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Gravelin Pups - P90 Content...


veatch

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I love it when a box full of pups comes in...

I picked up this mean little Dean Elite from Mr. Kurt a while back. I installed a Pearly Gates in the bridge and added a split. Put in a slick little preamp of my own design in that activates only with the tap to keep the coil tap at the same volume level as the full bucker. I then put a P90 in at the neck. I liked it. The guitar became the go-to for single coil stuff - the combo of the tap with the preamp was working well. I think it has been to every gig since i got it dialed in.

I talked with Mr Gravelin, and he made it a bit better. :) We talked for a good 30 minutes on what i liked, didn't like - I even sent him some clips of the band so he could get an idea of the hill he had to climb to make me sound presentable. These new pups are the result:

83Elite-001_zpsplaawzjf.jpg

83Elite-002_zps8imzroui.jpg

83Elite-003_zpsz9mpss0c.jpg

The P90 is very nice - the best P90 in a bucker format i've played. It's a keeper - especially clean.

The bridge in bucker mode is aggressive - it has a touch of that brown sound vibe, but i can still work the volume and dial in a good range.

The bridge tapped is very cool - Josh definitely spent some time on this to get it right. I haven't tried this pup without the preamp yet, but it's possible i won't even need the pre. The tap has a lot of the single coil spark i want.

All this, and they look cool, too. :)

Great work by Josh.

I'll give another whack at recording these again - maybe this weekend. Still need to get a good recording of Ultimate #0005 for that matter...

Edited to fix broken links to pics...

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Its a cleaner P90. More bell-like with clean settings on the amp. Exactly what I asked for. :)

I like a mean P90 in the bridge, but not as much in the neck. With the bucker in the bridge, this guitar kicks arse.

I still have to dial this in a bit more, then I'll record a few clips.

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Awesome! That sounds exactly like what Josh and I have been talking about for a P-90, but in a P-90 format/slot for an LP Jr.

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Veatch, you my hero, that look like an awesome combination. Now what about that preamp, i'd wanna hit that! Sounds just like what the doctor ordered.

The preamp is JFET based - the magic is in the biasing. This is the first pre that i've got to react like an input to a tube amp. The volume swells etc still breath like it should. It's very low gain - just enough to compensate for the loss in level due to the coil tap. Remarkably (or maybe not - i'm fairly stoopid in these things) the tapped coil sounds more like a single coil through the pre - at least previous pups have. I haven't tried Josh's pup without the pre yet.

The pre is tiny - smaller than a 9v battery. I'll get some pics and post them here.

This works perfect for a guitar with only one bucker to split - like this one, or something like a Cali.

More to follow.

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Veatch, you my hero, that look like an awesome combination. Now what about that preamp, i'd wanna hit that! Sounds just like what the doctor ordered.

The preamp is JFET based - the magic is in the biasing. This is the first pre that i've got to react like an input to a tube amp. The volume swells etc still breath like it should. It's very low gain - just enough to compensate for the loss in level due to the coil tap. Remarkably (or maybe not - i'm fairly stoopid in these things) the tapped coil sounds more like a single coil through the pre - at least previous pups have. I haven't tried Josh's pup without the pre yet.

The pre is tiny - smaller than a 9v battery. I'll get some pics and post them here.

This works perfect for a guitar with only one bucker to split - like this one, or something like a Cali.

More to follow.

Can't wait, sounds very cool. The PRS McCarty II had a similar kind of preamp in it but I believe it didn't split the coil but Q the Humbucker to sound like a single.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 6 months later...

Quick update. I never got some decent audio tracks taken of this guitar (yet - still on my stack of things to do...)

But, in the meantime, our drummer asked someone to record a couple of tunes at our last gig. We did Sultans and we got a decent video. Sultans is a fun tune, but scares the crap out of me every time we play it - i am no finger picker... The guitar is a little back in the track but i think it can be heard. I'm on the tapped bucker the entire time. Sounds like a single coil to me...

Josh - these pups just frickin' kick arse...

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