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Originally Posted by ChrisN
Thanks Bob - great info, as always.
I've seen that Joe Walsh vid and I should have mentioned that the pickups are about as low as the 1/4" he recommends. They were definitely louder when they were closer (which likely explains my need to turn up the volume on the HB), but I lowered them to try to get them clearer, for the reasons articulated by you and Joe. With this reminder of that lowering, I may bring them up a bit, and check the balance. I may be more of an HB guy than I know.
Re: Your 490/498 info - by "dirty and low-mid crowded," are you saying what I've tried to say about "less articulate"? Or do you mean something else? The 490/498 to me seemed a little "smoother" to my unpracticed ear, esp once I changed the bridge magnet.
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I guess "less articulate" might be a good way to say it. The ones I had were so hot they seemed to drive the first stage of every amp into distortion and they just sounded "muzzy."
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Re: '57 Classic - I also should have mentioned that, although Epiphone used an alnico V magnet rather than the alnico II used in the '57 classic, their Alnico Classic Pro (in my Epi 339) is supposed to be Epi's copy of that Gibson pickup, soundwise. Here's the vid where I saw them compared:
I can't find my support for the 2 octave drop, so I'm going with yours.
Thanks again.
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I actually like the sound of P-90s when you gain them up like Joe Walsh does. They are really brash. I always described Joe as taking something ugly and somehow making it pretty. But when I had that guitar plugged in and my wife walked by she'd say, "What is that awful racket in the background." And she was right. I do a lot of recording and could never get it down to a point where I could use it in the studio. I ended up with an SG Standard Limited Edition '61 Reissue with a '57 Classic in the neck and a '57 Classic Plus at the bridge. That gives me nearly as much brashness without the racket. (!) It doesn't have the girth of the LP with P-90s but may I have gone there with a recent LP with Burstbucker Pros (alnico 5). So I've got a pretty broad palette on the humbucker side. BTW, my lovely wife gave me a G&L S-500 with the MFD pickups that gets a LOT of use in the studio. What a great guitar! Here's "red guitar day" in the studio about ten years ago:
Bob