JM Rolph Pickups

So what are the best pickups that I have found to date? I just put a JM Rolph humbucker into my Charvel guitar (yes, the EVH style single humbucking version). It (as Gearmanndude might say)....'Rocks my socks off'. The tone difference between those standard pickups that come with every middle of-the-road Les Paul is truly earth shattering. Why? I spent over an hour having a wonderful conversation with Mr Rolph, who gives his knowledge and his time freely, to those sincerely interested in what he does. He sources his own magnets (yes, the ones that go between the two single coils in a humbucker). He sources his own wire (he chooses a specific gage, which he has coated a specific way), and then winds them the way 'they used to', many years ago. A "way's back" there used to be magnet makers near where he lives, and that is just one of the secrets to why the old PAF's sounded so great... Mom and Pop companies making magnets (I guess in smaller batches than big companies do now). Well, JM still has a company to do that. Apparently, winding a humbucker takes planning, proper sourcing of materials, and then some hands-on attention to details. This means how the coils on those pickups are wound, the tension put on the wire during the winding process, and how you stack the coil with the wire. I am certainly sold on his pickups, and I know I am not alone. For me, they are the only ones for me... unless I find some old PAF's lying around in my attic somewhere...

Not the Same Bl**dy Piece of Wood...

I was just reading a fantastic interview in 'Analog Man's Guide to Vintage Effects' By Tom Hughes. If you don't have this book, you should get it. Roger Mayer (Creator of Roger Mayer Analogue Guitar Effects) is discussing the problem with pedals and guitars, and how hard it is to achieve 'that' sound someone else (usually, famous) has. Have you ever purchased a pedal that was described as being 'Pure Jimi'… got home, plugged it in and… you guessed it… no goosebump effect. It might even be a mildly entertaining pedal, but almost certainly will be headed for EBay soon. Well, Mr Mayer (on page 235) says it all better than almost anyone you will ever come across. Mr Mayer used to play in bands and came to know people like Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page. He also ended up 'setting up' Jimi Hendrix; tweaking his pedals, guitars and amps to achieve that Jimi sound (but he says you still needed Jimi too, or no sound). He also did Bob Marley's guitars and bass. He makes some fantastic points… (to quote): "One of the things you might stress to your people is that when they hear a sound on a CD, that's a recording; it's got nothing at all to do with the live sound…not to mention that the sound you're actually hearing and trying to emulate is being heard on hi-fi loudspeakers. So someone hears a record and says 'I want to sound like Jimi'. No, what you are saying is you want to sound like the record'. This guy is great, because he mentions (amongst other things) that a reissue 'Jimi Hendrix' guitar might be aged to 'look' like Jimi's guitar… but it is a different piece of wood (he says 'It is not the same bloody piece of wood'), and the player will never play exactly like Jimi. He also mentions that a pedal that sounds great with your amp, with a mike in front the amp, which is going to a PA system, is going to be a totally different setup to getting that sound out of an amp alone… or the amp at a lower volume (for instance). He points out that making sound and effects is a lot more than just buying a box…it's a total package of Guitar, Amp, Pedal(s)… etc.. and the whole set up, and anyone who thinks otherwise is lost. Also, anyone who thinks one guitar can sound exactly like another guitar is also lost… the second guitar might sound fantastic, but… as Mr Mayer says…'it's not the same bloody piece of wood!" Anyway, buy the book, read the interview.. and learn a lot more.