What is he playing?

[AndreasG]

Love his tones playing through normal guitar amps...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxhlS...e_gdata_player

Are this De Armonds? Which ones are this?

i have a Southern Jumbo with the standard Gibson piezo (i believe) in it, and that one sounds horrible IMO. i also have a Dean Markley ProMag soundhole pickup which sounds way better, but a lot less volume. I normally play it through an ancient Maestro GA45 amp (kinda like a Tweed Deluxe)
Anybody modded a ProMag or othe soundhole pickup to connect to the existing output jack of the guitar since I don't want to drill holes and the female jack attached to the pickup is a mess...
Or what other options are there out there?

[RockerDuck]

I've gotten the same sound with an LRBaggs M1A installed in my Yairi guitar and my Deluxe Reverb turned up.

[AndreasG]

Any info on Ray's pickups?

[syrynx]

Andreas, I've spent hours trying to find the answers, but I'm still only halfway there.

From an email interview posted on another forum in 2011, Ray Wylie Hubbard's own words:

my amps are a 63 brown tolex fender super and 65 princeton reverb and an old 1952 bell&howell speaker with a stromberg/carlson amplifier in it. i got a 1957 silver tone thin twin, 1958 martin d-18e (like kurt cobaine use on mtv uplugged), a 1965 j50 with a dearmond pickup, a 1937 gibson L37, a 1929 gibson HG22, a 1959 es335 gibson reissue and a 31 style o national resonator. the only pedals i use electric is two alan durham sex drives. acoustic i play a 12 fret devils's backbone small body i designed and tony nobles built through a bags venue pedal through a demeter tube direct box to a california blond amp with a extension speaker.

And from Hubbard's Facebook page in 2013:

someone asked about my guitar so here you go. i found this 1949 gibson j45 neck at junkyard guitars in illinois for a 100 bucks and put in on a 1959 southern jumbo body that someone had put a 72 neck on that was just not worth a ****. too narrow. now if you gonna build a frankenstein monster everybody knows you need lightning. well you also need tony nobles in wimberley to fuse the body and neck together.
when i'm over at his place and he is working on guitars i expect to hear some evil scientist laugh but he never does.
frankie has a dearmond pickup from the 60's and i run it through a durham sexdrive pedal into a 66 princeton reverb with an austin speakers works replacement speaker. i got the amp with a blown speaker for next to nothing a awhile back which now they are outrageous expensive. depending on the gig i also use a 63 brown super.
i also just put a trance amulet in it which i run through a demeter tube d.i. into the p.a. system or a california blonde amp if lucas is around to help me lift it.

The DeArmond pickup he mentioned is between the sound hole and the bridge. I haven't been able to figure out what the sound hole pickup is. It looks somewhat like a DeArmond 220, but I don't see any pole piece screws.

In this clip, the guitar does not have the sound hole pickup.



Both pickups are in the guitar in this clip from a different camera angle.



Here's a clip of another guitar, a sunburst, with a DeArmond between sound hole and bridge.



And in this clip, he's playing a sunburst guitar with what looks like the same sound hole pickup, or a very similar one, but with no pickup between sound hole and bridge. It may be the same sunburst guitar; the DeArmond is thin enough that it can be surface mounted with double-sided tape.



Yes, you can wire your ProMag (or any other pickup) to the guitar's existing output jack.

You could boost the output from your ProMag if you can figure out a way to get it closer to the strings. Also, any electric guitar strings will give you better balance and stronger output from the wound strings than bronze wound strings can deliver.

You may find the recent Using an acoustic guitar to get an ‘Electric’ sound discussion to be of interest.

[AndreasG]

Originally Posted by syrynx

Andreas, I've spent hours trying to find the answers, but I'm still only halfway there.

From an email interview posted on another forum in 2011, Ray Wylie Hubbard's own words:



And from Hubbard's Facebook page in 2013:



The DeArmond pickup he mentioned is between the sound hole and the bridge. I haven't been able to figure out what the sound hole pickup is. It looks somewhat like a DeArmond 220, but I don't see any pole piece screws.

In this clip, the guitar does not have the sound hole pickup.



Both pickups are in the guitar in this clip from a different camera angle.



Here's a clip of another guitar, a sunburst, with a DeArmond between sound hole and bridge.



And in this clip, he's playing a sunburst guitar with what looks like the same sound hole pickup, or a very similar one, but with no pickup between sound hole and bridge. It may be the same sunburst guitar; the DeArmond is thin enough that it can be surface mounted with double-sided tape.



Yes, you can wire your ProMag (or any other pickup) to the guitar's existing output jack.

You could boost the output from your ProMag if you can figure out a way to get it closer to the strings. Also, any electric guitar strings will give you better balance and stronger output from the wound strings than bronze wound strings can deliver.

You may find the recent Using an acoustic guitar to get an ‘Electric’ sound discussion to be of interest.

Wow!! Thanks a lot for sharing your work

[syrynx]

Andreas, I hope you're able to achieve the sounds you're seeking with the DiMarzio ProMag. But if it turns out that you cannot, here are some links that may stimulate you in your search for a satisfactory solution.

Richard "Snakehips" O'Donnell spent many years trying to achieve the guitar sounds Elmore James achieved on his records. Here are posts (on four different forums!) recounting his search and his conclusions:

- From 2004

- From 2007

- From May 2009

- From November 2009

Judge for yourself how well he succeeded. Here's Elmore...



...and here's Snakehips:



See/hear his other videos to compare this guitar with a second Kay with two DeArmonds-- Rhythm Chief between sound hole and bridge, and RHC in the sound hole. He rejected this approach, and sold that guitar.

I personally think the Ray Wylie Hubbard sounds you're seeking and the Elmore James sound O'Donnell sought have a lot less to do with the pickup than its placement between the sound hole and bridge. The difficulty with this position is that most pickups won't fit between the guitar's top and the strings. Several DeArmond models are shallow enough to fit, but almost any DeArmond pickup is insanely expensive these days.

You might consider investigating the "gold foil" pickups which have recently been made available by several pickup winders. These seek to reproduce the sounds of the Teisco pickup used by Ry Cooder in the neck position of his best-known Stratocaster. The Teisco gold foils, and similar pickups sold in the '70s with the Kent brand, are themselves attempts to reproduce the sound of some DeArmond models.

The least expensive gold foil offerings I've found are from GFS, and they will not fit between top and strings, because they're made in conventional Fender and Gibson pickup shapes. But pickups from several boutique winders might fit-- you'd have to obtain measurements from the makers, and measure the available space on your own guitar. Some of the folks offering gold foil pickups:

- Jason Lollar

- Curtis Novak

- Mojo Pickups

If I were in the market myself, I think my first choice would be one of Elmar Zeilhofer's Original Flatpups. Per his Web site, Elmar is not taking orders from new customers at present, but pickups using his design may be available from Humidor Guitars.

I have no connection with any of the vendors mentioned.

I hope this helps.

[AndreasG]

Great inputs, thx!