Installed a set of Motor City Pickups "Afwayu" in my Charvel

[Crunch Master]

Sounds interesting; looking forward to your second take on this.

 

[blackba]

So did you hear a little more warmth with the Afwayu versus the Aldrich (bridge)? Both the Aldrich and Afwayu work really well in a les paul. The Aldrich neck is growing on me in one of my les Pauls....

 

[jmgman69]

I had the Afwayu set in an SG Diablo and it sounded good but as Dave pointed out,it was a tad bass heavy but I pulled them out and threw them in an LP and "HOLY SHIT" it was the bomb!

 

[JTyson]

Great review Dave, I felt the same way about the Aldrich, a bit too compressed, dosent roll off well at all, but does sound really good. I like your approach to setting height. Even though there is a ton more bottom, does it stay tight? I cannot stand flub in a pup. I have been waiting for your review, been thinking about putting one of these in one of my McCartys. I will hold out for the post honeymoon review. Thanks - Jim

 

[JTyson]

So did you hear a little more warmth with the Afwayu versus the Aldrich (bridge)? Both the Aldrich and Afwayu work really well in a les paul. The Aldrich neck is growing on me in one of my les Pauls....

Brian, what differences do you hear between the two in a Lester?

 

[projectx102]

Dave,how far from the strings do you have it in millimeters? I assume you measure with the 2 outer E strings fretted at the 21st fret.I'll have to try your method of adjusting the polepieces.

 

[glpg80]

i try not to adjust the pole pieces because it breaks the wax inside the pickup making it more prone to outside interferences and also alot more noisy - not the good noisy.

usually i adjust my pickup to exactly 1.14-1.35mm respectfully high e to low e.

 

[RACKSYSTEMS]

Was this a new afwayu or a older one? The brand new one's the bass has been tamed a bit and the pickup brightened up a touch.

 

[projectx102]

Was this a new afwayu or a older one? The brand new one's the bass has been tamed a bit and the pickup brightened up a touch.

Yeah I don't feel mine as overly bassy.I definitely like this pickup more than the Aldrich.

 

[thiswaythatway]

Yeah Dave, i liked how you're Charvel sound in the bridge with the Aldrich but i didn't like it in the neck position. But i don't like Suhr pickups anyway even though the entire forum seemed to love the Aldrich.

 

[RACKSYSTEMS]

Personally for a Marshall I love the 2nd Degree Black Belt. It is tight and huge. I like a little weaker pickups but it just depends on the tone you are going for. Dave

 

[projectx102]

I think it's a matter of the bump in the low mids that the Afwayu has instead of the bump in the high mids of the Aldrich.Personally,it works for me because I felt my rig was lacking some bottom end and now it sounds perfect to me.And like psychodave said the leads have a killer lead tone I haven't heard with other pickups.

 

[projectx102]

I agree with everything psychodave says about the bottom end of the Afwayu. Of the "5" MCP Pickups I tried, including the Afwayu, all had a strong emphasis in the low end, NMCOT.

What's tickling your fancy these days in your axe bro?

 

[bmf5150]

Personally for a Marshall I love the 2nd Degree Black Belt. It is tight and huge. I like a little weaker pickups but it just depends on the tone you are going for. Dave

my fav as well,best pickup i have tried...Wade is the man,and a great guy to deal with!!cares about his customers!!

 

[jasonP]

Hey Dave,
I know you mod your volume pots for 550k.. Have you tried the no-load tone pot mod where you just scratch off the carbon when the volume is on ten on the tone pot? I did this and works great. Also I was looking around and I found that you can place a resistor and cap over the volume wipers legs to keep the tone bright as you roll down the volume. I'm loving this Aldrich bridge but not sure how I feel about the neck yet.

 

[ericsabbath]

can someone compare it to the nailbomb, JB and holy diver?
right now I have a camo nailbomb set in my '73 LP custom, but it's much tighter and more focused than I expected, very similar to the cold sweats in my jap LP copy
I'm looking for something warmer and more fluid, like the holy diver was in my other guitar, so I'll probably move this NB set to the other guitar and the cold sweats for my next guitar
I want more smoothness instead of cut and articulation
not trying to start a brand x brand war here, just want some tone/response references

 

[RACKSYSTEMS]

He should trade you he has a return policy. The 2nd degree neck is also great. Dave

 

[loudgtr]

I agree with everything psychodave says about the bottom end of the Afwayu. Of the "5" MCP Pickups I tried, including the Afwayu, all had a strong emphasis in the low end, NMCOT.

What's tickling your fancy these days in your axe bro?

Just plain old toneless cheap Seymour Duncans.

Yeah, I like my JB's and a Blues Saraceno pup I have in one guitar

Great review as well

 

[bmf5150]

I put back in the Aldrich after playing for another few hours today.

For those that asked about pickup height, I dont have a set height that I use or prefer. Every pickup is different...even the same exact brand and type, so I go by ear then measure. Different magnets will make a big difference on height as well since the magnetic field will be different. I had the Afwayu as high as 1.5 mm and as low as more than 4.5 mm. I preferred it on the lower side. I usually have hot pickups set up lower. Right now I have the Aldrich set to around 4 mm on both the high and low strings.

I think I will ask Wade if I can trade the Afwayu Bridge for a 2nd Degree Blackbelt. Otherwise, I will just sell it.

he has an exchange policy,shouldnt be an issue.that or tell him what your looking for different and he can wind you something custom.

 

[AmpliFIRE]

Personally for a Marshall I love the 2nd Degree Black Belt. It is tight and huge. I like a little weaker pickups but it just depends on the tone you are going for. Dave

+1

I have one in the bridge of my LP and it just kills