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TeleHawg
June 6th, 2005, 10:15 AM
Recently I mentioned in a post that I'd just had a bridge pickup wound by Owen Duffy (I understand that Don Mare--"Buck Cannon"--had a hand in the development of this pickup) to the specs of the corresponding pickup in Roy Buchanan's "Nancy." Last week I had it installed in my Cunetto-era Custom Shop Nocaster. Now I love the guitar--its playability, its resonance, the light relic job--but I've never been crazy about that over-wound pickup. Bill Hullett told me, "They’ll twang if you make 'em," but lately I've found myself less inclined to make the effort and more and more drawn to my '67 Tele with O.C. Duff pickups (6.5K, flush Alnico IIIs).
Anyway I picked up my Nocaster last Friday after work. As was the case when I had the first set of O.C. Duff pickups installed, I have to cop to a certain skepticism. I've been disappointed far too many times--to the extent, in fact, that until very recently I no longer believed a set of pickups could transform a guitar.
Owen describes under-wound pickups as having a shimmering sound, and I can vouch for that. When I plugged the guitar into my '65 BF Princeton and strummed E, A, G, and D cowboy chords, I swear it was as if I heard every note played simultaneously by a really, really distant 12-string. Then I started playing licks on the low, wound strings: that descending figure from "Help!," "Hot Rod Lincoln," "Here Comes the Night," "Act Naturally," and so on. Holy cow! The TONE! Then the unwound strings: "Sweet Little Angel," "Scuttle-Buttin’," "Surf Rider." Cutting, achingly sweet, rich with overtones. Pinch harmonics? No problem: just grab them. Man, I’m home, y’all! I’ve been searching for this tone ever since I saw Roy Buchanan on that PBS special back in the early 70s, and until now I've gotten close to it only with my own '53 Tele, which got ripped off many years ago. And this is just in my living room; I haven't yet had the chance to try it at stage volume.
Do I sound like Roy Buchanan or James Burton? Hardly, but I do have access to a tonal palette similar to theirs. And I'm so entranced with the quality of each note I play that I'm far less frustrated than usual with my fingers' inability to keep up with my musical imagination, whatever its limitations. So I find myself slowing down, savoring each note, soloing more economically, and, as far as I’m concerned, that means I'm playing better.
I'm not saying they’re for everybody, nor am I claiming that they leave any other brand of pickup in the dust: righteous tone is about as subjective as you can get. All I can say is that Owen's nailed the sound I hear in my head, and I’m content.
Specs? The pickup is wound to less than 6K, the magnets are flush Alnico IIIs, and the pickup is lightly potted and slightly microphonic (yep, there's a subtle clang when I switch from the neck to the bridge pickup). Even the wound strings twang when you fret them at, say, the 10th fret.
Yours from Tone Nirvana.
Anyway I picked up my Nocaster last Friday after work. As was the case when I had the first set of O.C. Duff pickups installed, I have to cop to a certain skepticism. I've been disappointed far too many times--to the extent, in fact, that until very recently I no longer believed a set of pickups could transform a guitar.
Owen describes under-wound pickups as having a shimmering sound, and I can vouch for that. When I plugged the guitar into my '65 BF Princeton and strummed E, A, G, and D cowboy chords, I swear it was as if I heard every note played simultaneously by a really, really distant 12-string. Then I started playing licks on the low, wound strings: that descending figure from "Help!," "Hot Rod Lincoln," "Here Comes the Night," "Act Naturally," and so on. Holy cow! The TONE! Then the unwound strings: "Sweet Little Angel," "Scuttle-Buttin’," "Surf Rider." Cutting, achingly sweet, rich with overtones. Pinch harmonics? No problem: just grab them. Man, I’m home, y’all! I’ve been searching for this tone ever since I saw Roy Buchanan on that PBS special back in the early 70s, and until now I've gotten close to it only with my own '53 Tele, which got ripped off many years ago. And this is just in my living room; I haven't yet had the chance to try it at stage volume.
Do I sound like Roy Buchanan or James Burton? Hardly, but I do have access to a tonal palette similar to theirs. And I'm so entranced with the quality of each note I play that I'm far less frustrated than usual with my fingers' inability to keep up with my musical imagination, whatever its limitations. So I find myself slowing down, savoring each note, soloing more economically, and, as far as I’m concerned, that means I'm playing better.
I'm not saying they’re for everybody, nor am I claiming that they leave any other brand of pickup in the dust: righteous tone is about as subjective as you can get. All I can say is that Owen's nailed the sound I hear in my head, and I’m content.
Specs? The pickup is wound to less than 6K, the magnets are flush Alnico IIIs, and the pickup is lightly potted and slightly microphonic (yep, there's a subtle clang when I switch from the neck to the bridge pickup). Even the wound strings twang when you fret them at, say, the 10th fret.
Yours from Tone Nirvana.