Author Topic: Pickups update (Read 8358 times)

crispsandwich · « **on:** April 24, 2005, 09:17:10 PM »

Well, I posted on here a few weeks ago about my noisy, thin sounding setup. While I never suspected for 1 second that it was related to the pickups I bought from Tim, I thought I'd post to let you folks know how I'm getting on after a lot of experimenting.

I have a Marshall AVT50 combo amp and a Vox Tonelab, a 7 band EQ and a delay pedal.

I've determined that my guitar sounds best through the Tonelab into the FX return of my Marshall. I have a Trilogy Suite in the neck position, a Mother's Milk in the middle position and a Nailbomb humbucker in the bridge position.

The sounds I can get with a bit of tweaking are incredible for a £70 guitar :D. After speaking to various guitar techs, it would appear that the unwanted noise is due to the guitar having no shielding whatsoever, (although getting the football on Five-live radio through the amp on a Saturday afternoon can be good :D) and after many visits to different Maplin shops looking for shieldied wire and conductive paint/tape, I've given up now. Their staff are just rude. After twice being handed the catalogue and being told to "find it yourself, I haven't got time for this" and "we don't sell it in lengths less than 100m" I've decided to just buy a Boss NS2. I'll get round to shielding it eventually.

Anyway, tomorrow I'm expecting delivery of a Line 6 Uber Metal, the Boss NS2 and another EQ (pre and post EQ should give me vast tonal options). I'll let you folks know how I get on. The Nailbomb already screams. Can't wait to hear it through that lot.

Thanks Tim, the pickups are great :D.

Oh, and this is a little off topic, but what do you think of the Line 6 Variax and Workbench software? I tried a 300 model and was very impressed by the different sounds (all very good to my ears). Being able to mix and match virtual bodies and pickups, as well as create custom tunings sounds pretty amazing. Wonder if it'll live up to the hype.

-Danny :twisted:

Peterku · « **Reply #1 on:** April 24, 2005, 09:32:40 PM »

Hey, it's nice you like them. Could you please describe the tone you get from the Nailbomb?

crispsandwich · « **Reply #2 on:** April 24, 2005, 09:51:18 PM »

The Nailbomb, well. She's bright, but not too much. The mids are fantastic, really cut through. Perfect for shred. Shame I can't shred but in a few years maybe I'll appreciate it :P. The bass is nice and rounded, and there isn't too much. It does metal really well with a little added bass. It also cleans up nicely. I can get crushing riffs to soaring leads to nice round cleans and everything in between. When I first emailed Tim, I asked for a recommendation of a bridge pickup that would do metal and Satch type leads well and it does them both very well. I just need Satch's hands :D. Although I think it might sound better on a better guitar (mine is a £70 Strat copy), it's the best bridge pickup I've ever played. By far. Hope this helps :) .

willo · « **Reply #3 on:** April 24, 2005, 10:06:34 PM »

just a point-and i might be wrong-but i heard those line 6 pedals can get awfully noisy, particularly if you run them off the mains. Like i say, im not too sure, its just what i heard, so dont be too surprised if you get a little extra noise.

the upside of it, though, is that i have the Line 6 212 amp, with some of the sounds that are on the uber metal, and they are very nice, damn good high gain sounds! have fun with it! :D

Tim · « **Reply #4 on:** April 24, 2005, 10:31:45 PM »

Quote from: crispsandwich

The Nailbomb, well. She's bright, but not too much. The mids are fantastic, really cut through. Perfect for shred. Shame I can't shred but in a few years maybe I'll appreciate it :P. The bass is nice and rounded, and there isn't too much. It does metal really well with a little added bass. It also cleans up nicely. I can get crushing riffs to soaring leads to nice round cleans and everything in between. When I first emailed Tim, I asked for a recommendation of a bridge pickup that would do metal and Satch type leads well and it does them both very well. I just need Satch's hands :D. Although I think it might sound better on a better guitar (mine is a £70 Strat copy), it's the best bridge pickup I've ever played. By far. Hope this helps :) .

We'll have a Nailbomb demo clip up soon that I did at HJM's studio.

R/2e · « **Reply #5 on:** April 25, 2005, 06:59:02 AM »

crispsandwich, you can get shielding tape, etc, from Allparts here in the UK, www.allparts.uk.com.

HJM · « **Reply #6 on:** April 25, 2005, 07:06:36 AM »

Quote from: R/2e

crispsandwich, you can get shielding tape, etc, from Allparts here in the UK, www.allparts.uk.com.

Halfords used to sell a adhesive copper tape, cheap and worked, can't remember what you're supposed to do with it opn a car though??? :roll:

The amazing Phil · « **Reply #7 on:** April 25, 2005, 01:21:18 PM »

That's an intresting question haha.

The people you dealt with who told you they didn't have time for you sound pretty shitety, I don't know how they expect to sell anything with an attitude like that towards customers.

Kilby · « **Reply #8 on:** April 30, 2005, 12:23:05 AM »

Quote from: crispsandwich

and after many visits to different Maplin shops looking for shieldied wire and conductive paint/tape, I've given up now. Their staff are just rude. After twice being handed the catalogue and being told to "find it yourself, I haven't got time for this" and "we don't sell it in lengths less than 100m"

Sadly that experience is all too common with maplin though the shielded cable is availble in 1M lengths (it wouldn't be unusual for a Maplin staff member to get confused between meters and centimeters).

The part number is XR16S and is 49 pence per metre
Quote from Maplin.co.uk
Sold per metre (max. length in one piece 100m) and on 100m reels.

So Maplins signal to noise ratio is pretty poor

Anyway enough bitching about Maplin :twisted:

Get yourself some shielded cable and copper foil (it's available in craft shops), avoid shielding paint it's not great and it's expensive, and the spray version is a disaster waiting to happen.

For attaching the foil get some 3M double sided tape. They do a real thin film style tape for artists. Any excess tape can be 'rubbed away' with a fingertip, so it's real easy to work with.

It's expensive but lasts forever and dosn't bleed adhesive over time which can be important for your guitar finish and the wood in general.

Regards,

Kilby...

FELINEGUITARS · « **Reply #9 on:** April 30, 2005, 12:47:12 AM »

The self adhesive copper foil that i get from WD music is brilliant - (Allparts probably sell it too)- if you need some - ring me - I keep lots in stock.

I DO use a nickel screening paint from an aerosol and it is ace when applied properly - this requires lots of careful masking a a little skill with a spray can.
But I use it a lot. Open up a feline guitar and you will always see screening- either paint or foil.

On Tim's explorer we used foil as there was no paint finish on the guitar and I didn't want to spray the Nickel screening paint direct onto wood (although i am sure it can be done. The seams on the foil are soldered together to give complete conductivity around the controls (what they call a faraday box)

This really is worth all the time, but do ensure that the screening is connected to earth or else you get more noise than you started with. Sometimes you have to be careful that you dont short out stuff on the foil when you dont intend to - often useful to apply a little PVC tape on top in areas where there is risk of that

Kilby · « **Reply #10 on:** May 01, 2005, 01:44:44 PM »

Quote from: FELINEGUITARS

I DO use a nickel screening paint from an aerosol and it is ace when applied properly - this requires lots of careful masking a a little skill with a spray can.

The seams on the foil are soldered together to give complete conductivity around the controls (what they call a faraday box)

Heh, I wasn't implying it didn't work or that it shouldn't be used, Personally I have just had bad experiences with the aerosols, in my hands they truely are a disaster waiting to happen :?

Collodial graphite could also be used (the stuff used to coat the tube in a CRT), and I have found is much nicer to work with, though I have not used these on wood.

Having spoken to my ex boss (an ex aerospace designer), he reckoned that the thin brass mesh that is available in modeling stores would make a perfect faraday cage, and from my model making days it's certainly easier to work with than copper foil.

I will be trying it with my home made sustainer type pickup (if it ever gets to the build stage) as I think it may have some noise problems in the beginning.

Regards,

Kilby...