-
Thank you for all the further replies and thoughts on pickups - I will look at and at least consider the merits of all the brands/makers suggested, regardless of price.
I had a gig yesterday evening - just in a local pub and playing fairly straight ahead jazz standards with a regular band also including sax, drums, bass guitar and vocalist on a few numbers. Anyhow, a very familiar setting, and the only variable was I had my new Ibanez AS103 (for it is this guitar I'm considering re pickups). As usual, I had my Polytone Minibrute 2 (a mid '90s one) and started with it on it's usual settings, which is with the tone switch on normal (middle position), treble about 3 o' clock, mids at 12 o' clock, bass cut to about 8 o' clock (for whatever reason, I always find the bass much higher that this is overbearing). And with this setting, the neck pickup on the new guitar just did not have enough presence and high end zing/sparkle.
So I ended up with the amp's tone switch on the "bright" setting, and then boosting the mids a bit (2 o' clock-ish) and taking the treble back to about 12 o' clock. That seemed to work quite well, and people were complimentary about the tone after the gig, so it can't have been horrible, but for me, there is something a bit lacking - I like a sweet-sound, but I felt the Ibby's neck pickup (and I do blame the pickup, as the guitar is lovely and zingy and loud acoustically) is not all that "sweet-sounding" - just somehow is a bit "rolled off" in the upper frequencies, while at the same time being just a bit harsh in the upper mids. Overall, a bit too imposing of it's own sound, and not allowing enough of the guitar's qualities to come through.
Anyhow, I think I want something with more transparency that will bring out the guitar's natural woody acoustic qualities - clarity, presence, detail, articulation, not too heavy in the mids. Still have to think about what pickup will do that though!
-
12-23-2016 06:39 AM
-
You could also try
Custom Handwound Replacement Vintage and Modern Humbucker Pickups : Hollowbody Humbucker Pickup - Alnico 5
I never tried this particular pickup but I know he's very open to customizing magnets, etc. I had a humbucker in a P90 format from him and loved it (sold the guitar, not the pickup).
-
That's an interesting one, thanks, I did not know he did those. Just wound to 6.4K in the neck, but why not if it works and promotes clarity - the description does sound very much in tune with what I'd like. I would feel a bit unsure about the alnico 5 magnets, just from my own limited experience, but maybe could chat with him about that.
Originally Posted by jorgemg1984
-
Send him an e-mail and see what he thinks! Anyway, just one more option - as I said a 50 bucks Di Marzio 36th would make me very happy... if it's good for a Sadowsky
-
Send him an email, hmm - I might, but looking at the price of the pickup, it is a bit on the high side for me £80 with a cover, plus postage - probably end up getting close to £200 for a set. I find if I contact someone and start chatting via emails, I sort of feel obliged to buy from them, or it tends to go that way anyhow. Still at the thinking stage at the moment really. Originally Posted by jorgemg1984
Send him an e-mail and see what he thinks! Anyway, just one more option - as I said a 50 bucks Di Marzio 36th would make me very happy... if it's good for a Sadowsky
-
Understood, hope you reach a conclusion
-
Thanks - in the end, I have decided to go back to Ben Fletcher, because a) his prices are friendly, and I've already spent too much on the guitar, which was a total unplanned GAS strike b) he did a great job with my previous pickup order, and I felt he really interpreted my waffly descriptions of the kind of tone I was after very well, and not least c) he's a really nice chap to chat with by email, asks pertinent questions, comes up with interesting ideas and suggestions, and clearly wants to do the best job possible. Originally Posted by jorgemg1984
Understood, hope you reach a conclusion
We seem to be settled already on a 6.6K-ish alnico 3 neck pickup, and he's made the interesting suggestion of an unoriented alnico 5 magnet for the bridge, which apparently will give an alnico 2-ish tone pallet, and nice for smooth lead sounds, but with more power than a typical alnico 2 pickup - I have often found bridge pickups to be just not loud enough to balance with the neck, so this could help without too much compromise on tone.
-
I hate pickup discussions! There are SO many variables that affect what you hear - floor coverings, wall coverings, location of the guy in the second row with a leather jacket (!), size of the room, number and location of customers, amp on floor or on a chair, amp brand, speaker size, speaker brand.........ad infinitum! I honestly couldn't tell you the brand of PU in the neck position of my Tele (and I installed it from my parts box) - I do know the bridge is a Bill Lawrence Keystone (cheap!) but I never use it alone. The amp, to me, is much more important than the pickups.
On a further note, back in the 70's and 80's I had a guy working for me who hand wound pickups on a gizmo that we bought from a bait and tackle shop for putting line on fishing reels! They were some of the best PU's I ever heard and they cost a bout 10 bucks apiece for a single coil. I maintain that the cost of today's pickups are a result of reputation and advertising hype more so than the cost of materials. I'm sure those little Mexican ladies winding PU's for Leo back in the 50's were not design whizzes by any means - just wind on the number of turns they were told and get them out the door. I personally don't like Fralins but do like Bill Lawrence who you don't hear a lot about and he was probably one of the most knowledgeable people around. I do like Pete Biltoff's CC's - the one he did for me was wonderful but not enough different than my stock Tele pickup plus, I had to ruin a perfectly good pickguard to mount it. I plug into the amp, find a pleasing tone and play away - maybe tweak a little with the guitar tone control and PU selector...that's what they're for.
YMMV
-
Cheers for that Skip - to be honest, my mileage does vary, in that I've already had guitars with what to me were the wrong pickups fitted - yes there is some scope for tweaking things with the tone controls (and absolutely I agree re the importance of the amp) but I still find that starting out with the wrong signal from the pickup means I'm always struggling to get something I really like. But that's just me of course, and each to his own. Thanks for that interesting post anyhow, appreciated especially since you hate pickup discussions.
-
FWIW, Lindy Fralin winds the hell out of pickups. His pickups sound outstanding.
Same goes for Seymour Duncan.
-
Josh Gravelin is a US pickup maker and he is great. I found him on the Hamer Fan Club forum. He has done humbucker and single coil pickups for me, new and rewinds. He makes them to match your application/instrument. Nice to work with, sweet sounds and prices are more reasonable.
-
What you really need to decide is what sound are you striving for out of this guitar you might put different pickups in. Once you have determined that then there are fewer confusing points to decide on. Some of the best humbucker pickups around are NOT hand made - Seymour Duncan Seth Lovers or Gibson Classic 57s for that classic PAF sound, any range of Charlie Christian or P-90 for that vintage single coil sound, Joe Barden pickups are worth a look.
That is all...
-
i'm like the only guy in the universe who uses them (apparently), but mojotone pickups ended the search for me. 59 clones to be more specific. i've spec'ed different magnets and windings for different guitars. pleased every time. helpful via email, pretty quick turn around and they are hand wound in the usa. not super duper affordable, but in line with some of the bigger names.
i hear that duncan guy makes an ok pickup, too.
-
I have a BG Pure 90, which is a P90-ish pickup in humbucker form. Well under $100 and sounds fantastic. Also love my Biltoft CC-Rider and matching humbucker-sized P90.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
-
Thanks for all the further posts on this chaps - it's all great stuff, and I'm very happy to learn about it. For better or worse though (I'm optimistic!
) I have now ordered a set of pickups from UK (I appreciate the irony given this thread title) pickup maker Ben Fletcher - see post #32 above. We did exchange a few emails, and discussed at some length what kind of sounds/musical situations I'd be using the guitar for, what kind of natural tone the guitar has etc. etc. and I have a feeling the results will be good, for me at least. And I really think this thread did help with certain ideas, and just helping to get my thoughts together, even if I haven't gone with anyone's suggested brand/maker, so cheers to all of you for chipping in, appreciated.
-
Late to the party, but I have a set of Holmes 'buckers which a pretty darn good but not cheap. Also Lindy Fralins. Peter Biltoft also made me a CC to fit humbucker mount.
Didn't take to the BKs I've tried, but like the Eternal Hot Rod 'buckers, (formerly Wizard pickups) Mojos-their gold top 'teisco' is amazingly good, and had a custom bucker wound by Catswhisker with lower winds/resistance and alnico IIs which sounds pretty good and not woofy in the bass end. All the last three makers are UK based hand and scatter wound, and reasonably priced. Import duty and taxes add 25% on US pickups here in the UK, which is a bit of a killer.
-
Although in the past, with ebay-orders, I have managed to buy pickups from a US maker, and somehow avoided import duty and taxes - I was prepared to pay it if called upon, but the pickups just arrived at my door without the necessity. Not something to rely on though I guess. Originally Posted by bananafist
All the UK makers you mention are I'm sure very good. After nearly buying pickups from the Catswhisker chap on a couple of occasions, I think I've somehow blotted my copybook with him now, so I'm unlikely to ever try his pickups in the future - perhaps a shame, as he does some interesting designs. Hadn't ever heard of Holmes buckers, so pleased to learn about those, even if expensive, such things are worth knowing about. I think I can reasonably recommend Ben Fletcher of Fletcher pickups, if anyone in the UK is looking for hand wound pickups at a friendly price - there's generally a few weeks wait, but a nice chap who does an excellent job.
http://shedguitars.wixsite.com/fletcherpickups
-
I wonder how much longer this thread will last even though the OP said shortly after starting the thread he remembered the company.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
-
Originally Posted by blille
Happy to keep chatting about pickups if people want to I guess!
-
I was also posting primarily for archival purposes.
I've also played a bg pups pure 90 and was quite pleased at the time.
Reply With Quote
Recommandations for Hollowbodies for $600 and under?
Today, 05:20 AM in Guitar, Amps & Gizmos