I got a set of PAF repros I just love from a small winder. They are very bright and dynamic with good string seperation. In talking with the winder, they insist that they only make machine wound pickups just like vintage Gibsons. I asked about hand/scatterwinding and they just point back to the first answer. I'm wondering if they just have a pattern programmed or set into the machine that mimicks a scatterwind because they sound entirely different than my Dimarzzio SD's or any pickup I have ever heard. I know they offset the coils but that's about all I know other than plain enamel wire.
They might have an old winding machine. My understanding is that the Gibson winding machines had irregularities in their motion which created a scatter wound pattern that many modern winders replicate by hand. I suppose it's possible to program modern tools to approximate this behavior, but it seems difficult to achieve in actual practice.
Glad you like it! Thanks for taking the time to check it out. I hope it helped. Check out some of the performance videos if you'd like to see what my pickups sound like.
I used to think the same things but at the end of the day a pickup is just a mini transformer I would try so many pickups out thinking to much of the pickup but it turns out if you have a dark sounding pickup add a treble bleed if you have a bright sounding pickup add a bigger tone capacitor then you can mess around with pot value there is not just 250 and 500 then there is wiring you can go in series or parallel after all my experience I know the only thing that really counts is the wire gauge how many turns and magnet strength
Hey Chris....what do you think about the Classic 83 Hair Metal Humbucker by The Creamery,as compared to the Holy Diver??That 80’s Ratt sound is what I am aiming for....great video by the way...very informative..
Hi Scott. I'm not sure, I've never tried them. My understanding is that all of the hand wound guys have a specific flavor/feel to there designs due to the specific amount of scatter (and the pattern) in the coil windings. For reference, I was a DiMarzio guy. I never dug Duncan, EMG or Suhr pickups, but the BKP had the right blend of the harmonic overtones that I loved in the DiMarzio's, but without the compression and congestion. I would just try out a set of the creamery pickups and see how it goes. The Holy Diver can be heard on any of the videos I have up here in the Red guitar, and the cherry burst Strat-style guitar. I hope that helps you out Thanks!
Chris Peters Guitar I was going to try a Holy Diver,until I read a review about the Creamery,which seems like it’s exactly what I am after....I have a Duncan 35th Anniversary JB,which I like quite a bit,but it’s still not perfect....I normally don’t like JB’s at all,but it’s got the rough cast magnet,and the butyrate bobbins,which surprisingly to me,affects the sound quite a bit....anyway,I will check out your other videos...I may buy both the Creamery and the Diver and see which one I like best.....Thanks for the info!!
While I like having high output pups in a few guitars I prefer medium output for the most part, like a Duncan Custom, Screamin' Demon, DiMarzio PAF Pro, Air Zone, Norton, etc. I fnd they are just easier to work with, especially considering how much gain many amps have on hand. I'm using a modeling system which has all the gain in the world, so I could even use a vintage output PAF style pup and it will scream. I also love P90s, but have to use the stacked models. I may try the Fishman Gristlebucker P90s, but I'm not big on actives. As for stock pickups, I think PRS makes superb pickups for their Core models. I've owned many pickups, just about every brand, but the only hand wound pickup I've ever owned was an old Duncan JB, probably produced in the late 70s according to a guitar tech I knew who identified it. One of the best sounding pickups I've ever owned to this day, and I think that's mostly owing to the hand wound aspect. It had so much warmth, clarity and sweetness, and when I got the guitar it was loaded in, an old, metalic red Holdsworth Charvel I bought used for $100 in 1989, the pickup was already about a decade old, so there was a lot of natural degaussing. It sounded amazing, and if I ever get a hand wound pickup custom made, it will be along the lines of that old JB. I'm curious about Bareknuckles. Keep hearing good things about them and very good samples. The way Seymour Duncan made their name as a company was on the strength of their handbound pups, not machine wound. Now most of their pickups machine-made like anyone else. Between Duncan and DiMarzio I prefer the latter. Very intelligent video!
Thanks so much for the kind remark. I really enjoy hearing other players' experiences of the history of pickups in their instruments, and how those brands have changed over time. I'm using Bare Knuckle pickups in all of the videos on here. The red guitar and the cherry burst guitar have a BKP Holy Diver, which is sort of their take on a JB with probably a bit of Super Distortion harmonic overtones.
It might resemble an ogre, but it smells better than an one… although this may be a wildly unfair assumption on my behalf, given that I’ve never had the opportunity to encounter an ogre (or any other fairytale creature) in my travels.
Mason Jordan Haha! No problem man. I hate talking on camera. Check out some of my videos on the channel with playing if you want to see what the pickups sound like. I don't play paf's, but you'll get a basic idea. Nice playing on the floyd instructional stuff btw. ruclips.net/video/gXfKXOIqrtw/видео.html ruclips.net/video/UY3-KKMPdD8/видео.html ruclips.net/video/238WzzVTuI4/видео.html
I have changed pickups quite a bit to arrive at the sets I'm currently using. The most important thing is to get a good solder station and learn how to solder and strip wires properly. You'll probably be able to find a ton of great tutorials on this on youtube.
Thanks Steve! I'm sure he makes cool stuff, but BKP's are perfect for me. I appreciate the recommendation though. It's great that there are so many amazing builders out there! Check out some of the music posts on here if you want to see.
Really enjoy these videos man! Please make more! Very informative
I got a set of PAF repros I just love from a small winder. They are very bright and dynamic with good string seperation. In talking with the winder, they insist that they only make machine wound pickups just like vintage Gibsons. I asked about hand/scatterwinding and they just point back to the first answer.
I'm wondering if they just have a pattern programmed or set into the machine that mimicks a scatterwind because they sound entirely different than my Dimarzzio SD's or any pickup I have ever heard.
I know they offset the coils but that's about all I know other than plain enamel wire.
They might have an old winding machine. My understanding is that the Gibson winding machines had irregularities in their motion which created a scatter wound pattern that many modern winders replicate by hand. I suppose it's possible to program modern tools to approximate this behavior, but it seems difficult to achieve in actual practice.
At last, correct information. Nice one!!!
Thanks so much!
Excellent video...
Glad you like it! Thanks for taking the time to check it out. I hope it helped. Check out some of the performance videos if you'd like to see what my pickups sound like.
Very good Chris!
Thanks for listening to my inane ramblings! I hope you got something useful out of it. Thanks for subscribing.
Great explanation!
Thanks man! I hope it helped you in some way. Sometimes I like to rant about things when I'm not attempting to be a legitimate guitarist haha!
Chris Peters Guitar of course it help. I am about to buy some bare knuckle set (true grit) 💪🏻👊🏻
I used to think the same things but at the end of the day a pickup is just a mini transformer I would try so many pickups out thinking to much of the pickup but it turns out if you have a dark sounding pickup add a treble bleed if you have a bright sounding pickup add a bigger tone capacitor then you can mess around with pot value there is not just 250 and 500 then there is wiring you can go in series or parallel after all my experience I know the only thing that really counts is the wire gauge how many turns and magnet strength
Can you teach me? I can pay you!
Hey Chris....what do you think about the Classic 83 Hair Metal Humbucker by The Creamery,as compared to the Holy Diver??That 80’s Ratt sound is what I am aiming for....great video by the way...very informative..
Hi Scott. I'm not sure, I've never tried them. My understanding is that all of the hand wound guys have a specific flavor/feel to there designs due to the specific amount of scatter (and the pattern) in the coil windings. For reference, I was a DiMarzio guy. I never dug Duncan, EMG or Suhr pickups, but the BKP had the right blend of the harmonic overtones that I loved in the DiMarzio's, but without the compression and congestion. I would just try out a set of the creamery pickups and see how it goes. The Holy Diver can be heard on any of the videos I have up here in the Red guitar, and the cherry burst Strat-style guitar. I hope that helps you out Thanks!
Chris Peters Guitar I was going to try a Holy Diver,until I read a review about the Creamery,which seems like it’s exactly what I am after....I have a Duncan 35th Anniversary JB,which I like quite a bit,but it’s still not perfect....I normally don’t like JB’s at all,but it’s got the rough cast magnet,and the butyrate bobbins,which surprisingly to me,affects the sound quite a bit....anyway,I will check out your other videos...I may buy both the Creamery and the Diver and see which one I like best.....Thanks for the info!!
While I like having high output pups in a few guitars I prefer medium output for the most part, like a Duncan Custom, Screamin' Demon, DiMarzio PAF Pro, Air Zone, Norton, etc. I fnd they are just easier to work with, especially considering how much gain many amps have on hand. I'm using a modeling system which has all the gain in the world, so I could even use a vintage output PAF style pup and it will scream. I also love P90s, but have to use the stacked models. I may try the Fishman Gristlebucker P90s, but I'm not big on actives. As for stock pickups, I think PRS makes superb pickups for their Core models. I've owned many pickups, just about every brand, but the only hand wound pickup I've ever owned was an old Duncan JB, probably produced in the late 70s according to a guitar tech I knew who identified it. One of the best sounding pickups I've ever owned to this day, and I think that's mostly owing to the hand wound aspect. It had so much warmth, clarity and sweetness, and when I got the guitar it was loaded in, an old, metalic red Holdsworth Charvel I bought used for $100 in 1989, the pickup was already about a decade old, so there was a lot of natural degaussing. It sounded amazing, and if I ever get a hand wound pickup custom made, it will be along the lines of that old JB. I'm curious about Bareknuckles. Keep hearing good things about them and very good samples. The way Seymour Duncan made their name as a company was on the strength of their handbound pups, not machine wound. Now most of their pickups machine-made like anyone else. Between Duncan and DiMarzio I prefer the latter. Very intelligent video!
Thanks so much for the kind remark. I really enjoy hearing other players' experiences of the history of pickups in their instruments, and how those brands have changed over time. I'm using Bare Knuckle pickups in all of the videos on here. The red guitar and the cherry burst guitar have a BKP Holy Diver, which is sort of their take on a JB with probably a bit of Super Distortion harmonic overtones.
That red guitar kinda looks like shrek
It might resemble an ogre, but it smells better than an one… although this may be a wildly unfair assumption on my behalf, given that I’ve never had the opportunity to encounter an ogre (or any other fairytale creature) in my travels.
You got that stuff right,...right???... Right!!!..
Thanks for the video,...,..
Right
Joking aside, I do appreciate the vid, I've yet to play a really nice paf , definitely have to look into one of those
Mason Jordan Haha! No problem man. I hate talking on camera. Check out some of my videos on the channel with playing if you want to see what the pickups sound like. I don't play paf's, but you'll get a basic idea. Nice playing on the floyd instructional stuff btw.
ruclips.net/video/gXfKXOIqrtw/видео.html
ruclips.net/video/UY3-KKMPdD8/видео.html
ruclips.net/video/238WzzVTuI4/видео.html
I have never explored changing pickups. Is there a guide you would recommend (or consider making yourself *wink wink*)?
I have changed pickups quite a bit to arrive at the sets I'm currently using. The most important thing is to get a good solder station and learn how to solder and strip wires properly. You'll probably be able to find a ton of great tutorials on this on youtube.
Great video,,, check out Dylan pups, you will get blown away, I was a bare knuckles lover but Dylan just blew me away!
Thanks Steve! I'm sure he makes cool stuff, but BKP's are perfect for me. I appreciate the recommendation though. It's great that there are so many amazing builders out there! Check out some of the music posts on here if you want to see.