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Author Topic: Mississippi Queens punchy enough for grunge?  (Read 6898 times)

Tinmo

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Mississippi Queens punchy enough for grunge?
« on: September 25, 2010, 11:33:06 AM »
I think that MQ's would suite me well (I play mainly soulish funk, raw edgy blues, early sabbathish and psychedelic stoner rock & doom). The only but is that can MQ's handle that chunky Alice in Chains-stuff?

That's probably the most modern sound I ever need to get out of my guitar. Keep in mind the AIC album that came out last year (the guitar sounds are brilliant!).

My guitar is Ltd Viper 400 and I can't wait to get rid of those damn EMG's. Think I want to make it sound like Gibson SG with 498-pickups, but I also adore the P90-sound.

What to do?

Twinfan

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Re: Mississippi Queens punchy enough for grunge?
« Reply #1 on: September 25, 2010, 11:41:31 AM »
I'd say they're punchy enough, yes  :)

Tinmo

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Re: Mississippi Queens punchy enough for grunge?
« Reply #2 on: September 25, 2010, 12:49:18 PM »
So thats one vote for Queens. Any more?

Transcend

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Re: Mississippi Queens punchy enough for grunge?
« Reply #3 on: September 25, 2010, 01:07:03 PM »
I've only had the neck but if its anything to go by then the bridge should definitely be able to handle what you require

Fourth Feline

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Re: Mississippi Queens punchy enough for grunge?
« Reply #4 on: September 25, 2010, 02:27:40 PM »
I'd say they're punchy enough, yes  :)

I have a  pair, which I have not used for all the styles you mention ( beyond Blues e.t.c )  but they are certainly punchy ( as well as fat, edgy and dominating ).  I used them 'tamed' to breath life into a 335 copy - and they gave it an assertiveness that worked well wide open, or rumbling under ( the later being my own usage at the time ).

I posted this under Twinfan's recommendation ,  as not only is he a great experimenter and discerning buyer -  but also because if both he and I meet in the middle on an item , we have done so from somewhat contrasting, but not opposing styles.  

I have not got them currently mounted in a guitar ( due to a change in musical direction for me ) - but they are real treasures, that would soon be re-deployed for Blues, R'n'B - and spanky Soul riffs.  With a really fat winding, on an Alnico IV neck pickup, being matched with same in an Alnico V bridge unit, it gave me nice contrasts between the two - as opposed to the bridge and neck pickups being absolutely 'night and day' to each other.

For my own purposes , I really loved this attribute, as it gave me a consistent / well balanced central palette to work from , which then readily changed all it's degrees of tone, bite, assertiveness, and spank - with minimal tweaking of switch and vol / tone controls.  Although nicely 'Vintage' in character, they certainly grab the amp by it's throat - and give a firm / rich presentation.  :)



« Last Edit: September 25, 2010, 02:33:38 PM by Fourth Feline »

Twinfan

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Re: Mississippi Queens punchy enough for grunge?
« Reply #5 on: September 25, 2010, 02:35:46 PM »
They look great in that guitar Derek!

Fourth Feline

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Re: Mississippi Queens punchy enough for grunge?
« Reply #6 on: September 25, 2010, 02:45:16 PM »
They look great in that guitar Derek!

Cheers Dave !  :D

It was certainly a 'match made in heaven' - and I only lifted them out, as I was once going to lend the guitar ( long term ) to our old keyboard player.    I just love the look of the M.Qs too ! :)





« Last Edit: September 25, 2010, 06:02:17 PM by Fourth Feline »

Tinmo

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Re: Mississippi Queens punchy enough for grunge?
« Reply #7 on: September 25, 2010, 03:31:34 PM »
Okay

Well I do play a lot more stoner and grunge than soulish funk.

How about MQ on the neck and Pig90 on the bridge? Would that be better than just a pair of MQs?

« Last Edit: September 25, 2010, 03:40:10 PM by Tinmo »

AndyR

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Re: Mississippi Queens punchy enough for grunge?
« Reply #8 on: September 25, 2010, 04:18:02 PM »
Dunno about Pig90, but I've got a pair of MQs in an Explorer.

I have Mules in a Tokai Love Rock and Riff Raffs in an SG.

Of the three guitars, the Explorer is the punchiest and rawkiest :lol: (and I have the pickups set lower than I used to, to tame them and thin them out a bit).
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Fourth Feline

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Re: Mississippi Queens punchy enough for grunge?
« Reply #9 on: September 25, 2010, 06:08:41 PM »
Dunno about Pig90, but I've got a pair of MQs in an Explorer.

I have Mules in a Tokai Love Rock and Riff Raffs in an SG.

Of the three guitars, the Explorer is the punchiest and rawkiest :lol: (and I have the pickups set lower than I used to, to tame them and thin them out a bit).

Wow , if they 'out rawked' the dreaded S.G / Riff -Raff combo, that says a lot ! I just wanted to add ( prompted by your own remarks Andy ) - that the M.Qs do seem to have a very really different,  intrinsic voice - at different pickup heights. That may sound rather self evident, but compared to my other B.K.P - the height seemed to dictate the basic voice , more than the 'usual'  changes pickup heights make.  I had mine 1.5mm from the strings for hot / 'chewy' - and up to 3mm + away from the strings for brash and biting .  At no point did they seem to get weak - they just  assumed a sort of split personality.
« Last Edit: September 25, 2010, 06:11:54 PM by Fourth Feline »

AndyR

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Re: Mississippi Queens punchy enough for grunge?
« Reply #10 on: September 26, 2010, 11:17:32 AM »
Yep, I think I have to agree with Derek there about height adjustments... the MQs really do seem to change their character quite drastically depending on distance from the strings.

I keep wondering about swapping the Riff Raffs and MQs around again, so that I get the humbuckers back into the Explorer (and try out the MQs on the SG that I didn't own when I bought them)... but everytime I try the guitars I just think "why?!!"... the SG is perfectly balanced for me now, it's in Allman Brothers and Beano album territory when I play it through the right amp settings... and the Explorer just does Explorer stuff without even thinking... when I want to do late-70s early-80s rock/metal, the Explorer with MQs is what I pick up... so I keep deciding not to mess with either guitar anymore :lol:
« Last Edit: September 26, 2010, 11:19:32 AM by AndyR »
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HTH AMPS

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Re: Mississippi Queens punchy enough for grunge?
« Reply #11 on: September 26, 2010, 03:28:43 PM »
Okay

Well I do play a lot more stoner and grunge than soulish funk.

How about MQ on the neck and Pig90 on the bridge? Would that be better than just a pair of MQs?


I was about to recommend a Pig90, it will SLAY for doom and grunge - theres a lad on this BBS who had clips of his Pig90 playing Sleep and other doomy stuff, sounded great.


Telerocker

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Re: Mississippi Queens punchy enough for grunge?
« Reply #12 on: September 26, 2010, 11:33:22 PM »
The MQ's will do stoner well, I think. I had a Yamaha SA503 TVL with three p90's (signature from Troy van Leeuwen/Queens of the Stone Age) and handled heavy riffing very well. I love P90's in front of a roaring tubeamp.
Mules, VHII, Crawler, MM's, IT's, BG50's.

brian_ward

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Re: Mississippi Queens punchy enough for grunge?
« Reply #13 on: September 26, 2010, 11:43:48 PM »
the p91 (with alnico 4) i have in my sg is absolutely incredible in front of my super bass clone. thick but not overly. bright enough to be clear but not obnoxious. its the opposite in front of my matamp gt1. its thin and bright. the matamp likes humbuckers with a little more output and low end. i owuldnt hesitate to recomend a MQ as it seems they have quite a bit of low end but still have that p90 snap up top that we all hove come to love (or hate)

gueorgues

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Re: Mississippi Queens punchy enough for grunge?
« Reply #14 on: September 28, 2010, 02:02:04 PM »
I have MQ set in my SG Standard and it handles everything (from clean blues to AC/DC - sometimes you can't tell the difference between humbuckers and those MQs). They event sound punchy and nice high gain, but there is a lot of noise as I do not use gates or noise suppressors. IMO - they are good for almost everything - jazz, rock, blues, grunge, etc.