Working Your Sound to Suit You

Jerry Overstreet · From: Louisville Ky

Don't really know where to post this as it applies to both pedal and no pedal steel as well as other amplified instruments.

I acquired this Fender Artist D10 back in Oct 23. I did not initially notice that the pickups had been changed from the old Fender originals. They are different front and back neck. Got no clue what they are but the pup cavities and mounting blocks have all been modified.

The sound of these pickups might be described as "mellow" I just say dark. The rear neck, really dark.

I like the guitar so I set out to get it in good working order and then deal with the sound.

Probably everyone knows that I use multi-fx and component rack systems still so when I tried the settings I normally use with my friend's Carter, my previous MCI, Zum and Mullen patches it sounded awful Ugh!

I spent a lot of time programming settings in the GP100 pre/fx unit until I got a nice sound and continued fine tuning from there until I got a patch that worked great for the guitar and the electronics.

I also found I liked both E9 and C6 with the switch in the middle with both pups on. [I think it originally had a split coil function but that's all missing.]

Then I got an Emmons gadget from Larry sort of like a Match Box thingy. Using that, I can control the sound from very mellow to very bright and found I can use my old settings from the other guitars with it too!

These old pickups have been trimmed and chopped to somewhat fit in the slots along with trimming the pickup housings so it looks a bit ratty. The damage is done, so I elect to just live with it as it is. Will I look for better pickups? Maybe, but probably not now that I'm happy with it.

I've yet to get it out there with a full band so my thoughts may change after that, but for now I'm happy.

Point of the post is that you shouldn't give up on your sound until you have studied and learned how to modify your electronics, amps, speakers and effects to fit the guitar you are playing now!. One size does not fit all. It takes effort, knowledge, trial and error to get what you want out of it for the way you play.

Your guitar is an extension of you.
You got to work with what you got, run what you brung and make it sound like you.

This is why the pro players sound so great on every brand, style, type of guitar they play. They have learned how to tweak everything until it does what they want.

Bottom line, don't be afraid to spin knobs, tweak eq's and fx settings if your new guitar doesn't sound like your old one with the same settings. That's what the controls are there for.

Don't be too quick to swap out your pickups unless they are really bad, microphonic etc. You might find there are really small differences among the various types.

I see players talking about and asking about amp settings. It's fine to have a starting point but you can't just set it and pull the knobs off, as it were, because every situation and environment is different.

That's my opinion anyway only figured out after many years of dealing with this stuff.

Larry Dering · From: Missouri, USA

Jerry that's sound advice. No pun intended. I said a while back that each steel and every amp are not always a perfect match. But after spending a good bit of time you can hone in on the best qualities of each.

Jerry Overstreet · From: Louisville Ky

Well, I finally got a chance to debut this old Artist with a band. It was a lg. outdoor family oriented picnic at a gorgeous several hundred acres farm away from the hustle and bustle.

Great folks, couldn't ask for a better situation.

Downside, the heat index was 102 when I left the house around 3:30. Temps in the 90s with nasty humidity levels.

I was soaked through time we got set up and it didn't get much better until about the time we were done just before 10:00.

The guitar performed beautifully. One of the best sounds I've ever had. I used the middle switch position with both pickups on for all the front neck stuff. That carboard thingy slides in over the rear neck pickup for a mute so I don't have that pickup in the mix. I use the rear neck pickup alone with the C6 tuning.

Small rack with my homebuilt angled 1501 cab.

Unfortunately, my playing was subpar. I was always about a half step behind and blew licks on songs I've been playing for a long time. Very frustrating and pause to consider just giving up playing out.

It was the first time this group had played together as a band, and we weren't really working as a cohesive unit IMO. Had guitar, some nice keyboards, steel, bass and drums.

We started out with PA issues having all vocals and instruments in the house. Dunno what was going on as I was really just concentrating on my own struggles. Things got better when we just turned up amps on stage and took instruments off the board.

My only real saving grace was my instrumental which went pretty good.

The rig, though, sounded great to me and the guitar is a gem, a keeper for that reason plus I'm just stubborn enough to show almost any combiniation of gear can have a good sound if you work at making it as a unit v. individual pieces.

2 sp. rack with GP100 as main pre and 1/2 sp. SE70 for a few other synth things and different eqs.
1/2 sp. Stewart PA100 amp in mono to a 1501 cabinet.
Everything in there is several decades old, no new and fancy electronics, but I think it sounds at least as good as any of the current gear. JMO.

chuck lemasters · From: Jacksonburg, WV

I replaced a Carter I mistakenly sold with another a few months ago. It came with a Lawrence 710 pickup. I know the Carter folks didn’t recommend the 710 in their guitars. I thought, as good as this guitar sounds, imagine how much better it will sound with any of the pickups I had used in Carters in the past. Four pickup changes later, the 710 is back in the guitar. For my money, none of the others compare in this particular guitar. The only real change in my amp settings is a couple of numbers on the presence knob.

Larry Dering · From: Missouri, USA

Great story Jerry. Something to be said about hanging what you got.
Chuck we all have those things and just have to try and make it better. Sometimes square one was right.

Jerry Overstreet · From: Louisville Ky

Thanks for your support Larry. One of the reasons I do this is poor boys have poor ways. I don't really have the resources to acquire new stuff and I have to tweak what I have on hand.

The mfgs. and vendors are going to hate me for stating this, but the grass isn't always greener with new gear. You might already have the potential for a lush lawn right there in front of, behind and beside you.

I realize that things do get stolen, fail and wear out plus GAS keeps the builders and vendors in business, it's just that I think people give up on their existing gear because they don't know how or want to spend time sorting it out...or maybe they're bored with it and just want new stuff...nothing wrong with that either.

Larry Dering · From: Missouri, USA

Jerry l agree 100%. I have newfound love for some of my older quote vintage gear that sat idle for ages. After trying some of the new mid priced gadgets that didn't improve on my sound, the old gear had a better flavor. And as you said we need to be frugal about spending at this point in our lives.

Forum Index > Electronics		Next oldest topic :: Next newest topic

All times are GMT - 8 Hours	Jump to: