Saturday, March 21, 2020

Psyched (2)


So this was the pre-occupation for the entire week - Seymour Duncan's Psyclone humbuckers. These are not high output pickups to feed your heavy metal ambitions with, be informed. They are Filtertron-esque models with standard humbucker mounting flaps. This intelligent re-interpretation means you can now fit them into your humbucking guitars & need not worry about drilling holes into the body for accommodation. I've been eyeing a particular Godin guitar here which are Filtertron equipped as it's on my bucket list. With the availability of these Seymour Duncan alternative, it's a less costly affair for me; just get the pickups, not the entire guitar.

If you are looking for a bass-inclined pickup, steer clear of the Psyclone. These are meant to sharpen a trebly experience so that things don't mud-out if you keep your distortion high. You know, it's the Brian Setzer mojo without buying the $3K Gretsch. I might be doing it wrong by having them in a solid body instrument & turn the amp's gain way up but that's me in a nutshell; if it doesn't serve my needs, it takes a back seat. I'm not into clean tones as well but these offer a different clean experience, moving away from the vintage, rounded treble PAF experience. Still in the classic territory but nothing boomy. I am able to dial up those raw, Darkthrone type, open picked bass notes with this one so I'm a happy camper in the mean time. 


A quick re-string & it's the nearest set that I could grab - D'Addario.


No regrets having them in my LPS, I had been planning to replace the DiMarzios which resided there for some time already but bent on trying something different & the Psyclone was the perfect opportunity. By the way, this is one of those guitars I bought online for a whole lot of trouble but worth the hassle. The store was clearing them for cheap & the humbucking version just clicked with me (Specials are P-90 equipped, traditionally). Purists might reject the torrified maple fretboard (yes, it was that year Gibson got raided for wood & they took the rosewoods away) but I went with what I prefer.

Seymour Duncan Psyclones are available @ Davis GMC as a matched pair or individuals. 

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