EMG-T pickups for jazz versus other options?
Tim McNamara
nothing actually wrong with the sound now, but the quest for better tone
is addictive and unending. Plus it's darned cold with more snow coming
soon so I'm not out riding my bike instead of getting myself into
mischief.
I'm considering several possibilities- installing an onboard Demeter Fat
Control that I bought years ago to use in a Strat, but the Strat ended
up with humbuckers; installing one of the Classic 57s I've got; or
installing a set of EMG-Ts.
The Demeter would require some routing under the pickguard to make room
for the battery and circuit board, and finding a place to put the pot (I
think that would go on the cutaway horn). The guitar would look almost
exactly the same when done, which I kind of like. I could also do this
without disassembling the guitar, there's enough room for the router
base. And on the upside, I wouldn't have to buy anything extra.
The Classic 57 would require routing and a larger hole in the pickguard
or a new pickguard, new pots and new harness. I've also got other
humbucker options, so I'm not so enthusiastic about installing one in
this guitar.
The EMG-Ts would drop right in, although shoehorning the battery in
there might require some routing. It'd look slightly different with the
black pickup cover but that's not too bad.
I haven't been able to find any discussion about using the EMG-Ts for
jazz, though. The sound demos I have found all emphasize the typical
twangy, shrill Tele tone for country and blues or heavy distortion for
metal. You can't go by the manufacturer's description, of course,
because marketing material is intended to make products sound like the
best thing since sliced bread.
Any experience with this is appreciated!
Joey Goldstein
If it's for jazz use the 57 Classic.
Control effect can be dialed in via its pot, but it also has a buffer
and the buffer can't be switched off without more modifications like
adding an extra switch.
My Demeter Fat Controls (I've got a pedal and the in-line system around
here somewhere) didn't do a very good job of making single coils sound
more like humbuckers for a jazz sound. It's more applicable for getting
higher gain sounds out of single coils.
The EMG Tele pickups are probably quite bright, like their Strat
pickups. Paired with the EMM SPC (EMG's mid-boost circuit/pot), which
works better than the Demeter Fat Control, you might get in the ballpark
though. Lorne Lofsky's been using the SPC with EMG strat pickups (SA's)
for years. Lorne's tone is OK I guess, but I like his playing more.
He had a Tele with Bardens and a Demeter Fat Control for a while too,
that sounded OK, but I like his EMG-SA/SPC Strat tone better.
If you go with either the Fat Control or the SPC you'll need to add a
3rd pot to your Tele's control plate and control cavity if you want to
keep your tone control. And if you want to play jazz on that guitar I
think you'll need the tone control. There might not be room for all that
stuff within a vintage style Tele control cavity.
My jazz Tele has a 57 Classic in the neck position and a Duncan Little
59 in the bridge position with 500k pots (.02 cap on the tone control).
Good luck.
--
Joey Goldstein
<http://www.joeygoldstein.com>
<http://homepage.mac.com/josephgoldstein/AudioClips/audio.htm>
joegold AT primus DOT ca
Joey Goldstein
>
> Control effect can be dialed in via its pot, but it also has a buffer
> and the buffer can't be switched off without more modifications like
> adding an extra switch.
Sorry. Shoulda read:
The Demeter Fat Control effect can be dialed in via its pot, but it also
has a buffer and the buffer can't be switched off without more
modifications like adding an extra switch.
And their buffer isn't the most musical sounding buffer you're likely to
hear.
ScotGormley
I have EMGs in a Warmoth strat (alder with rosewood fingerboard). I do
not use this guitar for jazz at all. The EMGs excel at a chimey/glassy
strat sound and sound good with high gain tones, too. It's kind of
hard to describe how they sound, though, because even though they are
glassy, they still add body to the sound. Body, but not warmth, to my
ears.
Les Wise from GIT always used a tele with 3 EMG pickups, and you can
hear that guitar on his instructional tapes. It did not really sound
like a jazz guitar.
I have a nash tele with a Lollar Charlie Christian pickup in the neck
position. It's a very powerful pickup with a very round sound, but I
do find that I need to roll off the treble quite a bit.
sheetsofsound
> If it's for jazz use the 57 Classic.
or if you don't want to route the body, try the dimarzio area-t neck
pickup. Gets a surprisingly good jazz tone.
Dave
Some months back I picked up a Mexican Tele to get my feet wet with a Tele.
(I'd wanted one for jazz, but since I'd never owned a Tele before, I was
interested in just having one for general use, too.) I figured I'd drop a
humbucker in there, but I've been using the stocks pups and I'm really
pleased.
This guitar has the "hot" Tele pups, which probably means they're overwound
a bit, which tones down the high end. The guitar does sound like a Tele,
but probably lacks the twang that true Tele players are after, but I like
it. At the moment, I have no plans to change the pups. I've been using it
for jazz, and I find the tone to be quite balanced, without having to roll
off the high end too much.
What I'm getting at is, you might consider trying one of these pups, which
you can find on eBay for about $20.
Tim McNamara
Joey Goldstein <nos...@nowhere.net> wrote:
I have one solidbody with that setup already, although I haven't ruled
it out for the Tele. The Chinese pickups sound much better than I
expected, just maybe a little "light" if you know what I mean.
> Control effect can be dialed in via its pot, but it also has a buffer
> and the buffer can't be switched off without more modifications like
> adding an extra switch.
> My Demeter Fat Controls (I've got a pedal and the in-line system around
> here somewhere) didn't do a very good job of making single coils sound
> more like humbuckers for a jazz sound. It's more applicable for getting
> higher gain sounds out of single coils.
Interesting.
> The EMG Tele pickups are probably quite bright, like their Strat
> pickups. Paired with the EMM SPC (EMG's mid-boost circuit/pot), which
> works better than the Demeter Fat Control, you might get in the ballpark
> though. Lorne Lofsky's been using the SPC with EMG strat pickups (SA's)
> for years. Lorne's tone is OK I guess, but I like his playing more.
> He had a Tele with Bardens and a Demeter Fat Control for a while too,
> that sounded OK, but I like his EMG-SA/SPC Strat tone better.
I'll have to track down some newer recordings to listen to his tone. My
mental image of him is playing a Les Paul.
> If you go with either the Fat Control or the SPC you'll need to add a
> 3rd pot to your Tele's control plate and control cavity if you want to
> keep your tone control. And if you want to play jazz on that guitar I
> think you'll need the tone control. There might not be room for all that
> stuff within a vintage style Tele control cavity.
Yeah, that's an issue. There's no room in the cavity for the control
plate. I thought I could rout under the pickguard for the circuit board
and battery, and put the Fat Control's pot out on the horn of the
cutaway like an L-5.
> My jazz Tele has a 57 Classic in the neck position and a Duncan Little
> 59 in the bridge position with 500k pots (.02 cap on the tone control).
>
> Good luck.
Thanks! Where did you locate the pickup in relationship to the original
pickup rout?
Tim McNamara
<973691b1-1ed7-430f...@g23g2000vbr.googlegroups.com>,
ScotGormley <scot.g...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> I have EMGs in a Warmoth strat (alder with rosewood fingerboard). I
> do not use this guitar for jazz at all. The EMGs excel at a
> chimey/glassy strat sound and sound good with high gain tones, too.
> It's kind of hard to describe how they sound, though, because even
> though they are glassy, they still add body to the sound. Body, but
> not warmth, to my ears.
>
> Les Wise from GIT always used a tele with 3 EMG pickups, and you can
> hear that guitar on his instructional tapes. It did not really sound
> like a jazz guitar.
That's interesting, thanks.
> I have a nash tele with a Lollar Charlie Christian pickup in the neck
> position. It's a very powerful pickup with a very round sound, but I
> do find that I need to roll off the treble quite a bit.
Oh, I have no fear of rolling back the treble! ;-) I've thought about
the CC pickup, too.
In article
<a16e3b23-0216-442e...@m11g2000vbo.googlegroups.com>,
sheetsofsound <jackz...@gmail.com> wrote:
I'm not familiar with that, I'll see what I can dig up. Thanks!
In article <hg5tuc$3e3$1...@news.eternal-september.org>,
"Dave" <n...@spam.com> wrote:
> Some months back I picked up a Mexican Tele to get my feet wet with a Tele.
> (I'd wanted one for jazz, but since I'd never owned a Tele before, I was
> interested in just having one for general use, too.) I figured I'd drop a
> humbucker in there, but I've been using the stocks pups and I'm really
> pleased.
>
> This guitar has the "hot" Tele pups, which probably means they're overwound
> a bit, which tones down the high end. The guitar does sound like a Tele,
> but probably lacks the twang that true Tele players are after, but I like
> it. At the moment, I have no plans to change the pups. I've been using it
> for jazz, and I find the tone to be quite balanced, without having to roll
> off the high end too much.
>
> What I'm getting at is, you might consider trying one of these pups, which
> you can find on eBay for about $20.
Hmm. I've thought about different Tele pups, too, but finding the right
one without ten trials and errors seems a bit chancy. I'd like just a
bit more gain but more importantly a bit more mids and warmer bass.
This would be a cheap experiment. Thanks!
Joey Goldstein
He hasn't played a Les Paul since the early 80's.
>> If you go with either the Fat Control or the SPC you'll need to add a
>> 3rd pot to your Tele's control plate and control cavity if you want to
>> keep your tone control. And if you want to play jazz on that guitar I
>> think you'll need the tone control. There might not be room for all that
>> stuff within a vintage style Tele control cavity.
>
> Yeah, that's an issue. There's no room in the cavity for the control
> plate. I thought I could rout under the pickguard for the circuit board
> and battery, and put the Fat Control's pot out on the horn of the
> cutaway like an L-5.
>
>> My jazz Tele has a 57 Classic in the neck position and a Duncan Little
>> 59 in the bridge position with 500k pots (.02 cap on the tone control).
>>
>> Good luck.
>
> Thanks! Where did you locate the pickup in relationship to the original
> pickup rout?
My MIM Nashville Tele body was already routed out for a humbucker sized
pickup. The USA Standard Teles come that way too.
But they're not deep enough for a vintage-style humbuckers height
adjustment legs so you have to drill out a bit of wood to make room for
the legs. Or you could use a Dimarzio humbucker which will have shorter
legs.
I just bought a standard pickguard made for a Tele with a humbucker in
the neck position. It orients the pole-pieces right under the 24th fret
node/harmonic.
Tim McNamara
Joey Goldstein <nos...@nowhere.net> wrote:
I'm behind the times once again.... :-P
> >> If you go with either the Fat Control or the SPC you'll need to
> >> add a 3rd pot to your Tele's control plate and control cavity if
> >> you want to keep your tone control. And if you want to play jazz
> >> on that guitar I think you'll need the tone control. There might
> >> not be room for all that stuff within a vintage style Tele control
> >> cavity.
> >
> > Yeah, that's an issue. There's no room in the cavity for the
> > control plate. I thought I could rout under the pickguard for the
> > circuit board and battery, and put the Fat Control's pot out on the
> > horn of the cutaway like an L-5.
> >
> >> My jazz Tele has a 57 Classic in the neck position and a Duncan
> >> Little 59 in the bridge position with 500k pots (.02 cap on the
> >> tone control).
> >>
> >> Good luck.
> >
> > Thanks! Where did you locate the pickup in relationship to the
> > original pickup rout?
>
> My MIM Nashville Tele body was already routed out for a humbucker
> sized pickup. The USA Standard Teles come that way too. But they're
> not deep enough for a vintage-style humbuckers height adjustment legs
> so you have to drill out a bit of wood to make room for the legs. Or
> you could use a Dimarzio humbucker which will have shorter legs.
>
> I just bought a standard pickguard made for a Tele with a humbucker
> in the neck position. It orients the pole-pieces right under the 24th
> fret node/harmonic.
Thanks for the info, Joey!
Tim McNamara
Joey Goldstein <nos...@nowhere.net> wrote:
> Tim McNamara wrote:
> > In article <31b71$4b259891$adceeea2$56...@PRIMUS.CA>,
> > Joey Goldstein <nos...@nowhere.net> wrote:
> >
> >> The EMG Tele pickups are probably quite bright, like their Strat
> >> pickups. Paired with the EMM SPC (EMG's mid-boost circuit/pot),
> >> which works better than the Demeter Fat Control, you might get in
> >> the ballpark though. Lorne Lofsky's been using the SPC with EMG
> >> strat pickups (SA's) for years. Lorne's tone is OK I guess, but I
> >> like his playing more. He had a Tele with Bardens and a Demeter
> >> Fat Control for a while too, that sounded OK, but I like his
> >> EMG-SA/SPC Strat tone better.
> >
> > I'll have to track down some newer recordings to listen to his
> > tone. My mental image of him is playing a Les Paul.
>
> He hasn't played a Les Paul since the early 80's.
I went looking at YouTube for some newer stuff by Lorne and found a
bunch of HQ videos from the Old Mill Inn with Kieran Overs and Barry
Elmes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kD5Hc8WaTEM
Jeepers, I like his tone on those videos and his playing is wonderful-
elegant and flowing. That's not far off at all from the tone I had in
mind; his instrument is a Strat-like affair with humbuckers in the
single coil form factor with two blades for polepieces. He's using the
same axe on the Mike's Master Class videos. Those are also Bardens?
I did find a video with what looks like the same guitar but with EMGs
instead. His tone is a bit softer, less attack than he had with the
Bardens and darker but pretty nice. The tone seems a bit more "175"-y
with the EMGs.
Joey Goldstein
That red sunburst guitar, on Gone With The Wind, is an Ibanez Roadstar
Strat with EMG-SA pickups and an EMG-SPC mid boost.
> He's using the
> same axe on the Mike's Master Class videos. Those are also Bardens?
>
> I did find a video with what looks like the same guitar but with EMGs
> instead. His tone is a bit softer, less attack than he had with the
> Bardens and darker but pretty nice. The tone seems a bit more "175"-y
> with the EMGs.
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsQn6jE9kzk
Joey Goldstein
In the "Lorne Lofsky - Soloing and Comping in a Pianistic Style" video
he appears to be using something akin to Barden's in that same Ibanez
guitar.
I've only seen him use the Barden's in his parts Tele and he had it
paired with the Demeter Fat Control.
I guess he may have put them on the Roadstar too at some point.
Tim McNamara
Joey Goldstein <nos...@nowhere.net> wrote:
Joey, thanks for the info and the prompt to go look at some of Lorne's
videos. The previous things I had seen of him were mainly with Oscar
Peterson and he didn't seem to have the space to develop his ideas like
his does in the newer videos.