|
Post by petegalati on Jul 25, 2007 17:14:01 GMT -6
These are really sweet pickups. I've turned into a real believer in unpotted pickups. That slightly microphonic thing adds sort of an aural woody acoustic tone to them when the guitar isn't turned up, and they have an edgy scream when you turn them up. Out of control feedback isn't really a problem when you play loud if you know how to mute, and if you pay attention to your orientation to the amp. And I love these single conductor shielded cables. Pete
|
|
|
Post by Rich on Jul 29, 2007 17:33:54 GMT -6
I love microphonic pickups for the most part, but I can't deal with squealing feedback. I end up with some lightly potted pickups being a happy medium, but completely unpotted pickups are usually problematic at any kind of stage volume. You can mute and dampen the strings all you want, but if there is something vibrating inside the pickup you're done...
You must have a good set there, but they still scare me a little.
|
|
|
Post by petegalati on Jul 31, 2007 15:36:21 GMT -6
I love microphonic pickups for the most part, but I can't deal with squealing feedback. I end up with some lightly potted pickups being a happy medium, but completely unpotted pickups are usually problematic at any kind of stage volume. You can mute and dampen the strings all you want, but if there is something vibrating inside the pickup you're done... Never heard of lightly potted. Is that what Lollars are, or is that when someone's only had a few drinks? Hard to say if it's a good set or not. They probably have plenty of practice winding unpotted pickups by now because of the Seth Lovers and the Antiquity's. I don't know if they'll develop problems down the road, but they're lots of fun right now. Pete
|
|
|
Post by Rich on Aug 3, 2007 4:47:03 GMT -6
When I pot pickups, I let 'em soak for at least 15 or 20 minutes- sometimes longer. When they stop producing bubbles, they are completely potted and the wax has penetrated the coil. If I have a pickup that I like, but it starts getting too microphonic, I'll sometimes dip it in the wax for only a couple of minutes. This will often fix the problem without changing the sound as much as a full potting would. This works really well on old cheapo pickups like Silvertone and Teisco from the 1960's.
|
|
|
Post by petegalati on Aug 8, 2007 19:28:30 GMT -6
I think people are conspiring to prevent me from evaluating these pickups!
I got to play for the first time in several days today, and these pickups were a real handfull today.
The pickups in my Gibson Les Paul Junior Special were a real handfull when I got that guitar. What ended up solving that was that I eventually did the Peter Green magnet flip thing to the neck pickup. Then when I remounted the cover, I put as single layer of that vinyl type electrical tape over the long edges of the bobbins, and I think I probably put a strip up the center too.
Never did do anything to the bridge PU though.
I'm thinking of doing something like the tape thing on these. The live pickups are a blast, but they're a little too alive to work well in all situations.
I saw some people mentioning putting some tape (I think it was masking tape) between the magnet and the baseplate on unpotted pickups. But I think I want to do as little as posible.
Pete
|
|
|
Post by Rich on Aug 9, 2007 20:46:39 GMT -6
I've used different types of tape around the bobbins over the years, and it works ok most of the time. Another thing you can do is to (very carefully) paint the outsides of the coils with clear lacquer. This is a more permanent move, though. You can unwind wax potted coils most of the time, lacquered coils aren't as forgiving. The only thing is that the lacquer doesn't penetrate the whole coil, so the pickup retains most of its liveliness- but the chances of vibration are greatest in the outer layers, so it works to tame them a little. I've had really good luck with some special masking tape that was a gift from a glass guy. They use this tape along the edges of mirrors that are resting in metal channels for wall mounting. It is a little tougher and more resilient than standard masking tape, and looks like a factory installation. Whichever route you go will help the situation, though. I'd be interested in seeing how you deal with it, and your observations..
|
|
|
Post by petegalati on Aug 11, 2007 1:02:07 GMT -6
There's advice from the late Frank Adams about toning Tele pickup's feedback without potting them, that involved dripping wax over the coil. groups.google.com/group/alt.guitar.amps/msg/07c74ab298d11305?hl=en&I've been giving some thought to putting the original pickups back in my '69 Tele, and I think I remember them being a bit feedback prone. But I was a pretty young player last time those pickups were used, and it could just be a matter of not having a clue how to deal with them. I'll probably have to test drive them again to see if there's really a problem. The '69's bridge PU was one of those years where they wrapped the coil with string. So it'd be easy to do the wax dripping trick. I played the unpotted '59s again Friday evening, and they were really no problem at all. Seems to be a matter of the dynamics what I'm playing. I might just wait for a second set to show up, and work on making those a little more feedback resistant. Pete
|
|
|
Post by Rich on Aug 12, 2007 7:40:58 GMT -6
Yeah, if there's anything I've learned over the years, it's "If you aren't sure what you want to do, don't do anything". Not the best advice in some situations, but more than once I've tried to do something I wasn't sure of, and couldn't go back to undo it. Check the new ones against the set you already have, they might be different. Once you start modding pickups, they will never be exactly the same as stock. At least the tape can be removed, but wax or lacquer is pretty much permanent. I've really only regretted potting one set of pickups, they were the old '60's Teisco pickups. I liked them better stock. I fixed the feedback problems, but didn't like the new sound nearly as well. I don't pot those any more.
|
|
|
Post by petegalati on Aug 14, 2007 3:49:10 GMT -6
I keep waitng for somebody to reproduce the Goldfoil Teisco pickups. I'm sure GFS will get around to it eventually, but there's no way I'm gonna suggest it to Jay, because he'd wind them too hot, and claim that that's a good thing. I played through my little Roland Cube15 amp yesterday, instead of my Bassman head through a 4x10 bottom. With just that one small speaker near the floor, you can use lots of gain, and fill the room with sound, with no feedback problems. And having grown up on on Big Muff pedal, I enjoy gain. So I ordered this dinky Peavey Envoy 110 Transtube amp. Should be fun because I've heard some good reports about the Transtube amps, and I hear that Peavey's building dependably gear these days. Links to Sweet-water aren't working! Your forum is sencoring their name!!! It must have some meaning I'm not aware of. Works when I put a dash in there. www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Peavey-Envoy-110-Guitar-Amplifier-with-TransTube-Technology?sku=481333Wait, I've got an idea! Tiny URL! tinyurl.com/25jv9kDoesn't work with their image though. I hate that droopy thing in the middle of the new Classic 30 grills these days, and I don't feel like coughing up $600 for one either. But for some reason, I like the droopy thing on the Envoy 110! And it's only about 25Lbs. so it's lighter than a Princeton Reverb or a Bassman head, and it should be a little louder than an 18watted PR. Probably not much louder. And it's not worth stealing! Pete
|
|
|
Post by Rich on Aug 15, 2007 22:25:19 GMT -6
Looks like a cool amp! Chris got me hooked on a Vox AD30VT, and I really love it for teaching.
|
|
|
Post by petegalati on Aug 18, 2007 10:32:08 GMT -6
I've heard good things about the Vox AD30VT. I have high hopes for the little Peavey because I've been hearing people claim that their Transtube amps sound good for a few years. Always kind of took that with a grain of salt though. That recent TDPRI thread about Tele projects got me kicking around some ideas. So I pulled out the alder Tele body that I set aside when I got the USACG mahogany body. I was looking for a way to squeeze another knob in there, without crowding the control plate. Because I hate the idea of knobs that're too close! The first thing I was thinking, was put a volume control for the neck pickup, under the neck pickup, and in line with the control plate. So it'd be like a Gretsch thing. Then I thought, no..... put the tone control there. Because all I'd need to hook that in, was run a single conductor shielded cable out to the pot. Ground the tone cap at the pot, and the shield completes the circuit. That idea I like, but the pickguard turns that into a slightly pesty one. But it would work, and I haven't seen anyone do it yet. Then I figured, I could do this like the Hamer Sunburst, and put a switch in back of the bridge! Could do the wiring something like a '50s Les Paul. Three single conductor sshielded cables going to the switch, and the one cable just connects the switch directly to the jack. And like the Hamer, the one tone control is after the switch. I'll have to see if I can do this with parts I have sitting around. With all these spare parts sitting around here, it's about time I threw together a spare parts Tele. Pete
|
|
|
Post by Rich on Dec 1, 2007 23:38:39 GMT -6
Did you ever get those pickups sorted out?
|
|
|
Post by petegalati on Dec 8, 2007 18:16:22 GMT -6
Did you ever get those pickups sorted out? Actually, not really, but the lest time I used them they sounded ok. I need to install a better neck on the USACG body. That MIJ rosewood neck has just always been too dark sounding. It's one of those things that breaks every guitar I use it on. Too bad too, because it's a good playing neck. That used Allparts maple neck that went on the guitar it came from is a whole lot better IMO. I'm enjoying the Duncan Antiquity Broadcaster pickup I used in my 1st Esquire build quite a bit though. I almost never play anything else anymore. I got another one to go in my 2nd Esquire, but that project's kind of dead in the water while I wait for a CRS bridge from Glendale. I haven't wanted to move that one forward until Glendale can deliver the bridge. Oh, I got a second set of those unpotted '59s, and flipped one of the magnets and installed them in my Norlin Les Paul. They're good, but a whole lot brighter in that guitar. It's way too heavy to use all the time though. On bad days, the weight messes with my left shoulder too much. So they aren't getting used much in that guitar. Maybe I should have stuffed them in my Epi SG. Not exactly the same set either because with this set both as bridge pickups and that works out slightly better with out of phase pickup
|
|
|
Post by petegalati on Jan 19, 2008 19:22:24 GMT -6
I put the second pair of unpotted '59s in my '82 Les Paul Standard. On that one, I opened up the neck pickup, and flipped the magnet to get the Peter Green thing. Course, when I re-attach covers, I put electric tape over the bobbins, so it laps over the edges. And that isolates the bobbin from the cover. Helps stop feedback problems. On that guitar, I have relatively few problems with feedback, even when using a high gain amp. And keep in mind that I only replaced the cover on the neck pickup. But a lot of that might have to do with the guitar the pickups are in. The gold humbucker Tele is a lot more sensitive, but it works just fine with less gain. I had the Les Paul out again for a while a couple days ago, and it was rather evident how much better the unpotted pickups were suited for that situation. I'm just not sure how much remounting the cover of the neck PU had to do with it. I'm busy working on this one right now. By now that double cream Super Distortion has been replaced with a zebra Super-3. Aside from some braided cable running to the jack, and a new volume pot (oh...... and a new ceramic tone cap) this is all used parts. It's basically a freebie: Those Strat pickups are just empty covers filling the space. The next one, my MetalliTele, if I decide to build it, will end up costing a lot, which might nix the whole project, because I don't really need the thing. No experience dealling with Floyd Roses so I'd have to sort through a lot of details before I'd attempt something like this.
|
|
|
Post by Rich on Jan 23, 2008 5:16:10 GMT -6
Pete, I would strongly suggest that you try as many Floyd Rose equipped guitars as possible before you spend time/effort/money. They can be useful in some limited situations, but there are different models. Some have a much lower profile, which I find to be far superior to the original design. Be aware of tuning stability when you try them, too. Personally, I have great difficulties with them for most of my playing styles. Many of my "signature" licks require bending one or two strings against fixed notes, which go horribly out of tune when attempted on a Rose equipped guitar. They are fine for single note passages, chording, and offer extreme bending possibilities, but very limiting in many situations. I ruined my favorite tele by installing a Rose back in 1994. I figured I'd really like it, spent heavy money on it, put several hours into the layout, routing, modification of the block (it was deeper than the body and needed to be ground down to fit) and the stability went out the window. It was a major disappointment, and I was unable to restore the instrument to its original state. I fought with it for several weeks, then pulled the Rose out, filled the routs, applied veneer to both faces, and did a new finish- Installed a pair of P-90's, a TOM bridge, stop tail,then sold it to a friend for real cheap. A very hard lesson learned. Since that time, I have eliminated any Floyd Rose guitars from my collection, and avoid them like the plague..
|
|