Amazing Truetone Pickups! Go Jerry!

Mark van Allen · From: Watkinsville, Ga. USA

I had been reading all the raves about Jerry Wallace's Truetone pickups, and although very happy with the tone of the George L's E-66 and 10-1 in my '97 Carter D-10, I knew I'd like to try them out. Rather than just add to the pile of raves, I thought I'd give some details of my experience for those who are thinking of trying some new pickups. (So please forgive the long post!)
Pickups, tone, sustain, balance, etc. are all very personal quests- that being said, I think my preferences are fairly mainstream- I like to hear a steel tone with clarity and balance throughout the tonal range- Bold, thick low end without muddiness, a smooth midrange, and clear,well defined high end with clarity and definiton, but not harsh or overly strident. (I may prefer a bit more warmth than some folks). Since the retrofitting of BCT to my Carter, I've been very satisfied with those aspects of my guitar. Talking with Jerry about my preferences, I was impressed with the same things everybody mentions, he's a real gent, and truly interested in the player's desires. He wound me a pair of Truetones, as I asked with the C6 pickup a little darker and fuller. He also installed them on a base plate to fit the Carter body. The first thing I noticed when they arrived was the workmanship- Absolutely Beautiful! Very reminiscent of the classic Emmons single coils, but with a smooth and subtle bevel to the upper blk/wht/blk bobbin lamination that is slick and classy. These are massive single coils with a total pro fit and finish. Measuring them on my digital MM, the E9 clocked in at 17.23K, the C6 at 18.32K. A small amount of futzing around and they fit perfectly. Rudimentary soldering skills get 'em hooked right up- (a diagram of your original wiring scheme is a good idea here). I set them to the recommended 3/16" height, and was off and running. I know enough not to trust my subjective hearing, so I made a before/after comparison recording by multitracking an unaccompanied E9 ballad, several shuffles, blues etc. on both necks, careful to note the exact settings on preamp, record level, volume pedal level and even using new strings before and after. The new pickups- Amazing! Immediately noticeable was a level increase of 3-5 db. The lows were well defined, the highs very smooth and creamy, glassy and clear, especially up above fret 12. Great sustain and clarity, an overall lovely tone. I think much of that is subtractive, ie: there's magic in the midrange! There seems to be a dip or notch in that problematic 650-800Hz area we all mess with on our amps- the resulting lack of muddiness making for a smooth full sound with good response in the highs and lows. I heard less of a difference on the C6 neck, but still noticeable. Chords, lines, and harmonics high on the neck were noticeably brighter and better defined.
On to the real world: Thursday session for a grumpy jingle producer- he's heard me many times and commented on the clarity of my tone. Hard to get a compliment out of this guy- Thursday night, rehearsal with a "Modern Country" band- I got to crank my rig up, no noticeable hum- and all the above mentioned tonal differences were pleasantly noticeable. Positive comments from band members all around. Friday night, a retro-rockabilly gig in a medium size club, no noise and the same great tone, just a pleasure. Saturday was the CD release for my latest band project, 1500 seat theatre with tons of lighting and other electrical interference, I did notice the typical single coil hum- here's the one drawback compared to the nearly silent Humbuckers. But as Jerry says, the hum is well covered by the notes you're playing, and even while playing just harmonics during very exposed passages in our set, I couldn't hear any hum or buzz from my amp, and got nothing but raves from the sound crew who have all heard me many times before. Several "steel nuts" who were in the house that night made unsolicited mention that they could hear everything I played much better, that the steel tone was fuller, richer and cleaner than usual. Fine with me! Bottom line, these are extremely well made, high quality kick butt tone enhancement monsters. I'll be getting another for my Sierra Lap. Don't even hesitate if you crave single coil JuJu. Thanks, Jerry!

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C'mon by and visit!- www.markvanallen.com

My Band: www.sugarlandmusic.com

Mark van Allen · From: Watkinsville, Ga. USA

Bumping this one up for Rodney- I'm really surprised some of you guys who beat me to the Truetones haven't chimned in on this one!

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C'mon by and visit!- www.markvanallen.com

My Band: www.sugarlandmusic.com

richard burton · From: Britain

I had to take the Truetone off my Carter. It dramatically improved the tone, but I just couldn't tolerate the hum. I shielded it with aluminium foil, but unfortunately just could not eliminate the hum. It's a shame, because it's the best sounding pickup I've had.

Roger Crawford · From: Griffin, GA USA

I didn't go to all the trouble Mark did, but his assesment of the pick-up is dead on. I thought I was changing out pick-ups, turned out I was performing tone transplant surgery!I knew there was a better tone hiding behind those humbuckers, I just didn't realize how much. Hum is quite minimal, actually not much more that the humbuckers that came off. Yeah..I'll keep these puppies.
Roger

joe long · From: San Antonio, Texas

I just got my 71 P/P back from Jerry Roller. He replaced the 710's, which were on the guitar when I purchased it, with the True Tones. Boy, what a sound and tone. Haven't had the guitar out of the house but will play out with it this Saturday. So far no hum sounds coming from the pickups. The 710's were a little to bright for my ears. These True Tones, in my own personal opinion have very balanced sound coming from each string.

Jerry Roller also adjusted the guitar and it plays like a dream. Anyone thinking of having their p/p adjusted back into shape I certainly recommend that Jerry Roller be considered for the project.

Ivan Posa · From: Hamilton, New Zealand

I have had TrueTones on my 67 p/p for a month or so and am very happy with them. They give a clear well balanced and smooth sound from top to bottom strings with the p/p through an Evans SE 200. Very acceptable tone. A well made p/up and Jerry's service and back-up is tops....IP

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[This message was edited by Ivan Posa on 09 August 2003 at 04:08 PM.]

Tim Johnson · From: Cadiz, KY, USA

I just installed a truetone in my guitar today and I can't believe the tone and string clarity, I was playing a George L 10-1 but wasn't getting the tone I wanted, Thanks to Jerry I am now happy with my tone.
Great job Jerry!

David L. Donald · From: Koh Samui Island, Thailand

I have a TT on my C6 and wish I had one on the E9, the 705 sounds BAD in comparison.
I only get hum when I have the TubeFex on Britanic, which is pure stun.
Gonna get me the other.

jerry wallace · From: Artesia , NM (deceased)

Thanks to eveyone for all of the compliments, business, and support..I do appreciate all of your feedback..Its great to hear that players are pleased with my pickups.

I build each one as if I were building for myself..All of your kind words make it worth while to build my TrueTone pickups..Being able to contribute to the pedal steel guitar that we all love to hear and play is my greatest reward.

Jerry Wallace

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Jerry Wallace-2001 Zum: D-10,8+6, "98 Zum: D-10,8+8,Nashville 1000,Session 500 ,Session 400 head only amp,Tubefex,ProfexII, Artesia, New Mexico
http://www.jerrywallacemusic.com

Eric West · From: Portland, Oregon, USA, R.I.P.

Add mine to the accolades.

I just got my second Sho~Bud pickup back after barely sending it a week ago.

I bought a 17k TT, but I liked more highs, so had the SBs rewound to 16k. One was that way stock, and the C6 was a tapped pickup with the top windings broken to give me 11k. They are PERFECT, and I really like the thicker top plate.

Jerry offered to cut the TT back to 16k at no charge. I'll think about it. I have a problem with work like that going unpaid. ( I'll probably give in

..)

I think on my rig, and for my taste the 16ks cut a little better. I still run everything at 2 O'clock on the Nashville with the bright pulled. Sweep all the way to the left. Just my taste I guess.

I recommend JW and his work 100%.

EJL

Jim Smith · From: Midlothian, TX, USA

I'm a new convert too!

I received a set of TrueTone's for my D-12 Fessy and installed them last week.

While tuning up last night, I could hear the difference immediately. Silkier highs and brighter lows with a very sweet midrange. The club we played at is very bad for hum, but these puppies were dead quiet all night long, and that is with my Stereo Steel rig sitting vertical in my rack case right beside my volume pedal!

I like them enough that my Dekley and Emmons D-12's may get upgraded soon!

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Jim Smith jimsmith94@comcast.net
-=Dekley D-12 10&12=-
-=Fessenden D-12 9&9=-
-=Emmons D-12 push pull 9&4 (soon to be 9&9)=-
Stereo Steel rig w/Boss GX-700
IVL SteelRider w/JV-880

Lee Baucum · From: McAllen, Texas (Extreme South) The Final Frontier

About 8 months ago Jerry rewound an old Mullen pickup for me. I was truly amazed at how much that pickup improved the tone of my Mullen U-12. It sounds much better than the stock pickup and I truly think the hum has been decreased since installing it.

Jerry, perhaps you should consider changing the name of your pickups to "Amazing Truetone Pickups".

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Lee, from South Texas
Down On The Rio Grande

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