But I wanted something that I wouldn't lose any sleep over possibly damaging- which was good, since it was damaged the first time I traveled (at least, the first time via the airlines) with it!
For $100, this sounds good and plays decently, the frets were pretty good out of the box. My tech guy said he only had to tweak one of them, and that was more out of perfectionism on his part.
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