mp70
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Post by mp70 on Aug 27, 2012 18:58:24 GMT -5
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Post by cynical1 on Aug 27, 2012 21:40:12 GMT -5
I have no experience with the Smits pickups, but the Joe Barden line is top shelf. Pricey, but no worse then Lindy Fralin.
I have a soft spot for Bill Lawrence (Wilde) pickups, but opinions vary.
The obvious questions would be what type of music do you play, your playing style and what type of amp(s) will you be pushing everything through.
HTC1
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mp70
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Post by mp70 on Aug 27, 2012 21:58:30 GMT -5
Hey Cynical, I play covers curently from the 60's to today.. so I need a mix of clean, semi dirty, dirty, and harder stuff.. I need alot of flexibility in SSS and HSH sounds.. I will be driving a Marshall 6101LM combo with various pedals in the front and in the FX loop... Th Bardens seem very good, but super expensive... but that may be the way to go, but the Smit stuff looks good as well.. As far as Bill Lawrence, if I can find something that is pretty noiseless and can be tapped/spilt and sounds good for the SSS stuff that would be good as well.. Mark I have no experience with the Smits pickups, but the Joe Barden line is top shelf. Pricey, but no worse then Lindy Fralin. I have a soft spot for Bill Lawrence (Wilde) pickups, but opinions vary. The obvious questions would be what type of music do you play, your playing style and what type of amp(s) will you be pushing everything through. HTC1
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Post by sumgai on Aug 27, 2012 23:01:06 GMT -5
Mark, You'll find that c1 places as much emphasis on customer support as he does on tonality. In his experience, and the same goes for many other folks, Bill and Becky Lawrence just plain "get it" when it comes to supporting their customers and potential customers. No ignoring the customer, no hem-and-haw BS answers, no over-the-top saples pitch for whatever item you didn't want in the first place, just plain old-fashioned good people paying attention to your needs and desires. Other vendors may, or may not, deliver the same quality support, but you won't know until you canvas the web much more deeply, with an eye for this exact topic. Let me enlarge on this strange fixation on what a pup sounds like. Here's my take on the idea: If your setup is Guitar -> Cable -> Amp, then you are probably a good candidate for swapping your stock pickups for something else. Me, I don't do that, I'm (or was) happy enough with the stock Fender Strat sound. But here's where things get funky: what if you modify the guitar's output with pedals, what then? In point of fact, you've just trashed whatever Mojo™ was built into your super-duper replacement pup. Yes, Eric Johnson said he did that, and look where he is today, but my return question to you would be, are you another Eric Johnson? If not, then why go to all the trouble and expense of replacing the stock pups when you're just gonna blow up the tone anyways, with pedals and such? All I'm sayin' here is, think it through. If you believe that what you hear on your computer (via Youtube and such) is what you're gonna get outta your rig, then please, be my guest... go ahead and buy the big-name endorsed equipment. But if you question everything, and sometimes twice, then you're probably gonna realize sooner or later that there's an upper limit on how much you can spend, and expect an improvement in your tone. Or as newey puts it "Increase in tone is linear, decrease in your wallet is exponential". ;D Sorry if that seems like raining on your parade, but that's been my Modus Operandi for many decades now. (No, I mean spending money wisely and not chasing pipe dreams - not peeing in someone's Cheerios!) HTH sumgai
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mp70
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Post by mp70 on Aug 28, 2012 8:14:56 GMT -5
Hi Sumgai, I have been playing for long enough that I pretty much know what I want sound wise. This is not replacing pickups but doing a build from scratch. I play lots of stuff and I need something flexible that I think can cover all of my HSH sounds as well as my SSS sounds. I know I can't get them 100% exact but an approximation would be fine by me. I am not into carrying that many guitars to a gig, so I want my main axe which is HH and then this one for all the other stuff... My sound is me, through my fingers.. sure amps and stuff make a difference but I think if you have been playing long enough you just sound like you even on crappy stuff. Basically I do come out of my my guitar into a few pedals, but I use them as color.. most of my pedals are in the fx loop anyway and rarely color my sound too much.. I obviously want good customer service, and I did look at Bill and Becky's stuff.. I just need an idea if anyone has split/ tapped his pups so I can do my HSH and get the SSS sounds... I don't believe in the hype, I just need flexibility.. so anyone with some experience with his pups and having them split I would love top hear something.. I know what you hear or read online is subjective.. but I have an idea of what I want and I will have no problems using anything to achieve the sounds I want.. Those two examples were what I though could get me there.. now if Bill has something I can use and I know he makes great stuff then I have no problem.. plus shelling out $400 just for pickups is not exactly what I want to do unless I can't get the sound anyplace else.. So any pickup ideas you may have, as well as how it is to deal with them would be great to hear! Mark Mark, You'll find that c1 places as much emphasis on customer support as he does on tonality. In his experience, and the same goes for many other folks, Bill and Becky Lawrence just plain "get it" when it comes to supporting their customers and potential customers. No ignoring the customer, no hem-and-haw BS answers, no over-the-top saples pitch for whatever item you didn't want in the first place, just plain old-fashioned good people paying attention to your needs and desires. Other vendors may, or may not, deliver the same quality support, but you won't know until you canvas the web much more deeply, with an eye for this exact topic. Let me enlarge on this strange fixation on what a pup sounds like. Here's my take on the idea: If your setup is Guitar -> Cable -> Amp, then you are probably a good candidate for swapping your stock pickups for something else. Me, I don't do that, I'm (or was) happy enough with the stock Fender Strat sound. But here's where things get funky: what if you modify the guitar's output with pedals, what then? In point of fact, you've just trashed whatever Mojo™ was built into your super-duper replacement pup. Yes, Eric Johnson said he did that, and look where he is today, but my return question to you would be, are you another Eric Johnson? If not, then why go to all the trouble and expense of replacing the stock pups when you're just gonna blow up the tone anyways, with pedals and such? All I'm sayin' here is, think it through. If you believe that what you hear on your computer (via Youtube and such) is what you're gonna get outta your rig, then please, be my guest... go ahead and buy the big-name endorsed equipment. But if you question everything, and sometimes twice, then you're probably gonna realize sooner or later that there's an upper limit on how much you can spend, and expect an improvement in your tone. Or as newey puts it "Increase in tone is linear, decrease in your wallet is exponential". ;D Sorry if that seems like raining on your parade, but that's been my Modus Operandi for many decades now. (No, I mean spending money wisely and not chasing pipe dreams - not peeing in someone's Cheerios!) HTH sumgai
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Post by reTrEaD on Aug 28, 2012 10:46:24 GMT -5
I just need an idea if anyone has split/ tapped his pups so I can do my HSH and get the SSS sounds... Mark, normally I'm not a grammar-nazi when it come to interchanging the terms 'split' and 'tap'. But in this case we need to recognize the difference. 'Tap' is best reserved to mean using a partial winding of a coil. By using fewer windings, we get less output but a brighter tone. 'Split' refers to using just ONE of the two coils of a HB. We forego hum-canceling when that single coil is used alone, but get a far different tone than having the two coils in series. The Barden 'Two/Tone' you linked to is capable of several different modes of operation. It has SIX wires plus ground, not just four wires plus ground. That suggest to me that each coil of the HB has a "tap" on its winding. I'm guessing by the colors and switch connection on the bottom of this page the wiring shows series HB connections in both modes. In one mode both coils are used with full windings. In the other mode, both coils are used with partial windings (less output, brighter tone). Although maintaining hum-canceling in the 'tapped' mode, this won't be the same as a 'split' HB, enabling just one coil.
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mp70
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Post by mp70 on Aug 28, 2012 15:53:29 GMT -5
Hey reTrEaD, I was kinda using them together but I do understand the difference.. I figured for simplicity's sake it was easier.. LOL I would assume the Two Tone is using series and that is how they keep the hum cancelling.... The sounds from what I can gather is pretty decent in series, not 100% single coil strat (which is really impossible). They say it has a little Tele sound thrown in too.. similar to the S-Deluxe they make... The hum canceling is nice though! ;D I actually just got off the phone with Becky at Wilde pickups and she gave me an idea of using the following: Neck - 2.0H L-90 Middle - L45S Bridge - 4.0 L-90 www.wildepickups.com/Wilde_Bill_s_Twin_Blades.htmlI would not have the hum cancelling by spitting the L-90 though.. but the guitar is going to be shielded anyway, so that should help a bit... I wonder how much lower the output would be in split mode, I would assume probably by half or so... The pricing is so much better though.. LOL The Barden's are super expensive, but from what I can tell Bill builds great pickups... Anyone ever split the L-90's or use the L-45S? I am hoping to keep the quack in positions 2 and 4.. Mark Mark
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Post by sumgai on Aug 28, 2012 16:06:47 GMT -5
I figured for simplicity's sake it was easier. Har har, hyuk hyuk, he said "simple" in The NutzHouse..... T'row da bum outta here! ;D Mark, always remember The Beta Particle Bombarder's First Law Of Nutzness: "Thou shalt leave no lug unsoldered, else thou aren't finished!" HTH sumgai
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Post by cynical1 on Aug 28, 2012 16:14:23 GMT -5
You can split an L-90, but adding a switch for local series and parallel is much more useful and you don't have to work around splitting off the wrong coil and tossing the humcancelling out with the bathwater.
Bill's noiseless "single coil" sized pickups can be split, but why would you want to...they are some of the most convincing noiseless single coil sized pickup out there.
The lower Henry values will give you a brighter, but cleaner tone. He offers the L-90's in 2.0H, 4.0H, 6.0H and 8.0H variations. If you told them what you want then they will take good care of you. The L-90 pickup came out decades ago, dropped off the face of the planet, but were recently re-introduced due to so many people asking for them when Bill formed Wilde Pickup. You won't be disappointed.
Happy Trails
Cynical One
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mp70
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Post by mp70 on Aug 28, 2012 16:48:55 GMT -5
You can split an L-90, but adding a switch for local series and parallel is much more useful and you don't have to work around splitting off the wrong coil and tossing the humcancelling out with the bathwater. I have been reading more about the L-90 in the last hour or so... looks like a series wiring would be the better option as long as I can get a convincing single coil sound in series... Plus no hum is great.. I won't be splitting that middle one at all.. It's just for the neck/bridge I will be doing split or series... Becky was extremely helpful and she explained why I should use the 2H and 4H and how to look at it as a set instead of single pickups... I think I am leaning towards the L-90's... ;-) Mark
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