I'd love to pull one apart for science. It seems like it's picking up all sorts of other vibrations as well as all the thin, double noting effects from being far too close to the strings. I bet it could be made to sound amazing in neck position, lowered down, and decoupled from body vibrations as best as possible.
I’ve had the pleasure to play a family member’s 50s Harmony Stratotone with a gold foil pickup in the neck. For a “catalogue” guitar, man does that pickup sound awesome. Definitely one of my favourite sounds.
0:00 ahhh another human of elegant taste in sympathetic regeneration - I've often wondered what would happen if someone came up with a literal blend knob for microphonics... perhaps dynamic coupling? put a mute not on the pickup or electronics but on the trampoline-y pickguard to damp out/stabilize transducers mounted not to the body but to the plastics (or somehow get a tuned mass on there - haven't really considered how to adjust a tuned mass on the fly but this video and your comment sparked a couple new-ish application ideas) and now that we're some minutes into it, wow. This thing is really open to the universe *gets out Makita drill motor with the trem pick bit* Okay, I'm hitting the reply button at 11:10, want to watch the rest of this and dream about things that don't exist yet some more
@@ScottyBrockway try thermoplastic to settle them down - when it cools it resembles milk jug type plastic and it can be reworked if you get it up to the temp of a cup of coffee, like 160°F-ish. I love that stuff - people also need to know about Sugru, which is a silicone putty that hardens into legit rubber and cures overnight to full firmness - it's great for making bumpers or feet for stuff when you've lost one (like my Katana Air is missing a couple of the rubber feet and it works great for that and also stopped the one cat that keeps chewing through phone charger cords near "the head") but since it contains volatile compounds when it is fresh, don't use it near anything with a nice finish on it (like if you wanted to put a custom silicone rubber bumper on your guitar stand) until it's fully outgassed (several days), and I would put something between it and anything I really cared about, just like any other non cork or felt cushion. But the low-temp thermoplastic is prototyping GOLD and once I found it (and it's cheap too) I was suddenly fixing all sorts of stuff - a closet hanger bar kept slipping out because it was too short and I hammered a nail in, leaving a short bit out, then formed the hand moldable plastic around it, anything that doesn't get hotter than a cup of coffee is fair game and in a solid chunk it's actually really tough and fairly hard, for what it is. It's more like a super hard wax than anything, which is what struck me to suggest it. look for "hand formable thermoplastic" on Amazon, Adafruit, any of the maker sites...I'm not trying to promote any brand, just share helpful tools I've learned about that some people may have not seen/encountered or used before. I was using it at work to make a fake wrist to test smartwatches under mechanical motion, sitting in the cafeteria and getting bowls of hot water from the tea spigot, and molding two piece mandrels to hook to stepper motors to flick whatever the DUT was, it worked great until some idiot tried to drill it so they could stick a bolt through it - you have to mold that into it lol they came and got me when they got a drill bit stuck in BOTH sides, hashtag truestorynobodyaskedfor :-)
I think I am in the minority here, but I really like the sound of it! It has a trashy, 60s, The Sonics vibe. Throw that turd into a Silvertone Twin Twelve and holy crap you are in garage rock heaven!
For one its not a vintage o ne, i believe. It is nit the sound of the dearmond gold foils, for sure. It sounds crappy i agree, but dont know the maker. Ive put pickups in many times and almost sounds like you crossed a wrong wire.
@@heavyjacktv I do not get why people are so hung up on what they gig with. I mean I have watched a lot of vids and they say they wouldn't gig with it as people expect the name brands up on stage but ffs, why? I don't give two shits what the audience expects me to have as long as it sounds good, and in reality they don't give two shits either as long as they are entertained.
It sounds like that because of how you installed it. I worked as a luthier both repairing and building guitars for almost a decade. If a pickup gets too close to the strings the magnetic ability of the pickup is diminished once it gets too close. Also the way you have the pickup on top of the pick guard instead of inside is why its amplifying the microphone qualities more. Essentially its user error.
I mean... I'm no luthier by any means. I do work on my own guitars though. Obviously, so does this guy. I was baffled the moment he showed us how close the pickup is to the strings, while saying he just wanted to hear what it sounds like. For real dude? I can't even.
Proof of concept for this would be to take the pickguard off and mount it directly to the body so Ryan doesn't have to cut anything up. A couple of extra holes in the routing is less a big deal since it'll get covered up in the end.
Sounds like a 12 string...also very thin and wirey, but mostly sounds like a 12string Rickenbacker from the 60's (like on the song "Turn! Turn! Turn!" by The Byrds. Really jangly as well.
I might be the minority, but I REALLY like the “overly bright” jangle sound it gives off....I want to put one in my Squier Jaguar...am I crazy? Maybe similar to how Robert Smith got accustomed to the sound of one of the pickups from his first cheap dime store guitar so he put it in his first “real” guitar. P.S How do I make you an offer?
Honestly, that sounds awesome as a sort of secret weapon/studio guitar. That would totally nail some vintage, lo-fi sounds. It even has a 12-string like sound to it, I love this!
Gold foil pickups actually can be so many different pickups that it’s almost as if they need to be categorized differently. But something is going on with that setup. Not normal to me.
This one might be a Teisco with very little wire, others are supposed to be DeArmonds in the 8k - 10k range, and I've even seen Kay got on the bandwagon with a variant of their "Pancake" pickup, which is somewhere in the 5k - 6k range with AWG 43. That last one shouldn't differ much from actual Pancake pups, except for how the magnetic field is not covered. I'm not sure you can really count it as a true "gold foil," but that one variant does exist.
For starters, gold foils are really low output. I wouldn’t mix them with other types of pickups because they aren’t going to blend well. They are microphonic. It’s also FAR too close to the strings.
@@AZCobraman I herd them on a Jupeter h49. It was amazing. it's a semi holow guitar. With a litle dirt and slap back, that's the sound I was looking for.
It Depends on the guitar your trying to put them in. They work good on hollow body guitars and thinlines. if your going to mix pickups put the gold foil in the neck position bc the bridge pickup is always wound a little bit hotter.i put a rowe gold foil neck pup in my squire j mascis jazzmaster and added 1meg resistors to the pots.sounds just like a vintage jazzmaster now.i can get country, jazz,and surf rock tones through the 3 way toggle switch alone with no effects.
@Reid Jamesyour right more than subjective.wish I did have a harmony bobcat. I had a 2015 j mascis jazzmaster i added 1 meg resistors to the pots and installed a 63 rowe goldfoil in the neck position. It had 2 hum canceling positions went from jazz, country blues,and jazz in the flip of a 3 way switch.still have the electronics but i smashed the body.
I guess I'm biased, 'cause I've been using funky 1960s Japanese guitars all my life, and I can get great sounds out of them. You can blame Jack White for making me obsessed with cheap vintage guitars, and I also love garage rock.
Hey have you try switching the pickup wires , I have a fender fat 50 single coil and the black wire was hot and the white wire was ground .it made it sound very thin until I turn the wires around . Just a thought !
Goldfoil owner and you've inspired me to pull the old harmony out of the case after work. That's the benchmark of a good reviewer: the ability to let someone know they'll love something they hated. Some of the problem comes from being too close to the strings, but 90% of it is just their vibe and you showcase it well.
This is weird timing lol. I’ve been searching into Gold Foils like crazy the past few days and now you come out with basically the demo I’ve been looking for.
Search victory gold foil pickups, on youtube. there's a cool demo of a guy with an offset guitar and they're not too expensive on reverb compared to lollars or vintage ones
@@Dr_Satan i have all 3 versions from guitarfetish, single coils, p90s and humbuckers in a xaviere guitar. theyre NOT repros. i have the victory goldfoils and the real teisco in cooder guitars as well as the more common version with the screws in center. they all sound a lil different but the guitarfetish stuff isnt even made like a real goldfoil with the rubberized magnets. for the money, i recommend getting one victory and putting it in neck position
This video cracks me up! I kind of like the funky sound of the pick up! I could see a punk or funk guitarist using this on a record. Great video man. Very entertaining!
Hey Ryan, these have rubber magnets like the ones in the old kitchen cabinet doors...no foolin'. sometimes they can deteriorate,maybe check that. party on dude.
Its surreal to see ryans playing evolve and change throughout the years. I took a short hiatus from 60ch and its super cool to see ryan with a new arsenal of licks! I personally think it sounds super but ive played guitars with legit gold foils in them and this sounds pretty strange in comparison
I've installed several for a customer on his Teiscos, from different brands. Some had low output similar to this. I added a couple of thousand winds to one of his old ones and it beefed up quite a bit. The magnet is fairly weak too which also makes for low output. They weren't meant for full on rock.
I redid a really old Harmony for a friend ( had to be an early 60s . Was really thin body and have never seen another like it ). It was really beat up but the electronics were both intact and working so I gave it an 80s van Halen style paint job and set the guitar up . But the pick ups in it were very microphonic . With some effects it sounded like a bad ground but then other effects made it one of the most beautiful tones ever .
It gives me great joy to see Ryan experiment. He is 100% that kid who came to school and told you about how he velcro'ed a Full Shred to his dad's vintage J45 to see what happened when when he wired it to the family cat. "The shreaks had a clarity in the upper register." "...Of the cat or the guitar?" "Yes. I'm trying PAFs tonight."
Could it be that Gold Foils, specifically old ones, were mounted directly to the body rather than to a pick guard with a hollow space underneath? Just a theory. 🤔
dude 1 meg pots let a lot of treble bleed in the signal. if it sounds atrociously harsh on 250 k pots, it's going to sound like hell with 1 meg. that's going to make the issue worse.
@@antoniocanales9922 They are very low impedence and the harmony guitars have 1 meg pots, they also have very big tone caps like .1uf, it is what it is. They are way too low output for 250k.
@@ScottyBrockway the pickups in Harmony guitars are different than this particular pup. Jazzmasters have always used 1 meg pots, too- but I think it’s more than obvious that using 1 meg pots with THIS particular pickup (which seems faulty) will absolutely kill the (already dead) tone.
@@antoniocanales9922 Looks like a harmony pickup to me. If it's a tiesco pickup that would explain it sounding terrible and nothing will fix it. If it's an aftermarket pickup (which I doubt), its not worth the material it's made of and belong in the recycle bin.
From now on, whenever you suspect that someone is a 60CH fan, you should go up to them and "Wiggle stick, wiggle stick, wiggle stick." And then they would respond likewise. Then you'd both continue on with your day.
Actually, the more I listen to it, I think it sounds like it is *mostly* just acting as a microphone, and perhaps not at all as a magnetic transducer. How that could happen, I don't know, but that's what I'm hearing.
@@NatureTable What I mean is that it doesn't sound like a pickup that has gone microphonic due to loose windings, in which case it still also sends a voltage signal from the strings moving through it's magnetic field like any normal pickup, I mean it sounds like it is *only* picking up the sound of the strings microphonically, but not transmitting any electro magnetic current, the way a normal-working pickup or mildly microphonic pickup operates. Normally operating pickups do *not work* by picking up the string sounds microphonically.
@@alexweisker4963 it's totally doing that weird magnet choke and warble... leo fender one said the correct adjustment for strat pickups was even with pickguard, bridge raised to compensate for volume balance. He invented a lot of this and most would say his opinions are wrong! He didnt play but you know. Invented the thing. Lolololol
@@mikerevis6439 Norma were , but the Coodercaster style were early 60s before Teisco sold to Kawai.They were on the SS and WG models and the TRG with the on board amp.
My Zenon audition is often used in that exact situation with it's factory gold foils. I'm using a honeytone mini amp and the thing sounds an acoustic on steroids
Isn’t the whole deal with goldfoils supposed to be that they have super weak magnets in them so they end up being really jangly and bright? I am assuming that what you’re hearing is correct, but I can’t say I personally think it’s a great sound.
I think it may be that the pickup is too close to the strings which causes a weird modulation effect. Here is a video showing examples. ruclips.net/video/ROML4xsQK60/видео.html But there might be something even more wrong.
I have a late 60's Teisco (branded Marlin), that I just pillaged for a franken build, and I noticed the volume pot is 100k (!). Since lower value reduces upper freq's passing, this could be why you have such a trebley tone. Worth a try?
Different style gold-foils have different construction, different sounds, and can be very affected by their poriximity to the strings. I have an "s grille" from a 60s harmony that sounds great, in a trashy kind of way. It has way more low-end than yours does, for sure. Anyway, this was very interesting. I did like how it sounded with the fuzz...lol.
It was giving me kind of a 60s/The Byrds vibe at the beginning (4:40). Then you got silly with the pedals. 😋 It sounds like it's amplifying the trem spring cavity to make its own spring reverb. 😁 See if damping those springs makes it sound more normal. EDIT: It just hit me that it kind of sounds like Silverchair - Tomorrow at the beginning too.
I agree that the pickup is probably installed too close to the string or that there is something wrong with the pickup. As someone who has played a few gold foil guitars and has a guitar with a couple of silver foil pickups in it I can tell you that the neck position on these kinds of pickups tend to sound a whole lot better (and much more usable) unless you’re trying to get a thin, jangly late 50’s or early 60’s sound.
I had a Harmony H59 with three gold foil pickups. The neck sounded superb, the middle pickup OK but not as nice as the neck and the bridge one (which sat far too close to the bridge IMO), was like an icepick. I'd say they are best positioned towards the neck, and to be avoided near the bridge.
Finger picking only with just the gold foil has a great twelve string sound to me, but not so much for other playing styles. I was very surprised by that!
I had a vintage gold foil that looked just like that one. It was probably somewhat microphonic, but it sounded good. Certainly not thin sounding that that one...makes me think something is wrong with it.
i love strats because they're so modular. with the right mods and mindset, the possibilities are endless. triple humbucker? can do, 5 single coils? can do, bass pickups? can do, floating archtop pickups? can do, headless strat? can do! a synth strat? can do! the sitar strat? can do! and much more mods! PS. All of these mods are legitimate
I bought one as well or a Strat (GeminiPickups) and it was thin and horrible with other Strat pickups . I had to use in the neck of a tele . But I have a Set of Lollar gold foils in a LSL and man o man they are sweetmeat. They are all different , Teisco specs are the crispy thin versions. I just scooped a MOJO GF Humbucker.
I'm way late to this one! I have a '74 Harmony Meteor with its original foils, they sound way better properly installed. Sweet cleans that can start to break up. Then they get nice & raunchy.
Teisco used a lot of different gold foils, some good-- most poopy. In that style, look for the screw poles on the edge of the pickup, not in the center. Hard to find, though. As old gold foils go, I've had better luck with the DeArmonds or Roy Smecks put in Harmony and Airline Bobkats.
If the pickup is still too close to the strings, it will cause a modulation or oscillation sound. It sounds like you did what you could, but if its still too close, you will get that effect
So yes, the pickup is not potted, so it can physically move around, and tend to be pretty microphonic. That is pretty normal. They are also low output. In my experience they sound best in a neck position.
I'd say it's too close to the strings. I did the same thing with a Rick 4001 bass decades ago. I thought it would just get louder, but there were other problems.... which sounded a lot like this.
Put a piece of foam under the pickup to fill the void under it, that buzz will go away, and you are right about the pickup being out of phase. Its the pickup vibrating
One of my friends had an old Traynor twin amp years ago that had that weird, modulated sound to it. I wondered if the signal was getting wigglestick modulated by the 50hz PSU.
This thing is 60's garage rock/90's Grunge/2000's Indie fab. I kinda dig it. I'd love to make some death&roll or some trashy old school lo-fi black metal with one of these, but I'd honestly be equally interested in doing Blue Cheer and The Kinks covers, or maybe some old grunge like Temple of the Dog or Soundgarden. There is a LOT going on here.
My best guess is that a lot of the problem is with the top mounting on the pickguard. Being so microphonic, these are probably the worst type of pickup to install this way. That being said, if you don’t like the basic tone as it is, you’re not gonna like it even if you installed it more traditionally and got rid of the weird resonances. I’ve never been able to bond with them either, so you’re not alone yo
I wonder if it is having a crazy effect on string vibrating because it's way closer than the standard pickups as well as a stronger microphone single coil effect .
These don't sound anything like the full set of GFS goldfoils in my strat. I actually like the sound better than the EMG SA set I previously had installed. They are 2 completely different sounding pickup sets but both do their thing really well. I kept the SA set installed on another pickguard all wired up with switches and knobs. Easy to switch back and forth as desired.
I would be surprised if GFS spent a lot of money designing specific goldfoil pickups rather than just using a standard PAF, P90 or Strat pickup design and putting gold mesh in the cover to make them look cool. I know the generic Chinese 'gold foils' are exactly that, anyway. Would be happy to be proven wrong if you or anyone knows better.
Oh man throw that in between two hums, with a on off switch. Like a big Apple strat. You got something there. Maybe put some rubber behind it for less body noise.
I've been getting into making weird noises with guitar and microphonics, anyone have any pickup suggestions that are really microphonic but a little warmer? Or any suggestions in general?
I'm using the original gold foils on my mid 60s Zenon. They do have a place though for everything you pointed out there's a reason you usually saw them on cheaper guitars in their time. If you wanted to record something in a studio today with that it would actually make the song kinda stand out though it definitely takes one who has a liking for the sound they produce to appreciate them.
I'd love to pull one apart for science.
It seems like it's picking up all sorts of other vibrations as well as all the thin, double noting effects from being far too close to the strings.
I bet it could be made to sound amazing in neck position, lowered down, and decoupled from body vibrations as best as possible.
An Axe From the Grave on 60CycleHum’s guitar 🤯👀 a collab made in heaven right there lolol
They'll sound way better wax potted, but the coil bobbins are very low temp plastic so dunno if they would survive.
I’ve had the pleasure to play a family member’s 50s Harmony Stratotone with a gold foil pickup in the neck. For a “catalogue” guitar, man does that pickup sound awesome. Definitely one of my favourite sounds.
0:00 ahhh another human of elegant taste in sympathetic regeneration - I've often wondered what would happen if someone came up with a literal blend knob for microphonics...
perhaps dynamic coupling? put a mute not on the pickup or electronics but on the trampoline-y pickguard to damp out/stabilize transducers mounted not to the body but to the plastics (or somehow get a tuned mass on there - haven't really considered how to adjust a tuned mass on the fly but this video and your comment sparked a couple new-ish application ideas) and now that we're some minutes into it, wow. This thing is really open to the universe *gets out Makita drill motor with the trem pick bit*
Okay, I'm hitting the reply button at 11:10, want to watch the rest of this and dream about things that don't exist yet some more
@@ScottyBrockway try thermoplastic to settle them down - when it cools it resembles milk jug type plastic and it can be reworked if you get it up to the temp of a cup of coffee, like 160°F-ish. I love that stuff - people also need to know about Sugru, which is a silicone putty that hardens into legit rubber and cures overnight to full firmness - it's great for making bumpers or feet for stuff when you've lost one (like my Katana Air is missing a couple of the rubber feet and it works great for that and also stopped the one cat that keeps chewing through phone charger cords near "the head") but since it contains volatile compounds when it is fresh, don't use it near anything with a nice finish on it (like if you wanted to put a custom silicone rubber bumper on your guitar stand) until it's fully outgassed (several days), and I would put something between it and anything I really cared about, just like any other non cork or felt cushion.
But the low-temp thermoplastic is prototyping GOLD and once I found it (and it's cheap too) I was suddenly fixing all sorts of stuff - a closet hanger bar kept slipping out because it was too short and I hammered a nail in, leaving a short bit out, then formed the hand moldable plastic around it, anything that doesn't get hotter than a cup of coffee is fair game and in a solid chunk it's actually really tough and fairly hard, for what it is. It's more like a super hard wax than anything, which is what struck me to suggest it.
look for "hand formable thermoplastic" on Amazon, Adafruit, any of the maker sites...I'm not trying to promote any brand, just share helpful tools I've learned about that some people may have not seen/encountered or used before.
I was using it at work to make a fake wrist to test smartwatches under mechanical motion, sitting in the cafeteria and getting bowls of hot water from the tea spigot, and molding two piece mandrels to hook to stepper motors to flick whatever the DUT was, it worked great until some idiot tried to drill it so they could stick a bolt through it - you have to mold that into it lol they came and got me when they got a drill bit stuck in BOTH sides, hashtag truestorynobodyaskedfor
:-)
"I just wanted to test it out so I [did exponentially more work than cutting the pickguard]"
Never change, Ryan
rip
literally half of my wiring projects.
more reversible work though
Popping off a neck to shim the angle with some paper, and raising the bridge saddles is hardly anything.
I think I am in the minority here, but I really like the sound of it! It has a trashy, 60s, The Sonics vibe. Throw that turd into a Silvertone Twin Twelve and holy crap you are in garage rock heaven!
Yeah, it has character. I like it, too
Made me think of the Byrds.
On its own I love it, but as soon as I hear the other two pups no. I bet if it were in the neck position that PUP would smash them all.
For one its not a vintage o ne, i believe. It is nit the sound of the dearmond gold foils, for sure. It sounds crappy i agree, but dont know the maker. Ive put pickups in many times and almost sounds like you crossed a wrong wire.
@@heavyjacktv I do not get why people are so hung up on what they gig with. I mean I have watched a lot of vids and they say they wouldn't gig with it as people expect the name brands up on stage but ffs, why? I don't give two shits what the audience expects me to have as long as it sounds good, and in reality they don't give two shits either as long as they are entertained.
It really reminds of a Rickenbacker 12 string, like something off a Byrds album. Seeing as this is a 6 string, that's pretty wild.
yea i thought of "turn turn" right away.
I thought it sounded like a 12 string guitar too.
Exactly my thought too
This was my thought exactly. Ryan accidentally wrote four Laurel Canyon songs over the course of this video.
Actually, I think you need a green tambourine.
Won't lie, I dig the sound.
I think your trem springs are functioning as a reverb. The extreme microphonic nature of the pickup is bringing out those reverberations. cool stuff.
omg I think you're right. that's hilarious I think that's exactly what it is man
Reminds me of the guitar sound in the beginning of Turn, Turn, Turn.
Yeah, it has a sort of 12 string jangle
Yup. Exactly
Such a good call
My thoughts too, very Byrds 60s radio sound.
It sounds like that because of how you installed it. I worked as a luthier both repairing and building guitars for almost a decade.
If a pickup gets too close to the strings the magnetic ability of the pickup is diminished once it gets too close.
Also the way you have the pickup on top of the pick guard instead of inside is why its amplifying the microphone qualities more.
Essentially its user error.
i think he also has to set up the amp for the pickup, reducing treble and adding bass as well.
I mean... I'm no luthier by any means. I do work on my own guitars though. Obviously, so does this guy. I was baffled the moment he showed us how close the pickup is to the strings, while saying he just wanted to hear what it sounds like. For real dude? I can't even.
Proof of concept for this would be to take the pickguard off and mount it directly to the body so Ryan doesn't have to cut anything up. A couple of extra holes in the routing is less a big deal since it'll get covered up in the end.
@@rindred or just buy any cheap pickguard.
I was also thinking it looked extremely close to the strings, but I don't know if the sound is a direct result of that or not.
This could become your signature sound
Sounds like a 12 string...also very thin and wirey, but mostly sounds like a 12string Rickenbacker from the 60's (like on the song "Turn! Turn! Turn!" by The Byrds. Really jangly as well.
12 string is exactly what I thought as soon as he started playing.
I might be the minority, but I REALLY like the “overly bright” jangle sound it gives off....I want to put one in my Squier Jaguar...am I crazy? Maybe similar to how Robert Smith got accustomed to the sound of one of the pickups from his first cheap dime store guitar so he put it in his first “real” guitar. P.S How do I make you an offer?
That sounds great. It's like... super bright and compressed in a good way.
Honestly, that sounds awesome as a sort of secret weapon/studio guitar. That would totally nail some vintage, lo-fi sounds. It even has a 12-string like sound to it, I love this!
“WIGGLE STICK!!” cracked me up 😆
Gold foil pickups actually can be so many different pickups that it’s almost as if they need to be categorized differently. But something is going on with that setup. Not normal to me.
This one might be a Teisco with very little wire, others are supposed to be DeArmonds in the 8k - 10k range, and I've even seen Kay got on the bandwagon with a variant of their "Pancake" pickup, which is somewhere in the 5k - 6k range with AWG 43. That last one shouldn't differ much from actual Pancake pups, except for how the magnetic field is not covered. I'm not sure you can really count it as a true "gold foil," but that one variant does exist.
For starters, gold foils are really low output. I wouldn’t mix them with other types of pickups because they aren’t going to blend well. They are microphonic. It’s also FAR too close to the strings.
They also aren't at their best in the bridge position. Neck and middle are where they shine.
@@AZCobraman I herd them on a Jupeter h49. It was amazing. it's a semi holow guitar. With a litle dirt and slap back, that's the sound I was looking for.
I have a pair of 'em in a semi-hollow Tele-style I built.
It Depends on the guitar your trying to put them in. They work good on hollow body guitars and thinlines. if your going to mix pickups put the gold foil in the neck position bc the bridge pickup is always wound a little bit hotter.i put a rowe gold foil neck pup in my squire j mascis jazzmaster and added 1meg resistors to the pots.sounds just like a vintage jazzmaster now.i can get country, jazz,and surf rock tones through the 3 way toggle switch alone with no effects.
@Reid Jamesyour right more than subjective.wish I did have a harmony bobcat. I had a 2015 j mascis jazzmaster i added 1 meg resistors to the pots and installed a 63 rowe goldfoil in the neck position. It had 2 hum canceling positions went from jazz, country blues,and jazz in the flip of a 3 way switch.still have the electronics but i smashed the body.
I guess I'm biased, 'cause I've been using funky 1960s Japanese guitars all my life, and I can get great sounds out of them. You can blame Jack White for making me obsessed with cheap vintage guitars, and I also love garage rock.
dude the overdrive sound it's AWESOME. it will probably cut the mix like crazy.
Hey have you try switching the pickup wires , I have a fender fat 50 single coil and the black wire was hot and the white wire was ground .it made it sound very thin until I turn the wires around . Just a thought !
I love the way it sounds. It's so unique.
"It's not a phase" - Ryan Burke, 2021
Goldfoil owner and you've inspired me to pull the old harmony out of the case after work. That's the benchmark of a good reviewer: the ability to let someone know they'll love something they hated.
Some of the problem comes from being too close to the strings, but 90% of it is just their vibe and you showcase it well.
Shot in the dark bid: 80 bucks.
"I've got a wigglestick momma!"- Reverend Horton Heat "Wiggle Stick"
Ryan, you mean something is right with that pickup! That sounds awesome!
The tone reminds me a bit of Turn Turn Turn by the Byrds.
This is weird timing lol. I’ve been searching into Gold Foils like crazy the past few days and now you come out with basically the demo I’ve been looking for.
Search victory gold foil pickups, on youtube. there's a cool demo of a guy with an offset guitar and they're not too expensive on reverb compared to lollars or vintage ones
They sell repros on Guitarfetish. No, they don't sound like old ones. I imagine they actually sound good instead.
@@Dr_Satan i have all 3 versions from guitarfetish, single coils, p90s and humbuckers in a xaviere guitar. theyre NOT repros. i have the victory goldfoils and the real teisco in cooder guitars as well as the more common version with the screws in center. they all sound a lil different but the guitarfetish stuff isnt even made like a real goldfoil with the rubberized magnets. for the money, i recommend getting one victory and putting it in neck position
Genuine lol during the fuzz demo, particularly the "dive bomb":)
This video cracks me up! I kind of like the funky sound of the pick up! I could see a punk or funk guitarist using this on a record. Great video man. Very entertaining!
Hey Ryan, these have rubber magnets like the ones in the old kitchen cabinet doors...no foolin'. sometimes they can deteriorate,maybe check that. party on dude.
that pickup has jangle pop in its heart
Its surreal to see ryans playing evolve and change throughout the years. I took a short hiatus from 60ch and its super cool to see ryan with a new arsenal of licks! I personally think it sounds super but ive played guitars with legit gold foils in them and this sounds pretty strange in comparison
Playing the same clumsy pentatonic scale year after year isn't evolution
Its out of phase i think
I've installed several for a customer on his Teiscos, from different brands. Some had low output similar to this. I added a couple of thousand winds to one of his old ones and it beefed up quite a bit. The magnet is fairly weak too which also makes for low output. They weren't meant for full on rock.
I redid a really old Harmony for a friend ( had to be an early 60s . Was really thin body and have never seen another like it ). It was really beat up but the electronics were both intact and working so I gave it an 80s van Halen style paint job and set the guitar up . But the pick ups in it were very microphonic . With some effects it sounded like a bad ground but then other effects made it one of the most beautiful tones ever .
It gives me great joy to see Ryan experiment. He is 100% that kid who came to school and told you about how he velcro'ed a Full Shred to his dad's vintage J45 to see what happened when when he wired it to the family cat. "The shreaks had a clarity in the upper register." "...Of the cat or the guitar?" "Yes. I'm trying PAFs tonight."
Could it be that Gold Foils, specifically old ones, were mounted directly to the body rather than to a pick guard with a hollow space underneath? Just a theory. 🤔
It sounds like its mounted to a drum head, so yeah I think you are onto something. .
I have no idea if it’s right but I love the way it sounds
Could somebody tell me how to get this sound with a pickup that is MEANT to sound like this? Or pedals? Or amp? Literally - how
Gold foils were designed for 1meg pots, not 250k.
You hit the nail on the head
dude 1 meg pots let a lot of treble bleed in the signal. if it sounds atrociously harsh on 250 k pots, it's going to sound like hell with 1 meg. that's going to make the issue worse.
@@antoniocanales9922 They are very low impedence and the harmony guitars have 1 meg pots, they also have very big tone caps like .1uf, it is what it is. They are way too low output for 250k.
@@ScottyBrockway the pickups in Harmony guitars are different than this particular pup. Jazzmasters have always used 1 meg pots, too- but I think it’s more than obvious that using 1 meg pots with THIS particular pickup (which seems faulty) will absolutely kill the (already dead) tone.
@@antoniocanales9922 Looks like a harmony pickup to me. If it's a tiesco pickup that would explain it sounding terrible and nothing will fix it. If it's an aftermarket pickup (which I doubt), its not worth the material it's made of and belong in the recycle bin.
From now on, whenever you suspect that someone is a 60CH fan, you should go up to them and "Wiggle stick, wiggle stick, wiggle stick." And then they would respond likewise. Then you'd both continue on with your day.
bring it on. I am waiting.
Why would you talk like Mark Agnesi to a 60 cycle bum fan?
Actually, the more I listen to it, I think it sounds like it is *mostly* just acting as a microphone, and perhaps not at all as a magnetic transducer. How that could happen, I don't know, but that's what I'm hearing.
That's exactly how they work.
@@NatureTable What I mean is that it doesn't sound like a pickup that has gone microphonic due to loose windings, in which case it still also sends a voltage signal from the strings moving through it's magnetic field like any normal pickup, I mean it sounds like it is *only* picking up the sound of the strings microphonically, but not transmitting any electro magnetic current, the way a normal-working pickup or mildly microphonic pickup operates. Normally operating pickups do *not work* by picking up the string sounds microphonically.
It must need to be mounted on solid body wood.
Pickup is too close to strings. Also the "Ry Cooder" thing happens in the neck position. Also pot values count!
Yeah it's way too close and better in the neck. Surprised so few comments aren't ... picking this up.
@@alexweisker4963 it's totally doing that weird magnet choke and warble... leo fender one said the correct adjustment for strat pickups was even with pickguard, bridge raised to compensate for volume balance. He invented a lot of this and most would say his opinions are wrong! He didnt play but you know. Invented the thing. Lolololol
The Coodercaster has the Teisco version , not the cheaper Norma rubber magnet variety on the strat in this video. BIG difference.
@@kiloband7430
All made by Kawai. (Norma)
@@mikerevis6439 Norma were , but the Coodercaster style were early 60s before Teisco sold to Kawai.They were on the SS and WG models and the TRG with the on board amp.
I think it sounds cool for the right situation. Kind of like a really warm pickup but a really tiny amp, like those mini battery powered ones.
My Zenon audition is often used in that exact situation with it's factory gold foils. I'm using a honeytone mini amp and the thing sounds an acoustic on steroids
It's such a good sound
Standard comment for the algorithm. 😺
That's a unique sound. Definitely works for what it does.
Well, on the UPSIDE - it has turned your trusty old Strat into a very interesting sounding PERCUSSION instrument! 😄
Isn’t the whole deal with goldfoils supposed to be that they have super weak magnets in them so they end up being really jangly and bright? I am assuming that what you’re hearing is correct, but I can’t say I personally think it’s a great sound.
I think it may be that the pickup is too close to the strings which causes a weird modulation effect. Here is a video showing examples. ruclips.net/video/ROML4xsQK60/видео.html
But there might be something even more wrong.
I lived that sound! Not for everybody, but wow, so cool
I have a late 60's Teisco (branded Marlin), that I just pillaged for a franken build, and I noticed the volume pot is 100k (!). Since lower value reduces upper freq's passing, this could be why you have such a trebley tone. Worth a try?
"WIGGLE STICK!"
Sounds like it'd make a really fun mic for mostly instrumental songs on a boost pedal. Maybe a song called Wiggle Stick.
I would patent it as an effects circuit called the wang jangler
Allow me to introduce you to my reverend. His name is Horton Heat.
@@charlesrense5199 the more songs with the name, the more we annoy the haters.
Reverend Horton Heat - Wiggle Stick - RUclips
www.youtube.com › watch
Fender should make you a signature guitar that's based on this I would buy lol
Singing into your guitar “Thank you for coming out tonight! Wiggle Stick!!!! Wiggle Stick even louder!!!!
Different style gold-foils have different construction, different sounds, and can be very affected by their poriximity to the strings. I have an "s grille" from a 60s harmony that sounds great, in a trashy kind of way. It has way more low-end than yours does, for sure. Anyway, this was very interesting. I did like how it sounded with the fuzz...lol.
As microphonic as it is, try it in an acoustic. Or could it be the string grounding?
It was giving me kind of a 60s/The Byrds vibe at the beginning (4:40). Then you got silly with the pedals. 😋 It sounds like it's amplifying the trem spring cavity to make its own spring reverb. 😁 See if damping those springs makes it sound more normal. EDIT: It just hit me that it kind of sounds like Silverchair - Tomorrow at the beginning too.
Some of Gold Foils made with pair of magnets. Maybe polarity of one of them is wrong? That may lead to weak signal and "out of phase" tone.
I agree that the pickup is probably installed too close to the string or that there is something wrong with the pickup. As someone who has played a few gold foil guitars and has a guitar with a couple of silver foil pickups in it I can tell you that the neck position on these kinds of pickups tend to sound a whole lot better (and much more usable) unless you’re trying to get a thin, jangly late 50’s or early 60’s sound.
I had a Harmony H59 with three gold foil pickups. The neck sounded superb, the middle pickup OK but not as nice as the neck and the bridge one (which sat far too close to the bridge IMO), was like an icepick. I'd say they are best positioned towards the neck, and to be avoided near the bridge.
I get the feeling the pickup is A: too close to the strings, and B: not connected to a resonant enough material being stuck to the plastic pick guard.
Pickups dont work by picking up vibrations from the guitar mate come on now
Weird. I need to research more. Thanks for the excellent video. 👏🏻
The look on your face when you switched to the bridge pickup!
Considering how little use my strat bridge pickup gets as it is, this has a super unique sound I would totally use, I dig it.
I'm here just waiting for the Wiggle Stick Shirt, don't mind me!
I've got gold foils in my strat, and they sound NOTHING like that one! I love 'em. I think you gotcherself a dud, dude. Thanks for the fun videos!
Finger picking only with just the gold foil has a great twelve string sound to me, but not so much for other playing styles. I was very surprised by that!
It seems to me like with some adjustment it could sound really cool. Sounds like you have more work to do. Thanks for the video.
I had a vintage gold foil that looked just like that one. It was probably somewhat microphonic, but it sounded good. Certainly not thin sounding that that one...makes me think something is wrong with it.
those were originally cheap pickups that went on japanese made catalog guitars. that sounds about right.
i love strats because they're so modular. with the right mods and mindset, the possibilities are endless. triple humbucker? can do, 5 single coils? can do, bass pickups? can do, floating archtop pickups? can do, headless strat? can do! a synth strat? can do! the sitar strat? can do! and much more mods!
PS. All of these mods are legitimate
I love how a strat can be modulated to any pickup by a simple routing and a change of pickguard, something i really dont get on a LP for example
I bought one as well or a Strat (GeminiPickups) and it was thin and horrible with other Strat pickups . I had to use in the neck of a tele . But I have a Set of Lollar gold foils in a LSL and man o man they are sweetmeat. They are all different , Teisco specs are the crispy thin versions. I just scooped a MOJO GF Humbucker.
That was like that scene in Night in the Museum where Ben Stiller messes around with the Museum’s public address system.
I'm way late to this one! I have a '74 Harmony Meteor with its original foils, they sound way better properly installed. Sweet cleans that can start to break up. Then they get nice & raunchy.
Maybe that pickup is so close to the strings that it's magnetic pull is affecting the vibration of the strings.
Teisco used a lot of different gold foils, some good-- most poopy. In that style, look for the screw poles on the edge of the pickup, not in the center. Hard to find, though. As old gold foils go, I've had better luck with the DeArmonds or Roy Smecks put in Harmony and Airline Bobkats.
If the pickup is still too close to the strings, it will cause a modulation or oscillation sound. It sounds like you did what you could, but if its still too close, you will get that effect
So yes, the pickup is not potted, so it can physically move around, and tend to be pretty microphonic. That is pretty normal. They are also low output. In my experience they sound best in a neck position.
I wonder if it is picking up the "trem springs" vibrations.......?
Why does it sound like a 12 string?! I want one!
I think it sounds cool. That's got possibilities!
What is the color or paint name of that yellow/gold you have there on the guitar??? 😀
I'd say it's too close to the strings. I did the same thing with a Rick 4001 bass decades ago. I thought it would just get louder, but there were other problems.... which sounded a lot like this.
.....wow. I just saw the related video. Who'd have thunk a magnet was installed incorrectly.... I just subscribed. Great sense of humor.
Put a piece of foam under the pickup to fill the void under it, that buzz will go away, and you are right about the pickup being out of phase. Its the pickup vibrating
If you're looking for a vintage sound, like the old Rickenbackers or something like that, it's very nice.
One of my friends had an old Traynor twin amp years ago that had that weird, modulated sound to it. I wondered if the signal was getting wigglestick modulated by the 50hz PSU.
Can you
put a set of springs between the guard and ears so you can adjust it?
Its surprisingly quiet and thin like you said, but I think it would sound good with just some chord strumming with a simple reverb, maybe some delay
hey i blew my boss katana the sme way you did . was there any way to ever get it fixed please let me know.
This thing is 60's garage rock/90's Grunge/2000's Indie fab. I kinda dig it. I'd love to make some death&roll or some trashy old school lo-fi black metal with one of these, but I'd honestly be equally interested in doing Blue Cheer and The Kinks covers, or maybe some old grunge like Temple of the Dog or Soundgarden. There is a LOT going on here.
In the vintage guitars I see gold foil pickups, they're normally not so close to the bridge. It helps on picking up a little more bass
5:57, you could do (super) lo--fi vocal loops on that through the amp! That's kinda cool!
My best guess is that a lot of the problem is with the top mounting on the pickguard. Being so microphonic, these are probably the worst type of pickup to install this way. That being said, if you don’t like the basic tone as it is, you’re not gonna like it even if you installed it more traditionally and got rid of the weird resonances. I’ve never been able to bond with them either, so you’re not alone yo
Cool! It sounds like a resonator! 😮
I wonder if it is having a crazy effect on string vibrating because it's way closer than the standard pickups as well as a stronger microphone single coil effect .
These don't sound anything like the full set of GFS goldfoils in my strat. I actually like the sound better than the EMG SA set I previously had installed. They are 2 completely different sounding pickup sets but both do their thing really well. I kept the SA set installed on another pickguard all wired up with switches and knobs. Easy to switch back and forth as desired.
I would be surprised if GFS spent a lot of money designing specific goldfoil pickups rather than just using a standard PAF, P90 or Strat pickup design and putting gold mesh in the cover to make them look cool.
I know the generic Chinese 'gold foils' are exactly that, anyway.
Would be happy to be proven wrong if you or anyone knows better.
That pickup sounds sooo much better than a regular strat bridge pickup!
Not true for me
What’s the guitar over your shoulder with the gold trim and white pick guard covering the entire front?
Hallmark swept wing
Oh man throw that in between two hums, with a on off switch. Like a big Apple strat. You got something there. Maybe put some rubber behind it for less body noise.
I've been getting into making weird noises with guitar and microphonics, anyone have any pickup suggestions that are really microphonic but a little warmer? Or any suggestions in general?
I'm using the original gold foils on my mid 60s Zenon. They do have a place though for everything you pointed out there's a reason you usually saw them on cheaper guitars in their time. If you wanted to record something in a studio today with that it would actually make the song kinda stand out though it definitely takes one who has a liking for the sound they produce to appreciate them.