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Topic: Pick-ups, Volume pots, Amps and Tone |
Brett Cookingham
From:
Sherman Oaks CA
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Posted 6 Mar 2003 12:19 pm |
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I remember when hot pick-ups were "the thing"
for the regular six string guitar. I used them like everybody else did (20 some YEARS AGO!). There were problems with these pick-ups. First being that your tone got muddy if you backed off the volume. Second the tone knob was rendered useless. And last but not least the pick-ups over powered the sonic individuality of the guitar i.e. Strats,Les Pauls, Flying V's, Tele's all sounded like the same guitar with those hot pick-ups. NO DIVERSITY!!!! AHRG!!!!
Enter "The Pedal Steel" SUPER HOT pick-ups are all the rage. (IMHO)The same problems apply to steel as to "regular guitar" with hot P.U.s and the added problem of smashing(distorting) the front end of a nice tube amp (the original intention of hot pick-ups). I have a '67 Emmons PP with stock pick-ups it sounds great no matter what. I have Le Grande III with Super Hot Pick-Ups. It sounds O.K. through the Nashville 400, better through an Avalon DI to Tape. But it Just doesn't get it with any of my tube Amps.
I was thinking of changing to lower output pick-ups. Would that reveal the "real tone" of the instrument? Does anyone out there know what an all pull Emmons sounds like with lower output pick-ups ? Did hot pick ups emerge with the All Pull to hide it's tonal deficiency? OUCH!!!
Any Comments?
Peace!
Brett Cookingham
[This message was edited by Brett Cookingham on 06 March 2003 at 01:13 PM.]
[This message was edited by Brett Cookingham on 06 March 2003 at 01:15 PM.] [This message was edited by Brett Cookingham on 06 March 2003 at 03:03 PM.] [This message was edited by Brett Cookingham on 06 March 2003 at 03:07 PM.] |
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richard burton
From:
Britain
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Posted 6 Mar 2003 12:43 pm
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| I agree; Hot pickups ruin a steels tone. I have put a very low output single coil pickup on my Carter, this has allowed the great inherent tone of the steel to come through. The factory-fitted humbucker was masking the most important thing that matters on a PSG: Tone. |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 6 Mar 2003 5:37 pm
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Most people turn the amp down when they run those "hot pickups". Nothing kills tone more on a tube amp than running it with the volumes turned down!
Therefore, you have two choices. Use the tube rig with your present pickups, and keep the amp volume wide open (which will require more delicate volume pedal use), or switch back to old single-coils, which will let you turn the amp down a bit.
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James Quackenbush
From:
Pomona, New York, USA
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Posted 10 Mar 2003 8:01 am
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| You kinda have to find a happy medium with pickups in ANY steel to my knowlege....I have a rule of thumb for pickups..The higher the output, the lower the tone !!...17.5k - 19k is about the range of pickups I will look for in a single coil tone...Single coils in that power range are just hot enough to sound GREAT without muddyness, or unbalanced tone...Just my opionion...YMMV....Jim |
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C Dixon
From:
Duluth, GA USA
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Posted 10 Mar 2003 10:36 am
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Brett said,
"Would that reveal the "real tone" of the instrument?
The real tone of an instrument is rarely if ever what a player chooses to hear from his amp. IF that were the case, THE best amp would be the players own HI-FI stereo in his home!
IN other words, a perfectly flat frequency response would be the standard, with NO ability to adjust tone, etc. Sadly such is not the case. MOST players are seeking a sound they have in their head. And NO matter what they buy or attach, it is that sound they are striving for when they "tweak" whatever equipment they have.
The fact is, the sound coming directly out of a guitar is pretty awful in most cases. True, everything else being equal, one guitar sounds much different than another. As to which is desirable, it is the same as which snowflake is the prettiest.
For many of us, the Emmons' P/P sound like BE got on his black album is THE sound we are after. Most of this sound was from Buddy's hands. Some of this sound was the guitar, MUCH of it is in the amp and amp and delay, and reverb settings.
Fortunately for other builders, some do not care for this sound and opt for the sound of a Mullens, Zum, MSA, etc. Plust their own "tweaked" amps and accessories. Albeit, their ears and hands play a big role.
carl
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