PAF parts

[Possum]

...

Man, that Tokai remark is still burning here

I forgot to say that my wife and I actually did use www.stephensdesign.com for years, in fact we were among the first 40 designers ever to hang portfolios out on the web back in '94 if I remember right, among those we were the only real designers, the rest were geek desktop publishers with no training. That web URL was a big mistake, no one could spell it, they would even mispell it if we gave them business cards. "I can't find your website, there's no Stevens Design site anywhere."

I still have my old design site archived for nostalgia's sake:
Stephens Design
There's alot of EMG stuff there and some album covers, I designed just about everything under the sun, the site is huge, you have to find the tiny "next" link to scroll through it. It never got finished, the net biz crashed happend in progress and we lost all our client almost overnite, as most did back then.....fun times...

[JGundry]

Thanks, actually it was completely developed by the time I arrived, and in development before the TAW came out. When I got here we were picking graphics and the manual was already written. It's pretty funny actually because John has had public fits of rage about it that happen to be completely baseless. I've extended the olive branch and had several discussions with him offline, and I don't know if it's changed his mind. I think it goes deeper than just the "Shape Shifter".

I know Jon Cusack and had no idea he was up in arms about your pedal. I know his Tap a Whirl has been out for a several years and has a great reputation. Jon has several innovative features other makers have copied. No idea about what the time line was with the Seymour Duncan pedal. Just my first thought was, oh a Tap a Whirl copy. I'm sure that would be the first thought of any pedal nut out there also. Not knocking it really. Heck every pedal I make is my take on classic circuits. Cusack has a Tube Screamer based pedal... Copying in the pedal realm is practically a tradition. The truth is any similar mass produced pedal by a company like Seymour Duncan will invite comparison by consumers and increase exposure to the equivalent boutique pedals like Jon's. Boutique guitar products often have more features, better build quality, etc.. than mass market products and in a side by side comparison the boutique product usually wins. The Seymour Duncan pedals does look nice but my guess is in the long run it helps sell the Tap a Whirl also.

[Possum]

.......

"Boutique guitar products often have more features, better build quality, etc.. than mass market products and in a side by side comparison the boutique product usually wins."

Same goes for pickups. Mass market pickups don't have one guy building from start to finish and talking to the actual customer, and tweaking to the customer's needs. The boutique (I still hate that adverb) pickup maker is also the inventor of unique pickups that no one else makes as well, there is a definite need out there for what we make and services offered. We owe pioneers like Duncan and DiMarzio a debt of gratitude for paving the way, after all they were once one or 2 person businesses back when.

[frankfalbo]

Frank, kiss my butt, LOL. My company name has been Stephens Design for about 30 years. Previously I was a graphic designer and did all the work for EMG in the 80's...Although I am highly respectful of Seymour, I don't really like the products...

Ah okay, so now I have several reasons not to like you! Ha! Just kidding...

Man, that Tokai remark is still burning here

Ah I'm just yankin' yer chain. What does Han Solo say to Luke about Leia again? "I must've hit pretty close to the mark to get her all riled up eh?" Now you have to call me a scruffy looking nerf herder.

I know Jon Cusack and had no idea he was up in arms about your pedal...Jon has several innovative features other makers have copied...The truth is any similar mass produced pedal by a company like Seymour Duncan will invite comparison by consumers and increase exposure to the equivalent boutique pedals like Jon's...The Seymour Duncan pedal does look nice but my guess is in the long run it helps sell the Tap a Whirl also.

That's basically what I was telling him. We could be a gateway drug of sorts for people who would have previously never thought of paying more than $99 for a crappy "cookie cutter" tremolo, but he wasn't having it. He was sure we were cashing in on his sweat and blood...Anyway we're way off topic, sorry everyone, back to P.A.F. parts and arguing over 1018 and 1019 steel...

So can anyone tell me why one keeper bar would "ping" when you drop it and the other "thunk"?

[David Schwab]

What I posted was from memory, I read a forum post by someone who bought a Seymour pickup that Eddie refused to endorse so they call it by a thinly disguised name and its a high ohmer, 14k, 12K, I don't remember exactly.

That was the "EVH" (Evenly Voiced Harmonics) model. Now I think it's called the '78 Model. It's 9K.

[frankfalbo]

Sort of...Remember there are two distinct pickup styles Eddie used in the Frankenstein. One is the '78 around 9k, and the other is a different animal, up in the double digits, but I can't say. Not Seymour Duncan rules, but Eddie's rules, too. Mum's the word, but anyone can buy one and read it, look at the wire, etc. But he was here for 2 or 3 days constantly playing and testing, etc. So you know there are some tricks "under the hood" that wouldn't be taught by the DC or the color of the wire.

[David Schwab]

Although I am highly respectful of Seymour, I don't really like the products, so why would I try to make people think I'm Duncan? I have never gotten an email addressed to Seymour, sheesh...

I like Seymour's pickups. I think the Alnico II Pros are really nice. I like more of his pickups than DiMarzio... but they have some nice stuff too.

I once had a hand written letter from Seymour, back in pre-email days, probably about '76, when he was doing the rewinding service, and before his pickup business. I had inquired about having my Rick 4001 pickups rewound, and also about making the long magnet toaster into a stacked pickup. I got the stacked idea from the LP Recording guitars. SD said that wouldn't work, but later ('83) patented his stacked Strat pickup! Hmmmmmm.

[LtKojak]

I had inquired about having my Rick 4001 pickups rewound, and also about making the long magnet toaster into a stacked pickup. I got the stacked idea from the LP Recording guitars. SD said that wouldn't work, but later ('83) patented his stacked Strat pickup! Hmmmmmm.

He changed his mind...? Happens all the time!

[EFK]

"So can anyone tell me why one keeper bar would "ping" when you drop it and the other "thunk"?"

Leaded free-machining steel i.e. 12L14

[jonson]

So can anyone tell me why one keeper bar would "ping" when you drop it and the other "thunk"

are we just talking about it's ability to vibrate

[David Schwab]

He changed his mind...? Happens all the time!

That's fine... but he said it wouldn't work! I certainly didn't invent it, but I wonder if he started thinking about it after that.

I had a set of his stacked pickups in an old Kramer strat. They sounded very nice.

[Possum]

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Yes I could tell you why one keeper pings and the other one thunks, but I wont :-) I have a friend who is a magnetic alloys specialist metallurgist who's been helping me the last two years to dig into and crawl around inside most of Gibson's vintage PAF and TTop era metals. Very deep subject. I had several commerical PAF "copies" analyzed, and not one of them did it right, including the Seth Lover. Also Burstbucker, Tom Holmes. Tom's was closest and the most intelligent of the 3, but his bobbins are wrong among other things, that one is really his own design, not a PAF type. The BB was the most insane recipe. I can't quite figure why Gibson did what they did, doesn't make alot of sense but actually there's sounds the closest but is way too dark IMHO.

[Possum]

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The short answer to the ping question is, the one that pings was dropped on cement, the other on a rug

[LtKojak]

That's fine... but he said it wouldn't work! I certainly didn't invent it, but I wonder if he started thinking about it after that.

I had a set of his stacked pickups in an old Kramer strat. They sounded very nice.

Well, he recently changed the Stacks (again). Maybe the R&D was not at its peak... I haven't tried the new ones though.

Anyway, I didn't care that much of the old ones. They weren't very lively, even though they sounded ok.

[RedHouse]

Yes I could tell you why one keeper pings and the other one thunks, but I wont :-) I have a friend who is a magnetic alloys specialist metallurgist who's been helping me the last two years to dig into and crawl around inside most of Gibson's vintage PAF and TTop era metals. ....

Oh jeez, here we go again...