I'm not loving my Duesenberg Pickups

[BoneNut]

ON the topic of BG pups...

 

I don't care how they are wound or if the have magic pixie dust on them, only that they are the best pickups I have ever played.

I don't where things are manufactured either but do give a lot of weight to the service I receive as a customer. In BG pups, I have found both, an excellent product backed by extraordinary customer service. If I have to pay a couple more bucks for that, I do so gladly.

[jrockbridge]

There is no way hand manufacturing is going to meet the quality & consistency of well engineered & computer controlled, CNC & threading machines. Your going to start seeing pickups of very high quality mass produced & affordable product all over the place soon. Of course there will be some that still swear by the work of the Jedi but it will be a dying religion in the near future.

 

CNC machines are just tools used in the process of building a guitar. It is often described as if it's a magic guitar making device. But, CNC made guitars are not automatically better or worse. Some of them end up as fantastic guitars, some average, and some turds. The difference often comes at the end of the process when the guitars are finished by hand.

 

Many great budget and boutique guitars are made without the use of CNC. Rondo Music guitars come out of Korea made with old fashioned tools and methods. Some of them end up as pretty great players according to folks around this forum.

 

By the way, hand wound pickups are not completely wound by hand. They are wound on some type of machine. But, an uneven and imperfect wind, tends to result in more complex tone. This is where your CNC theory on computer perfection in creating a better sounding pickup fails.

[brandass]

Too uneven and imperfect and you get "inconsistent".

 

Too precise and predictable and you get "sterile" and "a lack of character".

 

At one end you have a drummer with no sense of timing; at the other you have a rudimentary drum machine. Most prefer to be somewhere in the middle: broadly reliable, yet organic and complex.

 

That's the sweet spot that hand-wound pups aim to hit.

 

Like more sophisticated drum machines, computer-run pup production could incorporate algorithms to mimick human-generated imperfections, to lend character to the pups. Wouldn't be standard for a long time to come, and less than compelling in first iterations, but that's probably where we're headed, and eventually they'll get it right.

 

In the meantime BG et al. have nothing to worry about, their excellent work is much admired and appreciated.

[Uma Floresta]

Too precise and predictable and you get "sterile" and "a lack of character".

 

Uncorrect. That's like saying that following a great recipe exactly makes for bad cookies. It doesn't. Once you find a good recipe, you should stick to it.

 

If you don't, you may still get good results, or you may not. You just don't know. Making gear isn't the same as making music, where unpredictability may be preferable.

[Uma Floresta]

ON the topic of BG pups... I don't care how they are wound or if the have magic pixie dust on them, only that they are the best pickups I have ever played. I don't where things are manufactured either but do give a lot of weight to the service I receive as a customer. In BG pups, I have found both, an excellent product backed by extraordinary customer service. If I have to pay a couple more bucks for that, I do so gladly.

 

Their soundclips sound nice. I'm sure he makes good products.

[BoneNut]

Their soundclips sound nice. I'm sure he makes good products.

 

 

There's another little known comapany around here that you want to look into as well. GuitarFetish!

 

Inexpensive pups and some of them sound great! Good service too!

[Uma Floresta]

GFS pickups are about equal in quality to most boutique and big company brands. It's just about which specific tones you prefer, as they're all a little different.

[Ratae Corieltauvorum]

GFS pickups are about equal in quality to most boutique and big company brands. It's just about which specific tones you prefer, as they're all a little different.

 

No sorry, they don't have the same complexity that BG, Lollar etc have.

 

They are good mid range pickups, but not quite in the boutique league, even their proprietor agrees

[Uma Floresta]

No sorry, they don't have the same complexity that BG, Lollar etc have. They are good mid range pickups, but not quite in the boutique league, even their proprietor agrees

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychoacoustics

[Ratae Corieltauvorum]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychoacoustics

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bollocks

 

[Uma Floresta]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bollocks

 

Sorry, the mere fact that a pickup is produced in Asia doesn't magically remove "complexity" from the tone. American pickup makers are not possessed of pixie dust or mojo vapors that are unavailable in China.

[Ratae Corieltauvorum]

Sorry, the mere fact that a pickup is produced in Asia doesn't magically remove "complexity" from the tone. American pickup makers are not possessed of pixie dust or mojo vapors that are unavailable in China.

 

You're entitled to your opinion

[Uma Floresta]

You're entitled to your opinion

 

I'm entitled to scientific facts. You're entitled to your mojo sprinkles.

[Ratae Corieltauvorum]

I'm entitled to scientific facts. You're entitled to your mojo sprinkles.

 

If you think they're facts and it makes you happy then that's got to be good

[Uma Floresta]

If you think they're facts and it makes you happy then that's got to be good

 

Believers in and disseminators of myths always hate a myth buster. Sorry to poop in your punchbowl.

[Ratae Corieltauvorum]

Believers in and disseminators of myths always hate a myth buster. Sorry to poop in your punchbowl.

 

If you look between your legs you'll see you missed my punchbowl and shat on your socks:cool:

[Uma Floresta]

If you look between your legs you'll see you missed my punchbowl and shat on your socks:cool:

 

I'm afraid not.

 

If it helps, I can add mojo sprinkles to the punch. They won't improve the flavor, but you'll feel better about how much you paid for it.

[Ratae Corieltauvorum]

I'm afraid not. If it helps, I can add mojo sprinkles to the punch. They won't improve the flavor, but you'll feel better about how much you paid for it.

 

Tell you what you keep the mojo sprinkles, they seem to mean a lot to you:thu:

[Uma Floresta]

Tell you what you keep the mojo sprinkles, they seem to mean a lot to you:thu:

 

And you can keep the punch.

[axegrinder]

GFS pickups are about equal in quality to most boutique and big company brands. It's just about which specific tones you prefer, as they're all a little different.

 

Man I understand some of your argument, but that blanket statement exposes you as a button pusher (that's what you do for a living huh?).

 

I've bought and installed pickups from DiMarzio, Duncan, GFS, BG Pups, Kinman, and Vintage Vibe. Out of all of those, the only pickups that have disappointed me have been from GFS, not to knock them. I have also had excellent results (ProTubes, FatBodies, and Dream 180's come to mind). The good have made up for the bad and I consider myself a satisfied customer overall.

 

But lumping boutique products with the rest in terms of quality and service is ludicrous...of course you probably wouldn't get along well with a pickup maker especially after you tell him how easy it must be to wrap wire around the magnets for a living. That's just {censored}ing uncool.

[Ratae Corieltauvorum]

And you can keep the punch.

 

It wasn't even my punch

[Uma Floresta]

Man I understand some of your argument, but that blanket statement exposes you as a button pusher (that's what you do for a living huh?). I've bought and installed pickups from DiMarzio, Duncan, GFS, BG Pups, Kinman, and Vintage Vibe. Out of all of those, the only pickups that have disappointed me have been from GFS, not to knock them. I have also had excellent results (ProTubes, FatBodies, and Dream 180's come to mind). The good have made up for the bad and I consider myself a satisfied customer overall. But lumping boutique products with the rest in terms of quality and service is ludicrous...of course you probably wouldn't get along well with a pickup maker especially after you tell him how easy it must be to wrap wire around the magnets for a living. That's just {censored}ing uncool.

 

I've been disappointed by pickups from a variety of makers, some much more prestigious than GFS.

 

They're all different. Saying BG or DiMarzio are better than GFS is like saying chocolate is better than than rocky road. Not better, different.

 

Well, I shouldn't say that. As simple as pickups are, you can do it wrong. I've played no-name import pickups that were absolutely terrible. But at the level of GFS and higher (ie more expensive), the pickups are all made "right" and it's just a matter of personal preference from that point on.

[axegrinder]

If you look between your legs you'll see you missed my punchbowl and shat on your socks:cool:

I just about shat myself laughing.

[Uma Floresta]

It wasn't even my punch

 

You only say that because now there's a floater in it.

[axegrinder]

I've been disappointed by pickups from a variety of makers, some much more prestigious than GFS. They're all different. Saying BG or DiMarzio are better than GFS is like saying chocolate is better than than rocky road. Not better, different.

Wait...earlier you said they're all the same...now they're different. Go find some more buttons.

 

 

*edit* 300th post...do I win a prize?