1126

The Pickup Place / Re: Hum canceling replacement for the FS1?

« on: November 13, 2014, 03:58:21 AM »

I’m looking to try hum canceling pickups in my strat.  I’ll use the Area 58, Area 67, or a combination of the two in the middle and neck position.  I also want to stay with the stock 250k controls.

Good choice, any of them. My favorite is Area 67 in the neck and Area 58 in the middle.
   

I’ve been using the FS1 in the bridge position of my strat for many years.  I was advised the Virtual Solo would sound close, but I would like try Alnico 2 pickups.  Injector Neck model maybe?  Heavy Blues 2?  Any pickup I’m overlooking?

I would prefer the HB2 over the Injector neck for the bridge as it is less bright. Virtual Solo would be less bright than either.

Cheers Stephan

1127

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

« on: November 09, 2014, 04:42:57 PM »

Strat pickup that fits 500k pot would be the Injector neck.

Cheers Stephan

1128

Everything you wanted to know about .... / Re: PAF MASTER SET REVIEW

« on: November 07, 2014, 03:46:09 AM »

Many thanks, that is very interesting. What about the lows - which one of those two is clearer and less muddy?

Cheers Stephan

1129

Everything you wanted to know about .... / Re: PAF MASTER SET REVIEW

« on: November 06, 2014, 03:49:29 AM »

Love your reviews! And sure an additional report of how the PAF Master neck handles high gain on the low strings would be very much appreciated.

You mentioned the Bluesbucker for comparison. Where do you hear the most differences between those two?

Thanks,
Stephan

1130

Everything you wanted to know about .... / Re: Virtual Vintage Heavy Blues 2 (DP 409)

« on: October 13, 2014, 01:05:01 PM »

500k pots, tone cap is currently a 0.0033uf Orange Drop (subject to change).

Replaced the tone cap with a 0.0069uf Xicon MPP (a 0.0047uf and a 0.0022uf in parallel) and like that better in all positions except for the bridge humbucker. Wired the second tone pot for the bridge pickup with a 0.001uf cap but either I messed up the wiring or it does not have any audible effect. I will probably up that to 0.0015uf or even 0.0022uf.

With the tone pot down the HB2 sounds exceptionally smooth now.

Cheers Stephan

1131

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

« on: October 13, 2014, 09:07:47 AM »

I have built this wiring: http://guitarnuts2.proboards.com/thread/5380/strat-sp into a strat because I was interested to test out all the possible pickup combinations series/parallel, in and out of phase.

The HSS version of this circuit is here: http://guitarnuts2.proboards.com/thread/5624/strat-hss-sounds-extra-knobs

However I found that I rarely use all the trick combinations and usually stick to the tried and true positions. The good thing with these wirings is that you can ignore the extra options so that the guitar on first sight operates "normal".

Cheers Stephan

1132

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

« on: October 07, 2014, 07:11:30 AM »

Of course. Please report your results.

Thanks, Stephan

1133

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

« on: October 06, 2014, 04:45:05 AM »

I'm trying to find a good HSS setup for my Duncan Perpetrual Burn in the bridge. And so far I don't like the YJM fury's in the neck/middle, too dull sounding. Now I have an Area 67 in the neck, sound okej but too weak. Next step is a VV Blues in the neck and 67 in the middle. If that doesnt work I'm going Injector.

In that case I would go straight to Injector. I doubt that the VV Blues is much hotter than the Area 67.

Cheers Stephan

1134

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

« on: October 01, 2014, 11:26:10 AM »

I have a lot of guitars with that setup and a lot of combinations of pickups in them. 

The one that never fails to bring a smile to my face and make me really not want to put it down is AT-1 bridge with Injector neck in middle and neck, 500k pots, .0022uf tone cap, 20 pole 5 way so the AT-1 goes into parallel mode when in combination with the middle pup.  Fantastic sounds in every position, and the strat "quack" is all there in 2/4.  Very Texas except on the bridge only setting, when it is super fat/articulate.  Sort of like Scott Henderson's tone in the Face First/Reality Check Tribal Tech era.

That's a good one. I have a very similar one, except I use a Bare Knuckle Holydiver in the bridge (their take on the JB) and a VV Heavy Blues 2 in the neck. 500k pots, .0033uf tone cap. My favorite sounds are bridge only and neck only but all tones are highly useable. 

Cheers Stephan

1135

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

« on: September 26, 2014, 02:30:14 PM »

Have not played a Norton but when I think of girth in DiMarzio terms I think of Breed bridge, Tone Zone or AT-1, or Super Distortion.

Cheers Stephan

1136

Everything you wanted to know about .... / Virtual Vintage Heavy Blues 2 (DP 409)

« on: September 17, 2014, 11:50:47 AM »

Surprised that there is no thread on that one - given it was introduced in 2006.

I put it in the neck position of a maple neck/maple board/ash body partscaster strat. Middle pickup is the Injector neck (which was in the neck position before), bridge pickup is a Bareknuckle Holydiver (the closest DiMarzio would probably the AT-1). In #2, the bridge pickup goes to parallel. 500k pots, tone cap is currently a 0.0033uf Orange Drop (subject to change).

Since there is already a detailed thread on the Injector neck I will focus on the difference between that and the HB2.

Output is roughly the same - 170mV vs. 160mV does not matter much really. The balance with the bridge pickup is fine since I like the bridge humbucker to have a bit more output in a HSS set up.
 
The tone charts (B/M/T) are similar: IN 6/6.5/7, HB2 6/7/6.5, and in that case I would agree that the pickups do not sound vastly different from each other. What is noticeable though is that the HB2 has a bit less highs than the IN and significantly more midrange content. I really like this for overdriven solo tones as it makes the guitar sing better and provides for a good tonal balance with the bridge pickup. It does work well for clean tones, too, provided you can accept that it is warmer than a typical low output vintage strat type pickup - these are really bright, and the HB2 won't give you that sound. The Area 67 would be a better choice in that case. 

Now - how does it quack together with the IN in the middle? It does quack well but it's a middier quack, not that super hollow clucky quack of low output singles. Again if you want that, get two Area 67s or an Area 67 for the neck and an Area 58 for the middle.

I have not yet tested the HB2 together with the bridge pickup since the wiring set up in that guitar currently does not provide for that combination. But since I got a spare tone pot that's doing nothing at the moment I may wire it up as a blend control so I can give you an idea of how that works.

Cheers Stephan

1137

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

« on: July 24, 2014, 10:55:18 AM »

Pearly Gates - A PAF with laryngitis.  Way too bright and the bass was farty.

Fully agree with the too bright comment, disagree slightly with the farty comment. Bass on mine was non-existent so I gladly add that one to my list.

Here is my list:

- EMG 81/S/S: they replaced a set of Lawrence OBL pickups and managed to make the guitar sound even thinner. And the added hiss from the active electronics was just unbearable on high gain settings.

- Duncan JB: tried to like it but it's not my thing. To my ears it was worst of both worlds - it did not have the open sound of a lower output pickup but at the same time it did not have the punch of a higher output pickup either.

- Duncan Vintage stacks: sounded nothing like true single coils to me.

- Duncan Alnico II Pro Neck humbucker: what a muddy mess.

- Duncan P-90 Hot neck: too muddy in the lows for a single coil pickup and felt weird to play. 

- PRS Dragon II: they sounded small, thin and brittle, and I tried them in two different guitars with the same results. I have absolutely no idea why any manufacturer would use them stock in any model. 

- PRS #7 Bass: what a muddy mess. See comment to Dragon II. PRS have better options in their pickup line than these.

- Lindy Fralin PAF humbucker set and Blues Specials strat set. Not that these are bad pickups but they do not live up anywhere near to the massive hype they are getting.

- TV Jones Magnatron set: Had them in a custom built hollowbody guitar which started out with a set of TV Jones Classics, the goal being to get the Gretsch sound. Turned out that it sounded more like a 335 which was not what I was going for with this guitar. Thought I could get the twang with the Magnatrons but all I got was a bright, brittle and harsh tone on both pickups which made the guitar feel very stiff and completely unmusical.

I am sure there are more but these just came to mind.

Cheers Stephan

1138

The mini bar (off topic & misc) / Re: Just waht IS the Relationshio between Seymour Duncan and Larry Dimarzio?

« on: July 21, 2014, 08:54:16 AM »

At least Larry didn't rip off someone else's signature to sell something then not give them credit (royalties) on it when he copyrighted double cream.  That actually WAS the DiMarzio look for years when the Super D came out. 

One may question whether a thing like double cream coils is copyrightable in the first place but it is certainly not Larry's fault that it is, and I would not blame him for that. 

1139

Guitar Lounge / Re: Tuning problems with Les Pauls

« on: July 09, 2014, 11:33:15 AM »

Many thanks for these detailed comments.

90% of general tuning issues people bring me and blame on nuts, bad trems, cheap tuners, etc, are due to loose parts.  Mostly the nut around the peg and the screws that hold the pegs tight.   

I check the tuner nuts with each string change.

You mentioned you have a bone nut.  Bone is fine for acoustics where you aren't bending strings all the time, or (maybe) straighter string pull guitars like a Tele or a strat if you can tolerate either using lube (yuck) or some minor tuning issues.  On electrics, I don't recommend, nor do I personally use, anything but graphtech, and only use bone after a discussion of the above with a customer and at their request even knowing the potential issues.  A properly cut graphtech nut will never need lube, and will stay in tune as well as any other guitar when used on a LP. 

OK, understood. I guess the Tusq XL would work. Does it make sense to go with pre-slotted nuts?

Another issue you have with a tune-o and stoptail type guitar is sharp down angle after the bridge over a sharp metal saddle.  Most people see the screws on the tailpiece and assume "hey it's a screw, lets screw it all the way in!"  but that is not necessary and can lead to  tuning issues, collapsing bridges, etc.  It only needs to be down far enough to create enough down pressure over the saddle.  Also, the string going over that sharp, pointed metal saddle and being bent so it slides a bit can be an issue.  Again, graphtech saddles are the cure for that, and I find they sound very nice on a tune-o type bridge. 

That would be the string saver saddles, right?

If your bridge is loose on the posts and can slide a bit, that can also create tuning issues (as well as intonation issues as it moves around over time).  Tonepros bridges are the cure for that.  I don't think they do anything for "sustain & tone" as they claim, but they DO keep parts from sliding around and from falling off during string changes, and from having to re-do your action height after string changes.   A fairly cheap investment, or get a tap & drill and some set screws and make your own.

OK, understood.

A final issue is string stretching.  Few people seem to stretch their strings out enough.  I grab them at the 12th, yank them up and down, back and forth, then re-tune, and when they no longer go out of tune, they are stretched. 

That's exactly what I do.

So that pinpoints the problems to nut, saddles and bridge movements. I will see which guitar will become the guinea pig to try the suggestions.

Once again, many thanks!

Stephan

1140

Center Stage / Re: my new dimarzio samples

« on: July 04, 2014, 05:27:13 AM »

Great tone and playing gain! Keep it up please!