316

The Pickup Place / Re: PRS Custom 24 SE spacing?

« on: May 14, 2015, 09:42:44 PM »

I don't now about that one in particular, but I use regular spaced in my PRS SE. I have also tried F-spaced pickups in there and I couldn't tell any difference.

317

The Pickup Place / Re: What is "normal" turnaround time for pickup installation?

« on: April 18, 2015, 01:13:58 PM »

Couple of thoughts:

Filing on the nut is not what fixes "fretting out", so the tech isn't telling you something.

Adjusting truss rods and replacing pickups are not difficult tasks. With as many instructional books and Youtube videos as are available today, there is no point in paying someone a lot of money to do something you can learn to do in one evening.

You can replace pickups in about half an hour. You need a 25 or 30 watt soldering iron, solder, a piece of sponge and a screwdriver or 2. The most useful specific tool I've ever owned is a small guitar set-up ruler from Stewmac. I use it to make every measurement for a complete set-up. They also sell them on Ebay for just a few dollars.

318

Gear Closet / Re: Picking Picks (picks, not pickups)

« on: April 03, 2015, 02:57:21 PM »

I've added a few more to my growing collection. I'm really liking the larger Triangle Tortex Picks. They really help highlight downward pick-slanting while shredding and if you wear out one tip, you still have two more tips. I've been using them for bass as well.

Rob (I guess??) from Rob's String Shack, who I've been getting these multipacks from, sent me a couple of extra picks to try. The Glow-in-the-dark D'Addario picks made by Planet Waves are very slick on the strings. Very low friction and very fast. The gripping surface is one of the slickest of any of the picks too, so that might not be great when sweating on a hot stage.

One that has quickly become one of my favorites is the D'Addario Duragrip line. When shredding, I actually hold a little too low on the picks for the molded-in grip surface to do much good, but I really like the material. It is very similar to the Tortex, maybe just a hair stiffer, and you can get thicker versions of it than you can in the Dunlop Tortex line. If you were chugging away at metal or strumming chords this would offer the best grip surface I've felt.

My least favorite out of all the picks is the D'Addario Cortex pick. It has a loud clicking sound when shredding and at the same time it is really sticky feeling when leaving the string (not the grip, but the string release). It feels really slow, and I feel like the pick is struggling to roll over the string and let go.

319

Guitar Lounge / Re: Help with pickup vs wood type

« on: March 22, 2015, 10:28:08 AM »

Before blaming the wood, you need to check and see if the pot values are the same, if the circuit is the same, if the pickups are at the same position on the body, if the scale length is the same, and if the bridge/nut are the same. If it is none of these, then it is likely the wood. I found a volume pot in a particularly dead sounding new PRS SE guitar that metered only 215 ohms.

320

Gear Closet / Re: Picking Picks (picks, not pickups)

« on: March 01, 2015, 11:13:14 AM »

** Crickets chirping **

This place is dead. I don't know why I bother posting here any more...

321

Gear Closet / Picking Picks (picks, not pickups)

« on: February 27, 2015, 12:45:06 PM »

I found a guy an eBay called ROBSSTRINGSHACK who lets you order custom packs of 6 guitar picks in most of the popular Dunlop lines. I've had an absolute blast the last two weeks having dozens of picks in different sizes and makes lined up across my desk and shredding a few minutes with each to compare them.

I've used Tortex and Gator Grips for years because the marketing convinced me that plain smooth Delrin picks would slip out of my grip. Well they don't, and the plain Delrin have ended up being one of my favorites as far as tone and feel. They have such a crisp, smooth release and bright tone when shredding.

I found that my least favorite has been the regular Jazz III. It sounds like a cheap piece of plastic and the front edge is almost too sharp and feels like it gets stuck on the string. The same Jazz III made from Ultex is one of my favorites. It is sharper than a normal pick which gives you more precision and a snappier release, but is much slicker than the regular Jazz III and does not have that plastic sounding plink to it. Another that I do not like the sound of is the Ultex Sharp. The regular Ultex is one of my favorites, very slick and fast, but the Sharp version has a pronounced "ping" to it that I find annoying. If it were a lot thicker, I think it would help. I wish Dunlop made the regular Ultex in a thicker 1.5 and 2.0.

The Gator Grip picks feel like they take longer to get over the string and have a more muffled darker tone. I like this for some applications as well. I'm liking these when I am learning a new pattern. The Gators feel like they are slowing your shredding down a little while the regular and Jazz III made from Ultex and the Delrins have a very slick, dry, quick release. The tips are a little more rounded on the Gators too, so they roll over the string more smoothly and feel like they stay in contact with the string longer.

The regular Tortex versions are good all-round picks, not too slow, not too fast, and have a balanced sound to them whereas the Delrin is brighter and Gators are darker. I have some more on the way, and will add these into the mix. It has been a lot of fun and certainly costs less than trying new pickups.

As far as pick SIZE, I haven't found anything thinner than .73 useful for anything but strumming chords. The .73 picks are on the verge of being too thin for the shred, blues, rock, and metal I play. I have found the 1.0 and 1.14 to be a good all-round balance for everything. The 1.5 and 2.0 begin getting really thick and feel like they take longer to get over the string than the 1.0 and 1.14. This is useful for some applications, but I no longer agree that the thickest pick you can find is best for shred. The composition of the plastic and the shape seems to effect the speed of it more than the size.

322

The Pickup Place / Re: Pickups that have left you less than impressed?

« on: November 16, 2014, 08:22:28 AM »

I tried really hard to like the AT-1. I bought it twice and tried it in 3 guitars. It sounds thin to me, like the entire tonal spectrum is piled up in the high mids. It worked better "in the mix" but I didn't like it when I was just playing.

323

The Pickup Place / Re: HSS configuration. what works best for you?

« on: October 12, 2014, 10:55:05 PM »

Had a Virtual Hot PAf and two Fender Fat 50's singles for several years. That was a great combo.

324

The Pickup Place / Re: Old timers...Virtual Hot PAF vs 36th bridge?

« on: September 13, 2014, 01:29:41 PM »

I think of "loud" as a function of your amp's volume knob, not the pickup, but I remember the Vhot being noticeably hotter and more aggressive than the 36th. I bought the 36th hoping it would be a good replacement for the Vhot and one thing that disappointed me a bit was its lack of power in comparison.

325

The Pickup Place / Re: Old timers...Virtual Hot PAF vs 36th bridge?

« on: September 13, 2014, 10:14:10 AM »

I looked up what I had said about the 36th back when I had it installed:

I hear really present highs, very bright. Tight but not very fat lows and fairly bland midrange. The neck has a slightly woody tone, but the bridge does not. My hollowbody is a fairly well balanced guitar and my PRS is a very warm sounding guitar ( I had them in 2 guitars). The 36th PAFs sounded very similar in both.

I also commented at the time that is was as bright as my 59 bridge, although that is not the way I remember it now...

I stopped using the VHotPaf when Dimarzio discontinued them because I wanted to have my backup strat set up the same way, and I couldn't find one. I use the Duncan CustomCustom now in combination with 2 Fat 50's single coils, all run with a 300k volume pot and 250k tone.

326

The Pickup Place / Re: Old timers...Virtual Hot PAF vs 36th bridge?

« on: September 13, 2014, 10:04:57 AM »

I wouldn't say that either of them is exactly ZZ-top sizzle. I remember the Vhot being a little more chewy in the middle like a Duncan CustomCustom (which is similar to the 78 in a way) I don't remember much sizzle from the 36th. It reminded me of a more balanced less fuzzy Duncan 59 with more mids. The pearly gates bridge is brighter than either of these but it does have the sizzle you are talking about. The 78 is out of my price range, but I'd like to try it one day.

327

The Pickup Place / Re: Old timers...Virtual Hot PAF vs 36th bridge?

« on: September 11, 2014, 09:50:12 PM »

I've played them both, but not in the same guitar type. I loved the Virtual Hot Paf (run with a 300k pot) in a strat bridge. I tried the 36th bridge in a Les Paul and a PRS SE. Compared to the Seth Lover Bridge and Whole Lotta humbucker bridge, the 36th doesn't impress me. I like the 36th neck better than the bridge. The 36th bridge is definitely not a "replacement" for the Virtual Hot Paf like they said. Its a completely different sound and feel.

328

The Pickup Place / Re: HSS configuration. what works best for you?

« on: July 20, 2014, 12:19:24 PM »

I went through a bazillion different combinations in my HSS strat, and I have settled on 2 Fender Fat 50's single coils and a Duncan CustomCustom, all run with 300K pots. I get SRV/Hendrix out of the neck, Surf and clean chimey strat out of the Middle, Gilmour out of the notched position 2, and Van Halen out of the bridge. I'm happy with that.

329

Guitar Lounge / Re: Tuning problems with Les Pauls

« on: June 29, 2014, 02:52:55 PM »

Something is binding somewhere. How steep an angle are your strings coming up from the tailpiece to the bridge saddles at? Do you topwrap your strings? What is the nut made out of, and did you use the correct sized files when you filed the nut slots? Are the nut slots shaped correctly? How are you winding your strings around the tuning posts? Are you bridge saddles and bridge stable?

Just a few things to look at.

330

The Pickup Place / Re: PETITION TO DIMARZIO: PLEASE BRING BACK THE VIRTUAL PAF SET!

« on: January 17, 2014, 11:15:16 PM »

I tried those in several guitars years ago and thought they were completely void of personality and very fake sounding. The only one I liked in that family was the Virtual Hot PAF, and that was with 250k pots in a strat.