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Necro-bumping this bitch...:D
Since I last posted in this thread, haven't completely went nuts with the Titanium yet, but starting to...
Finally tried these out in a LOUD band setting, after spending the better part of the last year goofing around in Nuendo before getting Pro Tools and going nuts...posted a review of my findings on my Facebook page, and Adam at FloydUpgrades liked it so much he posted it on his site...lol..
Here it is:
So since I unfortunately haven't been doing much in the way of gigging in the past year(a situation that's soon to improve), the only indication I'd had that my ongoing (fricking nearly-OCD, lol) hardware refurb/upgrade mission on my guitars was yielding the desired results were the tracks I've been recording. While impressive, they still weren't giving me any idea how the new passive pickup and Big-Block combination I installed was going to sit in a REAL band setting/ mix. Yesterday we threw an informal jam at Gabe's place and I finally got to put Number1 and 3 through their paces for a few hours. I was extremely pleased with the results. Gabe even noticed. No drummer jokes, please...haha, he's actually becoming quite the multi-instrumentalist. My fave quote from him "It sounds so...CLEAR!" and I totally agree!
The Big-Blocks (thanks Adam) have given my tone this ridiculous clarity and corpulence that is (and has to be) felt as much as heard. For the first time, it sounded not only like my guitar was sitting (perfectly) on top of and within the bass and drums frequency-wise, and at the risk of sounding like that dork in the "Pizza Whisperer" commercial - it sounded like it was "giving them a great big HUG"...LMAO...and I still maintain there is NO WAY to talk about the increased sustain properties Big-Blocks impart without sounding like Nigel F-ing Tufnel...but it was funny holding a chord with my amp on the MEDIUM-gain Channel, and watching Gabe's eyes light up as the chord began to sustain musically...not shrieking feedback, mind you, useful sustain. Then I showed him what it does on the Lead Channel...To quote the old SNL bit Sprockets: "I am as happy as a little girl...." :D
And even though I had already grown tired of EMG pickups (it's not like I hate them now or anything, they just weren't doing what I want these days), I am also completely jazzed on the addition of the Seymour Duncan pickups I installed in the two that got tested yesterday; #1, the Ash Charvel-Mutt Strat, got a TB-5 Custom and #3, the Koa Warmoth Strat got the TB-11 Custom Custom in the bridge position and a Classic Stack in the neck slot. Did my homework on the wood-types of each guitar and what I was shooting for tone-wise, and #1 is a complete success. Pretty sure #3 is too, but I may swap out the magnet in the TB-11 (Alnico 2) for an A8 if after trying it in in the TB-11 I purchased (for $20 on Ebay, like most of these nearly brand-new pickups...LOL) for #2, which is still on the "bench" (more like dresser, lol) awaiting a Floyd Rose-recess and paint, with the Kramer also in mid-refurb. Definitely can put one in the "completed" column as far as the ongoing upgrade, possibly two...may leave the CC in #3 alone for variety. But I'm convinced I'm on the right track as far as what I'm shooting for from a sonic standpoint now. The new pickups better translate the tonal enhancements and nuances of the Big Blocks than the EMGs did, in my opinion. Now I reeeeeeally want to try a Titanium Big-Block in Number 2 (the Ash Charvel-Musikraft Mutt). That may just be the "little...extra push over the cliff it needs"...hahahaha
But as you can see, pretty stoked with the results.
Since I last posted in this thread, haven't completely went nuts with the Titanium yet, but starting to...
Finally tried these out in a LOUD band setting, after spending the better part of the last year goofing around in Nuendo before getting Pro Tools and going nuts...posted a review of my findings on my Facebook page, and Adam at FloydUpgrades liked it so much he posted it on his site...lol..
Here it is:
So since I unfortunately haven't been doing much in the way of gigging in the past year(a situation that's soon to improve), the only indication I'd had that my ongoing (fricking nearly-OCD, lol) hardware refurb/upgrade mission on my guitars was yielding the desired results were the tracks I've been recording. While impressive, they still weren't giving me any idea how the new passive pickup and Big-Block combination I installed was going to sit in a REAL band setting/ mix. Yesterday we threw an informal jam at Gabe's place and I finally got to put Number1 and 3 through their paces for a few hours. I was extremely pleased with the results. Gabe even noticed. No drummer jokes, please...haha, he's actually becoming quite the multi-instrumentalist. My fave quote from him "It sounds so...CLEAR!" and I totally agree!
The Big-Blocks (thanks Adam) have given my tone this ridiculous clarity and corpulence that is (and has to be) felt as much as heard. For the first time, it sounded not only like my guitar was sitting (perfectly) on top of and within the bass and drums frequency-wise, and at the risk of sounding like that dork in the "Pizza Whisperer" commercial - it sounded like it was "giving them a great big HUG"...LMAO...and I still maintain there is NO WAY to talk about the increased sustain properties Big-Blocks impart without sounding like Nigel F-ing Tufnel...but it was funny holding a chord with my amp on the MEDIUM-gain Channel, and watching Gabe's eyes light up as the chord began to sustain musically...not shrieking feedback, mind you, useful sustain. Then I showed him what it does on the Lead Channel...To quote the old SNL bit Sprockets: "I am as happy as a little girl...." :D
And even though I had already grown tired of EMG pickups (it's not like I hate them now or anything, they just weren't doing what I want these days), I am also completely jazzed on the addition of the Seymour Duncan pickups I installed in the two that got tested yesterday; #1, the Ash Charvel-Mutt Strat, got a TB-5 Custom and #3, the Koa Warmoth Strat got the TB-11 Custom Custom in the bridge position and a Classic Stack in the neck slot. Did my homework on the wood-types of each guitar and what I was shooting for tone-wise, and #1 is a complete success. Pretty sure #3 is too, but I may swap out the magnet in the TB-11 (Alnico 2) for an A8 if after trying it in in the TB-11 I purchased (for $20 on Ebay, like most of these nearly brand-new pickups...LOL) for #2, which is still on the "bench" (more like dresser, lol) awaiting a Floyd Rose-recess and paint, with the Kramer also in mid-refurb. Definitely can put one in the "completed" column as far as the ongoing upgrade, possibly two...may leave the CC in #3 alone for variety. But I'm convinced I'm on the right track as far as what I'm shooting for from a sonic standpoint now. The new pickups better translate the tonal enhancements and nuances of the Big Blocks than the EMGs did, in my opinion. Now I reeeeeeally want to try a Titanium Big-Block in Number 2 (the Ash Charvel-Musikraft Mutt). That may just be the "little...extra push over the cliff it needs"...hahahaha
But as you can see, pretty stoked with the results.
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