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Of P90 Pickups, Les Pauls, and Treble-Bleed Circuit mods
Of P90 Pickups, Les Pauls, and Treble-Bleed Circuit mods
Howdy
friends! Here is PART of the story of my
long journey to develop truly holy-grail level P90 pickups … the part about
treble bleed circuits! Now, most treble-bleed circuit discussions fall into one of three general camps: 1) what values to use, 2) Parallel vs series wiring of the cap & resistor, and 3) how pleasant the treble content is as you roll-down the volume control. My discussion is a bit different, as it primarily is about P90 equiped guitars, I DO NOT recomend treble-bleeds on already spikey single-coil guitars ESPECIALLY Telecasters! And,...
American Made … does it still matter?
American Made … does it still matter?
A pic I snapped a couple years back at the WGS plant, I think this picture really does say 1000 words!It’s almost Christmas, 2015 as I pen this blog. Over the years I have written a number of
blogs on what you could call “Pro-America” topics. I just can’t help it. I feel so genuinely blessed to have been born
in the time & place where I was.
And, I’m totally grateful for having been born an American. In the history of the world, there has never
been a better place. I won’t re-hash old
feelings here … at the end of this blog I’ll have a list of...
Guitar Pickup Coil Tap vs Coil Split, the Definitive Answer
Guitar Pickup Coil Tap vs Coil Split, the Definitive Answer
Google “coil tap vs split”; by the time you get to the “v”, it’ll fill in
the rest for you … it’s THAT common a question!
The two terms “coil-split” and “coil-tap” are often used interchangeably,
but they are very different. So, what is
the difference? Let’s give the definitive
answer right here and right now! Don’t
worry, it’s simple, and this won’t take long.
Coil Split: this is what most folks
are thinking of when they consider these terms.
It is simply when a dual-coil pickup (i.e. a humbucker), has its two
coils, which are usually wired in...
The Surprising Success of Vaughn’s Velvet Telecaster Pickups
The Surprising Success of Vaughn’s Velvet Telecaster Pickups
Hi Ya’ll! I have a confession to
make: I’m not really a “Tele guy”. So the phenomenal Success of my Vaughn’s
Velvet Tele pickups might seem a bit surprising … but wait … you haven’t heard
the REST of the story!
Let’s start with this little piece that accompanies the product description
of my Velvet Tele set:
“Whenever I talk to "Strat
guys" about tone, they say that if money were no object, they'd be playing
vintage pickups from the 50s-60s. Same goes for Les Paul people, their "if
money were no object" pickup would be a vintage 57-60 PAF. But...
Get a Free Speaker
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Pellentesque auctor neque nec urna. Fusce vulputate eleifend sapien. Curabitur turpis. Nullam nulla eros, ultricies sit amet, nonummy id, imperdiet feugiat, pede....
Some Common Sense Rules to Buying and Selling Guitars and Music Gear on Craigslist, eBay, Reverb, etc.
Some Common Sense Rules to Buying and Selling Guitars and Music Gear on Craigslist, eBay, Reverb, etc.
I’ve been buying and selling on eBay for over 16
years, almost since day one of eBay; my history on Craigslist is about the
same, and like many of you, I have started buying and selling on Reverb. And so I propose that I am about as qualified
as anybody to offer up some general guidelines for both buyers and sellers, so
here goes!
Sellers:
You must provide GOOD detailed pictures of the
item you are selling; expect to field many requests of “I need to see pics”! If you don’t provide pics we all know that
you are either: 1) a crook, or 2) a do-fuss.
Number one...
How To Adjust (Set) Pickup Height on a Telecaster for ULTIMATE TELE TONE!
How To Adjust (Set) Pickup Height on a Telecaster for ULTIMATE TELE TONE!
I recently composed a blog in response to an email from one of my pickup
affectionados in Germany asking a question that I realized is of ULTIMATE
importance in Strat tone: “what is the best distance from the pickup to the strings
for the best results?” Since that time,
I have received several requests to do a similar blog on Tele pickup height
adjustment … and so, here we go!
Once again, I need to make it clear that I am talking about real-deal
vintage pickups and real-deal quality pickups like the ones made by Jason
Lollar, Curtis Novak, Lindy Fralin, And myself. ...
Bogner Alchemist – Ultimate Sleeper Amp?
Bogner Alchemist – Ultimate Sleeper Amp?
Hi-diddly do fair blog neighbors! In my first couple years of this blog, I
often featured amps that I considered “sleepers” … amps that could be bought
for fairly cheap money and deliver more than expected. I think it’s time to revive the sleeper-amp
concept! Let’s dig in with this week’s
choice, the Bogner Alchemist.
Ready? Let’s go!
I clearly remember when the Alchemists first appeared in
stores like Guitar Center, and the supporting ads in the guitar mags. Man, they really caught my attention, at over
a grand or so, they certainly were not...
Gibson Guitar's 2016 Line-Up, the Insanity of 2015 is OVER!
Gibson Guitar's 2016 Line-Up, the Insanity of 2015 is OVER!
Did you hear that loud “Pop”? For
Gibson guitar lovers, it was a sweet sound.
Word on the street is that it was the sound of Gibson Guitar’s proverbial
head popping out of a very, very dark place.
Just in case you, dear reader, are the one guitar player
who didn’t catch it, Gibson
really screwed the pooch in 2015, imposing “improvements” upon almost every
model guitar. It was by all accounts
guitar atrocities. The most offensive of which were:
G-Force automatic tuning systemZero Fret Adjustable Nut Wider neck and compound-Radius
fingerboard with flatter...
Search for the Perfect 10 (In a Quilter MicroPro Mach II)
Search for the Perfect 10 (In a Quilter MicroPro Mach II)
Okay, this harkens back to the early days of my blog. I’m basically taking you all along for the
ride as I search for the best 10” speaker to pair with my new Quilter amp, a
MicroPro Mach II. I fell in love with
the Quilter stuff at this Summer’s NAMM show in Nashville, and sweet talked
them into selling me a head with an EMPTY 10” combo cab so I could choose my
own speaker. I’m a tube-amp guy, and I
make my own … so my ponying up with some greenbacks on a decidedly solid-state
amp is quite a statement! In later blogs
I plan to do a full demo on the MicroPro,...