It is currently Tue Mar 17, 2020 7:21 am

All times are UTC - 7 hours



Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 31 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1, 2, 3  Next
Go to page Previous  1, 2, 3  Next
Author Message
Post subject:
Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2009 12:12 pm
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Tue Jul 24, 2007 7:33 am
Posts: 8461
Location: Mars, the angry red planet.
Ceri,

The pickup manufacturer I implied is Larry DiMarzio.

I only met Kent Armstrong once when he was a child as he happened to be with his father, Dan, whom I knew.

Unfortunately, I have a limited knowledge about Kent's pickups. Although I've heard several of them at one time or the other, to be perfectly honest with you, I really wasn't paying attention nor did anything really jump out at me. This is in NO way to be considered disparaging; I was simply focused on other things during these recitals.

I would not expect to be speaking with Kent any time soon as I really have no reason to. Should I speak to Larry or Wendy Davis, Larry's wife and the, "WD" in WD Products, I'll certainly pass along your praise for Ben.

As to your statement, "...tell us more...", what would you like to know?

_________________
You dig?


Top
Profile
Fender Play Winter Sale 2020
Post subject:
Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2009 12:27 pm
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Thu Jul 26, 2007 4:57 am
Posts: 13164
Location: Peckham: where the snow leopards roam
Martian wrote:
The pickup manufacturer I implied is Larry DiMarzio.

Ah-ha! How interesting...
Martian wrote:
As to your statement, "...tell us more...", what would you like to know?

Hey, you choose! Howsabout all your inside information regarding DiMarzio pickups for starters?

Wait, let me pull up a comfy chair and pour myself a whisky... There. OK, shoot!

...Of course, I'm being silly. But honestly, yours are amongst the posts I always read with interest and nods of agreement. Keep at it, please!

Cheers man - C


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2009 12:51 pm
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Tue Jul 24, 2007 7:33 am
Posts: 8461
Location: Mars, the angry red planet.
I really do appreciate your interest in my literary diarrhea.

As to the inside scoop at DiMarzio, there really is none, believe it or not. The one thing in my opinion which keeps them leaps and bounds above every one else is the fact that they do not try to, "reinvent the wheel" like so many others try to do. Rather, they simply try to make it the best it can be. Sure, they have a huge reputation for shredder and heavy metal stuff but a lot of their products are for vintage type applications as well. The biggest difference is that so many companies try to duplicate the original pickups to original specs, etc. whereas DiMarzio for the most part will employ modern technology and technique to not only accomplish the same end but to cherry pick and reproduce the finest qualities of the vintage stuff while refining or eliminating the the not so desirable ones. Guaranteed, they make a perfect pickup (or pickup set) for everyone out there. I'm living proof of this with my Virtual Vintage/Area series combos

DiMarzio runs a tight shop and virtually all his workers are truly dedicated; QC is relentless.

As you can see, although I am very familiar with Duncans, Fenders, EMGs, etc. I'm a, "dyed in the wool" DiMarzio enthusiast and because of this, I really don't pay close attention to other manufacturers stuff. I believe, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Ceri wrote:
Martian wrote:
The pickup manufacturer I implied is Larry DiMarzio.

Ah-ha! How interesting...
Martian wrote:
As to your statement, "...tell us more...", what would you like to know?

Hey, you choose! Howsabout all your inside information regarding DiMarzio pickups for starters?

Wait, let me pull up a comfy chair and pour myself a whisky... There. OK, shoot!

...Of course, I'm being silly. But honestly, yours are amongst the posts I always read with interest and nods of agreement. Keep at it, please!

Cheers man - C

_________________
You dig?


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2009 2:30 pm
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Mon Jun 30, 2008 10:47 am
Posts: 15336
Location: In a galaxy far far away
Martian wrote:

DiMarzio runs a tight shop and virtually all his workers are truly dedicated; QC is relentless.

As you can see, although I am very familiar with Duncans, Fenders, EMGs, etc. I'm a, "dyed in the wool" DiMarzio enthusiast and because of this, I really don't pay close attention to other manufacturers stuff. I believe, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."



And lets face facts. You gotta be a smart bunny to copyright the PAF name before gibson got chance to take it.

_________________
No no and no


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2009 2:35 pm
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Thu Jul 26, 2007 4:57 am
Posts: 13164
Location: Peckham: where the snow leopards roam
Well, well. I'm ashamed to admit I don't own any DiMarzio pickups. Now I have a strong hunger to investigate them more closely than hitherto and try some out for myself.

So there you are: in the fullness of time another set sold. Tell him: he owes you a drink!

Should just make deep apologies to russianracehorse for completely hijacking his thread. :oops:

C'mon everyone! Let's hear some opinions on those Golden Age pickups!

Cheers - C


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2009 2:58 pm
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician
User avatar

Joined: Tue Dec 11, 2007 5:10 pm
Posts: 2132
Location: Deep in the Heart of Texas (San Antonio, y'all)
Ceri wrote:
Should just make deep apologies to russianracehorse for completely hijacking his thread. :oops:

No harm done. I haven't bought the pickups yet, so any info is helpful to me. 8)

_________________
I really like all them "Aster" guitars. You know, like the Stratoc, Telec and Jazzm. :wink:


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2009 3:10 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Sun Oct 26, 2008 6:49 pm
Posts: 30
You should give Rio Grande pickups a try. They are a bit more inexpensive than other aftermarket pups. They also sound amazing.
My favs are the vintage tallboy, and the muy grande.


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2009 10:21 am
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist
User avatar

Joined: Tue Aug 14, 2007 4:40 am
Posts: 46
Hey russianracehorse, just wondering if you went with the Golden Age pickups and what you think of them. I'm curious if the single coils are as good as the humbuckers.


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2009 10:27 am
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2008 9:56 pm
Posts: 3941
Location: Great White North, EH!
To chime in on DiMarzio pickups, I have only had 1 guitar with em. it was a les paul copy that was stolen :cry: :cry: It sounded so good, no one would believe it wasn't a real les Paul. In fact almost everyone I played with liked it much better than my buddies real LP. I credit the pickups with the majority of that sound. been over a decade easy, still miss that guitar.

_________________
I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

Image


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2009 11:44 am
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician
User avatar

Joined: Tue Dec 11, 2007 5:10 pm
Posts: 2132
Location: Deep in the Heart of Texas (San Antonio, y'all)
edzio wrote:
Hey russianracehorse, just wondering if you went with the Golden Age pickups and what you think of them. I'm curious if the single coils are as good as the humbuckers.

Hey edzio--thanks for checking up. No, I haven't made a purchase yet. User atolleter raised a good point about the lack of sound samples on the various sites that sell pickups. Without being able to actually hear an audio cut, I feel like I'm buying a pig in a poke. I just don't know that it's satisfactory for StewMac to tell me that these pickups deliver "vintage" tone, when their understanding of that may be different from mine. So after looking at the link provided by atolleter and at various YouTube videos, I think I'm inclining toward the Fender Custom Shop '54 pickups. These seem closest to the tone I'm chasing, and you can get them for about $135 on eBay. I probably won't actually buy anything until April or so, but I wanted to get some opinions here to aid my decision. I'm still willing to reconsider if I can hear some audio samples of the Golden Age (or other brands).

_________________
I really like all them "Aster" guitars. You know, like the Stratoc, Telec and Jazzm. :wink:


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2009 12:16 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist
User avatar

Joined: Mon Aug 06, 2007 11:33 pm
Posts: 25
I bought a set of Stewmac Golden Age Pickups #5424 single coils for my MIM standard Strat. I didn't like the original ceramic pickups that the guitar came with, I thought they sounded to bright and harsh for my taste. I installed the Golden Age pickups in the Strat and it improved the sound alot. The sound is warmer and alot more Strat like. I don't know what sound your looking for, but as for me I like the vintage Strat tones and the best pickups I found for that tone at the moment are the Fender '57/'62 pickups that come on the American Vintage '57 Strat. For the price, the Stewmac pickups are excellent and will improve your sound, but they still don't compare to the tones I get from to my '57 Strat. Hope this helps.


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2009 1:00 pm
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician
User avatar

Joined: Tue Dec 11, 2007 5:10 pm
Posts: 2132
Location: Deep in the Heart of Texas (San Antonio, y'all)
levesque wrote:
I bought a set of Stewmac Golden Age Pickups #5424 single coils for my MIM standard Strat. I didn't like the original ceramic pickups that the guitar came with, I thought they sounded to bright and harsh for my taste. I installed the Golden Age pickups in the Strat and it improved the sound alot. The sound is warmer and alot more Strat like. I don't know what sound your looking for, but as for me I like the vintage Strat tones and the best pickups I found for that tone at the moment are the Fender '57/'62 pickups that come on the American Vintage '57 Strat. For the price, the Stewmac pickups are excellent and will improve your sound, but they still don't compare to the tones I get from to my '57 Strat. Hope this helps.

Thank you, levesque. That helps a great deal. Combined with edzio's feedback on the humbuckers, your recommendation makes me want to keep the Golden Age pickups on my list. I'm upgrading a Squier Standard Strat, and although it's a great little guitar, it doesn't make sense to spend a ton of money on modifications. That's why I had looked into Golden Age to begin with. Any chance of you maybe loading a video to YouTube to give us a taste?

_________________
I really like all them "Aster" guitars. You know, like the Stratoc, Telec and Jazzm. :wink:


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2009 5:40 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist
User avatar

Joined: Tue Aug 14, 2007 4:40 am
Posts: 46
It's a tough decision. It's hard to really know what pickups sound like until they're in your guitar. I ultimately wound up with the Golden Ages after many recommendations and weighing the cost.


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2009 8:15 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist
User avatar

Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2007 11:25 am
Posts: 73
To answer the original question here...
I have used both the single coil and humbucker Golden Age pickups from Stew/Mac and found them to be excellent in tone and value. The 'buckers sound alot like PAF's (sorry Larry), and the single coils remind me of the Custom Shop Fat 50's.
I highly recommend them.

_________________
I grew up in the "Dark Ages" of gear, when a '63 Strat was just an old guitar!


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2009 8:47 pm
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician
User avatar

Joined: Tue Dec 11, 2007 5:10 pm
Posts: 2132
Location: Deep in the Heart of Texas (San Antonio, y'all)
Stratobastard wrote:
To answer the original question here...
I have used both the single coil and humbucker Golden Age pickups from Stew/Mac and found them to be excellent in tone and value. The 'buckers sound alot like PAF's (sorry Larry), and the single coils remind me of the Custom Shop Fat 50's.
I highly recommend them.

Stratobastard, you don't deserve your own name. :) That's exactly the kind of information I was hoping to get. I will definitely keep the Golden Age pickups on my A-list. Thanks to all for your input! 8)

_________________
I really like all them "Aster" guitars. You know, like the Stratoc, Telec and Jazzm. :wink:


Top
Profile
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 31 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1, 2, 3  Next
Go to page Previous  1, 2, 3  Next

All times are UTC - 7 hours

Fender Play Winter Sale 2020

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  
cron