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The Pickup Place / Re: Pickup similar to AT-1

« on: February 03, 2023, 10:42:51 AM »

For what it’s worth the stuff I wrote about the AN was in response to Stephan’s initial post about it. My contributions were tangential; it didn’t ever seem like it would be a good fit for you.

For whatever reason I didn’t mention the Breed Neck before.

https://web.archive.org/web/20111229072557/http://www.dimarzio.com/pickups/humbuckers/breed-neck

“In the bridge position, it has a very warm, hot PAF® tone — really smooth, with nice harmonics.

Magnet: Alnico 5
Output mV: 325
DC Resistance: 10.39 Kohm
Year of Introduction: 1997

Treble: 6.5
Mid: 7.5
Bass: 7.5”

Back then the AT-1 was spec’ed at 5.5/8/8

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The Pickup Place / Re: Pickup similar to AT-1

« on: February 01, 2023, 08:01:53 PM »

Makes sense. I prefer 22nF, as I use the tone control to hang back. I find the small tone caps more useful with single coils.

This talk about the AN prompted me to dig out my guitar which also has the HFH in the neck. The guitar has a volume control for each pickup and a master tone control, ‘50s wired. Pots are 500k, 22nF tone cap. I added a 680k shunt resistor to the AN to even out the top end (~6kHz) between the two pickups. This allowed the tone control to work better between all three pickup combinations.

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The Pickup Place / Re: Pickup similar to AT-1

« on: January 30, 2023, 10:32:12 AM »

The only thing is that it may be a bit bright with 500k but I can lower the load until I like it.

Just roll the tone control back to increase the load (smaller impedance = larger load). Then you have lots of room on the control to turn it up and cut through.

I’ve found that raising the bobbin and lowering the screws makes a world of difference on the Air Norton as well.

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The Pickup Place / Re: Pickup similar to AT-1

« on: January 29, 2023, 07:27:20 PM »

I heard the AN is quite bright in the bridge in some guitars. It might be a bit thin and bright for my tastes in a tele. I do love it in the Nash Aged Les Paul video on Youtube (paired with a Bluesbucker).

Thanks for this!

I never knew about combining a spin-o-split with a standard tone control. The Bluesbucker seems like a perfect candidate for that.

I’ve always thought the AN/BB would be a great pairing but opted for the HFH instead. I may need to revisit that.

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The Pickup Place / Re: HB2 vs. Injector Neck

« on: January 27, 2023, 08:24:02 PM »

Quoting myself from my original post:

I’m sure the Fast Track 1 is a good option, but I’m aiming for the sound of a true single coil and I don’t particularly care for the tone of two rail pickups together nor do I care for them split and combined in parallel. I could work with them in series but it’s a lot of trouble and I don’t want to spend the time.

But I have no doubt that the voicing and relative level would be the best option. I’ve used one in the bridge with an Area 61 in the neck; a very good pairing.  There’s one in the middle of my HSH guitar. It’s great in the neck position as well. DiMarzio hit that one out of the park

After height adjustments the Injector is doing pretty well in positions 2 & 4 and when I’m partially splitting the Satch Track and Chopper.

Now I’m curious about whether the Lace Silver will complement the Injector. You helped me with this a long while back but I shelved the project shortly after. I chose a Lace Sensor to flank the Satch Track after DiMarzio tech support raised a concern about magnetic interference using traditional single coil pole pieces. Before it’s all said and done I might end up replacing the Injector with a second Lace if only for aesthetic reasons. I do like the way they sound and feel so it wouldn’t be much of a loss.

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The Pickup Place / Re: Pickup similar to AT-1

« on: January 27, 2023, 07:37:52 PM »

I bought an inexpensive but good quality guitar just so that I could do that.

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The Pickup Place / Re: Pickup similar to AT-1

« on: January 27, 2023, 12:34:38 PM »

I hear you on all the extra work. Do you have another similar guitar that you can use as a test-bed?

If so and you’re into magnet swapping try an A2 in that Custom 5. As an interesting exercise you could also try short hex screws and rotate the pickup so that the slugs are closer to the bridge. Try both an A5 and an A2. This is not dissimilar to a Full Shred which is a Custom 5 with two screw coils populated with short hex screws. This pickup is tight and aggressive with bite. While I haven’t done this modification to a Custom, I did do it to a Seymourizer (AKA SH-6N Distortion Neck) with the ceramic magnet swapped out for an A5. It had some nice bite and a fair amount of relative low end that was warm but not muddy. It had a nice vintage PAF thing going good on in parallel mode. The Seymourizer is basically an under-wound Custom (12k of 43GA, the custom being 14k). The Screamin’ Demon is a very under-wound Custom (10k). I can’t speak to the wind patterns, however. The guitar with the modified Seymourizer ended up with a Demon which is *the* pickup for serious bite.

If you haven’t tried it already and go with the Air Norton in the bridge, try an HFH in the neck (assuming the guitar takes a humbucker in the neck, of course).

Anyway, I really learned a lot through experimentation and found it rewarding but I t can be a lot of work. In my case I used a guitar with a Floyd where I could just remove the springs, pull the bridge and put it aside. When I was done I’d put it back together and the guitar will usually remain in tune, lol.

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The Pickup Place / Re: PAF 36th (Bridge) + PAF Pro (Neck) on a LP

« on: January 24, 2023, 01:20:21 PM »

I had a PAF Pro in both positions in my 24-fretter. The neck pickup had to be dropped very low, which changes the tone fairly significantly, and not for the better. Further I don’t like the tone of a PAF Pro in the bridge whatsoever. I replaced it with the neck model of The Breed (DP165). I found one used online but you can custom order it. It has a known reputation as being a very good pairing and is plenty bright.

There was some discussion about a PAF-style pickup, probably because you asked about a 36th. If you’re actually interested in a PAF-style pickup that is bright and can stand up to a PAF Pro then the answer isn’t a DiMarzio, IMO. A Seymour Duncan SH-5 Custom will do the job, however. Even if you don’t care either way about a PAF style pickup the SH-5 will still do the job. But I’m just repeating myself.

Based on the specs it looks like the Deactivator Neck might fit the bill, but I haven’t used one and judging based on specs alone isn’t very reliable.

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The Pickup Place / Re: Splitting the Injector Neck

« on: January 24, 2023, 10:40:18 AM »

There isn’t that much hum. I only see the benefit in splitting it for playing clean, where the hum is hardly noticeable. The more the gain the less I want glass so it’s a win for me either way.

So how much blood can I squeeze from a stone with the Heavy Blues 2?

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The Pickup Place / Re: HB2 vs. Injector Neck

« on: January 24, 2023, 10:30:19 AM »

I was hoping that the additional output that is spec’d goes into the bottom end with the mids and low treble being the same. If so this could work, especially if I can get just a little glass by splitting. If I can’t get the glass then maybe I would just use a 3-way switch and forgo the attempt at clean quack.

I’m not sure what I want to try next with this Chopper/Satch Track combination or how much more money I’m willing to throw at it. I’m not quite ready to give up but it’s getting closer to that point.

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The Pickup Place / Re: HB2 vs. Injector Neck

« on: January 23, 2023, 10:23:26 PM »

HB2 is my shorthand for Heavy Blues 2.

I edited my original post to remove some extraneous information. To distill it down further, I want Hendrix/SRV tone in the middle that I can switch to from the Chopper in the bridge and not have it sound pathetically thin and weak. I’m also hoping I can recover some glass through splitting like I can with an Injector Neck.

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The Pickup Place / Re: SSS Strat Pickup Combinations

« on: January 23, 2023, 10:21:27 PM »

Wow, that is a lot to absorb.

I did an HSH build with a 5WSS a while back. The combo is a PAF Pro, FT1 and BNIB. I’m splitting coils and connecting them in series for the quack positions. Passive circuitry is used to shape the tone. I tried uploading a sample comparing position 2 of a Strat (Areas 58 and 61) to the equivalent tone on my HSH but the forum doesn’t allow mp4.

Today I revisited partially splitting and shaping both a Satch Track and a Chopper to combine with an Injector Neck in the middle position. The Chopper is doing pretty well but the Satch Track isn’t cutting it. It’s really warm and doesn’t have enough output to get a useable single coil voicing in the top end. This is exacerbated by shelving down the mids and bass in order to even out the rest of the tone.

I’m really trying to like this combination but I really need to take a step back and be honest with myself about it. I think the solution for single coil tone in the neck for positions 4 and 5 is to just use a Lace Sensor Silver and flank it with the Satch Track on the inside for the fatter humbucker tone. I think I mentioned that a couple years back but still haven’t pulled the trigger. My other issue is that I’m becoming disenchanted with the Chopper, unfortunately. To me it has an identity crisis. I know the common consensus here is that it sounds like a PAF. I don’t really agree; I think the description on the product page is more accurate.

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The Pickup Place / Re: Pickup similar to AT-1

« on: January 21, 2023, 09:38:38 AM »

Seeing that my favorite pickup is the Screamin’ Demon and that I prefer Duncan pickups in the bridge in general, we have entirely different tastes.

I have in the past recommended the Transition Neck as a bridge pickup and was told it worked very well. This was in an LTD single-cut, if I remember correctly.

The 36th Neck really impressed me. If I were going to do another A5 PAF set it would be a Duncan 59 in the bridge and the 36th in the neck.

I say go with your gut and try the Fortitude.

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The Pickup Place / Re: Pickup similar to AT-1

« on: January 20, 2023, 11:07:06 AM »

The AZ is an air bucker, which is supposed to have a wide dynamic range. I don’t have any experience but from what I’ve heard I think you’re right in that it is darker.

This might not be of much use and you might not be interested in chasing Timmons’s tone but he recorded a lot of his material with a Duncan JB, which is a much brighter pickup that also has a prominent midrange relative to many of Duncan’s other models. It doesn’t have the vocal cocked wah sound of many DiMarzios however. I really like the tone of a JB with an A2 magnet. Another option is a Duncan Custom Custom which is a Custom with an A2 magnet. It will cover blues to VH who used one.

But when I think of the AT-1 I think of the big low end and very warm top end. Add the cocked wah tone and dynamics and you have the AZ, though it doesn’t have the same note definition on the upper strings, from what I can tell.

Besides a prominent midrange and an increase of dynamic range I can’t tell what else you’re looking for, to be honest.

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The Pickup Place / HB2 vs. Injector Neck

« on: January 19, 2023, 06:08:51 PM »

I’m curious about the relative outputs and tonal character between the Injector Neck and HB2.

As I posted in separate thread I recently split the Injector Neck. The added top end was very nice. It filled out the pickup beautifully. I have it between a Chopper in the bridge and a Satch Track in the neck.

By itself, however, the Injector is still quite a bit thin between the two rails. This is to be expected, of course.

I’m wondering how an HB2 will work in the middle position. When I think of the middle position I think of the sound of a bull horn. This is the kind of voicing I’m hoppng to get against the rail pickups in the bridge and neck; at least to a reasonable degree taking into account that it’s relatively weak. The HB2 seems like it has that kind of vibe. I’m also curious about the tone when the dummy coil is bypassed since I don’t want the notch positions to suffer much more than how they are currently. Maybe I should just use a 3-way.

I’m sure the Fast Track 1 is a good option, but I’m aiming for the sound of a true single coil and I don’t particularly care for the tone of two rail pickups together nor do I care for them split and combined in parallel. I could work with them in series but it’s a lot of trouble and I don’t want to spend the time.