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Picked up a new archtop with floating humbucker. It's by a Scottish company (I live in Edinburgh) but made in China: Freshman. It's the FJ1 model, the same model pictured here:FJ1 | Freshman Guitars
I got it under half price, in perfect condition save for a little mark in the varnish in the cutaway. I like the wide fingerboard - suits my large hands. Great neck. Everything works well. But, the tone is very bright. I'd prefer it to be more mellow.
So,what do I do? Change the pickup - which one for a mellow sound? It came with very heavy flatwounds, but I prefer roundwounds, so have ordered some Thomastic BeBops.
I find the tone and volume controls just get in the way, so I'd like a new pick guard with the controls discrete on the side. Any advice on where to source that in the UK or Europe?
Any other tips on mellowing out a bright guitar?
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07-10-2013 02:59 PM
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Bright acoustically or bright thru a amp?
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Both...
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Are you willing to try a different pick?
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I use Gibson extra heavy - usually mellow enough - and fingerstyle without nails, again usually mellow. Maybe I'll wait a year for the strings to get old ;-)
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If both, then I'd first experiment with different strings. Give it some time before you start changing things around. Play around with the vol and tone knob, amp settings etc. Looks like a nice axe.
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If bright acoustically with flatwounds its only going to get brighter with roundwounds. Guitar bright acoustically well it is a maple neck, maple back and sides, and ebony bridge and tailpiece that a lot of bright hardwood. Could try softer wood bridge and tailpiece that will have some effect. Floating pickups usually no room to drop them down.
The luthier type around here probably have some suggestions.
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Cheers. It is a good guitar, easily on a par with a Peerless Manhattan or better, and the luthiery is excellent. I know round wounds are brighter, but I need the bite for acoustic playing. It's a loud guitar, which surprised me. Just a bit too bright.
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Rob,
welcome. I have learned a lot of banjo from you! Your guitar is a good one. It is going to start out bright...especially acoustically. Nature of the beast. Flat wounds REALLY tame this. All the great old guys--Kessel, Pass, Hall, Green, Burrell, Montgomery, etc.--used them. I recently put them on a ES335. Wow...what a fat, jazzy tone. If the guitar is solid woods, it is going to take some years of playing to really open up.
Ken (Greentone)
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Hi Ken. Nice to hear from you!
Yes, flatwounds are great, and I use them on other guitars, but I'm looking for a roundwound sound on this guitar. I can live with it acoustically, so must look at the electricity chain from pickup to amp. I'll play with it for a while as is, change strings two or three times. Failing that, I'll consider a new pup.
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Sounds like a cool guitar.Re the pickup, and assuming that you're still not happy with it after a while, I would speak to Aaron Armstrong and have him make a pickup to your specs. I'm sure he can also advise you on pots etc for a bit less treble
Jazz Guitar Pickups | Armstrong Pickups
You can also try some Pro Plec picks-I have a few that I don't use, PM your address and I'll send them to you to check out (standard 351 shape and/or large triangle). They're a bit too mellow for certain things but for your intended use they might be right.
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First thing I'd try is a rosewood bridge.
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Some things to experiment with:
- Planet Waves Black Ice or Clayton Acetyl pick. Both are mellow sounding picks.
- Less fingernail, more finger in fingerstyle
- A smooth stroke or glide on the attack
Strings are already about as mellow as it gets. If you are used to mahogany flat tops, it may just take some time to acclimate to the sound of a maple archtop.
Schatten makes the best under pickguard pots. They work quite well and are always out of the way.
Suspect the pickup is an inexpensive Korean model. You could probably do better with a swap. Pretty easy since you're replacing the pots anyway.
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Thanks, everyone. Some good suggestions there.
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Me too, I'd also swap the pickup. Consider mounting it on a replacement pickguard with your preferred controls on it. Pickgurds are available ready made or easily made from a sheet of ebony which can be had from luthiery suppliers.
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Why don't you try mounting a full humbucker in that pickguard like Peter Bernstein?
A Bare Knuckles or something like that.
A good luthier could do that.
Flats and maybe a nice tube amp or a Mambo amp will give you extra warmth.
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Sure, thanks.
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Nice jazz box.
I think the pick up is like single coil..not sure.Floating humbucker like PaF Kent Armstrong will sound much better.
http://www.kentarmstrong.sk/
The flatwounds strings is good idea.
Not sure what kind of nut guitar has...?
Ebony bridge is nice!Rosewood fingerboard nice.
have you a mp3 sound?
Best
Kris
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Hi Kris. No mp3 yet, sorry. Might get around to it. Just a regular plastic nut. It's actually a really nice guitar, and for the price it was a giveaway. I'm beginning to think I can live with the acoustic sound, so maybe a mini humbucker will suffice. I'll give Aaron Armstrong a call.
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I'm closing in on either an Aaron Armstrong mini humbucker, an Aaron Armstrong Johnny Smith, or a Benedetto S-6 or A-6...
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Many picups of Chinese origin - may that be single coils or full size humbuckers - sound thinner and brighter than American or European pickups. Many Epiphone owners have swapped their pickups for that reason.
Originally Posted by Rob MacKillop
Floating mini humbuckers sound somewhat thinner and brighter than full size humbuckers.
The Benedetto S-6 is designed to reflect the acoustic sound as much as possible. It's compensated for the extra power of the B string and with some string sets it's actually overcompensated so the B string sounds weaker than the other strings. Consider the hand made full size floating humbucker by Kent Armstrong. Many get a great and fat tone from it.
As for the acoustic sound of your guitar, many archtops gain in depth as they 'open up' during the first year or two. The wood settles and some of the tensions is relieved. It is debated whether playing accelerates that or not. Martin Taylor didn't bring his Benedetto for gigs and tours but when he got home and took it out of the case after a period of idleness, to his ears, the sound had improved. I think it was Barry Galbraith who was quoted saying that Freddie Greens Gretsch Eldorado sounded outright awful when he got it in 1958. After a year it was tolerable and after two years it sounded much like the Stromberg he had used before - and as we all know he continued to use it till he died.Last edited by oldane; 07-11-2013 at 06:34 AM.
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Would a full size floating humbucker need to be inset, or can you get them floating?
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Rob
I found that Golden Gate plecs work on my guitar (with half-round strings) almost like the "soft" pedal on a piano - nice to play, lovely tone, but they take a lot of the sharpness out of things, even more so than the Pro Plecs. Depends on what you want, but they may work for you.
I bought a dozen, so if you PM me with your address, I'll happily send a couple for you to try.
Cheers
Mango
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Anybody tried "Chickin Picks"? they do a jazz one....
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Further on this, Aaron Armstrong can change the magnet in the existing pickup from a ceramic to an Alnico one, and rewind it to your liking. The problem with a replacement PU is that almost certainly it won't be a drop-in replacement, and floater installation is not exactly trivial (particularly if you have to route the finger rest, etc.). If you have the existing PU re-wound, you can uninstall and re-install yourself easily. Aaron recently rewound a cheap Chinese floating mini humbucker for me, and the improvement was substantial. It cost about £50, so for less than the price of a MIK Armstrong replacement PU, you can get him to turn your existing PU into a custom one. Worth considering. Originally Posted by Rob MacKillop
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