Vintage Premium P.A.F. Soundclips

I have added new soundclips to my site done by Dom Polito of Classic Albums Live. The pickups in the clips are V-59 Premium Vintage using butyrate bobbins, PAF correct alloy screws, other specific alloys and magnets gaussed to vintage specs. I will offer all my vintage winds as Premium Vintage.


You can get to the soundclips by clicking on the link for my site to the left or by clicking here.

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Newtone Strings

Now I'm torn. The Newtone strings I put on my R8 are simply the best I've ever tried. Let me qualify that: they are the best round core pure nickel strings I've ever tried. I think the hex core are neck and neck with Snake Oil strings.

The round core are nice and percussive, very round sounding. Not dark, not overly bright. I was concerned I would lose volume with these as opposed to hex core but I have not found that to be the case. I have found these strings to be a must for that late 60's, early 70's guitar tone.

Newtone Strings

Armour Gold cables

I picked up some of these the other day out of curiosity. They got here pretty quickly, about two and a half weeks, which I can't complain about because I got free shipping.

They are beautifully made cables. Good heavy duty plugs with thick heat shrink over them. The braided covering on the cable feels very tough and is very wear resistant and is fairly flexible. Maybe a little less than the Planet Waves cable it replaced.

To my ear it sounds a little less bright than the Planet Waves. Capacitance is the key to guitar cables and these are 33 pf, which is pretty much right in the middle. I use lower output pickups which can be very bright so a cable that cuts a bit of that is exactly what is needed. If you really want to cut top end use one of those older curly cords. If you look closely at film clips from the 60's and early 70's you'll see lots of those cords.

These are excellent cables for about the same money as I paid for the Planet Waves. Ordering direct gets a discount. Here's the link:

Armour Gold

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FET Dream

I have had this pedal for a few days now and I can honestly say it is one of the best OD pedals I have heard. And it's Canadian to boot! Made by Cause and Effect Pedals of Mississauga.

From a little "hair" to to a lot of drive the pedal retains the essential tone of your guitar. I can make my 18 watt sound like it's dimed at low volume or give it a little ( or a lot) extra at high volume.

It has a surprisingly small footprint, about two thirds the size of my Pearl Overdrive, with some great graphics and a bright blue LED to let you know when it's on. Not like you need that light but it is cool, none the less.

The web site is here and it's well worth a look if you're in the market for an OD pedal.

Tone

For my taste it doesn't get any better than a Les Paul straight into a Marshall. Big, full and loud. One of the forums I post on has a thread titled "Show a picture of your pedal board". There's a lot of pictures with more pedals than I can count on some boards. I keep meaning to take a picture of my wah pedal and post it, just for fun.

I just discovered Rufus Huff and it's as good as it gets. An original 1958 Les Paul through a Marshall.

Mojo picks

Just received the one I ordered the other day. Nice little pick. Made out of a 1944 quarter, the year that Jimmy Page was born. You can get other years that famous musicians were born in as well.

It plays really sweet. I can't believe that a metal pick would feel as nice as it does against the strings. Just glides right over them.

Here's a link to check them out: Mojo Picks

Celluloid picks

I just received these the other day. Heavy gauge with a slogan and my website printed on them. Really nice quality picks and good work. I was surprised at how relatively inexpensive it was in low quantity. I am going to use these as giveaways and I send one along with each set as well.

I have been using these picks for about a year now and the feel and tone is unique. They feel really silky against the strings and have a medium attack even with the heavy gauge. I prefer the 351 size and shape as well. It just seems to fit my fingers nicely.

Speaking of pick attack there is a great thread on the LP forum about just that thing . It's a discussion of what picking style suits what type of pickup. Some good info and interesting opinions.

Modern wiring

Again, I admit I got this from somewhere but can't remember where:


I am posting this to correct some mis-information in the 50's wiring post. As you can see the capacitors are in the circuit, not out as I previously claimed. It was the wiring from RS that came with my production upgrade kit that has the cap going to ground. That's the one I was thinking of when I wrote that.

As with 50's wiring there are pros and cons and it depends on what you want. With this set-up the tone doesn't change as you roll off the volume but you lose highs. It's all a matter of taste and the sound you are going for.

50's wiring

I unashamedly admit this is not my work and I don't know who did it:


I prefer this wiring scheme. You don't lose treble as you turn down the volume which is a plus for me. I have done this to both of my guitars. With this wiring the quality and type of capacitor becomes important. It is "in the circuit" putting signal back into it, as opposed to the modern style where the capacitor takes signal out of the circuit to ground. You can shape your tone subtley with the type of capacitor. Right now I am hooked on paper in oil.

Jensen's installed

I apologize for the crappy picture. I just grabbed the digital camera which was the first one to hand.

They look really good in there. Still like little beer cans. I was a little sceptical that I would actually hear a difference but it is quite noticeable. More musical I would say. Dirtier in a good way. They are far more vintage sounding than the Hovlands but in all fairness I don't think the Hovlands were meant to be that. They are still miles clearer than the original caps. I am going to change the strings tommorow and really give the guitar a workout.

Jensen PIO caps

They look like little beer cans:


RS Guitarworks has these done to their specs by Jensen. I am waiting on a chance to put these into my guitar. From what I have read these ones are more vintage sounding than the Hovland caps. A little dirtier and organic.

I have been interested in the paper-in-oil caps for a while and when I saw that RS was offering these I picked up a pair. They got them about three weeks after I purchased my RS kit with the Hovlands.