Last week I ran across an ebay auction for "Roland Humbuckers" from a vintage Roland Synth guitar. My curiosity was too strong to let it pass.

What kept going through my mind was, "what WOULD actually be used by the synth electronics builder to operate their product?"

My thinking: In order for the synth sounds to be produced clearly, they would have to be as clean as possible. They couldn't be high output. I don't even know if that's how they work, but even if they're bypassed, you would want an extreme clarity for the guitar sound when they are engaged again or blended. I know nothing about Synth guitars.

I just had to try them. I had a hunch that they would sound fantastic, and Holy Cow, they are awesome!!

When I got them in today, the first thing I did was measure the resistance. Bridge 7.5k - Neck 7.3. So fairly close to each other. I wired them in my Epiphone Special II. Nice Basswood body which always seems to make pickups sound colorful any time I drop good Hums in it.

When I heard them, I couldn't believe my ears. They sound about as vintage clean as you could ever imagine. Very mild output, extremely colorful in the neck, not too midrange heavy in the bridge (as I seem to find with a lot of newer Gibsons).

The bridge sounds kind of like if you were to take a Fender Blacktop and lower the output. It still has PAF bite, but a nice crisp sparkle to it in the highs, tight lows, and just the right amount of midrange to cut through. It sustains very well, like a Gibson.

The neck pickup is mind-blowing!! In all of the Hums I've ever laid my hands on, nothing I've tried beats it. It's absolute perfection. Very clean and musical. There's not one hint of boominess. With a wah, it sings very clearly as well in the clean channel and when distorted. The articulation is simply amazing. The sounds this thing produces go far beyond what I could have imagined.



Anyway.. There you have it. I have no idea who actually made these. If it was in fact Roland, my next question would be, "why did they stop making them"? There's no real info on these anywhere that I've found other than their guitar specs describing them as Roland Humbuckers. If you thought their JC amps were clean, you should try these. Unbelievable.

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Market shift to higher power pickups, probably mate.

I too prefer lower power pickups. It's very easy to add more gain or clean boost these days. It's not easy to get clarity though. When Dimarzio first released replacement pickups, they were high output. The Super Distortion and the FS1. The singer in my band has a Westbury guitar with 70's Super Distortions in. Even they seem quite tame by todays standards.

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No no and no

Niki, when I search youtube, there are some examples of them. You can get an idea of sorts of what I'm talking about. There seems to be only short examples available on there, most showcasing the synth stuff, but I do plan on using them on our next album. maybe I should film some of the sessions as well eh? Might make some cool youtube vids for good reference.

Anyway, check it out. They sound fantastic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hn7a6f7IGXM&feature=relmfu

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