PlayJazzGuitar.com Forum

[marco]

hi,heres marco from amsterdam
i am building my firts archtop with some help of benedetto`s book.
in september it will be ready,already looking for floating
pick-ups, its hard to pick the right one(you cant try 10 different
pick-ups)
can somebody tell something about D`armond pick-ups
like a big fat jazzy sound
greetings marco

[marco]

thanks ray,
i am on my way to harmonycentral right now
and if you want to hear what i mean ,when i say ;big fat sound
check out www.jessevanruller.com
a Levin guitar with a D`Armond pick, and of corse a great player.
Still looking for a Benedetto sample

groeten marco

[steve]

Thanks Marco, great link.

Steve
_________________
Miles is the answer.

[marco]

Ray,great player mr Bruno,reminds me of bireli Lagrene(gyspie
virtuose a la django)
Well balanced sound,especialy the first two songs with the bass player
(beautifull mix between electric and acoustic)
alltough the sound i am searching for is a litlle Deeper or warmer.
But if my first self made archtop sounds just a bit like
his,i be more then happy.
great site
groeten marco

[Rubinho]

Hello everybody,

I'm Rubens from Brazil, and just like you guys, I'm looking for a effective pick up for my first archtop guitar (Ibanez AF-75). I looked for PAF 57 Gibson but it is really expensive here in my country. I was told about some other cheaper options like: Seth Lover (Seimour Duncan) and Benedetto B-6 (I thnk this last one is used by the great Jimmy Bruno)

Could anybody help with this?

Searching for a fat and jazzy sound,

Rubens

[cmr415]

I can wouch for Kent Armstrong, who I believe makes the pick ups for Benedetto. I have a custom made PAF and it sounds great. The Gibson 57 classic is good also, as is a pick up from a company called Bartolini.
_________________
Heritage 575 Spruce with Kent Armstrong PAF
Reverend Charger 290
Henriksen 10R

[landser]

Rubinho,

I find it interesting that you are searching for a good pickup for your new ibanez.... I picked up an Ibanez 75 series archtop a few months ago as my "project guitar" for this season. I scrapped all of the stock hardware and started from scratch with american parts from machine heads to tailpiece. as far as pickups go, I selected the seymour duncan "vintage blues set" (basically a neck and bridge "classic '59" set). They are sold singly as SH1 (n or b models)....the neck pickup of this setup on the ibanez archtop is simply incredible for tone. trading the stock high output pups for low output jazz pickup makes all the difference in an otherwise rather mediocre archtop (I bought it because a. it was a beautifully finished guitar and b. I wanted to know what I could "do" with it with a little work.).
I must admit that I am more than satisfied with the results I've acheived by throwing a little more cash at the instrument. Rubinho, I've been playing forty-three years and own a lot of guitars my friend, I have found that my reworked Ibanez has become my favorite guitar for playing and practicing these days: and this is over some very good and expensive guitars (a gibson es 335 and a guild t100 d). this is not to say that I won't return to my more famous brand name guitars for performances but, played through one of my tube amps, the sound is rich, full and as creamy as freshly churned butter.
hope I helped you in making your decision....
c.
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clair edward solberg

[Rubinho]

Hi Clair,

Thanks for your help, sharing your experience!
Talking about Seymour Duncan, I've already ordered from a local retailer the Seth Lover Model (neck position). I was told this pickup is quite similar to Gibson Classic 57 and cheaper as well. Checking out their website and listening to some samples, I decided to give it try.

The only problem is: it's taking a long time to be shipped to Brazil....
and there's only one company that does that, in other words, it is really hard to find it anywhere around here. The only kind they still have here is the Jazz Model, but listening to its sound on Seymour Duncan's website, I found that Seth lover version is more like what I'm looking for.
Have you ever tried this pickup before?

I was told as well that for good results I'm supposed to change the original AF-75 potentiometers (I'm not sure if I wrote this word correct) for more "powerful" ones like Gibson or Fender 250k). What do you say about that?

Thanks again!

Rubens

[Rubinho]

Hello Ray,

I like Rubens Barrichello too, but I don't follow F1 regularly...
Here in Brazil, Airton Senna is still considered a hero, and people are still expecting from Rubinho the same goals that Senna reached. This is a huge pressure on his back!
Talking about the pickups, please let us know your experiences after you get it installed.

Cheers,

Rubens

[landser]

Rubinho,

your friend spoke correctly, you most definitely want to change the "pots" to a heavy 500k model audio taper potentiometer--like the Gibson. the 250k Fender pots will roll off too much treble from your humbucking pickup....the fender pot is designed for single coil pickups as on the stratocaster and telecaster guitars where attenuation of some treble is almost desirable in those biting surf/rock guitars.
the stock pots on the Ibanez (change the 3-way toggle switch while you're at it) are very cheap. I figure if you are going to go to the expense of upgrading your guitar's electronics, for a few dollars more one can do it right. don't run your new, quality pickups through second-rate electrical hardware.

I have indeed heard the duncan "seth lover" pickups. they are certainly a fine pickup and I'm sure you'll fall in love with the tone you get from your neck pickup (I haven't heard the bridge unit, so I really can't comment)... the seth lover, gibson classic '57 and seymour duncan's SH1's (classic '59) are all similar pickups with very similar tone. this incredibly rich tone is obtained by winding the pickup coils to a lower output than the "screamer" humbuckings used by rock guitarists (it seems it always comes down to--be it amp or guitar--great tone comes at the small price of a lower output device).

let me know when you get the pickups installed if you'd like a couple tips on settting them up for optimum tone (actual measurements between string and pick up pole piece). as a general rule of thumb, since the heavier low strings contain more metal and respond with more strength to the coils' magnetism, you want to keep the bass side of the pickup lower than those under the treble strings. I found with my own AF75 that keeping the pickup at an even level under the strings gave the bass end of my strings an overpowering hand on my output. backing that side of the pickup farther away from the strings helped to really balance out the tone. Rubinho, I think you're going to be very happy with your new pickups.

a good source for gibson parts is the luthier's parts and tools supplier: Stewart MacDonald. Their motto is "Everything for building and repairing stringed instruments"...it is quite accurate. check out their website: stewmac.com for buying parts online. another guitar parts supplier that is quite good is: guitarelectronics.com. I've no idea what shipping to Brazil costs (I imagine it is very dear) but the rest of the parts you need are quite small and don't weigh a great deal so frieght shouldn't be a huge deterrent to getting the right parts.

when you've finished adding the pickups to your Ibanez I'm sure you'll find that you have a different, better guitar. enjoy playing it, my friend.
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clair edward solberg

[Rubinho]

Clair,

First of all, thanks for your great tips!
I've checked out the links you mentioned... really nice websites, both of them. I'll add them in my favorites.
I do wanna upgrade my guitar, and I'm sure I'll have to replace some parts here and there in order to get the sound of the great boxes! And that actually was my first thought when my wife bought me the guitar as a gift: Add some great electrical parts and enjoy the guitar for a very long time. I believe "the rest" will depend on my playing! And we know this is a lifetime process.

I'll let you know when I get it all installed.

Thanks a lot!

Rubinho