DeArmond Rhythm Chief Alternatives

[sully75]

The coiltap idea is interesting, I might look into that. Thanks!

The issue with these special Argentine strings will play a big role in the sound since they are made of different materials than the "normal" steels strings used on archtops. etc.

I have a KA singlecoil floater on my 2018 Trenier Jazz Special , wired up to the push/pull volume knob. That switching option gives me a second sound when I pull up on the knob : the sound gets a bit thinner, like a bass cut, quite useful for old-style comping 4 to the bar. That is the tapped output, taken from the coil with a few 1000 less windings. The sound of the un-tapped pickup is full and round, with a nice dose of highs that don't make it hi-fi sounding (which I hate...) so that plugged in it
lets the acoustic properties of the lightly built guitar be heard and felt. I like it regardless of the type of string I use and have no plans of changing it. The hum is absolutely tolerable, has never been an issue.
I had once asked Kent's son Aaron (he lives and works out of Britain) to build me a tapped single coil in a humbucker housing and that was no problem at all - I have not yet put it to use in one of my guitars but will do so soon - tone report will follow.

Speaking of the DeArmond pickups : as with all hand-wound pickups of yesteryear : there can be considerable differences in windings between two pickups from the same batch, resulting in one pickup being extra bold and the other a bit weak sounding. At one time the DeArmond family had their young sons sitting at the winding machines ....
Ever since Larry DiMarzio and Seymour Duncan (and Bill Lawrence) started the custom-pickup buisiness some 50 years ago (!!!) the marketing lingo has totally confused everybody - there is no consensus re the def. connotation of the various adjectives used in describing the different tonal properties of pickups (and guitar speakers, same story) - I at least am non the wiser after all these years. When talking to the maker(s) I can describe what I want but the marketing talk (and the raving reports on the familiar forums) have never helped me much in finding what I wanted. How come a set of simple Tele pickups from the currently most-talked-about winder can cost $ 750.00 while a VERY similar set from one of the bigger companies costs 2/3rds less ? These things are not made out of un-obtanium ....

[JSanta]

Not exactly what you're looking for, but Shelley Park and YL Cholet have been building some really interesting hybrid guitars. I believe that both makers are using some sort of CC pickup. Cholet has one as the banner on his page. Connor Holdbridge from Ultrafaux looks like he just took delivery of one.

YL Cholet - Luthier guitares manouches |

[sgcim]

Recently i received the following answer from Kent Armstrong upon an inquiry i did:

I would try my pick-guard single coil it is very much like a DeArmond 1100.. with a coil tap for extra boost.

Obviously he is in the position to manufacture floaters wich resemble the sound of DeArmonds. I would bet he can also pack it into a regular PU housing. But i do not know how the sound of a 1100 resembles a RhythmChief.

Yeah, just call Kent up and tell him what you want. I did it when the B-222 I bought on Reverb had a POS DiMarzio, instead of a Gibson PAF that the guy told me was on it.
He's such an enthusiastic guy who loves what he does, you'll love whatever he gives you. He said he'd hand wire it and send it to Borys the next day to install it, and that's what he did.

[JazzNote]

Yeah, just call Kent up and tell him what you want. I did it when the B-222 I bought on Reverb had a POS DiMarzio, instead of a Gibson PAF that the guy told me was on it.
He's such an enthusiastic guy who loves what he does, you'll love whatever he gives you. He said he'd hand wire it and send it to Borys the next day to install it, and that's what he did.

On one of my LeGrands i just installed the 12pole floater from Kent which he recently wound for me with a tap, so i can run it switching between humbucking or single coil mode :-).

[Rickco]

I just saw this, I Got my GE a couple yrs ago and didnt care for the pickup so I called Kent who had helped me out before. After some discussion I was clear I didnt want a humbucker pickup. We had discussed his silent cut (8k like p90 13k like dynasonic) single coil before and it sounded like just the ticket. Kent said he had redone many GE's but had not put a single coil in any at that time. I sent him the whole guard p.u.assy. If your looking for that kind of sound this may be a good choice, for me its perfect and I feel like Im squeezing every drop of succulent tone out of my GE. In 8k pos its perf for chuckin chords for accom, when its your turn flip the switch with your pinky to add a nice volume and subtle mid boost so you sound like Wes then go back to chunkin pos and try not to look smug. I dont have a tone control and I always play vol full open adjust at amp. The KA is really an amazing archtop pickup and the beauty for me is when Im plugging in I dont have to do anything but play. Thought this might be usefull. Rick

[arnie65]

The Dearmond RC 1100 is truly an uneasy pickup to install in most guitars due its awkward shape and the way it attaches to the instrument. Not long ago I saw a video by Tim Lerch playing a Tele with a Dearmond Rhythm Chief 1100 he had rigged to a pickguard. The tone was everything I love, clear, thick, girthy and fat, without any muddiness. However it looked terrible with the duck tape etc.. I called Pete Biltoft from Vintage Vibe guitars and asked him if he could recreate a Dearmond Rhythm Chief 1100 pickup in a different enclosure, and he did. Pete stayed true to the original design specs using 44 gauge wire, and Alnico V magnet, with adjustable screw poles. He used a mini-humbucker enclosure which looks great too. He even matched the output to match the existing bridge pickup in the bridge. I installed it in my Tele and it sounds incredibly close to the real deal from Tim's video. Here's Tim video, and a pic of the pickup, this is a great alternative!

Cheers,
Arnie..

[Herbie]

The Dearmond RC 1100 is truly an uneasy pickup to install in most guitars due its awkward shape and the way it attaches to the instrument. Not long ago I saw a video by Tim Lerch playing a Tele with a Dearmond Rhythm Chief 1100 he had rigged to a pickguard. The tone was everything I love, clear, thick, girthy and fat, without any muddiness. However it looked terrible with the duck tape etc.. I called Pete Biltoft from Vintage Vibe guitars and asked him if he could recreate a Dearmond Rhythm Chief 1100 pickup in a different enclosure, and he did. Pete stayed true to the original design specs using 44 gauge wire, and Alnico V magnet, with adjustable screw poles. He used a mini-humbucker enclosure which looks great too. He even matched the output to match the existing bridge pickup in the bridge. I installed it in my Tele and it sounds incredibly close to the real deal from Tim's video. Here's Tim video, and a pic of the pickup, this is a great alternative!

Cheers,
Arnie..

Pete makes wonders!

Can You hint about the price of Your pickup, was it pricier than a Rhythm Chief reissue?

[arnie65]

Well, I had to pay for the initial design of the custom pickup which was around $195.00 After that, I think the price is a lot less because the design etc is already done, give him a call or email him. I'm posting here the PDF of the design. It is Pete's recreation of the RC 1100 in a mini-humbucker enclosure with the specs of the original Dearmond RC 1100



Cheers,
Arnie..