JGravelin

I commented HA! on this thread, mentioned I had one, and then posted it FS at a fair price of $275 with shipping included. It's just a case! I'm not a capitalist asshole. HFC buds deserve HFC price and I'll extend that love and mindset however I can.

Hey, if anyone needs one of these .. I have one! I've been sitting on it for years now. Get in touch.

HA!

Bubba, here's a killer old Spoon track. One that I was in the audience for on that specific night. They were awesome of course, and still are. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KC48x9F8WFA

Not that often really, but I have explained it that way previously. Just wait until you hear the Charlies Angels analogy I've got cue'd up for Strat pickups!

With any guitar featuring a 3-way switch, the middle position deserves just as much attention and consideration as each of the pickups gets on its own, yes, absolutely, without a doubt. All three options need to sound related to the one that comes before and/or after, the frequency response tailored and fine-tuned to provide a cohesive tonal experience that makes sense to the ears from one switched position to the next. An analogy I use often when describing Sets of pickups is relating each pickup in a guitar as part of a 50's greaser street gang. The all have slicked back hair, pipeleg "skinny" jeans, tshirts, leather jackets, boots...all grew up on the same block... yet each member has something distinctly and uniquely their own. One guy has a white tshirt, the other black. One has boots with cuban heels, the other without. Each serves a purpose that serves a shared end-result. Different yes, but a cohesive unit that works together. --- Shark! While the coils in the bridge position are asymmetrical, I won't be pushing it to the extreme that I start introducing identifiable and commonly associated single-coil tones into things. That said, one can tune the upper midrange and treble response as well as the bass response greatly by offsetting the amount of wire on each coil, varying the turns per layer, tightening/loosening the tension on the wire, mixing/matching the grades of steel used for the metal parts, and more. And more. For me, it's about a very specific balance. And for the sake of clarity I must state that "chicken pickin'" is a technique and not a tone. It's great to know that you feel the same way as I with chambered bodies and yeah, the bridge position especially needs and does benefit in having a bit more kung fu fighting power. That special "Hi-karate", if you will. (hi Ted!) ----- Wouldn't it be really f'ing awesome if in the wide open setting on the bridge, there was enough sparkle, chime, and clarity in the upper registers that a guy/gal could play in that way and have it come off as sounding legit? And then maybe you roll the tone control back a hair and dirty things up and suddenly Surrender sounds just perfect and Those that are About To Rock are Saluting You? And a hair more on the tone and you're totally Unchained, and turning the volume control down slightly leaves no doubt that indeed the Boys Are Back In Town? My reference points, my standards in what I'm shooting for with the bridge. When a person hops back to the bridge position, it's to make an authoritive and musicial statement. And this is exactly why taking a little extra special care with the bridge pickup is important to me because in making that statement it'd be nice to be able to cover as much ground as musicially possible, yes? As CMatthes said, Mike and I are indeed considering every possible tiny little dang thing. You guys are in for a real treat and rest assured that I will be holding up my end of the bargain in that. In the meantime, stay kool and keep 'er between the ditches! Oh, and sorry in advance for any typos - I'm shooting from the hip over here. -J

Great question, Soli'd! I saw your post a few days ago and wanted to address it because I figure that if you're wondering, then others might be too and...well, it's a completely valid question that deserves a reply. Cmatthes speaks the truth: Mike and I have had a number of discussions about the pickups and the purpose they'll serve in The Ultimates. There's absolutely no doubt that chambered mahogany with a maple cap sounds and responds a bit different than an instrument made of solid mahogany. To a degree, the effects of a chambered 'hog body with a maple cap are predictable: a slight roll off in the low fundamental, a more open midrange responsiveness, and extra "air" and harmonic content to the notes with the high end. This has been my experience with chambered instruments anyway. With a solid mahogany bodied instrument one can expect solid lows, midrange frequencies forward, and slightly subdued and sweet sounding highs comparatively speaking. As was previously stated, the proto guitar is a test-bed but there are tonal characteristics that will remain constant due in large part to Mike's excellent neck joint. So how do I do it? I use my knowledge of tonewoods and guitar construction that I've amassed over the years working in guitar shops and repairing instruments as well as the stuff I soaked up from hanging out in my Fathers shop as a kid (my Dad is a luthier)- but most importantly, I use these large unsightly ears of mine and listen critically. I spent much time playing and listening to the proto guitar acoustically and still do because to me, the starting point for any well-made pickup is to magnify the natural sound of the instrument without much coloration, with respect to the positioning of said pickup. That's the baseline. From there, it's small tweaks to the design: increasing/decreasing the turns-per-layer, tension on the wire, number of turns, magnet choice, metal choices for slugs and screws and keeper bars, etc. until the desired result is acheived. There are other considerations in creating a matched, balanced set because not only do the neck and bridge have to sound killer on their own, they also have to sound great in the middle switched position with both on. Because of this, there's a certain range in which two humbuckers will sound "good" when combined together. Taking it too far out of that range equals an unbalanced sound, which is unacceptable. What I'm doing with this set is creating something versatile and toneful: pickups designed to work together and compliment each other, as well as kick ass on their own: slightly lower output in the neck position with an A4 magnet (clear and articulate, a nice singing bell-tone quality ala late-50's Gib with no low-mid bloat), and the bridge (A5 magnet) leans a little more to the "time to rock!" side of things like a good overwound PAF style, but still has enough sparkle and chime in there to be able to chicken-pick and cut it on a country gig. I'm still not quite satisfied with the bridge pickup actually, but it's very very very close. I'm a bit OCD and any of my friends will tell you that I'm a perfectionist - the words "good enough" don't really exist in my world: it's gotta be spot-on. Also, I know you guys will tear me to shreds if the pickups are lackluster so obviously I won't be putting myself in that position! The neck is in the 7.5k range, the bridge will land in the mid to upper 8's. Still working on thebridge pickup as I mentioned previously, but that's about what you can expect. Hope that clears things up and provides some insight into my process. Thanks for reading!

The specific color I've chosen is called Creamatorius Hamerium. It's Batman approved!