826

The Pickup Place / Re: Neck & middle singles for metal/rock strat

« on: November 03, 2016, 09:04:28 AM »

I can also recommend the AT-1.

With your selection of neck and middle pickups I would rule out the Breed neck as bridge pickup since you are probably using 500k pots which make the Breed neck in the bridge very bright.

The Transition bridge looks interesting but I have not played one.

Cheers Stephan

827

Gear Closet / Re: Mesa Boogie Flux Drive

« on: November 02, 2016, 05:26:54 AM »

Finally I also gave it a try as a clean boost after an overdrive pedal (in that case my Barber Direct Drive), gain set all the way off, volume to taste, tone controls at 12.00 each. First surprise: to get a nearly flat response I had to turn the treble control to about 1.00 and the bass control to about 2.00. However, it's not quite neutral or transparent in the sense that it takes the existing tone and just makes it louder. It definitely does color the tone. In this application I found it either added some harshness to the tone, or took a bit of clarity away (depending on the treble setting) and affected the feel in a negative way (made the guitar seem to play harder). So while it can be used as a clean boost after an overdrive I don't see its strength there.

Cheers Stephan 

828

Gear Closet / Re: Marshall DSL15H project

« on: November 02, 2016, 05:02:17 AM »

The speaker cab is an often underestimated piece of the sound chain.
Seems like this amp needs low end support from the two V30s.

Cheers Stephan

829

The Pickup Place / Re: Install Your PAF Joe the correct way.

« on: October 27, 2016, 10:27:26 AM »

The "standard" orientation is always with the cable facing the output jack.

For a bridge bucker yes, on any guitar, unless you want it the other way round.
For a neck bucker, it's usually the other way round. However, I see many schematics with Di Marzio humbuckers where the neck pickup's cable faces the output jack.

Cheers Stephan

830

The Pickup Place / Re: Install Your PAF Joe the correct way.

« on: October 27, 2016, 10:25:08 AM »

The Air Classic is not dual resonance. It is an airbucker though.

Cheers Stephan

831

The mini bar (off topic & misc) / Re: Al di Meola

« on: October 26, 2016, 04:31:52 AM »

Thanks! This piece sounds like many many hours of practice. His technical finesse is stunning.

Cheers Stephan

832

The Pickup Place / Re: Should I be Concerned?

« on: October 26, 2016, 04:23:56 AM »

The serial number mismatch - potentially yes, since the serial number and warranty card are used as proof that the pickup was delivered through the legitimate distribution channel. I would seek clarification from DiMarzio and/or the dealer.

Practically - I have never had a pickup fail on me unduly.

The missing allen key would not be a problem for me as I have amassed quite a few allen keys over the years - one of them will definitely fit.

Cheers Stephan

833

Gear Closet / Re: Mesa Boogie Flux Drive

« on: October 25, 2016, 04:15:46 AM »

Yesterday I put it through the paces before a self-modded Marshall, the amp set to a slightly crunchy tone. With the gain set all the way down, tone controls at noon and the level all the way up there is a moderate clean boost. Turning up the gain control reveals a spot where the gain quickly comes in. Depending on how much crunch you got on the amp you can fine tune the additional crunch from the pedal. For my amp setting I found the sweet spot at 9.00. Turning up the treble provides more cut, turning up the bass provides more oomph - so far all as expected.

I like this pedal more when used this way than before a clean amp. It can turn a crunchy amp into a hard rockin' riffing monster. Also in this application I like it more for rhythm than for lead tones. It is hard to put my finger on but I miss some midrange elements for a singing lead tone in this pedal that e.g. the Barber Direct Drive and even the Smallfry have. Nevertheless I think it's worth owning for the rhythm tones it gets.

Cheers Stephan

834

Gear Closet / Re: Mesa Boogie Flux Drive

« on: October 24, 2016, 06:23:39 AM »

The Flux Drive arrived on Saturday so I had only a brief time to spend with it so far. I will review it in the context of the manufacturer's description and the way I tested it.

This is how Mesa Engineering describes the pedal:
The FLUX-DRIVE™ is the overdrive pedal for those who want more of all the best things from an overdrive! It has more liquid gain and enhanced sustain that easily feeds into rich harmonic overtones making it incredibly addictive and inspiring to play, whether into a clean amp channel or especially to enhance a crunch or higher gain channel! It also offers a more complete tone-shaping network with individual Treble and Bass controls. This architecture makes the FLUX-DRIVE a more complete preamp with added versatility beyond that of most overdrive pedals.

I used it before an amp set to a clean tone (my Bassman which I converted to a Bluesmaster D-style amp). With the gain set to zero the Flux-Drive can be used as a clean boost. Set to 9.00 it starts to crunch. Set midway the crunch gets stronger. Up from that the crunch gets progressively stronger until 2.00, from there onwards not much perceivable gain is added. By that time the pedal gets really loud, so with anything past 2.00 on the gain, the level control needs to be backed down to 9.00 for unity volume. There is quite a bit overall gain available but not as much as my Barber Direct Drive or the MI Audio Blue Boy Deluxe.

The Treble and Bass controls have a wide range. However, I find the useable range of both is between 10.00 and 3.00 - on the Treble anything beyond 3.00 gets harsh quickly and below 10.00 very dark, and on the Bass anything beyond 3.00 gets woofy and below 10.00 too thin for me. Still enough useable range for me. Added versatility beyond that of most overdrive pedals? That is a quite lofty claim, and I dare to say that there are quite a few pedals out there that can match the Flux-Drive's versatility.

How does it sound? That is not easy to describe so I start with what it does not sound like. It does not sound like a Tube Screamer - it has more overdrive and less of that characteristic mid hump. It does not sound like a Marshall-in-a-Box pedal - nothing like e.g. the Barber Direct Drive. It also does not sound like a Dumble-style pedal to me - I can get the D-style tones easier with my MI Audio Blue Boy Deluxe. I also don't really hear Mark I or the later Mark series in it - for these tones it is a bit too dark overall and does not offer the gain levels the Mark series offers. It does sound good, though. Before a clean amp I see its strengths in rhythm tones, various shades of good crunch can be had. As a lead pedal it is also good but it does not feel to me as easy to play as e.g. the Barber Direct Drive or the Rockett Blue Note. It's like I have to fight more with that pedal than with the others.

I have not yet explored the way it sounds before an already overdriven amp. Due to the massive output the pedal has it could work great that way. More to come ...

Cheers Stephan

835

The Pickup Place / Re: Install Your PAF Joe the correct way.

« on: October 24, 2016, 04:59:07 AM »

Even though I don't have a PAF Joe this is great info. Thanks a lot for sharing.

Cheers Stephan

836

The mini bar (off topic & misc) / Allan Holdsworth

« on: October 20, 2016, 12:27:06 PM »

Hi folks,

not familiar with his music at all - only know that there are milestones of fusion guitar playing and also experiments with the Synthaxe. I am not interested in the Synthaxe stuff but in the stuff that made him famous.

What are the tunes to listen to?

Thanks in advance,
Stephan

837

The Pickup Place / Re: Strat pickups that don't sound single coil

« on: October 20, 2016, 03:56:57 AM »

Slightly off topic but @AxeManV90 - do you use the rotary switch as the sole tone switch or in conjunction with a tone pot?

Thanks,
Stephan

838

The Pickup Place / Re: Did FRED Have different DCR specs at one time?

« on: October 20, 2016, 03:53:35 AM »

I have several other models of pickups that measure exactly to spec.

It just seems odd that other Dimarzio models that I have measure to their specs and this one does not.  They are pretty accurate with their manufacturing.

I always measure electronics on my electronic bench/lab.  It is consistently 70 degrees F.

I also have ASEET and BSEMET degrees and 40 years of experience with electronic measuring devices--including their calibration. This multimeter is definitely functioning within spec.

OK, so then we can rule out measurement variations. The reason is then most likely what Ray said.

Cheers Stephan

839

The Pickup Place / Re: Did FRED Have different DCR specs at one time?

« on: October 19, 2016, 09:55:49 AM »

Keep in mind that these meters are not dead accurate to begin with and that DC resistance readings vary with temperature (colder = lower reading).

I believe when I had mine it measured closer to your value than to what is now listed as spec. But that pickup (along with the guitar it was in) is long gone now.

Cheers Stephan

840

The Pickup Place / Re: Strat pickups that don't sound single coil

« on: October 18, 2016, 04:04:06 AM »

With the pots it's the other way round - you can use a 500k pot and add a 470k (or two 1 meg resistors) in parallel to make the load (close to) 250k. But you cannot increase the load of a 250k pot to 500k with resistors. That is the first reason I would choose 500k in this application.

The second reason is that the neck humbucker benefits from the higher load. A 500k volume pot would let you have the neck pickup with a 500k pot, then if it is too bright for the bridge pickup you can add the resistor(s) to bring the load on the bridge pickup down until it sounds right. For this purpose you have to solder the resistor from the tap on the switch where the hot wire of the bridge pickup is connected to ground.

Good luck,
Stephan