Wow it's unbeleivable

[madialex]

I saw over at the MLP, not that i'm a member there, been banned for life, using a friends computer LOL. I was checking out what a friend was telling me happened there.
Kevin Searcy was there just thanking a guy for posting one of his how to Vids and right away this guy, Wills assembler I might add, jumped on him like an animal. Just goes to show ya, any new winder there gets beat down from the start.

Hey Kevin, best bet for you is to stay away from that place. Will has all his friends there and you will never get your foot in the door there. If you are trying to broaden your market, that's not the place to do it, you will only go through hell there and then get banned unless you kiss the ass of the powers that be there. Just wanted to let you in on the low down there..

[greenfingers]

Yes i saw that post. What can i say. Will has some really stupid associates who try and stand up for him or "Has His Back" as I'm sure they would call it, Thing is Kevin just said something that it true and one of Wills footmen jumped all over it as if he was trying to saving Will from a bullet... Funny. At no time do i ever see Will's name mentioned so i must assume that what Kevin said struck a raw nerve or was to close to the truth

[Spence]

I didn't think he was having a go at anyone in particular
but he's darn wrong about the research/science that some people put into their pickups.
I have wondered for some time why there are so many people willing to get all shitty on MLP when someone has the front to mention another winder. It's really dumb because it comes across like a load of over-reacting social workers doing their care in the community thing to protect another winder on there.
Is it neccessary ?

[Clint Searcy]

HA!

Wow, seems a lot of folks saw that little blow up. I had no idea the MLP forum was so popular. Oh, and it's Clint, not Kevin. Thanks for the support guys. It was all rather surreal to be honest. The guy seemed to think I was picking on his friend. I'm sure he's really famous and all but I had never heard of WB pickups before that day and had no idea who that guy was. I didn't think it was outrageous to state that there is a lot marketing BS out there being pushed as Magic Pickup Maker Mojo. I've heard Seth Lover, Jason Lollar and Bill Lawrence all make similar statements. I never said there was no science involved in pickup making or that detail didn't matter. That's something Wills friend just made up in his paranoid rant about my covert marketing plan. I'm still not sure how that was supposed to work. In truth I don't sell much to the public at large. I sell 95% of what I make directly to luthiers as high end OEM units. I'm not even looking for more clients right now. If I were looking for more work I wouldn't let some punk assistant to a pickup maker tell me what, where and how I can post my opinions and information. That just ain't me

hanks again guys. It's good to know I wasn't the only one who though that was weird.

[madialex]

Hi Clint, sorry about the name thing, it aint the first time I have mis called someone by the wrong name LOL.....

[David Schwab]

You know I met the guy that runs that forum. I did a setup on his $10,000 Les Paul stinger. He seemed like a nice guy. He asked me if I had ever been to the forum and I told him "yeah, I'm registered there..." but I hardly spent any time there.

He also enquired about me winding custom pickups and wanted to know how many I could do a day... as he had "an idea" for something. I never heard back from him to see what that idea was.

My guitar building buddy got into a thing there with the regulars when he was pointing out how sloppy Gibson's neck tenon was... They were defending Gibson and he had to go as far as posting a photo he took of a Les Paul sawed cross section to prove the slop in the neck pocket.

I love a good Paul as much as the next guy, that that's ridiculous.

Hey Clint! Nice to have you stop by. I was starting to read this thread and wondered if they meant you.

[Clint Searcy]

You know I met the guy that runs that forum. I did a setup on his $10,000 Les Paul stinger. He seemed like a nice guy. He asked me if I had ever been to the forum and I told him "yeah, I'm registered there..." but I hardly spent any time there.

He also enquired about me winding custom pickups and wanted to know how many I could do a day... as he had "an idea" for something. I never heard back from him to see what that idea was.

My guitar building buddy got into a thing there with the regulars when he was pointing out how sloppy Gibson's neck tenon was... They were defending Gibson and he had to go as far as posting a photo he took of a Les Paul sawed cross section to prove the slop in the neck pocket.

I love a good Paul as much as the next guy, that that's ridiculous.

Hey Clint! Nice to have you stop by. I was starting to read this thread and wondered if they meant you.

At least your friend was challenging something I wasn't questioning any one or calling anyone out. I can handle someone questing what I say. That's how we learn, right? I've made mistakes and had to rethink things from time to time. If I'm wrong I'm going to try to correct that for the future. If I'm right I'll defend the assertion.

But really... nothing was being asserted or challenged. The guy was just being a paranoid freak going on and on about my secret marketing plan to take over the pickup world with Stew Mac HB kits and what not. It was all so bizarre.

If you want to see that train wreck the thread over there was called "Modern Humbucker Construction Video".

How can folks get so bent over guitar pickups?

[David Schwab]

How can folks get so bent over guitar pickups?

Because their way is the only right way.

On a side note, the Les Paul I worked on had one of its tailpiece bushings pulling out. Once I saw that it wasn't loose, I did the usual thing to reseat it... I grabbed a piece of wood and a hammer and gave it a whack. The thing was that he wanted to be present while I worked on the guitar... boy you should have seen him jump! I guess I would have too, being that he paid $10,000 for the thing!

It was a very nice LP, but not worth 10K! I guess from a collector's POV.

My buddy who posted there about the neck tenon has quite a swarm of Pauls... here's just a handful along with a few of his creations and a bullseye Charvel.

Check out the LP with the Explorer head and the Fakenbacker he made that has my old '73 toaster pickups in it.

[RedHouse]

How about a link?

(so I don't have to troll for it)

[J S Moore]

I have seen the photo in question with the different neck tenons. That rocker tenon, as it's called, was supposedly used on the USA production guitars, not the custom shop products.

There are a few videos on the web showing the production floor at Gibson and in one of them an employee is fitting a neck to a Les Paul and hand shaping it with a chisel. It is clearly not the same tenon as shown in the picture. The picture pre-dates the video as I understand it. I have read at one point they did use the rocker tenon for ease of production but I don't think they do now. Just had to point that out, I'm not trying to start any opinion wars and please feel free to delete this post if it is out of bounds.

EDIT: There was a limited run of Stinger LP's produced for Music Machine ( I think) by the Custom Shop. Not very many and I think that adds to the collectibility, but $10,000 for one of them is a little high and strikes me as exaggeration.

[Peter Naglitsch]

http://www.mylespaul.com/forums/pick...ion-video.html

[J S Moore]

That's the video clip referenced by the OP. I can't find the clip I'm referring to, it was done by some TV show.

I watched that video on the MLP and read the comments. I very rarely go there.

[David Schwab]

EDIT: There was a limited run of Stinger LP's produced for Music Machine ( I think) by the Custom Shop. Not very many and I think that adds to the collectibility, but $10,000 for one of them is a little high and strikes me as exaggeration.

He said the guitar originally went for about $2,600. He paid 10K when he bought it from someone else. That's what he said anyway.

It was nice, but wasn't any nicer than the '81 Standard I used to have that I paid $200 for.

If you remove the neck pickup from a LP you can see the gap around the tenon. I don't think it's a big deal, but my buddy was pointing out that it wasn't the best construction, and especially with the guitars being made on CNC machines, shouldn't be there.

If they can't get the neck angle right without rocking the tenon, there's a problem! You only need a degree or two to get it right. That's a very small amount.

[J S Moore]

He said the guitar originally went for about $2,600. He paid 10K when he bought it from someone else. That's what he said anyway.

It was nice, but wasn't any nicer than the '81 Standard I used to have that I paid $200 for.

If you remove the neck pickup from a LP you can see the gap around the tenon. I don't think it's a big deal, but my buddy was pointing out that it wasn't the best construction, and especially with the guitars being made on CNC machines, shouldn't be there.

If they can't get the neck angle right without rocking the tenon, there's a problem! You only need a degree or two to get it right. That's a very small amount.

$2600.00 new sounds about right. $10,000 used seems a bit absurd. But then again I'm not into the collectible aspect of guitars. That might have been a very good price considering what other examples went for.

I happen to agree with your point of view on the rocker tenon. With CNC machines you can do a lot better job than that. As I said before there is little evidence that joint is still being used. There used to be a picture of the tenon that was introduced for 2008 but I can't find it. That tenon was a work of art.

The "smilie" on the tenon of a historic is correct for 50's construction. That's part of what you're paying for with a historic. You can't see the tenon on a USA production guitar as it doesn't protrude into the pickup rout. And your friend is only partly correct about the CNC aspect of them. There is an incredible, by today's standards, amount of handwork still done at Gibson. The necks are still hand fit to the body. The historic line is not meant to be the pinnacle of modern construction methods. I point this out because I don't think that criticism is fair considering what they are supposed to represent.

And now, because I am of the opinion that this thread ( or my posts at least) has strayed far away from it's original intent, is a picture of a bunny with a pancake on it's head.

[WBPickups]

Little Benny....

How in the fuck did I get dragged into this shit Ben? I haven't even posted on there in a long while but for some crazy stupid delusional way you keep thinking I own that forum. Get a fucking life JR and lay off the anti-WB thing man. Your almost a stalker..

Searcy, nice work. It's nice to see someone with so much passion into making their own stuff. Unlike what some would say, I do not control what is being said there nor do I condone attacks on other winders or their work but since some may happen to use WB's, know me or whatever. I get the blame, especially when Benny is concerned. I haven't seen the thread mentioned and would like to know where my name is being used in attacking another because I WILL find out why I am being brought into something without my knowledge or consent.

I truly hope that someday some of the pickup winders can really just support one another wares instead of constantly trying to create drama for attention.

Man, I come on here from time to time and read some of your post and sometimes I would love to share some stuff but then I see post like this and wonder why bother?

I saw over at the MLP, not that i'm a member there, been banned for life, using a friends computer LOL. I was checking out what a friend was telling me happened there.
Kevin Searcy was there just thanking a guy for posting one of his how to Vids and right away this guy, Wills assembler I might add, jumped on him like an animal. Just goes to show ya, any new winder there gets beat down from the start.

Hey Kevin, best bet for you is to stay away from that place. Will has all his friends there and you will never get your foot in the door there. If you are trying to broaden your market, that's not the place to do it, you will only go through hell there and then get banned unless you kiss the ass of the powers that be there. Just wanted to let you in on the low down there..