Most modern guitar pickups are potted. That means they’re dipped in wax to prevent their components from vibrating against each other in high-volume situations, which can produce unwanted feedback.
The process also prevents pickups from becoming microphonic, amplifying sounds traveling through air along with the magnetic information generated by the pickups interacting with the strings. Some pickups are so microphonic, you can literally talk into the pickups and hear your voice through the amp.
Want to hear a pickup that sounds like a cheap megaphone?
Chicarrelli on Jack White: "He has an attack unlike anyone else. The concussion of his playing is just unbelievable."
Joe Chiccarelli is one of music’s most respected producers and engineers—and one of the most versatile. After making his mark as Frank Zappa’s studio right-hand, he went on to work with such artists as U2, Elton John, Beck, Tori Amos, Morrissey, Dwight Yoakam, Rufus Wainwright, and Jason Mraz. He’s particularly admired for his recent work with guitar-heavy rock bands such as the White Stripes, the Raconteurs, the Strokes, My Morning Jacket, the Shins, and the Killers.
Joe started out as a bass player in his native Boston. He only plays a bit of guitar, but he knows more about getting great guitar sounds that almost anyone I know. I’ve been lucky to enough to record several albums under his supervision, and each time I’ve been floored by his superb taste, vast tech knowledge, superhuman work ethic, and mind-boggling attention to detail. He can be a real taskmaster! But he’s also one of the most patient, considerate, and just plain sweet guys I’ve ever worked with.
Joe is the polar opposite of those technicians who jealously guard their “secrets.” He’s always generous with his knowledge, and was kind enough to take a break from a recent session to let me fire a few questions at him. (more…)
"Let me teach you a thing or two about CHUNK, sonny!"
The other day I posted a few audio clips I’d recorded using a Guild Archtop fitted with a Seymour Duncan Custom Shop Dynasonic® pickup. Going with the ’50s theme, I strung the guitar with flatwounds and coughed up a few Eisenhower-era licks.
Reader Dohmin Semper wondered how that setup would sound playing punk or metal. I muttered a polite response and moved on.
But later I felt guilty. With all this blog’s big talk about breaking things rules, why had I restricted my demo of this cool pickup to the most obvious uses? What a wuss! So I slunk back into my studio and bashed out a few riffs through high-gain amp simulations. (more…)
I hereby call to order the first meeting of the Tonefiend DIY Club!
Our mission: To attain tonal mastery over our guitars, amps, and effects with the least possible damage to our gear, bodies, homes, and pets. When the smoke has cleared (and all the smoke alarms have been reset) you’ll be able to install pickups, customize your guitar’s electronics, mod and build stompboxes, repair cables, and brag about your technical prowess while waiting in line to file your insurance claims.
Take it from one of the laziest and clumsiest people ever to brandish a soldering iron: Anyone can learn these skills. They’re fun and creative, and they’re one of the best ways to “own you tone,” if I may borrow the Seymour Duncan motto.
As promised, this material will be suitable for absolute beginners. (Though I hope more experienced guitar hackers join in, because we’ll really need your help!)
Read on for lists of what you’ll need to build our first three projects, plus recommended reading while waiting for your stuff to arrive. (more…)
Take my advice: When MJ says she has something cool to show you, drop everything and investigate.
MJ, of course, is Maricela Juarez, the longtime manager of the Seymour Duncan Custom Shop. And the item in question was a clone of the DeArmond 200 pickup, also known as the Gretsch Dynasonic®. Predating the Gretsch Filter’Tron, the Dynasonic provided one of the key sounds of classic rockabilly, and was used at times by Cliff Gallup, Eddie Cochrane, and Duane Eddy. It’s also just about the prettiest-looking pickup I’ve ever seen. (more…)
In Part 1 of this series, I introduced 24 fingering patterns that can be jumping-off points to any number of warmup and dexterity-development exercises. As threatened, this installment introduces additional technical hurdles guaranteed to challenge even advanced players. Try these out—but only after you can play the everything in Part 1 comfortably and consistently (“like identical pearls on a string”).
UPDATE: You’ll find a reworked version of my article on the “forbidden” guitar mic here at the online guitar magazine Pure Guitar — along with a ton of other great stuff. It’s still free! :beer:
The story so far: In Part 1 of this post, I snatched a pair of Seth Lover pickups in an attempt to improve my unlovable ’81 Les Paul. Will they transform the guitar from a pig to a prince? Or am I just casting pearls before swine?
I’m sharing some comparative recordings I made so you can judge for yourself. I distort, you decide! (more…)
UPDATE, 11.19.11: Dutch reader Rob sent my an obit announcing that Tielman died on Nov. 10 at age 75.
For the last year or so, this video has been ricocheting back and forth among my guitarist friends. It’s a 1960 clip of the Tielman Brothers, featuring guitarist Andy Tielman, an early rock-and-roller justifiably famed in has native Indonesia and in the Netherlands (Indonesia’s former colonial power), but practically unknown everywhere else. (Admit it: When you think of high-octane rockabilly, Surabaya, Indonesia, isn’t exactly the first burg that springs to mind.) (more…)
Did you ever come across one of those magical guitars? The kind that just seems to cast everything you play in the best possible light? A guitar you never want to stop playing because it sounds so darn good?
Well, this story isn’t about that kind of guitar.
It’s about a singularly uninspiring 1981 Les Paul Custom I picked up a few years ago. Sonically and physically, the guitar delivered everything you think of when you think of your basic, post-vintage Paul, only less. So I call it the Less Paul. (more…)
![Cruel Finger Exercises [Part 2]](https://tonefiend.com/wp-content/uploads/hand_7-150x126.png)
![Can You Love a Guitar You Hate? [Part 2]](https://tonefiend.com/wp-content/uploads/IMG_4873-1-150x112.jpg)
![Can You Love a Guitar You Hate? [Part 1]](https://tonefiend.com/wp-content/uploads/LesPaulHeart-150x106.jpg)
