Pickup for my Explorer

[MDV]

They would balance well, volume wise, but if you use them together you'll be dealing with a hell of a lot of mids. The CS neck has sweet-spot-on-a-wah type singing mid and high mid that will add to the PKs big high mid hit, plus middl position is middy = so so so much mids.

Now wait for Darth Hellstyle to say the polar opposite :lol:

[Jopster]

Haha, I'm waiting  :lol:

I listened to Antag's clean shootout and I actually like the PK clean a lot. I just feel it's a bit 'boring' to have 2 PKs in my Explorer, but maybe it's really the way to go anyway?

[Philly Q]

I just feel it's a bit 'boring' to have 2 PKs in my Explorer, but maybe it's really the way to go anyway?

Yeah, but remember it's not "2 PKs" as such, they're two different pickups which have been designed to work well together as a set.

[MDV]

I love the PK neck. Great pickup, and I'd choose it over the CS. Actually, I have - my main guitar used to have C-Pig/C-S, now its a PK set that I got for one of my lesser guitars. The decreased lows and slight taming of the low mid snarl of the c-pig, and gain reduction, were worth it for the ludicrous tightness, clarity and un-compressedness of the PK (for such a powerfull pickup, its a BIG harmonic-rich sound that comes from a medium-metal wind + big magnets (3 of them, I believe) giving a tonne of gain but you can still hear the actual chime of your strings because its not so compressed).

Neck wise, I thought the CS was it for me when I first heard it, and for about a year after that. Bell-like cleans, fluid, smooth, middy shred - what more do you want from a neck pickup? But the PK outdid it. Its thicker and fuller, sharper and clearer, notes are more defined, but not razor-like, they still flow very well, its much more aggressive (but not harsh or brittle at all) and still backs off very well, its cleans still have a chime to them, but they have a more low mid than the CS and are more balanced (more of a broader mid hump than the CS) and its generally utterly awesome. Its the only ceramic neck that I (knowingly) like, and it my favourite neck, too - thats gotta say something.

[Jopster]

That's truly GREAT info, thanks a lot! I'm actually happy that I don't "have" to find another flavor. Nice, clean and simple - that's how I like it  :D

Now I'm still waiting for Eric  :lol:

BTW: What exactly does it exactly mean that a set is calibrated? What do I get from a calibrated set compared to two 'ordinary' pickups?

[Philly Q]

What exactly does it exactly mean that a set is calibrated? What do I get from a calibrated set compared to two 'ordinary' pickups?

It just means you get a neck and bridge model of the "same" pickup, which, as I mentioned above, are actually two different pickups which Tim has designed to work well together as a set.

When you order you'll see that whenever you buy a humbucker you have to state bridge or neck position.  If you bought a PK bridge pickup today and a PK neck pickup next week, it would be exactly the same as buying a PK calibrated set.   :)

[Jopster]

Aaah, hehe quite uncomplicated then  :)

[Philly Q]

You'll be OK, it'll all make sense when you order! 

[MDV]

Calibrated means the output of each pickup is ballanced against the other so you dont get big vol changes

[ericsabbath]

They would balance well, volume wise, but if you use them together you'll be dealing with a hell of a lot of mids. The CS neck has sweet-spot-on-a-wah type singing mid and high mid that will add to the PKs big high mid hit, plus middl position is middy = so so so much mids.

Now wait for Darth Hellstyle to say the polar opposite :lol:

your pointy long ears must have been getting old, jedi
:lol:

the CS neck has no wah mids
it's still a hot PAF type pickup with a very slight mid cut, common in most low output alnico 5 pickups
I usually don't like that, but the non-lack of presence and the amazing clarity of it made me appreciate this pup a lot
the MM neck has a ton more mids and sustain than the CS, but it's no nearly as pleasing (to me)
the Miracle Man bridge overpowered the CS neck a bit in my les paul, so I believe the Painkiller will be even louder
no big deal, though
duncan sells totally unmatched output sets, like custom/59 or jb/jazz, and no one complains about it

[Philly Q]

If nothing else, this epic battle between Yomark and Darth Hellstyle shows how difficult it would be to produce those "tone charts" we're expecting on the website update.

(Looks like Axl is going to win that race, incidentally, and he didn't even know he was in it... )

It's obviously a very subjective business!

[MDV]

The dark side of the tone has led you astray!

The CS necks wahry mids are quite evident.

Philly - I got a pickup testing plan actually. I doubt I'll get round to it, at least in the near future, but its easy enough to make a rig that you can measure various things about pickups with. A 25" stick (preferably a non-magnetic metal one) with a clamp at one end and a tuner at the other, a pickup ring and fake cavity mounted to it, and a jack tied on. That would let you choose a string, control pickup location and height, tuning, completely remove any guitar sound from the output (bks are VERY sensitive to the guitar they're in), then you make a string striking rig - a bar that holds a pick thats sprung such that it can be pulled back past the string and release to strike it once and with the same strength, angle and distance into the string every time, and you line the signal into a spectral analyser via a decent High-Z input (like one of the 4 I'm looking at right now) and you get the power spectra of the frequency response (theres free software you can do this with - I do acoustic spectra analysis, among other things, at work, and found it by accident). You could also hook it up to a multimeter and measure output current/voltage, for reference within the BK range.

No guitar
No player
No speakers
No amp
No cab
No room
No subjective assesment

All variables controlled, standardisable test (the kind of thing I've been trained to do, and am really rather good at, even if I do say so myself).

I need a couple of things to do it (including time!) but its a weekends work - not too onerous.

Would anyone like to see such a thing? (If no ones gonna use it, I wont bother).

[Philly Q]

Sounds good to me, although you may have blinded me with science.