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The Pickup Place / Re: 36th Anniversary Bridge DP223 with A2 magnet.....

« on: October 28, 2016, 10:54:44 PM »

With this specific LP Custom, I have been through Gibson T-tops, Classic 57's, Duncan 59's and a Lollar Imperial at the bridge. With those pickups, I was using a CTS 500k audio pot. This is the first time I dropped a 250k in there. I kept the 500k for the Tone controls along with the Mallory 0.02's. I love this setup with this guitar. It truly sounds like an old, old Gibby.

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The Pickup Place / Re: 36th Anniversary Bridge DP223 with A2 magnet.....

« on: October 26, 2016, 10:26:58 PM »

After installing my converted 36th Anni into one of my Les Paul Customs, bridge location, I am VERY impressed.  I ended up putting it in with a CTS dpdt 250k switchable pot which tamed the high end from being "piercing" or harsh. Very old school tones but they can be driven well into high gain metal tones. Now, I'm curious how the alnico II would sound if it were degaussed a bit...

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The Pickup Place / Re: 36th Anniversary Bridge DP223 with A2 magnet.....

« on: October 17, 2016, 11:43:14 PM »

I, as well, took a bridge 36th Anniversary and swapped the magnet for an alnico II. Taking it a step farther, primarily for cosmetics, I aged the polepieces and a raw nickel cover. I will drop it into one of my Les Pauls and let you know....

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The Pickup Place / Re: A4 in a 36th Bridge or Norton

« on: September 15, 2016, 10:39:21 PM »

I am curious what a 36th Anniversary would sound like with an A2....

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The Pickup Place / Re: SSS: [SDS-1 neck, FS-1 middle, SDS-1 bridge,]

« on: September 08, 2016, 09:08:02 PM »

I totally understand your excitement. I had a Strat that I put an SDS1 in the bridge position, leaving the middle and neck pups stock....it allowed me to use my bridge volume as a lead boost....I backed the volume off to 6 or so until I needed the boost them dialed it up full. It wasn't a big volume jump as it was grind and added distortion.

Later on, on another Strat, I put in FS1's in all 3 slots....loved it that way for years.

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The Pickup Place / Re: 36th Anniversary Neck Pickup In The Bridge Position

« on: September 06, 2016, 05:57:56 PM »

You guys are correct...back in the "old days", pre-90's (?), calibrated (i.e. neck specific, bridge specific) models were limited to Duncans...everyone else made one model for each spot.

Unfortunately, I don't know what the specs or details are about the old PAF or first run 36th's and how they compare to current models.

What seems to me, IMHO, that what pushed this pickup into awesome world was the raw nickle cover without any potting between the pickup and cover. It started out as a great pickup and turned awesome!!

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Gear Closet / Re: Compression?

« on: September 05, 2016, 11:26:20 PM »

Analog Kid is correct. There are a few comps, specifically in a pedal format, that work well with guitars in a true transparent fashion, which allow picking dynamics to shine. They are out there. The key is a low compression ratio with the ability to provide makeup gain and push the front end of the amp a little. I can say, the cheap Chinese pedals won't get you there.

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The Pickup Place / Re: 36th Anniversary Neck Pickup In The Bridge Position

« on: September 04, 2016, 11:41:29 PM »

I know...I had a Explorer once that I put  bridge pickup in the neck slot and loved it!

I'm not 100% sure since I don't know the winding count, but was aware of the surface similarities....I happened to have a Jazz Neck in my pickup drawer and had been going through a magnet swap fixation and it worked with a rough cast alnico II.

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The Pickup Place / 36th Anniversary Neck Pickup In The Bridge Position

« on: September 04, 2016, 08:49:14 PM »

Tone hounds, if you are searching for truly vintage PAF tones, this may help you get there or really close.

A little background on this discovery, I promise to keep it kind of short....

Several years back, I was working with an artist to create an amp that would mimic his early recorded tones. To get started without being able to obtain one of his Gibson Custom Shop Les Paul Customs for the R & D period, I simply used my LP Custom and went on a pickup search for humbuckers that would minic his '58's. The bridge pickup was the primary focus...

I went through a ton of different pickups including a bridge model of the 36th Anniversary (uncovered). That 36th Anniversary came close, but it had a tad too much sizzle on the top end. What did get there were a Smit's Real Classic Coil uncovered with alnico II magnet and a Lollar Low Wind Imperial alnico II.

Since that project, I have been going through different PAF pickups and combinations as time would allow for one of my Les Paul Standards and have found a setup that is unbelievable in terms of vintage tone...

A Duncan Jazz Neck with an alnico II magnet and aged raw nickle cover in the neck slot and a 36th Anniversary Neck with a raw nickle cover in the bridge slot. Both are real close to the strings, but balanced for matching output.

I can't tell you how many people have offered to buy this LP as is for it's tone. What I can suggest it to try a 36th Anniversary Neck, put a nickle cover on it and then put it in the bridge slot of your LP.

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News & New Guys / Re: Back where I started

« on: September 04, 2016, 07:06:44 PM »

Welcome! It seems like you and I discovered Dimarzios around the same time!

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The Pickup Place / Re: Cali guitar pups

« on: September 04, 2016, 07:03:55 PM »

To address the OP,  I have a client that has brought in several Strat and Tele builds with Cali pickups to be installed and setup. IMHO, they excell tonewise the standard GFS stuff that has crossed the shop benches.

Yes, they are Korean made Artec pickups.

I am not sure just what level that they are assembled here, my educated guess is magnets and covers installed in the US, wrapping and leads, Korea.

Of all their pickups, I was most impressed with their noiseless single coils.

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News & New Guys / Greetings from Lebanon County, PA

« on: September 04, 2016, 06:17:09 PM »

Greetings from Lebanon County, PA! I am a long time Dimarzio user and lover, dating back to the mid 70's when I put in a Super Distortion in the bridge of my Les Paul Custom and a Dual Sound in the neck. I have since had a love affair with guitar pickups.