Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Pickups => Topic started by: remak on October 31, 2009, 01:45:41 PM
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I must stop looking at ebay at night with a glass of wine in my hand as tend to wake up and find that just bought more guitars.
Well it came to pass that I now have two Ibanez semi hollows.
One is a highly unhip AS80 from the early 90s and the other is a fabulous looking, superbly built, Artcore AM103BM.
And wouldn't ya know it, the ugly duckling AS80 sounds like heaven and the AM103 sounds gastly.
Before I offend anyone I know some like the Ibanez Super 58 Custom pickups Ibanez put in the better Artcore guitars, but to my ears they sound nasty scratchy cheepy ceramic. Plus if you roll the volume down below 7 they just DIE, all the tone gets sucked out. These Super 58 customs are not the Super58s of Ibanez 1980s fame. This guitar deserves better.
The 1991 AS80 has Ibanez Super70s pickups. Not made anymore and not a cult pickup, you would have thought. But man, they are shockingly good! - very balanced and respond very well to the volume and tone controls. They are what I would call Modern/PAF - slightly hotter and less complicated than a classic Gibson type pickup. They are staying in the AS80.
So I was kind of thinking about what would be a good Ibanez semi-hollow stlye pickup for the AM103BM, to give it that 80s biting Schofield. sound. and a funky soulful jazz sound on the neck.
Some Wikipedia research shows the Super58s were Alnico3 and the Super70 were Alnico 8. Both were made by Maxon and had 7.5-8KOhm impedance.
What would you recommend for that 1982 AS200 sound? Dogs? Emerald? or a Mule/Emerald combination? Would the Diver be too hot for a semi-guitar and a non-metal player like me?
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Personally i would consider the Stormy Monday set, as being a semi guitar it will make the pickups sound louder as it is and you don't want something too hot for a semi guitar. I think you would be pleasantly surprised :)
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Yes, this was Tim's recommendation too. He warned about hotter pickups making a semi sound too boxy.
Hmmmm, AlNiCo II or IV??? Probably a II.
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I got MQs in a semi hollow and I really like'em a lot. I don't know if they'll do what you're after, but I find that they can be both sweet and smooth on the neck and biting on the bridge. Quite versatile in my book.
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Oh, by the way. That guitar looks smashing!
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Oh, by the way. That guitar looks smashing!
+1 looks very classy
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Oh, by the way. That guitar looks smashing!
Even though its my box I have to agree :)! The photo makes it look a touch more red than in reality. In reality it's more of a milk chocolate color, with cream wooden bindings. I cannot fault the build in one slightest detail, the instrument is so playable too. I fervently hope whoever built it in China got paid a decent wage.
Can't wait to hear it with decent pickups in it.
I had considered the MQs since they seem to be preferred for Jazz, but sometimes there are problems playing single coils in electro smog environments like radio studios so I guess I will stick with humbuckers.
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Have you given thoughts to the Riff Raff? Might be a good choice.
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I thought the Ibanez Super 70's were or were fast becoming "cult pickups?"
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I thought the Ibanez Super 70's were or were fast becoming "cult pickups?"
Thought so too, they seem regarded!
You seem to want something with a bit of poke - go for Riff Raffs I reckon. They should blow those Super70s away
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Riff Raffs in a semi, hmmmm. To be honest I had always thought of them as a SG type pickup.
I'm going to listen to the demos in the players section with an open mind.
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Riff Raffs in a semi, hmmmm. To be honest I had always thought of them as a SG type pickup.
I'm going to listen to the demos in the players section with an open mind.
I think there's a clip with Ron Ulu playing a riff raff'ed 335 somewhere at the forum. Can't really remeber where though.
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Nice guitar! Semi GAS for me now!
I've heard that riff raffs in a semi can go very well. As do Stormy Mondays.
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Mr Air said
I think there's a clip with Ron Ulu playing a riff raff'ed 335 somewhere at the forum. Can't really remeber where though.
Found it ...
http://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=14532.msg188985
Oh, they do indeed sound very Scho.
How do RiffRaffs respond at lower volume settings and to tone adjustments? (I use the volume and tone controls a lot).
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How do RiffRaffs respond at lower volume settings and to tone adjustments? (I use the volume and tone controls a lot).
I find them very good for this. Mine are in an SG, and for my tastes I find them better for volume/tone fiddling than my Mules in a Tokai Love Rock (LP).
Bear in mind the pots and capacitors in the guitars might be having some effect on it in my case though - I've haven't really experimented on these two, and I strongly suspect that the SG might have 300K pots... but it's doing what I want, so I ain't messing :lol:
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I had a similar query with a Yamaha 335 clone for playing the same kind of music (jazz/funk/soul/fusion).
I installed unpotted A2 Stormy Mondays on Tim's recommendation and they are perfect.
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I had a similar query with a Yamaha 335 clone for playing the same kind of music (jazz/funk/soul/fusion).
I installed unpotted A2 Stormy Mondays on Tim's recommendation and they are perfect.
How does the bridge pickup sound? Is there enough bite and aggression in it for fusion lead?
There aren't many clips of the SM bridge playing clean here (or have I missed them?)
I was musing about a Stormy neck and RiffRaff bridge combination.