Classic tones

These are DiMarzio Air Classic (DP191) humbuckers. I had reservations about them initially because of the 'classic' tag there. So what are these humbuckers capable of?

To be continued...

Magic?

Finally had the Seymour Duncan Green Magic installed in my LPJ. Among the three new SD pickups released lately (78 & High Voltage being the others), this pair was the least exciting to me; it's modelled after Peter Green's humbuckers, catered for blues rock more than anything else. But are they?

To be continued... 

2(HH)

Not one of the best Mondays but I have these guitars to see me through:

• Kiesel DC400
• Ibanez S1625

There's always this concern that a guitar without any single coil pickup options is not a versatile instrument. The guitars depicted above have no single coils but I enjoy playing them. Here's why:

• The Kiesel is equipped with a 5-way pickup selector. In position 4, the humbuckers are split, so I get two single coils working in tandem. In position 2, the neck humbucker is tapped to generate a pickup output very close to a single coil voicing
• The Ibanez is equipped with a 3-way selector that has no coil split options so it's a humbucking experience through & through. However, the Seymour Duncan '59 is able to emulate a single coil tone (a get by tone, nothing fantastic) at lower guitar volume settings

So folks, when there're no single coils in your guitar, it's really not the end of the world. A humbucker's split coil tone hold its own. I hear people dissing the split coil tone a lot, saying it's not a real single coil voicing. When you shut off one of the humbucker's coil you effectively get a single coil at work. The issue here is whether this appeals to you or not. Yes, compared to the actual single coil, an isolated coil of the humbucker is not the same in terms of dimensions; the reason why one would appeal more than the other. Some humbuckers, the vintage voiced ones especially, get very single coil-ish when you lower the guitar's volume. This is the reduced output effect, similar to a tapped output of a single coil. What's the point of tapping a humbucker's output, you may ask. It's making the humbucker emulate a single coil without humming. 

When I play a dual humbucking guitar, not having a single coil tone is the least of my worries - I have Strats to handle just that. I let my humbuckers fulfil their potential. They shoudn't stray from their true task.

Selling: EMG HZ (sold)

These are just 2 days old (at time of posting).

Selling them as a set.

Selling: EMG HZ (H4) passive pickups (neck/ bridge)
Included: Mounting screws.
Condition: 9/10
Confirmation/ queries: subversion.sg@gmail.com
Self-collect: CCK mrt stn
No reservations/ trades.
Price: $99 (final)

Selling: Gibson 490R/490T pickups (SOLD)

Removed & kept away. I've forgotten they are still here with me. Selling as a set only.

• Selling: Gibson 490R/490T pickups (uncovered, 2-conductor)
• Condition: 8/10
• Self-collect: CCK mrt station
• No reservations/ trades
• Queries/ confirmation: subversion.sg@gmail.com
• Price: $139 (final)

Fender: MP Jazzmaster HH... pickups

Most of the time, I'm at odds with what the manufacturer offers in the guitar in terms of pickups. It's namely due to the fact that I'm inclined towards what I like to hear rather than what the manufacturer suggests. The default humbuckers in my Jazzmaster HH were replaced with a pair of Tesla Plasma X-1. The default pickups fared rather well when it comes to clean & crunchy tones but at saturated drive settings, they made the instrument sound below par. The X-1 gives off a spiked midrange tone in the bridge while the neck counterpart bags lots of clarity for solos- my kinda duo. The ones you see here are covered, you can purchase these covers at TYMC for under $5 (for a pair).

Ibanez: RC320M (owner's take)

Here it is one more time, Ibanez's RC320M. It's a simple guitar; a dual humbucking, bolt-on & non-whammy Ibanez which is removed from the manufacturer's very popular RG series.

The RC320M is equipped with a pair of Core Tone pickups which were not conceived to give off that likable heavy tone or that sleek shred legato but they can give you a good, rocking ACDC crunch. If you push them any further with drive or distortion, they would muck up in both positions. This is the reason why I have a pair of Duncan's Distortion pickups in there. In addition to hard hitting heaviness, I need something to propel clarity as well & that's what the Distortions do well- deliver clarity, especially single notes. In the mean time, I'm still messing with pickup height to hear how this affects sustain more than tone refinements per se.

Selling: TESLA Plasma 3 humbucker set (SOLD)

Selling: Tesla PLASMA 3 humbuckers (F-Spaced/ Trembucker spacing for bridge model):

• TESLA Plasma 3 humbuckers (no screws/ springs)
• Condition: 8.5/10 (rust-free)
• Self-collect: CCK mrt station or Sengkang MRT station after 8.00PM
• No reservations/ No trades
• Queries/ confirmation: dark1349@hotmail.com
• Price: $39 each or $70 both (final)

Special morning

Managed to squeeze some juice out of my Gibson LP Special before I left the house this morning. I'm definitely not an LP fan but let's not get there. I like this guitar because it's a little wayward compared to its other LP siblings; a flat top LP... that's repulsive if you worship the LP for its aesthetics. 

Also, I have DiMarzios in there instead of retaining the default Gibson humbuckers. I have no obligations to like those so out they went in favour of my preferred substitutes (well, DiMarzios not exactly my cup of tea but I apreciate what they have to offer). More importantly, any guitar I acquire should serve my needs, not comply to the flavour of the moment.

Alright, enjoy the holiday moments & lots of memorable merry-making to those of you heading out for house visits. Me- I'm heading to Beez's :-)

Gibson: SG Standard (2)

These are the default pickups in my Gibson SG Standard- the 490R & 496T. As you can see, they had been removed from the instrument. Gibson fans might like them for their rounded, creamy tones (especially the neck pickup) but they are not my kind of pickups.

Once again, the Gibson pots & PCB. If your Gibson is a post-2010 model & isn't one to recreate a vintage original specification, it will be fitted with one of this. It makes perfect manufacturing sense in the production line when things would get a little speedier with a ready PCB inserted into the guitar body & final non-solder pickup wires attachment, but if you choose to mod your electronics selectively, you have to forgo the entire assembly. Bummer.

Gibson: Les Paul 50s Tribute (humbucker) Part 3

This is how it looks like underneath the control cavity cover- all neat & tidy. It is so because Gibson used a circuit board for the connections, the pickup & output jack wires attach themselves to the board via clip insertions, very similar to EMG's solderless schematics. I've detached one of the pickup's clips there so you can have a better look at it...

This makes our lives easier because should we wish to remove the pickups & transfer them elsewhere, it's a matter of unclipping & re-clipping; painless, solderless.

But here's the other side of the story- should you wish to remove the default pickups & have your choice pickups in there instead, how do you solder the new ones to the circuit board? You can't because you need the terminal clips for the attachment & these are not available off-the-shelves. The last time I checked, replacement Gibson humbuckers do not come with those ends clip-ready so I find this very annoying. So the only way is to remove the entire circuit board (like I did as depicted above) & get on with traditional wiring. 

To be continued...