Andy Eagle ( Guitar repair tech for 30 years )
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Eagle
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This is not what we are talking about here. We are referring to why sometimes you get two seemingly identical guitars same set up, same action, same frets but one seems easier to bend and the strings feel looser even though they are the same as on the other instrument. The reason I said no clue then was because you misunderstood the question both times and still do. You are talking about how to get a grip on a string with action not how to affect compliance and apparent tension. String grip is mostly about fret hight, different subject.
Eagle
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Except what you’re saying doesn’t make them the same and you have no idea of the cause. This is an ask me column so perhaps you should have posted your non answer in the guitar section.
Eagle
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I don’t mind people chiming in but they need to have something to say that is helpful or it just ends up as the guitar section part two . Sorry I am not the most tactful person but I didn’t mean to offend.
Eagle
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I’ve only seen a couple but Cort are usually very solid quality builds. The only obvious corner cutting is the “mahogany “ clearly isn’t but that’s normal in the price range. With the costs of the high end parts it is a good deal. LTD also has similar prices for equivalent specs. As always you should either try before buying or be prepared to send it back if it doesn’t match up.
Thank you sir....
State of Epicicity
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Have you have any experience with the Duncan Blackouts Strat in a guitar that also has the AHB-1? I know the Strat one has an output pin allowing low or high, which I know for sure I'd put on a switch.
My guitar is so thin in the tone department, and I like having an HS pickup configuration since it gives me all the versatility I'm looking for, so I was thinking an HS set of Blackouts would be a good option, to be able to get a much thicker and higher output when I want.
I had a pair of 7 string Blackout humbuckers years ago and loved them. I had them wired with individual volume and tone controls per pickup using dual concentrics, and I just found the controls to have a great usable range of tone. I'm thinking with the Strat neck it would make it even more versatile.
There's very little written about the Blackouts Strat pickups online, but I figure if anyone has come across a Blackouts HSS or HS configuration and got to test the output balance for themselves, it would be you.
Right now I get great versatility with my JB bridge and Artec Giovanni GCS-LN neck, but no matter what I do, the guitar is just very thin overall. I can always use ODs or EQ and boost before the amp, but I'd love to have something that get really thick without that.
This guitar is my ultra bright Schecter Sun Valley Super Shredder FR Black Limba, with the stock trem.
I'm also curious if you'd think of some other hum free HS combination that would be nice and thick, or if Blackouts in an HS combo sounds like a good idea. The main thing I wonder is if, with the Blackouts Strat in High Output mode, if the output level does balance well with the bridge.
I use my volume and tone knobs all the time, so I'm not afraid to roll back to get great low output tones. My logic is, with the output pin for the Blackouts Strat on a switch, I can go between blistering, and, especially when I roll back the volume and tone knobs, and great clean on the neck. Also, since Blackouts have the advantage no one ever talks about, the balanced input to their internal preamps, they have such unreal low noise floor, if you like to ride your volume and tone knobs you have a lot more low noise room to work with.
And I've read Blackouts Strat pickups have more mids than a vintage Strat pickup, but that's not a big deal to me. I think people often forget that if you just roll back the volume of a hot pickup, if you have 50s Les Paul wiring (or an active preamp), you can get your output nice and bright for your Fender style tones. So when I read peoples' takes on pickups having too much output, I normally think these are people who prefer to keep their volume knobs at ten, not that the pickup is too hot.
Anyway, my guitar sounds so thin overall I think a very very hot pickup is just what the doctor ordered. I also play with D'Addario Balanced Tension 9s, which are nearly EVH's gauges overall, except I'm always tuned to E, so I know that's making my tone even thinner.
Thanks in advance for your thoughts, as always!
My guitar is so thin in the tone department, and I like having an HS pickup configuration since it gives me all the versatility I'm looking for, so I was thinking an HS set of Blackouts would be a good option, to be able to get a much thicker and higher output when I want.
I had a pair of 7 string Blackout humbuckers years ago and loved them. I had them wired with individual volume and tone controls per pickup using dual concentrics, and I just found the controls to have a great usable range of tone. I'm thinking with the Strat neck it would make it even more versatile.
There's very little written about the Blackouts Strat pickups online, but I figure if anyone has come across a Blackouts HSS or HS configuration and got to test the output balance for themselves, it would be you.
Right now I get great versatility with my JB bridge and Artec Giovanni GCS-LN neck, but no matter what I do, the guitar is just very thin overall. I can always use ODs or EQ and boost before the amp, but I'd love to have something that get really thick without that.
This guitar is my ultra bright Schecter Sun Valley Super Shredder FR Black Limba, with the stock trem.
I'm also curious if you'd think of some other hum free HS combination that would be nice and thick, or if Blackouts in an HS combo sounds like a good idea. The main thing I wonder is if, with the Blackouts Strat in High Output mode, if the output level does balance well with the bridge.
I use my volume and tone knobs all the time, so I'm not afraid to roll back to get great low output tones. My logic is, with the output pin for the Blackouts Strat on a switch, I can go between blistering, and, especially when I roll back the volume and tone knobs, and great clean on the neck. Also, since Blackouts have the advantage no one ever talks about, the balanced input to their internal preamps, they have such unreal low noise floor, if you like to ride your volume and tone knobs you have a lot more low noise room to work with.
And I've read Blackouts Strat pickups have more mids than a vintage Strat pickup, but that's not a big deal to me. I think people often forget that if you just roll back the volume of a hot pickup, if you have 50s Les Paul wiring (or an active preamp), you can get your output nice and bright for your Fender style tones. So when I read peoples' takes on pickups having too much output, I normally think these are people who prefer to keep their volume knobs at ten, not that the pickup is too hot.
Anyway, my guitar sounds so thin overall I think a very very hot pickup is just what the doctor ordered. I also play with D'Addario Balanced Tension 9s, which are nearly EVH's gauges overall, except I'm always tuned to E, so I know that's making my tone even thinner.
Thanks in advance for your thoughts, as always!
Eagle
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The Jb is not normally a thin sounding pickup. Are you saying that the acoustic brightness of the guitar inherently is fully translated into the amp regardless . Sometimes new bridge saddles can fatten up the core tone acoustically giving the pickup more depth to work with. Your suggestions regarding are all correct. Emg 85, SA SA set with a mid boost will certainly do what you want too. I would look at the bridge too . Post pics of it and in the back.
State of Epicicity
Roadie
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Thanks Andy.
There is something inherently thin and lower output about this guitar, just something I've felt for a long time. I don't know why the JB still doesn't fatten it up enough, but I even have it direct mounted. This is a trembucker version, which I have read is different, although it's not supposed to be.
One way it's manifested is when I've tried other people's Ace-FX III presets. Leon Todd is a great example. Since he plays through his presets as he walks through their construction, you can follow along if you like. Whenever I play through one of his tones with no alteration, what sounds completely awesome through his DGT, e.g., sounds thin, harsh, weak, and painful through my guitar.
I even wrote him asking if he had accidentally boosted his input levels. He was kind enough to look at his global input gain, and he's plugging straight in, just like me, so everything seemed right. He also sent me his direct dry recording from a recent video, and I recorded the same riff myself, and the comparison was just crazily different. A huge dip in output and a real lack of lower mids in mine.
Now, he's using way heavier strings (10-52 nano webs vs my XL Balanced Tension 9-40 set), a shorter scale length (25" vs my 25.5"), a thicker pick (Dunlop 1.35mm white tortex jazz III vs my Dunlop Standard .060mm) a different tremolo (PRS DGT vs Floyd 1500), etc, so I expect my guitar to be brighter just by virtue of this stuff, but the difference was so staggering. I had been wondering why his incredible tones always sounded so weak and terrible with my guitar.
It brought me back to my analog rig, when I would play my Floyd equipped Washburn Steve Salas, which was essentially a set neck Dinky (it read Designed by Grover Jackson on the headstock), with a Tone Zone bridge and Chopper neck, and it sounded just okay, even with those pickups, but then I'd plug in my USA Washburn P3, which came with a Duncan Custom bridge and Custom Custom neck, and it sounded like a fuckin earthquake. Like, there was no comparison in tone. The P3 was all heft and meat and might, and the Salas was just thin and tiny in comparison.
And that's how this Schecter sounds to me. My dilemma is that tonally I love a thick Les Paul bridge with a versatile neck that can get Stratty rolled back. But I'm also a floating Floyd guy.
I'm even contemplating going back to heavier strings on top of the Blackouts.
I actually still have an 85, and I installed it before the JB, but I couldn't stand the internal preamp anymore. I could hear the "squash" with my pick attack, and I was just thinking it felt so wrong. I know there are some great players who can still get great tones from the classic EMGs, but I can't stand the feel, if you will. I don't remember feeling any of that running-out-of-headroom thing with the Blackouts so many years ago, so I was thinking they'd be my best bet.
I had even considered an Invader plus noiseless Duncan stacked Strat, but I thought, if I can have the benefit of that awesome balanced input to the preamp, that would be an even better setup. And like I said, I always use the volume and tone knobs anyway, so the over the top output is not a bad thing to me.
I've included the pics you were asking for. I included pics of my pickups too, if that helps. Let me know if you want close-ups of anything else.
I should note that the guitar feels and plays great, and, for stock Strat tones, when I roll back the volume and tone on my neck, the tones are incredible, just the best cleans to blues to blues rock neck tones, even though I'm playing a 24 fret guitar (though I'd still prefer a 22 fret placement).
One final element I should mention is this weird Black Limba body. It's soft, like, unbelievably soft. For many of the pickguard screw holes, the spring claw screw holes, and even one of the strap button screw holes, they started stripping soon after I got the guitar. I've even had to put toothpicks in the holes to get the screws to hold on to anything. The wood looks cool, but the body is so damn soft it feels like it could get dented by the breeze. Maybe that's part of it.
And just to make sure I'm reading you right, you are saying the Blackouts Strat neck in High Output mode does balance well with the Blackouts humbucker bridge?
There is something inherently thin and lower output about this guitar, just something I've felt for a long time. I don't know why the JB still doesn't fatten it up enough, but I even have it direct mounted. This is a trembucker version, which I have read is different, although it's not supposed to be.
One way it's manifested is when I've tried other people's Ace-FX III presets. Leon Todd is a great example. Since he plays through his presets as he walks through their construction, you can follow along if you like. Whenever I play through one of his tones with no alteration, what sounds completely awesome through his DGT, e.g., sounds thin, harsh, weak, and painful through my guitar.
I even wrote him asking if he had accidentally boosted his input levels. He was kind enough to look at his global input gain, and he's plugging straight in, just like me, so everything seemed right. He also sent me his direct dry recording from a recent video, and I recorded the same riff myself, and the comparison was just crazily different. A huge dip in output and a real lack of lower mids in mine.
Now, he's using way heavier strings (10-52 nano webs vs my XL Balanced Tension 9-40 set), a shorter scale length (25" vs my 25.5"), a thicker pick (Dunlop 1.35mm white tortex jazz III vs my Dunlop Standard .060mm) a different tremolo (PRS DGT vs Floyd 1500), etc, so I expect my guitar to be brighter just by virtue of this stuff, but the difference was so staggering. I had been wondering why his incredible tones always sounded so weak and terrible with my guitar.
It brought me back to my analog rig, when I would play my Floyd equipped Washburn Steve Salas, which was essentially a set neck Dinky (it read Designed by Grover Jackson on the headstock), with a Tone Zone bridge and Chopper neck, and it sounded just okay, even with those pickups, but then I'd plug in my USA Washburn P3, which came with a Duncan Custom bridge and Custom Custom neck, and it sounded like a fuckin earthquake. Like, there was no comparison in tone. The P3 was all heft and meat and might, and the Salas was just thin and tiny in comparison.
And that's how this Schecter sounds to me. My dilemma is that tonally I love a thick Les Paul bridge with a versatile neck that can get Stratty rolled back. But I'm also a floating Floyd guy.
I'm even contemplating going back to heavier strings on top of the Blackouts.
I actually still have an 85, and I installed it before the JB, but I couldn't stand the internal preamp anymore. I could hear the "squash" with my pick attack, and I was just thinking it felt so wrong. I know there are some great players who can still get great tones from the classic EMGs, but I can't stand the feel, if you will. I don't remember feeling any of that running-out-of-headroom thing with the Blackouts so many years ago, so I was thinking they'd be my best bet.
I had even considered an Invader plus noiseless Duncan stacked Strat, but I thought, if I can have the benefit of that awesome balanced input to the preamp, that would be an even better setup. And like I said, I always use the volume and tone knobs anyway, so the over the top output is not a bad thing to me.
I've included the pics you were asking for. I included pics of my pickups too, if that helps. Let me know if you want close-ups of anything else.
I should note that the guitar feels and plays great, and, for stock Strat tones, when I roll back the volume and tone on my neck, the tones are incredible, just the best cleans to blues to blues rock neck tones, even though I'm playing a 24 fret guitar (though I'd still prefer a 22 fret placement).
One final element I should mention is this weird Black Limba body. It's soft, like, unbelievably soft. For many of the pickguard screw holes, the spring claw screw holes, and even one of the strap button screw holes, they started stripping soon after I got the guitar. I've even had to put toothpicks in the holes to get the screws to hold on to anything. The wood looks cool, but the body is so damn soft it feels like it could get dented by the breeze. Maybe that's part of it.
And just to make sure I'm reading you right, you are saying the Blackouts Strat neck in High Output mode does balance well with the Blackouts humbucker bridge?
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State of Epicicity
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Thanks so much Andy!
I set it that low so that I could have full pull up range on the Floyd with the strings not hitting the pickup. I'll raise it and see what happens.
The copper is something I experiented with years ago, reading that if you wrap the outside with cooper but leave a small gap then ground it to the foil lining the cavity it helps further reject noise.
The angle came from me not installing the screws just right.
Good to know with the Strat neck / Humbucker bridge balance. After I wrote I actually found an old official Duncan video I had seen part of, but I finally finished it, and, flashing for a couple seconds on the screen they write that they're made to balance! Man, they need me in their marketing department. They just leave these important features buried so no one knows!
Thanks again.
I set it that low so that I could have full pull up range on the Floyd with the strings not hitting the pickup. I'll raise it and see what happens.
The copper is something I experiented with years ago, reading that if you wrap the outside with cooper but leave a small gap then ground it to the foil lining the cavity it helps further reject noise.
The angle came from me not installing the screws just right.
Good to know with the Strat neck / Humbucker bridge balance. After I wrote I actually found an old official Duncan video I had seen part of, but I finally finished it, and, flashing for a couple seconds on the screen they write that they're made to balance! Man, they need me in their marketing department. They just leave these important features buried so no one knows!
Thanks again.
State of Epicicity
Roadie
- Messages
- 949
And here was my inspiration for the shielding of the pickup:
www.premierguitar.com
The idea was to help shielding when in split mode. After all that, I don't even remember if it helped!
Mod Garage: How to Shield Single-Coil Pickups
Here’s the secret for reducing unwanted hum and noise without losing sparkle and highs.
www.premierguitar.com
The idea was to help shielding when in split mode. After all that, I don't even remember if it helped!
Eagle
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It's not really worth it and it changes the tone IME.And here was my inspiration for the shielding of the pickup:
Mod Garage: How to Shield Single-Coil Pickups
Here’s the secret for reducing unwanted hum and noise without losing sparkle and highs.
The idea was to help shielding when in split mode. After all that, I don't even remember if it helped!
Stone
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Hello @Eagle hope all is well so recently ive been getting into trying to do setups my self the basics and was wondering if this tuner is good for Intonation, i know the peterson strobes are the best but its out of my budget, so was wondering your thoughts on this one here
seems decent for the price ?
www.korg.com
Thank you
your expertise is always much appreciated
seems decent for the price ?
GA Custom - CHROMATIC TUNER | KORG (Canada - EN)
Card-type compact tuners have long-been KORG’s most popular tuners. The GA Custom features a large 3D visual meter, the first of its kind for a compact tuner.
Thank you
your expertise is always much appreciated
Stone
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Blix
Shredder
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You should always intonate in playing position, not with the guitar on a table, it matters :)Well I setup in the kitchen counter so I need a separate silent plug in tuner
Stone
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