James Lugo
Active member
mesanatic":3qq5l05m said:
It's Hollywood.
Anyone want to be a part of the PUP shootout?
- Thread starter James Lugo
- Start date
It's Hollywood.
James Lugo
Active member
blackba":1aqncyei said:
Did you get it yet? It was shipped sometime last week, I was out of town. I'm back at work so let me know or email Nicole if there's any issues: nicole@jameslugo.com
Well, I played the guitars today after being gone for a week and a half. Lovin' the WB Fire and Godwood, my Goldtop is still a little weird sounding, I think the guitar is inherently a tad bright and may need a darker pup to balance it off. Not sure yet, I have the 2nd Degree in it now, may throw the WCR Iron Man in for a total flip and contrast and see how that flies. But it may be good just the way it is to give me a different sound from the others. Not sure yet, I'm gonna go into work early tomorrow and play and maybe switch out some pups, will report back.
blackba
Well-known member
James Lugo":34j6l90e said:
Got the BBQ back yesterday. I e-mailed nicole early in the afternoon and bot the BBQ about 5pm.
I know the Aldrich tested for some reason sounded a bit off, but my Aldrich set I used have in my LP standard worked great for practice last night. The bridge was hot yet clear, I thought it was really articulate and didn't muddy up or blur the tones much. Splitting them was great too. This is the 1st time I have played that guitar though my Marshall 2553 which sits at the practice space.
James Lugo":m7dt3yxu said:
That's interesting. Listening to your clips I'd swear the 2nd degree has a less bright top end, than the Fire. You could swap those two between those guitars to know if it's the pickup or guitar.
I have to quit listening to these clips. Now I'm thinking I should try a Darkburst along with the 2nd degree I'm getting. And a Godwood...
jmgman69
New member
I loaded a 2nd degree in a Pro Series S2 and it just it justice,great pickup!!!!!
Scumback Speakers
Well-known member
mesanatic":254lq8aw said:
I'm lobbying Dave for a Creamy Hair Pie mod next. He hasn't replied to me yet about it...
James Lugo
Active member
Southbay Scumback":30khmrzt said:mesanatic":30khmrzt said:
I'm lobbying Dave for a Creamy Hair Pie mod next. He hasn't replied to me yet about it...
Is this a porn site?
James Lugo
Active member
James Lugo":2atixack said:
Well, we swapped out some pickups in my Goldtop yesterday; 2nd Degree, Iron Man and a Duncan Custom 5. I think the Custom 5 was the best of the bunch for that guitar. The Iron Man sounds great but has so much power, it really sounds like a pickup for dudes playing metal, which I do but I need it for other things. It's very subjective and confusing. I went on the SD site and it says the DC resistance of the Custom 5 is 14.4, I think that is the range I want the Goldtop in, hotter then vintage but not blazin'.
https://www.seymourduncan.com/comparetones/view/25
bartmcartman
New member
I've had a WB firewater plus in my R8 for awhile and it sounds great. The neck pickup is sweet as well. I've also had it in my traditional as well as the rebel yell set. The Traditional is considerably brighter and thinner sounding than my R8 and the handwound pickups really accentuate that sometimes. They tend to amplify the characteristics of the guitars themselves. I really want to try the 2nd degree and the godwood in my R8. I just took the rebel yells out of my traditional recently and put in a bbq which was cool for some stuff but not necessarily the most versatile set up. Got the traditional back from the shop yesterday and now has a set of BKP Crawlers. I have gigs both nights this weekend so I'll keep my review till then. What I do notice is that they are a bit warmer, a tad hotter, but still with good clarity than the Rebel Yells. They sound really nice and should be very versatile. The WB's that I've tried are all really good. They all have had a nice woody tone with good clarity and growling lows. I've tried or had WB vtph, firewaters, habaneros, peter greenes, 5707's and 6707 vtph, uv20's. They all sound great!
James Lugo
Active member
bartmcartman":3vby8h8f said:
Great post, that's what I'm finding too. MY Goldtop Traditional has a bit of a bright thing going on, so far the Custom 5 has been the best. From the original shootout the WB Fire was the best in the GT but opted to put it in my Black Paul, I don't think I want to take it out of the Black one, maybe just get a second Fire for the GT. We'll see, I start tracking this week and I'll use the GT and see how she holds up.
bartmcartman
New member
Will Boggs actually wound the firewater a bit hotter for an LP traditional to address the brightness. Thickened it up. Hence the firewater plus. However it sounds killer in my R8 as well! The extra winds gave the low end a bit more grind and thickened and smoothed out the mids and highs a bit while maintaining the clarity and just enough juice to cover everything from classic rock to hard rock. That may be a good alternative for you. For my tastes the Traditionals need a bridge pickup with a bit more winds to make up for less low end, mids, and extra brightness that the LP Traditional weight relieveing yields. Next time you swap bridge pickups in your Traditional take a look at how massive the hole is where the wires pass through compared to a solid body LP. I think that's why as good as they were the Rebel Yells didn't have quite enough low end grind for me in my Traditional. The Crawlers have a bit more and still have some of the qualities that I liked in the Rebel Yell. I have to say though that the firewater plus has sounded great in every LP I've tried them in. That's the best part about WB being a phone call away. It's awesome that there are so many good boutique winders these days so you can let them know what you're trying to achieve and they can customize it for you. I got my cd's the other day and have listened a few times. I've got all kinds of pickup gas now! Definitely give the Firewater Plus a go in that Gold Top!
FixXxer
Member
I have found Wills pickups to be brighter than average and have a cut to them and i've owned every model / iteration with every wire other than the 57 wire. Paired wth any kind of kit (RS WCR, etc) they tend to be on the higher range of midrange control. At first they take a little to get used too, but if your playing rhythm using modern type amps it might not be exactly for you. Its most noticable on the lower G, B and E strings. YMMV.
Some of thicker pickups with lower mid range and girthier bass suited my current needs better. Examples of this from my experience are the Wolfetone Marshall heads, WCR Godwood / Darkburst and WCR Iron Man pickups. Also a seymour duncan pup I tried as well.
Its worth a try with your own amps guitars though. The clips are cool and are a good starting point but given the guitars custom amp, etc you might get differeing results.
Some of thicker pickups with lower mid range and girthier bass suited my current needs better. Examples of this from my experience are the Wolfetone Marshall heads, WCR Godwood / Darkburst and WCR Iron Man pickups. Also a seymour duncan pup I tried as well.
Its worth a try with your own amps guitars though. The clips are cool and are a good starting point but given the guitars custom amp, etc you might get differeing results.
bartmcartman
New member
Add Marshallhead to my gas list as well! I pair WB's up with the rs luxe bumblebee repro's which warm things up a bit. I like the superpots as well but Will will tell you that he uses good old Gibson pots and cheap ceramic caps. My top three to try in my R8 are the Marshallhead, Godwood, and 2nd degree black belt. I've been waiting for Wolfe to settle in to his new place to send my classic 57's off for rewind or maybe my burstbuckers. I should probably clarify that my pickup experience has been mainly through a bogner xtc.
James Lugo
Active member
The quest for tone continued today. I went down to Luxxtone in Arcadia and met with the owner Jerry, what a cool mofo. It was so refreshing to hang with someone inspired. Guys got a killer shop and a ton of boutique pickups, he also has a guitar set up that you can swap pickups in and out of in a few minutes. Went through a ton of pickups for my Goldtop. It was between the Wolfetone Timberwolf and the Bareknuckles Cold Sweat. The Cold Sweat sounded a bit darker and chunkier so I went for it to off set the brightness of my Goldtop. Took it back to the studio and played it for a while, really sounds good. That Cold Sweat is pretty evil sounding pickup but not to over the top. Real nice chunk and growl and sustain forever! In a similar vein to the WB Fire.
So:
Sunburst - Godwood
Goldtop - Cold Sweat
Black - Fire
Yellow - Rebel Yell
Here's Jerry's site, this guy is the real deal, he's also gonna help out on the amp shootout:
http://www.luxxtone.com/
So:
Sunburst - Godwood
Goldtop - Cold Sweat
Black - Fire
Yellow - Rebel Yell
Here's Jerry's site, this guy is the real deal, he's also gonna help out on the amp shootout:
http://www.luxxtone.com/
Glad you dig the Cold Sweat. That really did sound totally mean in your Les Paul. I ended up putting the Wolfetone TimbreWolf alnico into my white Charvel....I thought it sounded awesome when you were testing it and kept it for myself! Anytime you want to try more pickups out let me know.