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braintheory
Well-known member
Yeah all his pickups sounded really good. I liked the Darkburst and Iron Man best myself. For the price I think they can’t be beat
romanianreaper
Well-known member
romanianreaper
Well-known member
Yeah regardless of the reason, it is not fun when you can't get a hold of a manufacturer when you have the money and need something within a particular timeframe. My Motor City pickups are great but I'd be curious to try a Wolfetone.
Emg77
Well-known member
The Marshall Head and Timbre Wolf are both great pickups. He will have them at your door with in a week of ordering.
Dino 939
Well-known member
Hey Brain, which model of the Tone Specific's?
Do they have the "feel" that players claim?
Thx for all your in depth posts.
I find them very informative.
You're like the human google of gear!!
panhead
Well-known member
Ive tried out quite a few over the years and sheptones are hard to beat for $120 bucks
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braintheory
Well-known member
They also sound more organic and complex tonally
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braintheory
Well-known member
Thank you! That’s kinda what I try to be since I’ve tried lots of stuff, but of course it’s all subjective and can only share my opinions/findings and I guess others will have to decide for themselves whether things are worth the high price or not. Hopefully I can save others from spending all the time and cash I had to in order to figure out about the gear that’s most special and not simply “nice” stuff
With Tone Specific’s I love all their humbucker models except for the punch set. Which set I’d recommend depends on what sound you’re going for. The ones on his website are very old school/vintage voiced and are very authentic in sound and feel to being like real PAF’s, but not the tightest pickups. They can still sound great for metal (I use them for it), but you gotta know what you’re doing with them and have an already tight sound dialed in (I often use a boost). Other “paf” style pickups like the lower output Motor City’s, Bare Knuckle’s and Jim Wagners will be tighter, but nowhere near as organic, 3D, nuanced, articulate or authentic to being like an actual PAF. The Tone Specific’s I’ve AB’ed with guitars with real PAF’s in them were scary similar. Can’t say the same about the many others I’ve AB’ed. I even had several Tone Specific’s in my ‘69 Les Paul Custom (sacrilege I know haha) and much preferred them to the stock pickups in there, but those are not PAF’s of course (T-Tops I believe) but still very good pickups
He’s gonna come out with a highoutput metal set later that’s made for everything I asked him for in such a pickup. It’s nothing like any of his current sets on his website. I have the prototype (2 sets). It’s the tightest, most articulate and nuanced highoutput pickup I’ve heard. I sold all my Wagner Iron Man’s since getting it (those were my favorites before). To answer your question about feel, I think they do have the feel. If you want an school authentic paf feel, the the sets on his website will be amazing for you. If you want a tighter, modern feel then wait for the highoutput set to come out. He’s very busy and have no idea when they’ll be available, but hopefully relatively soon
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Bxlxaxkxe
Amp ho
Just put a 2nd Degree BB in my LP last night. Got it from Wade a few weeks ago and got bored yesterday. Custombuckers are my pickup of choice in LP style guitars. Low output, bright, and handle gain really well. They let the amp do the talking in terms of gain and EQ, which is how I like it.
In comparison, the 2nd BB's are strong and muscular. Beefed up PAF sound - remind me of a muscle car honestly, but not over the top. Bigger low end, and smoother highs, but not drastically so. What I like the most is how muscular the mids are. Strong and stout rockin pickup that is very authoritative. Very cool pickup and I have a lot more playing to do. Looking forward to hearing them at bands levels and in the mix. Can see why Cantrell likes these in his LPs. I think I still prefer the custombuckers all around, but these are a nice change of pace.
In comparison, the 2nd BB's are strong and muscular. Beefed up PAF sound - remind me of a muscle car honestly, but not over the top. Bigger low end, and smoother highs, but not drastically so. What I like the most is how muscular the mids are. Strong and stout rockin pickup that is very authoritative. Very cool pickup and I have a lot more playing to do. Looking forward to hearing them at bands levels and in the mix. Can see why Cantrell likes these in his LPs. I think I still prefer the custombuckers all around, but these are a nice change of pace.
Dino 939
Well-known member
Been through herds of his pickups back in the day.
One characteristic that was a commonality between pickups was the over abundance of bass, besides the Solutions which I could not vibe with.
Best set I had was a custom wound Detroiter neck with a Nasty Nasty bridge.
Killer feel and mids.
This combo was in a 07 LP Silverburst.
I also had a set of BB Alnico 2's that were sweet.
Gotta admit, those descriptions of the pickups on his site are pretty funny.
Textbook fluff words.
RedB4Black
Well-known member
I like MC pickups. The first time I order from him, talked on the phone for awhile and he had the pickups out in 3 days. This was long ago. I haven't ordered from him in a long while because I can't deal with long waits. I ordered a new Bare Knuckle set 7 days ago and it is out for delivery today. Hard to beat that.
Bxlxaxkxe
Amp ho
I think I'd honestly like something with a little less power than the 2nd BB. Those A2 BB's or the Reg BB's have my eye.
Beyond Black
Well-known member
He really is, man. He’s one of the first I hit up for experienced advise on gear. Lol