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Vintage threads from the first ten years

Re: What happens when specs elude you

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9/4/2002 6:52 PM

Re: What happens when specs elude you

If you had clips from the same recording session of every pickup in the store, you could at least compare against the "PAF copy" and get some vague idea. It would be better than nothing. But...I suspect all the pickups would sound lame thru a hifi system, so the customer would be put off. The MegaMetal pickup and Vintage Tele thru the same amp might sound uninspiring.

9/5/2002 3:59 PM

Better than nothing is what I live for.

I think the comments about the limitations of listening tests via the web are sensible ... up to a point. Given the extent to which most folks obtain their music via the web, the sounds they strive to emulate, and the sonic distinctions they make, are VERY much based on what you can hear in an MP3. So, it's not perfect, but it is a damn sight better than watching an ad for a colour TV of one brand on a colour TV of another brand.

If you were 19 and shopping for pickups over the web, wouldn't you like to be able to hear them? If Jason or Tony or whomever was advertising their winding services, wouldn't it be nice to say "Here's what this pickup sounded like when it came in, and here's what it sounds like with 500 extra turns on it, or with the polepieces recharged, etc."?

9/6/2002 8:07 PM
frank_clarke	I'm thinking of the two minute tuneup recording at the start of my "Searin' Funk Licks VI" tape here, which induces instant ADDH. But a 5-second track with 5 x 1-second power cords from different pickups, this I could deal with. They could run the direct recording thru a amp/POD for a distorted version. That would be easy, you would think they could do that, yes.

9/24/2002 11:05 PM
Weevil	Hey Mar! read my rant on the "copies" thread.

9/4/2002 2:00 PM

Re: Pickup "copies" rant

Another problem here is that even "specs" don't tell you the true character, and testing procedures are not standardized. "I" can't use the "tone charts" on one website to compare against the charts on another site (are there even 2 sites w/ charts up?) since I have no idea how they came up with thier charts. Even for me, The "specs" don't mean alot. If you compare specs on a crapola HB from some low line import to a PAF, they may very well be extreamly close. And to a certain extent I can't tell you "what" makes my pickups better... That's the "art"...

9/24/2002 11:02 PM

I am a player, and I have been mixing and matching
poles, magnets, pots, wire, caps and jacks for
some moons now. It's all about tone. The pickups
are just another part of the equation that you can
break down into more puzzle pieces. It's like the
insanity stops when you want it to. Engineering
types all have the same mission, if you can't
make it better, make it mine. Yada yada yada.
Guitar(tone)woods, thicknesses, construction
methods and string suspension schemes all play
a large part in the quest for tone. The thing
that lets you match a pickup to a guitar for a
decent shot at whatever tone you're trying to get is as much consistency as you can get in the
frequency and output in a pickup. After years
of using the stuff that Duncan, dimarzio, Bill
Lawrence and some others make commercially
available to us, I know the difference between
a Tone Zone and A J.B. for example, and have a
pretty good Idea how it would sound in a bright
or dark SG because their pickups are consistent.
What I'd like to see is the engineering knowledge
that they have acumulated over the years about
the components of a pickup and how they effect
each other and the resultant sonic output. Some
approximate guide lines in chart form would be
nice. Like a coil chart based on some "standard"
bobbin sizes with the differences in wire and
winds defined. And a magnet table, with some
"standard" shapes and materials and an approx-
imation of their sonic personalities when mixed
with certain coils/wire etc.... I'd buy 'em in
a heartbeat. I'd also buy pre-wound bobbins, pole
pieces, magnets, mounting hardware and other
pickup stuff too If I could mix'n'match from
the aforementioned charts. Like "Build your
own Pickup" know what I mean? Maybe a couple
of you real engineering guys could jam and
line up the data. That would be great!

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