deytookerjaabs
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Posts posted by deytookerjaabs
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12 minutes ago, zguitar71 said:
That is the result of not wax potting a pickup, they are sensitive to being tapped with a pick or when the switch is flipped or can make a signal from being talked loudly into and the vibrations associated with that. I don’t have potted pickups in any guitar and they all do this. The pickups vary from Wolfetone Legends in an Eastman, original P90s in a ‘57 ES225 to Tyson Tonelab P90s in an H150, and Throbak P90s in a Tokai Special.
The best part of the times we live in are the guitars and accessories that go with them. We are living in an era with some of the best guitars ever built, some of the best hardware, best pickups and on and on. I’ve had the good fortune to play quite a few vintage guitars in my life. Some were worth peanuts at the time and I didn’t buy them, if only I could see the future. I never bought a double cut JR but played so many in stores when they were a cheap guitar. I just played an Eastman SB55dc and it was every bit as good as any 58-60 I’ve ever had my hands on. The magic in all these guitars is a good piece of wood, hardware, pickup and good craftsmanship. All of that is plentiful currently. I was just in Rudy’s Music in NYC and they had a ‘59 Jr. for a mere $27k. What?! For me the vintage market is no longer about superior tone, it is only about coolness and history. If I was rich I would buy as many as possible but I’m not and it isn’t an issue because I can literally buy a new or used newer guitar at does it just as well.
What I'm talking about isn't just potting.
For instance, I have a strat set right here in a cool replica build, zero potting as requested. Will it squeal? Yeah, I guess if I play with gain. But when you play with the guitar, all the little things like flipping the switch or hitting the body are relatively quiet, barely come through the amp until you really crank it. Yet, the old strat with the grey bottoms, all the extemporaneous noise goes right to the amp and when I moved those pickups around builds? That attribute stayed the same.
My '64 335, same deal. '62 pat sticker pickups and '64 harness. It's all vintage, no potting ever, every part now 60 years old. But it doesn't have the level of microphonic my '68 Riviera has. You flip the switch on the 335, tap the body, etc, barely comes through the amp. It's quiet like that. Yet, The Riv? You hear the toggle clank more, hear the guitar louder through the amp if you just tap on the body at the same volumes, etc.
Who knows, that might mean the pickups are going to short out soon, lol. But, it's definitely a thing and it adds just a little something on the note attack IMO.
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8 hours ago, rockabilly69 said:
I've experienced it many times with Throbaks, and in their first few runs I saw more more than one that got too microphonic. I actually have fixed a few microphonic issues with Throbaks. I love microphonic pickups. Old timer Gretsch fans used to call that wood in the sound "knock"!
I might have to investigate this down the road. I've played guitars with throbaks at a shop but never owned a set. Out of the pricier pickups I've had I haven't had one that's done it yet, random Gibson offerings, a Re-Wind JPP set, a random Wizz set, two SD sets. Not that they all didn't sound great, they did.
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One thing hard to replicate is the microphonic thing.
I'm not taking about squeal/feedback either. I'm talking about the raw aspect of it. Not all old pickups have that thing either, my '62 pat stickers don't. So that's important to consider. But, for instance, I have some old strat grey bottoms. Upon installing them when I flipped the 5-way switch it came through the amp far louder than the switches on any other guitar. It was like "ooooh, we got a wild one here!".
I've had that same feeling with other vintage guitars regardless of the finer details. You hit the toggle switch and it goes "ker kuh klunk" right through the pickups, like the guitar is humming.
That type of microphonic makes a guitar ring a bit different, subtle and more personal but it's still there. If I had to go off the ledge, I'd say those guitars you hear just a tiny bit more body in the note on that first millisecond of the pick attack. That's not something I've experience with replica pickups/harness as of yet.
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A while back I got a custom shop FB I, same deal, it happened to have the R7+ neck profile (why?). Seller said he couldn't measure it and that "it's not too big." Haha, it almost could not have been bigger! Thought about shaving it but it was white...so shaving the neck would have looked terrible unless I had some high end finish dude touch it up. It had other issues, too light weight. The big neck plus banjo tuners with the featherweight wood made it a neck diver extraordinaire, even when sitting I had to hold my elbow on the horn. It's ironic that it was the lamest Firebird I've owned, as it was also the most expensive, but it did look the best by far.
Always thought it was a shame they only made a few of the heritage birds (plus many seemed to have the ABR + Tailpiece + regular buckers setup) then the rest were custom ordered, the cult following drove up those prices. Heck, the Gribbons 'bird prices on the used market are going up too. "Back in my day...." no one wanted a 'bird, now these kids can't get off my lawn.
Hmmmmm!
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16 hours ago, TalismanRich said:
That makes perfect sense since when Ed Wilson set the specs on the Custom Core, he was obviously targeting the much coveted "59 LP".
Of course, the 59s were all hand rolled, so they would have varied, just as the old Heritage guitars did. Roll it, put the template on it, and if it's close, move on to smoothing and finishing. You probably had at least a half dozen different people carving necks over the course of a year or 2. I'll also bet Gibson rarely threw out a neck in the 50s because it was a bit too thin. It was a business and throwing away necks costs $$$. They weren't making "boutique" high dollar guitars.
In my experience the stout C that's over .90 at the first fret is not on a large % of 50's Gibson guitars. Some '58's have it, and other years you see it pop up too but it's definitely not the majority or anything like that. My last Gribbons had the "Carmelita" profile and that neck was nice, close to my '64 335. I think it's just this "boutique=huge" thing that people are looking for, sadly. Good news is you can take wood away quite easily....adding it on is another story!
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8 hours ago, davesultra said:
I’ve had 2, but currently have only one. The plaintop had what appeared to be a slightly slimmer neck than my Goldtop does. Not terribly different, but noticeable. The GT is definitely closer to an R6/7/8 neck. I’m not home at the time of typing this, so I can’t measure the thickness. As far as the bridges & tailpeces are concerned, the PT sat a little lower than the GT. But as is typical for Heritage, in order to crank the stoptail down, I would have to topwrap. I don’t care for topwrapping so I left it where it is.
I got a message back from a dealer basically echoing that they're all "chunky with some shoulder." Might be better off just going to a standard. My last 150 was an '02 I think, low bridge height and a nice soft V neck, great guitar. Back to the thrill of the hunt!
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I already have a replica that has a big neck which is overdue for a shave/sand, don't want to shave two necks. I'm not terribly picky but I don't like classic R7/8 type necks with depth and lots of shoulder yet tons of higher priced single cuts often have real big necks. If there's a lot of depth I prefer soft V, less depth is generally fine with any profile.
I've seen some used H-150 cores and the depth usually measures over .90 at the first and described as a "C," are they pretty much all like that?
And, are the bridge heights all over the place or set up to a certain spec?
Not sure if I'm going to nab one, still in the browsing phase!
PAF from Gibson
in Amplification and Effects
Posted
Yeah, it's kind of a gnarly thing, pickups/guitars like that are somewhere in between really amazing or cheap sound depending on one's taste for tone. I love it.
What did Dolly Parton say? "It costs a lot of money to look this cheap."