Another new book

[TransLucid]

"Design and Construction of Tube Guitar Amplifiers" is for musicians and amp builders. My goal was to write a full technical description that can be understood by a reader with high school-level math and science skills and no engineering training.

Details can be found at translucidamps.com.

Bob

[Old Tele man]

...I'll be contacting you to order a copy...and later writing a review, if it's alright with you?

[TransLucid]

Book review

That would be nice. I'd like to hear your opinion.

[TransLucid]

Old Tele Man, sent your copy today...

...hope you find it educational.

By the way, does "old" refer to you, the tele, or both?

I've always preferred Gibsons (335s and archtops), although I have to play a Strat now and then. But I do find teles to be attractive, due to their versatility. I also like the hardtail. I've found it to be harder to get good tone from my strat than from the humbuckers, though. What's your approach?

Bob

[Old Tele man]

....astute question, simple answer: both! (we're both more than old-enough to run for President, ha,ha).

...while my Tele is my main 'squeeze' (since 1968!), some of my "other" squeezers are/have been: '63 Gibson SG Standard, '65 Gibson Les Paul SG Custom, '68 Gibson ES-345TDN/SVT, and '02 Gibson ES-137LE...and a couple Ovations.

...as for tone (I play everything from Bach to rock and back...pun intended), I have an original '71 Fender/Seth Lover "wide-range" humbucker pickup in the neck position...good jazz tones by itself, nice rich textured tones on both pickups, and traditional 'Tele-twang' on the stock bridge pickup.

[TransLucid]

old friends

I got my (58) 335 in '70, so I know what you mean. It's too valuable to gig with any more, so I bought a CS-336, which I really like, especially the bridge pickup. But nothing sounds like those PAFs...

[hasserl]

....astute question, simple answer: both! (we're both more than old-enough to run for President, ha,ha).

...while my Tele is my main 'squeeze' (since 1968!), some of my "other" squeezers are/have been: '63 Gibson SG Standard, '65 Gibson Les Paul SG Custom, '68 Gibson ES-345TDN/SVT, and '02 Gibson ES-137LE...and a couple Ovations.

...as for tone (I play everything from Bach to rock and back...pun intended), I have an original '71 Fender/Seth Lover "wide-range" humbucker pickup in the neck position...good jazz tones by itself, nice rich textured tones on both pickups, and traditional 'Tele-twang' on the stock bridge pickup.

BTW, he plays that thru a Super Reverb loaded with JBL 10's!!

[TransLucid]

BTW, he plays that thru a Super Reverb loaded with JBL 10's!!

I hope he has a roadie...

[Old Tele man]

...no, but I *do* have a collapsable airport cart that I use because the amp weighs in at 98 lbs with the cover.

[soundmasterg]

I got my (58) 335 in '70, so I know what you mean. It's too valuable to gig with any more, so I bought a CS-336, which I really like, especially the bridge pickup. But nothing sounds like those PAFs...

There are people trying to make pickups that sound that way....check at Dave's offerings at Home: SD Pickups, Custom-Made Hand-Wound Pickups by Dave Stephens, Stephens Design. You tube link too:

Greg


[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZzV2RK1CWY&feature=channel_page"]YouTube - Stephens Design Vintage LAB PAF set FINISHED VERSION[/ame]

[TransLucid]

new pafs

Greg -

I've read about them, and believe that it is possible to reverse engineer pickups. In fact, that is sort of what Gibson did for the 336. I also believe one can reverse engineer a Stradivarious (which has also been attempted with good results).

However, differences can be caused by (among other things):

1. Natural aging vs. accelerated aging (magnets, wire, varnish, etc).
2. Playing the pickup - vibration and other shock, who knows what else...
3. The marriage of the pickup to the instrument - with the above comments for the instrument as well, and, last but not least
4. Psychology - your perception is greatly affected by your brain, so, if you think you're hearing a PAF it could easily cause you to think it sounds better.

After 30+ years of playing my 335, I've become very sensitive to its sound, which also gives it a leg up.