Matching Pickups To A Recto

[afu]

In case anyone cares, I finally played live with the new Dominion bridge pickup and my Roadster. It is just as advertised....mid heavy but I feel more of a lower mid. I did put just a touch more high end in the eq but not much. Overall very happy with it. Nice big thick tone. Easier to pull off pinch harmonics. Seemed very responsive but definitely not a crazy high output.

That's good to know.

Since it was easier, I added another tone cap that makes the value 23.5 nf to get a stronger resonant peak at low tone control settings. By switching the pickups between parallel and serial wiring while using the selector switch, I can change the emphasis as I move up or down the neck. It's hard to describe, but it's kind of like switching from a baritone to 2 different tenors to an alto.

Another cool thing is being able to use Raw or Pushed for a crunch sound and swap to the Jazz pickup wired in parallel for an almost clean sound. It sucks on the clean channel, but works as an effect for smoothing dirty and filthy sounds. Modern doesn't really get clean, but it is less intense.

 

[metalmingee]

Has anyone tried the EMG 57/66 with a Roadster? Really curious about hard rock tones (GNR, Hair bands, etc) in Brit and Raw modes.

Contemplating putting a set in my E-II Eclipse.

The demos I can find are all out metal. Looking for the versatility.

 

[robszab]

Many years ago, before anyone really had internet, I came to the realization that I don't need a high-output pickup to drive my high-gain Recto. I tried a Duncan '59. High-gain rhythm tones were to die for. Loaded with rich harmonic overtones and incredibly dynamic and touch-responsive. But I never really dug the lead tones. Best way to describe it was biting. Not smooth or buttery.

Nowadays I'm liking my Peavey HP Special's stock pickups through a Roadster. It is a hotter pickup (but not too hot), and it complements the Roadster quite nicely.

I'm building a guitar now and am thinking I want to give the Lawrence L500 a go. I think it would be a good match for a Recto too.

 

[domct203]

Many years ago, before anyone really had internet, I came to the realization that I don't need a high-output pickup to drive my high-gain Recto. I tried a Duncan '59. High-gain rhythm tones were to die for. Loaded with rich harmonic overtones and incredibly dynamic and touch-responsive. But I never really dug the lead tones. Best way to describe it was biting. Not smooth or buttery.

Nowadays I'm liking my Peavey HP Special's stock pickups through a Roadster. It is a hotter pickup (but not too hot), and it complements the Roadster quite nicely.

I'm building a guitar now and am thinking I want to give the Lawrence L500 a go. I think it would be a good match for a Recto too.

Out of all the pickups I've tried, and I think I've tried most of them LOL (Duncan, Dimarzio, Suhr, BK, EMG), the Bill (& Becky) Lawrence Wilde L500's always make it back into my #1 & #2 Les Pauls.

The clarity of these pickups is amazing, and takes some getting used to. The L500-R in the neck position has a (clean) shimmer to the top end that I have yet to experience with any other pickup. For leads it screams without being muddy.

The L500-XL in the bridge is extremely tight and cutting, similar to an active p'up, but with all the dynamics of a great passive p'up. Plenty of bottom end too.

Both p'up have a lot of output, right up there with the Dimarzio Super Distortion, and active pickups, but do not suffer from the lack of mid-range clarity and muddiness like most high output passives.

Dom

 

[afu]

I have the JB and Jazz set in my main guitar. I have found pickup height to be the most important part of getting the tone I want. I live in Tucson, AZ, where the summer is hot and sticky from monsoons. During this time, the neck is constantly moving, changing string height by up to 1 mm when the weather changes are extreme.

By noting the height from the strings I desire to use, it takes a minute or two with a screwdriver and metric ruler to find the sweet spot again. If I pick it up and it sounds like crap, this is usually the problem. I also usually have to change, or should change, string height and adjust the truss rod once or twice a week to maintain the feel I desire. All of this stuff is written down and the tools are always at hand to make adjustments when necessary.

To apply this a little differently, if a person uses a pickup and it's producing too much of a particular, broad range (bass or treble, for instance), either raise the opposite side by half a turn at a time or drop the offending side by half of a turn. Do either or both until the sound is to a person's liking and write that down, measuring from the bottom of the 1st and 6th strings to the top of the pickup. This is a free modification and will even improve cheap, stock pickups.

In general, the treble side might be 1.5 mm to 2 mm and the bass side seems to sit about 2 mm away with most of my guitars guitars, including EMG pickups. Any difference from that is usually due to moving the bass side away by up to .3 mm to improve clarity. Sometimes, when I want less drive and compression, the pickup is set a little further away, about 2.5 mm on both sides, but any further than that begins to impair signal-to-noise and the sound loses body. So, if a person finds what they like, being precise pays off.

 

[screamingdaisy]

Since we're talking pickup adjustments.

The other day I finally re-tubed my amp. The difference was both subtle, and not so subtle. I found most of my guitar's sounding kind of harsh.

I seems that over time I've trended towards raising the screws poles on my bridge humbuckers to bring in more brightness. I thought it was just the way it was supposed to be and never thought it was because I was compensating for my amp getting duller. In hindsight, if I'd not adjusted my pickups over time to add brightness/attack I probably would've changed my tubes sooner. Me adjusting the pickups was actually masking the problem.

As mentioned, with the new tubes my tone was pretty harsh. I wound up lowering the screws to reduce the output of the screw coil. The results were thicker and more harmonically rich as the coil further from the bridge started to come into balance. It's the best sound I've had in a long time.

 

[afu]

I also like to back mine off from time to time. I just find myself moving them into a higher spot later on to get some of the compression back.