Pickup mods: Magnet-Swaps and the "Half-Air" mod demystified

[jhale667]

I've always thought SD humbuckers kicked the crap out of Dimarzios (long before I started doing the review/blogging thing for SD); I kinda though Dimarzio had them beat on the stacked single-coil thing but I'm reeeeeeally impressed by the Stack Plus series judging from the 2 I've tried so far...hoping these next 2 models are equally as cool...

I'm gonna do a completely separate pickguard assembly for this test too, I've got my buddy at GC setting aside a black pickguard and hardware set so I can just wire the new ones up and drop them in, will keep the Virtual Vintage set currently occupying it intact for a rainy day....

[Seshmeister]

My main guitar for many years was this beautiful hand built thing from a boutique local maker which I got for a song second hand back in the due to a mistake by the shop I think but it only has space for a single coil bridge pickup and I'm loath to change that. I put a DiMarzio Super Distortion in it but it's not good enough in comparison for what I'm doing here so it's been left at home.

I'm using a 100 watt Orange Rockerverb and it's sounding awesome. Producer wants me to put a second rhythm track with a Messa Boogie.

[jhale667]

Good idea...they'll sound cool layered together...

[jhale667]

Parts? Check? Lem-Oil? Check. Jameson on the rocks? Check.

M'kay, next up is the aforementioned SD STK-S9B, STK-S4 and STK-S6 set review, also doing a tandem review of the FU vintage-style Brass BB-equipped bridge in my Warmoth Sunburst Strat. Since I like the Charvel-style 22nd fret extension you have to pull the neck to take off the pickguard, but I don't mind the extra 5 minutes it takes (especially if you have a powered screwdriver...lol). I'd wanted to try the Strat blocks for a while, and I was going to have the thing apart anyway...why not?



Doing the Eric Johnson tone control mod, and I may enable true single-coil operation for giggles (and the review) too....

[Seshmeister]

Taking this a little off topic, I now officially hate playing guitar solo's after this weekend.

That's the album thing finished and now getting mixed, I'm very happy with it but fuck I had really forgotten how much work recording guitar solos is. I would really like to read an honest account of how these are recorded in the studio by proper musicians because I found it a bit stressful and tiring. Do people sit and do this for days?

After 25 minutes not only was the engineer getting bored but I started to want to kill myself and I would compromise a bit...

It really highlights the difference between an amateur and proper professional people.

Little bit of video the singer took of this yesterday, 10th take or something and it's quite typical. It's close to correct but then you stub a note or whatever.

There is such a gap between playing live and recording...

Gear is a Jap Ibanez RG550 with a DiMarzio Tone Zone going into an Orange Rockerverb plugged into a Marshall 4x12 (in a different room).

http://s231.photobucket.com/albums/ee43/Seshmeister/?action=view&current=VID00028_zpseb6d8b9b.mp4

[vandeleur]

I have have done many talks and presentations at some quite important professional events and nothing was as stressful as recording my solos for an ep we did , I couldnt let the band be there those days . I hardly slept the night before and by the first day I had become snow blind and was losing all perspective .
You become hyper critical because u know it's for keeps and your never happy .
Honestly I know how you feel am glad its not me and if it helps with time you can look back and listen to the song as it was intended instead of it being just a group of notes that you settled for with varying degrees of satisfaction.
Any way solo sounded cool and good luck with the album

[ashstralia]

Drink booze, wail out 5 or 7 versions and paste the best bits together man!!

[jhale667]

Funny, that's actually going to be a topic I'm covering later... IMO it's good to had a general idea what you're going to do before you go pay for time spent tracking, especially if you're not recording at home. Not necessarily working everything out in advance, just having a ballpark idea of what you want to accomplish, and certainly what if any tonal embellishments you're going to use (wah, whatever). Unless it's a situation where you've never heard the track before and you have to do it by the seat of your pants...

If a couple of drinks loosens you up, by all means have at...

[ashstralia]

I'm a bit old school like that, J.

[jhale667]

Hey, whatever works.

So I have a push-pull 250k pot set up to do the coil split, and two CTS 250ks for tone controls. I just went with a standard 5-way switch, didn't go all exotic with a super switch or anything.

[Seshmeister]

Oh well it's all done, 20 hours of overdubs this weekend and I was traumatized.

I think next time I will have a couple of drinks to loosen me up. I did when we were doing the guides live with the band and it helped to the extent a couple of them were keepers.

There were a couple of parts yesterday where I thought 'Fuck this is the first time I've ever played this completely sober!'

It will be interesting to me to hear what I've done when I go in to mixing today, as Ash said you completely lose all perspective and you don't know if you are being over fussy or just playing shit - I think for me it was a mixture of both. Also good advice to get rid of other band members, it's bad enough without a judging panel.

I doubt I'm going to be completely happy with any of the solos but hope they are all at least passable...

It's weird because everyone else, especially stuff like vocals end up sounding at their very best, better than the demos or live but the solos won't.

[Seshmeister]

I'm using a 100 watt Orange Rockerverb and it's sounding awesome. Producer wants me to put a second rhythm track with a Messa Boogie.

Ended up using an Engle for the other track???

I'd never even heard of them...

[ashstralia]

I did when we were doing the guides live with the band and it helped to the extent a couple of them were keepers..

Maybe you should try flying those ones in Vai style? Only take 10 minutes to try.
And engl amps RIP!! My bro Barney has a 50 watt head, sounds amazing.


Edit checked the model, it's a powerball 50.

[jhale667]

It turned out purty...

[ashstralia]

J, I will buy that guitar if you're willing to sell it. I'm serious.