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Northelights, could you please elaborate on the Lundgren Heaven 57? Always heard great things about that pickup.
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12-02-2017 10:01 PM
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Well, in general I think it sounded very good. It been several years ago since I got rid of it, but it basically sounded like a really good PAF. Just had a hard time to make it work with my guitar. I play a custom 24-type of guitar made by a company named Atlas. First, I had the heaven in the bridge, together with a Lundgren Smooth Operator in the neck, but I felt the smooth operator was a bit too powerful to balance well with the heaven 57. So a switched places, puting the heaven in the neck position and smooth in the bridge. Got a bit better, but still never got completely satisfied. The heaven always felt a bit too boomy, and the smooth operator was a little bit thin in comparison. Then one day, on a whim, I decided to try an old Maxon I had lying around, and that was just perfect for the neck position. Full but not boomy, clear but not bright. Spend some time looking around for another one, and when I found one I sold the Lundgrens and never looked back. Now days, if I see a maxon for sale for under 30 euro, I usually try to buy it. I can always put them to use somehow. As I said, both Lundgrens were really good sounding pickups, just never worked out for me.
Originally Posted by jorgemg1984
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I have the original MMK 75 PAFs in my Epi Emperor F (L-5 Guitar) and my Ari Pro II TA-100 (335 guitar); love them! Originally Posted by Northenlights
I also have a professed love for the Ibanez (Maxon?) Super 70s floater (of which I have hoarded three) one of which I have retrofitted to my Matsumoku Howard Roberts.
Interestingly, MMK stands for: Matsu Moku Kogyo
Neat article about Maxon pickups and indirectly, Matsumoku
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Many thanks! Originally Posted by Northenlights
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My favorite is any PAF platform where the out put is in the lower range of the spectrum 7.k ohms as a a max. Un-potted, uneven coil wingdings and and alnico III. Seth lovers, Burst Buckers, Antiquity's and of those I buy if I find them cheap and swap the magnets. I do it with 490s and 57th and like them too for a less quackier tone if I'm after that. I like the Kent's for a more "modern" X braced style guitar sound "Benedetto" and other boutique guitars.. But for the classic old Gibson sound I go with the first mentioned. Many recordings were done with alnico 5 equipped guitars too, but I like the aged sound of alnico III
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This has not been my experience especially to those that use overdrive. Originally Posted by jorgemg1984
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Interesting. Why Alnico 3 rather than 2 ? Originally Posted by abelljo
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In my case, I too prefer A3 for he neck position in PAFs, as it balance very nicely with an A2 in a PAF bridge. Originally Posted by darkwaters
The A3 sounds pretty much like an A2, but with none of its shortcomings, being the main ones being loose and spongy in the lows. The A3 feels tight and in control, plus it's got a wider dynamic range, making it easy to control by touch alone.
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Joe, a truer statement has never been made. Everyone who owns a Mark IV understands exactly what you're talking about! And those people who have to ask for you to clarify what you mean? If they have to ask, they'll never know.4. Getting tone from a good amp is easier and less costly than replacing pups over and over again.
Originally Posted by Boston Joe
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Which PAF sound are people chasing? I've heard a dozen real PAFs and they all tended to sound different. The manufacturing processes of the time were poorly repeatable.
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That's exactly where all the money is to be made!!! People love "the chase" and it's a never ending chase if you 1)really don't know what the hell you're looking for because the original units were all over the map (but they're the BEST pickups) or 2) the sound you're looking for never really came out of a guitar amp. It was created instead by a master of recording engineering who placed a small obscure amp in a castle and placed a mic at the top of the 40' ceiling along with 2 other mics whose placements have never been revealed, then blended that sound with two other recording "project" experiments. Originally Posted by Cunamara
It goes hand in hand with the belief that while Leo Fender produced guitars and amps in a factory using some components chosen specifically because of their lower cost, but the only way to reproduce those guitars is by having a lone artisan custom build a replica from hand chosen woods in a "Custom Shop".
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may the tone gods smile upon you...
today there are so many factors that contribute to the tone produced by an electric guitar/amp/FXs .. for some they are chasing an illusive sound they heard from a recording of a guitar god that said they played X-brand through Y-brand amp and used Z-brand pedals..and some devotees obtain this formula and are bewildered why it sounds nothing like the recording..
the many factors that effect tone are part of the formula..the player is a major part..
things to consider:
guitar set-up/-number of pups-type SC HB etc / strings-10-46 vs 13-52
volume/tone settings-on guitar and amp..if recording..on what kind of equip..pro-studio..many variables-
on top of all this is room acoustics and other subtle conditions that effect sound..playing in a small room vs large space with high ceilings and large glass windows and "natural echo"..playing at high volume with a small amp vs med volume with large amp
now if you are in a "controlled" space and change pups to test the difference in tone and find some that you like..and then play in the above variable conditions and find the "pups" dont sound the way you like..why would you be surprised..today the recording technology can change the tone of any instrument with just a few subtle tweeks and dial adjustments regardless of equipment used and their tone settings
my 2006 LP Classic with 57-PAFs sounds just sweet to me..bass rolled off on neck and middle and just a bit of bass on the bridge .. even goldielocks said it was "just right"
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I experimented a bit a few years back changing pickups on a few guitars, archtops and electrics, trying a few "hip" models and brands. Honestly, when using variations of the same basic type of pickup the differences were very minimal. Good guitars sounded excellent no matter what, weak guitars sounded mediocre. So i kind of lost interest in that. To me it feels as if the pickups just amplify the sound that comes out of the instrument. In different ways according to type of pickup, but it basically starts with the same sound. I never had a change of pickup transform a guitar.
I had SO many students that would buy a cheap guitar, and immediately change the hardware, pickups, etc, even frets sometimes.... i thing it 's better to just buy a better instrument to begin with.
It was more useful to me to learn the sonic characteristics of the different types of pickups. Humbuckers, single coil ones, low and high output, P90 etc. Once you play one for a while you get the idea. Also to learn how to adjust pickups, make sure they are balanced and at the optimum height for the sound you want.
Personal favorites are the gibson pafs, the vintage (low output) fender ones for teles, and the Ken Armstrong hand wound floater for archtops.
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FWIW, I finally swapped out the stock DiMarzio 36th on my Sadowsky JH for a burstbucker 2, as well as the harness and it is MUCH more to my liking. My buddy/tech had a similar reaction to it, in comparison to the stock pup in his Sadowsky Bruno. I suspected that the harness and pot values may have had an influence, which is why I swapped out the whole thing (plus that makes it easier to restore to stock, if I ever wanted to sell it.) The stock pup was thin and very middy, lacking some serious clarity, as well as bottom end. It's now a lot closer to the fuller range of tone that I get with my 175.
In retrospect, as much as I tried to rationalize that a different tone could be useful, it was a mild turnoff every time I played it. Now, it's a keeper, although I may still try a Lollar Imperial (put a high wind in my L5 a couple years back and it was a huge improvement over the 57 classic.) Hard to imagine that the guitar can influence the pup as much as the reverse, but it's true, it's a case by case basis.
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36th on my tele is superb tone. Not too dark, rather clear. Originally Posted by yebdox
But I miss Filtertrons sometimes. Did anybody say Filtertrons here yet? I think I will eventually go back to them, nice bright clear tone!
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Fortunately, there are a wealth of excellent humbuckers available today from a variety of producers. Which one is right for YOU can be subjective since we're dealing in euphonic judgement. Two pick-ups that have worked well for ME are:
Top Mounted: Jason Lollar Imperial Low-Winds
Floating: Kent Armstrong Custom 12-Pole Piece
I tend to favor lower output humbuckers that favor string-to-string clarity but with a warmth that single coils can't provide.
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Well there is absolutely no doubt that pickups DO have a significant bearing on tone, and I don't have a problem with trying different things out, same goes with amps- speaker swaps can make a world of difference. Only thing I find silly/ridiculous/gullible is the current fashion of OEM's claiming we "cracked the code" of vintage PAF's, which never had a "code", and because of our extensive research our plastic bobbin and magnet wrapped in wire cost $550 a set. Seems like an awfully steep price to pay for nothing more than a particular number of windings (and not necessarily the # that will please you).
We could all have the same battle over my grandmother's German chocolate cake vs your grandmother's take on it.
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Part of the problem is that some people like to believe in magic, and there are other people who will exploit those beliefs to take their money.
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I like the 57 Classic PAFs that came with my 2016 Memphis 175. After spending the time to get to know them and dialing in the height and pole pieces I can’t imagine a better pup for me on this guitar.
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I've always been a humbucker guy, but the Lollar Charlie Christian HB-sized pick-up which is in a guitar I recently picked up is really growing on me...
I prefer it to the Lollar El Rayo which I tried in a different guitar (but it was a different guitar after all, plus that one had flats).
Might have to just break down and put a Lollar CC into my 16" jazzbox to hear how it sounds.
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Bunch of estate guitars
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