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!

Is there an option to like the likes? Y'all are so cool. Really. A couple of brief addendums and thoughts, if you don't mind: Paragraph 4: Someone that tries to "reinvent the wheel" can be interpreted in both a positive and negative light. One could say "what's the point of starting from scratch and doing whats already been done? Nice job dumbass, you just wasted your time.". The other would say "Hey, there's always the possibility that you can make the wheel better! Try it!". After much thought as to how I was going to approach this project, I chose to not go with what was easy - rather, I opted to start at the beginning and build (rebuild?) to suit the instrument using all the modern resources and advancements available to me. I have the prototype so there's no excuse not to and honestly, anything less would be half-assing it. Mikes trying to Win The Game. He won't unless I do. If I do, he does. And at the end of it, YOU do. We all do. Yes. To expound further: The way a builder crafts the instrument, the subtle nuances of the technique as it applies to wood choices andneck construction ( 2-piece scarf joints vs. one piece vs. center-cut 2-piece vs. multi-lams) and the way the neck is connected to the body along with the hardware choices and mass of said hardware are a huge part of what defines core resonance and tone of an instrument. Having this prototype in my possession gives me a tremendous advantage in really dialing things in. I will say though that no two instruments resonate and sound alike. I'll say that again and again and again. The best I or anyone in my position can do is to find the zone in which the winding and the metals and the magnets work in concert with each other to best suit what has been presented by the luthier. I can tell you that Mike has chosen some prime mahogany. The hardware is top-notch. And most importantly, the neck joint technique: Best. Ever. I've played the proto extensively unplugged and listened and FELT it for over a month - equal vibration and resonance in the hand between the body and neck with full-frequency response. I'm taking into account the effect of a maple cap but honestly, that is just but one small aspect of the "big picture" in regards to how a guitar is going to sound. I've played, heard, and know the difference between a '53 LP Jr and a '59 LP burst. The woods make a difference, but there's other things at work there too. I'll save my thoughts on potentiometer values, capacitor values, weight and mass of hardware, pick material, pick angle/playing style, and the "it's all in the hands" stuff for another post. Paragraph 6: The mention of Unobtainium. When Ted first told me about this uber-special set of mythical pickups that contained this mysticial metal, it really lit me up. I mean, yeah!! F-word! Unobtainium!!! I'm totally down with it. I like the metaphor that exists in the word Unobtainium. Did you know that the composition of the human body contains the materials in the form of trace elements to make most of what a guitar pickup is? It's true. I suspect that if you ate Hot Pockets for a year, you could manage the plastic for the HB bobbins too. All humor aside, being that I was a philosophy major in college it kinda got me to pondering Unobtainium as it applies to the human condition and I've come to the conclusion that it's actually a real thing! What people call the "X factor" or "Mojo" or "Secret Sauce" ...that's what Unobtainium is. We all have it. It's what makes Mikes guitars so special. It's the energy that we all impart on something when we're doing what we love, for the right reasons. Unobtainium. I've got an unlimited source and won't build pickups without it. Ok. That's it! I'm glad to be here, but really should get back to work. Be well and rock on.

HI Everyone, Josh Gravelin here - the guy who's building the pickups for the Shishkov instruments. The fact that my name came up at all for this project is kind of amazing to me because I don't have a website nor have I advertised my services - it's all been word of mouth, from players telling their friends, etc. I'm incredibly grateful and humbled in having this opportunity and as you all know, there's certainly no shortage of reputable companies making quality pickups. The fact that I was chosen for this isn't something I take lightly and I'm thrilled to be doing this for Mike and for all of YOU! A little background on me: 25 years as a professional active musician (national and international touring, bunches of records, session work, all the late-nite tv shows, commercial radio jingles, etc), 12 years in guitar shops doing everything from sales to service manager, and also served as instrument tech while touring for nearly every band I've ever gone out with. I repaired my first pickup in 1997, ruined and then repaired bunches more with my own instruments, have spent literally thousands of hours and dollars experimenting, learning, researching, and refining the skills and knowledge required to do it "right". About 6 years ago, I felt I was finally ready to start building and repairing pickups for others in a professional capacity and quickly developed a reputation for my rewinds and refurbishing of vintage pickups - Fender, Gibson, Gretsch, Guild, Hofner, Rickenbacker - old Dimarzios and Duncans, and a special interest in the oddballs and off-brands from the 50's and 60's: Danelectro, DeArmond, Dixon, Eko, Goya, Guyatone, Harmony, Ibanez, Kay, Kent, Maxon, National, Sekova, Silvertone, Supro, Teisco, Tokai, Univox, Valco...some of those pickups are really great, and some...well...not so much! Learning the secrets of how and why some designs work and others don't is fascinating and even with pickups I'm familiar with, there's always something new to take in. I've been in the R&D stages for the last month- prototyping, experimenting with different grades of steel from samples provided from 5 different manufacturers, different bar magnets of varying grades from 4 different suppliers - mixing and matching to find the right combinations that will really bring out the best in these instruments. Nothing I'm using comes in "kit" form and I'm selecting the absolute best stuff I can get my hands on. The only concession I had to make was using modern plastic bobbins instead of butyrate plastic as found in the classic Gibson examples because butyrate bobbins with a 50mm spacing for the bridge pickup position aren't available unless I buy in for a 1000 piece run and have them made especially for me. I simply don't have the cash to throw down on something like that right now, as having the molds made alone costs well over $1000. We'll see what the future brings! That said, I've spent many many hours finding pictures of old Hamers, comparing the colors of the pickups and plastics used, and have found what I feel to be as close to an exact match as anyone could hope for, including the pickup mounting rings. It wasn't easy and at one point, I actually had a nightmare about it. Hard work and perserverance usually pays off and I'm happy to say it did in this instance. I know some of you are curious about the specifics of the metals I'm using for slugs, screw poles, keeper bar, magnet grades, etc. Once, a long time ago on another forum, I publically shared some very specific information on a pickup that wasn't being produced at the time - someone swooped in, lifted my work, and within 2 months was selling a product and making money off of my research. Lesson learned. But, as these are Shlabotniks, of course they're mostly made with Unobtainium so I'm not too worried about it. - Nickel Silver frames (long leg neck, short leg bridge) - Unoriented Unobtainium magnet in the bridge - Polished Unobtainium magnet in the neck - Unobtainium slugs, keeper bar, and screw poles - Maple spacers - 42 AWG single build coil wire - wound and assembled by yours truly - very lightly potted I'm not posting resistance values, henries, or any other electronic measurement specs at this time because I'm still waiting on the rest of the parts to arrive and will be putting together the final prototypes, gigging them, and have one more stage of fine-tuning to do. For all of you - for Mike - and yes, for me - these pickups need to be stellar and I'm making sure that they will be. Once the guitars have shipped, I will make singles and sets of these humbuckers available to paid HFC members with "Supporter" status. P90s, Single Coils, Jazz and Precision bass styles also, but only when I've built them specifically for the Shishkov instruments. Feel free to ask any questions you might have. I'm seriously busy and have a LOT going on with all of this, but I'll do my best to reply as quickly as I can. I hope you're all happy and doing well! Thanks for reading.