Video Demo - Wilde MicroCoils Pickups

[Phostenix]

I finally made a followup video to my earlier ones with the Wilde Pickups Keystones for Strat pickups. EVerything is the same, but I've changed the pickups to the MicroCoils for Strat set.

[PunkKitty]

Nice demo. I have a Microcoil Tele set installed in my Mozak Utopia. They have quickly become my favorite Tele pickup. They are clear, powerful (like humbucker powerful) and project the tones the guitar is capable of very well. I've never had a pickup from Bill and Becky that I haven't liked.

[Narcoleptigon]

Thanks a lot, Phostenix. Great demo formula you've come up with. You can really hear the fullness in tone, and the signature MC richness of the highs, some might refer to as complex, or "3D".

It has been suggested to cut the bass and highs, and maybe boost the mids on the tone stack a bit for the MC's. I must admit, I thought the bridge would have more bass than that. The middle PUP sounds just perfect and the neck is very nice. It has the most bass. The combined sounds are just awesome. I wounder if some height adjustment might balance them a little better?

Lastly, didn't you have a HOoP setup on that guitar? If so, there was no indication of when you used it. Also, forgive me for mentioning, but it sounds like you got some digital clipping in a few places on the recording. I don't know at what stage it occurred, but if you record 32bit float files, and then don't normalize them to below 0dB, they can clip when compression encoded. Otherwise, you might just be recording too hot. The MC's have such broad dynamic range, it's easy to do. Thanks, again. Great work.

[Phostenix]

I haven't had a chance to really sit & listen to this video compared to the previous one with the Keystones, but what has surprised me in my casual listening on computer speakers is how much they sound alike. I guess it shouldn't surprise me, though, since I assume Bill has a certain pickup voicing that he likes and that shows up across his line of pickups. I have neck & middle 280's that are going into another guitar. I'm curious to see how they sound.

The bridge pup is quite bright on this guitar.

I didn't use any HOoP options in this video. I was just trying to match the first Keystones video. My thinking is that with everything else the same, people could make a decent comparison between the pickups.

I record analog out of the GT-Pro to analog in on an HP laptop, recording with Audacity. It's quite possible that the hottest signals during the demo were overdriving Audacity.

I have put a set of Lace Hot Gold pickups in that guitar now & hope to make another video this weekend. The MicroCoils are going into my real Strat next.

[Derek Kiernan]

They are similar in a lot of ways, particularly in their ability to deliver highs to the amp and their clarity - different from other pickups on the market through the design work and quality control, rather than getting a particular voice. The micros are much more versatile. For coloration possibilities, check out the microcoil coloration guide.

Since they're very sensitive to height adjustments, if you haven't seen it, here's an excerpt from Bill's "Pickupology" you may be interested in:

3. The distance between pickup and string is a very important factor for output and sound.

As a general rule for the bridge pickup - put a nickel on top of the pickup under the high E string and play the highest note on that string. Adjust the height on that side of the pickup till the string touches the nickel. Repeat the same with the low E string, but use two nickels on top of each other. If this gives you too much output, you can reduce the height slightly. Don't forget that twice the distance will reduce the output by about 60%, and the sound will lose some lows. NOW, you can adjust the neck pickup to match the output of the bridge pickup. For the sound test, use stage volume.

I do think the guitar sounds quite nice the way you have it set and like the demo - it's just a consideration to play with for your install in the new instrument!

[Narcoleptigon]

Phostenix, you may even be clipping the GT-Pro. I know the MC's put out the highest peaks of any of my pickups with my audio interface set at the same input level. I still have my old Boss GT-5. Nice unit for what it was. The A/D/A in it is very good. I think the front end is FET, so you'll get some FET distortion when the clip indicator lights 6dB before digital clipping. I don't know if the GT-Pro has an FET front end. If so, you may also be getting some FET distortion, which causes a more shrill mid-range tone, particularly on the lead pickup. I used to get FET distortion when I turned the output of the GT-5 up past half way. I guess it would overdrive my sound card's front end. It was a common standard to have 6 dB of front end headroom in a sound card past where the clip indicator lights, but there may be some FET distortion in that range. Otherwise, it will just very obviously hard clip. I definitely hear some high frequency hard clipping in a few places on the video. It's mostly on the right side, and it doesn't change when I lower the level on the video.

[Becky Lawrence]

Cool Phostenix. I'll share your video with others on our Facebook page and our new & improve Twitter account! https://twitter.com/#!/billnbecky

Becky

[Becky Lawrence]

Off Topic -- Bill Lawrence Vintage Reviews! http://www.billlawrence.com/Pages/Testimonials.htm

Love,

Becky Lawrence

[Phostenix]

Originally Posted by Narcoleptigon

Phostenix, you may even be clipping the GT-Pro.

The levels into the GT-Pro are fine. I ran the output too hot into Audacity. I just looked at the wav file I made & the hard strumming sections are too hot.

[Narcoleptigon]

Ah, glad you found it. As I say, you may be overdriving the laptop's sound card. I think that as long the GT-Pro's internal output meter doesn't clip, you can leave it's output knob at the middle (12 o'clock), and you shouldn't ever clip the sound card. Your Audacity recording meter probably won't go over -6dB in that case. I used to set my GT-5 output knob at 2 o'clock, and discovered I was getting a bit of sound card FET distortion in some cases. I don't mean to be nit picky -- just thought it might be useful info. Thanks again for the great demo.

[Phostenix]

I finally got around to making another video with the Microcoils in my real Strat.

[Narcoleptigon]

Wow, that guitar sounds much fuller. Amazing how different it sounds -- night and day. The combined positions are superb. Still not as much bass as I'd expect from the bridge, but certainly good for a 2.8H inductance Strat pickup. My reference is from the Tele set, and in a P-wood body. The brass Tele bridge plate may boost the bass as well.

Not sure what you have for strings, but the new Sfarzo Alloy 5109 strings are sweeter sounding than nickel steel, but just as loud and with nice singing mids. They'd take that edge off the upper mids without high end loss. Feel really smooth and slinky, too. I've convinced several people to try them, and they are happy with the results. They are pretty cheap. Maybe worth a try at some point.

Recording sounds perfect. No clipping that I detect.