What would this pickup sound like in theory?

[David Schwab]

If your testing shows the unconventional format sounds better to you, make the prototype that way and send it out to him, maybe even give him a conventional version as well so he can A/B them. Easy for me to suggest you do double the work, I know...

I agree. Part of the issue is this customer has an idea, and what is it based on? Maybe nothing. So the best thing to do is give him EXACTLY what he asked for. Chances are it wont sound the way he expected. If that's the case, you aren't to blame, you just followed his directions.

And who knows, he might like it.

[Possum]

......

PUt the pickup in the guitar mounted to a circle of wood that can swivel, they can angle it any way they want to. Now THAT would really scare customers off. If you can, test it both ways. If you can get a high profile customer to endorse it, that would sell, but yeah you're right, guitar players don't go for oddball guitars, the Gibson Nighthawk is a good example, I believe that one was a sales flop and I think they had Pat Travers or someone like that endorse it too....

[David Schwab]

PUt the pickup in the guitar mounted to a circle of wood that can swivel, they can angle it any way they want to. Now THAT would really scare customers off.

Like this:

the Gibson Nighthawk is a good example, I believe that one was a sales flop and I think they had Pat Travers or someone like that endorse it too....

The Nighthawk was clearly supposed to be Gibson's version of a Tele... though I have no idea why they wanted to do that. But we can all remember that time back in the 80's when no one played a Les Paul... it was all Strats and Super-Strats.

[Possum]

...

Jeeez, as soon as anyone mentions some cool innovative idea on the forum some manufacturer immediately uses our ideas...

[frankfalbo]

Jeeez, as soon as anyone mentions some cool innovative idea on the forum some manufacturer immediately uses our ideas...

Yeah except all the ones you suggest are copied from you decades ago. You're truly a visionary, just 20 years late.
You should be working in the transportation industry, inventing things that help things move along smoothly, like something with no sharp corners, kind of round in shape, you could call it a "wheel". You'll make a fortune.

[Possum]

...

OK, Frank, now you've been OUT-ed! TIME TRAVELER! So you show up here, see what cool pickup ideas there are, get on your time travel bicycle, head back to Seymour when he was 12 years old and hand over the goods, by the time you get back here them ideas is already been h'yere for fifty years, gee golly. Clever trick. OK, can you go back to 1959 and grab a couple cheap Les Pauls for me, I think maybe 20 would do, and then I could use a few Flying V's too. And while you're at I need 1200 pounds of 42 gauge wire from then too. And maybe some gold too? How much can you actually fit on that bicycle?

[LtKojak]

Man, I LOVE this forum...

Jeeez, as soon as anyone mentions some cool innovative idea on the forum some manufacturer immediately uses our ideas...

Yeah except all the ones you suggest are copied from you decades ago. You're truly a visionary, just 20 years late.
You should be working in the transportation industry, inventing things that help things move along smoothly, like something with no sharp corners, kind of round in shape, you could call it a "wheel". You'll make a fortune.

OK, Frank, now you've been OUT-ed! TIME TRAVELER! So you show up here, see what cool pickup ideas there are, get on your time travel bicycle, head back to Seymour when he was 12 years old and hand over the goods, by the time you get back here them ideas is already been h'yere for fifty years, gee golly. Clever trick. OK, can you go back to 1959 and grab a couple cheap Les Pauls for me, I think maybe 20 would do, and then I could use a few Flying V's too. And while you're at I need 1200 pounds of 42 gauge wire from then too. And maybe some gold too? How much can you actually fit on that bicycle?

Who needs the Comedy Channel when you've got THIS forum?

[Possum]

..

Frank and I will be performing at the Comedy Club in San Diego on March 4-12, tickets are $3.33. We're billed as Ozzie and Harriet, I"m Ozzie

[soundmasterg]

Probably what I'll do is build a test guitar with a rectangular pickguard, then just make several iterations of the pickguard to try pickups in different locations. I personally think that part of the sound DOES come from the pickup being anchored to the body.. Particularly in an unpotted coil. Though my experimentation is limited in the area.

Yah thats another good way to do it. I agree about the interaction of the body in relation to the pickup being bolted to it, though I think you can get a reasonable idea of what a pickup will sound like above the strings...at least enough to determine pickup position.

greg

[belwar]

Well I did some measurements today in a cad program that lets me trace on top of a photo. I wanted to get some angle measurements from different guitars.

I measured a 50's something strat, 52 tele, and a kramer (yeah yeah I know). I used these guitars because there is a definite "front edge" to the bridge that I could measure from (floyd on the kramer, bridge cover on a the strat, and well the tele bridge has a nice bottom & top edge).

The strat came in at 10.63 degrees. The tele at 17.00 degrees, and the kramer at 9.92.

I'm thinking that i'll make the first iteration around 12-13 degrees... For no particular reason other than 13 is my lucky number... I was born on a Friday the 13th, at 1:13pm.. AKA.. 13:13.

bel.

[FunkyKikuchiyo]

I had no idea that the strat and tele had that big of a difference in angle...... is this news to anyone else, or am I just stupid?

[frankfalbo]

I can't remember when I realized the difference in angle between a Strat and Tele, but I imagine it's what drove the Tele bridge pickup to have a wider string spacing than the Strats, although the Strat spacing could simply have been to find a middle ground usable for neck/middle/bridge. I'm sure Seymour would know. Anyway it's inconsequential.

I wouldn't take the Strat/Tele angle into too much consideration if it were me. Not only are they both single coils, but if the angled Humbucker guitar is built for overdrive, the 1950's angles placed for the clean tones of that day are likely not relevant. In most cases vintage Leo and Gibson are important benchmarks, either because they got it "right" or because we're now trained to think that it's right, as a celebration of heritage. In this case, however, I can't help but think its the angled Humbuckers of EVH and the following 80's guitars that are driving this customer's request. That's the place I'd be starting from, in the interest of pleasing the customer, but also because in this case it happens to be "less radical" than the angle of the Fender stuff. If you check out Eddie's guitar (which had some different angles over time) you should find it to be shallower than the Fenders too.

Although, if you're making an experimental guitar specifically to test the angled HB, then forget what I said and just have some fun.

[David Schwab]

EVH's pickup was also angled because it obviously wasn't an "F" spaced pickup, so by angling it he got both e strings to line up with some of the poles.

I agree that was have grown accustomed to certain tones, and they seem right by familiarity.

[Musiclogic]

The humorous thing about the Nighthawk, was that it was supposed to bring strat players over to the dark side, but it did just the opposite, and drove Paul players to strats. If Gibson would have just made more P-90 equipped specials....LMAO

Definately a trip down memory lane....or Pitcher St. if you live here in Kalamazoo....LMAO

[David Schwab]

If Gibson would have just made more P-90 equipped specials....LMAO

P-90s weren't all that popular back then. That have only recently come back into favor.