Pickup for Fessenden

Brad Sarno · From: St. Louis, MO USA

Well I got my new Fessy about a month ago. Black mica, SD-10. Love it, love it, love it. It came in with a True-Tone and it sounded just fantastic. I really love the True-Tone (17.5k). It may be my favorite, but in my house and at a couple of gigs, the hum is just too much so I use humbuckers.

I first tried a George L's 10-1. Real nice, smooth sound. Rich midrange, nice and full. But it kind of lacked a bite or sparkle that the Fessy seems to want to do, so I pulled it out and tried the George L's EON. The EON is a great pickup in the Fessy. I'd say that anyone who likes or liked the E-66 would probably like the EON and maybe even better. It's apparently the same basic pickup, wound the same, but the magnet/bar metal is different giving it a fuller sound. It's essentially a nice, bright E-66 but with much fuller low-mids and bass. I played a couple of gigs with the EON and really liked it, still do.

But the other day I got a Lawrence 710 in there and it really sounds great. I've had other guitars where I didn't necessarily care for the 710, but this Fessy/710 combo is really quite perfect. It really seems to let the Fessy sound like it wants to, real clear, open, meaty, growly, etc. I had read that lots of Fessy owners prefer the 710 and now I see why.

So in my Fessy, the 710 probably wins first place so far in my experimentation and with the EON a very close second. They may be a tie, but today the 710 wins.

Brad

[This message was edited by Brad Sarno on 20 November 2005 at 09:09 AM.]

Bob Blair · From: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Brad, I have 710's in both my Fessy's - they sound great to me.

Jim Harper · From: Comanche, Oklahoma, USA * R.I.P.

Brad, i have 910,s on both neck,s of my Fessey.It sound,s great to me==Jim Harper

autry andress · From: Plano, Tx.

I ordered L 710 on my fessy & loved them.
I did give the TT a try sounded good but got tired of the noise. Now I have the L XR-16 on & don't plan to make any changes any time soon. As I understand it the XR-16 is between the L 710 & L 910.
Mr. Bill Lawrence makes some great pick ups.

[This message was edited by autry andress on 20 November 2005 at 10:40 AM.]

Mike Perlowin · From: Los Angeles CA

Slighty off topic, but I'd like to see EVERY steel made come with interchangable pickups so we can all just try out a bunch of different ones and see which we prefer. My next guitar will be a Millennium for just that reason.

My white mica MSA was retrofitted with the Sierra system. At present, I'm using a TT, bit Eventually I want to try out every pickup on the market.

I also have an E-66 for situations where the tt is too noisy, but I want something with more emphasis on the bass and midrange.

Darvin Willhoite · From: Roxton, Tx. USA

My Fessenden came with George L's PF-1's and I thought it sounded pretty good until Jerry talked me into trying the 710's. It sounded much better with the 710's. A couple of years ago I found a pair of Shields pickups and put them in it, and the sound improved even more.

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Darvin Willhoite
Riva Ridge Recording

Morton Kellas · From: Chazy, NY, USA 1

I have to agree with Brad on the Eon tone. The 710 sounds good as well. I feel the Eon is a bit smoother. The highs on the 710 are a bit more harsh to my ear. It all boils down to what tone you are looking for.
Can't go wrong with either one.

Ron Sodos · From: San Antonio, Texas USA

I recently had Jerry build me a new double 10. I had him put 710's on both necks. It was a perfect choice. I love the tone and so does my band. I put a 710 on my Zum and it doesn't sound as good as the Fessy though. SAo I will probably go back to a Truetone or a GeorgeL.

Brad Sarno · From: St. Louis, MO USA

That just goes to show there there isn't really (other than the True Tone) the perfect pickup. It's all about matching the pickup to the guitar. Just like in the studio finding the right microphone to match the singer. There isn't the perfect mic. Even within the same brand of steel, they vary enough that some may sound good with one pickup and another needs a different one. The Fessies do seem to lean enough in one direction that the 710 is pretty widely accepted. But as Mort and I have discovered, the EON is pretty great and maybe just as viable as the 710 in a Fessy. Then there's the hard to find Crap Trap pickup that some Fessy owners swear by, including Fessenden himself. I've still got the 710 in there and I like it. Maybe next string change I'll try the EON again for a while.

The hardest thing about pickup evaluation is that you really should put fresh strings on there since detuning and retuning them kind of kills them. But then the fresh strings need a few days to mellow to really hear what the pickup sounds like. I think Sierra and MSA really had a great idea with that interchangable, quick-swap pickup mounting scheme.

By the way, did I say that I love this Fessy?

Brad

Brad Sarno · From: St. Louis, MO USA

OK, I'm back on the EON pickup again after a couple of weeks with the 710. Today the EON wins. Very different sound. Not as bright and aggressive as the 710. That 710 sure does sound good in my Fessy though. But today, listening to the EON again I'm really liking the warmth and smoothness of it. Sweet top end, but full and fat with a more mellow upper midrange compared to the 710 which is super clear and kind of in-your-face or up front sounding. Both real good, both different. I think more people should experiment with the EON in general.

Brad

Brad Sarno · From: St. Louis, MO USA

OK, back again on the same topic. I've gone back and forth with the 710 and the EON, and just recently tried an old 705. The 705 was very cool too, but had this kind of harder, more aggressive edge to it. So after a few months of liking the 710, then trying and liking the 705, now I'm back to the EON. I must say that the EON is my current overall winner in my Fessy. It's a very full, rich, and warm sound with plenty of clarity. It's smooth sounding and very UN-harsh.

So, I'm back here again to recommend trying the George L's EON pickup.

Brad

Bob Hoffnar · From: Austin, Tx

A humbucking pickup to check out if you can find one is Jim Pitman"s. He isn't making them at the moment but I heard they might be available again in not too long.

Jerry Fessenden will know whats up.

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Bob
upcoming gigs
My Website

Darvin Willhoite · From: Roxton, Tx. USA

I have a couple of Danny Shields pickups on my Fessy, which I think the Pitman pickups were modeled after. I played it on an outdoor show last night through an Evans JE-150 amp with a 12" Emminence speaker, and a DD5 for a slight delay. It sounded great to my ears. Mine originally had George L's pickups (can't remember which ones) and Jerry recommended changing to Lawrence 710's, which was an improvement, then I found these Shields pickups and put them in, and the sound improved even more.

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Darvin Willhoite
Riva Ridge Recording

Brad Sarno · From: St. Louis, MO USA

So does anyone know how close to the original Shields crap trap pickup the new Pitman pickup is? I keep hearing that these are great in a Fessy.

Brad

Drew Howard · From: 48854

I had a 710 in my single neck Fessy (that I stupidly traded for a Carter 12 string). More mids than an E66.

In my double neck Fessy, Jerry put PF-1's for that "modern" sound.

cheers,

Drew

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Drew Howard - website - Fessenden guitars, 70's Fender Twin, etc.

John Lazarus · From: Tucson, AZ.

Brad, Here's a trick Bobbe S. told me years ago and it works amazing tone magic on any guitar with 710's and it's quick and free. Lower the 710 WAY DOWN!
There is a sweet spot on the guitar that a powerful 710 can find that other pickups miss. The 710 gets smoother and the harshness disappears.
By low I mean 3/8"+ below the strings! Try tilting the treble and bass ends up or down more than just leaving them level end to end. With some experimenting you may be amazed with the tone you find.
I have tried this on Fessenden and EMCI guitars with astounding results. Doesn't work with Geo. L stuff, just BL 710's. Also won't work on some guitars because the pillow post limits how low the 710 can drop. My thanks to Bobbe.

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