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I have them. I love them.
mostly it's pics or it didn't exist but I don't think it would really help cause they're 'just humbuckers' with a nickel cover. but the tone.... the tone!
I really want to tell it right now but I'll write a more complete review LOADED with pictures later this month but I think many people wish to know the sound of these puppies and few people have tried them. I think... so here we go.
The guitar I put them in is an ibanez Totman signature.
nah just kidding. A '59 inspired les paul with a maple cap on mahogany, mahogany neck with a brazilian rosewood board. all hail warmoth. The pickups were antiquities (ps: are they supposed to be signed by Seymour Duncan? the signature is very much alike the one I have on the bonamassa pickups and it's clearly done in a sharpie). The antiquities were amazing. I had a hard time deciding to take them out cause I like the guitar and the pickups so much. But helas my curiosity got the better of me and I yanked them out nonetheless. The tone with the antiquities was balanced with a bit more upper mids but less than a pearly gates. sweet but not as forgiving as the seths and tight but not as boomy as the '59's. The neck pickup was singing and flutey but lacked a bit of output for my taste but that was all doable. the tone was lovely.
I think to have kid myself in thinking that I had enough experience to cope with this new set of pickups.
How wrong could I Have been? Very wrong. The bonamassa set is unlike anything I've tried before. It's so warm and velvety, yet so incredibly articulate, dynamic and precise. It's uncanny actually. The highs sing but are more present than with the PG or seth. the mids are HUGE and thick but not congested like an invader can be sometimes. the lows are bouncy and spongy but not boomy like a 59 or woofy and sometimes unclear like a PG. The neck pickup is just that only duh... with the neck 'tone'. More warmth yet more velvety smooth suppleness. The bridge pickup is a bit hotter than an antiquity, the neck pickup is something like the antiquity, maybe a tad hotter. The neck pickup is a bit more choppy than I'd like, it's not as smooth or creamy but that's nothing a tonepot can't handle. In fact, I think that's perfect cause now your tone will get cleaner and more fluid if you roll down the volume pot instead of a tad dark.
Do I love these pickups? Hell yes. They are amazing. But... they are not for the weak. they really require some chops. Not that I'm a stellar player but I get a sense of what's needed to get the best out of this set. The antiquities are much more forgiving. Harmonics pop less easy with the Bonamassa set (perhaps because they're tweaked to his playing and he doesn't use harmonics as much as I do... pinched harmonics I mean) but if you place them perfectly on the string they do jump out. I know it has to be the pickups cause with the antiquities I had to readjust my technique in order to get LESS harmonics.
I was also surprised how the height of the pickup makes an even greater tonal impact than with other pickups. Two or three turns of the set screw was enough to make the bridge pickup brighter with easier harmonics than before, but with nearly the same level of output.
I am very pleased by this set, but the tinkerer in me thought: what's a good hybrid to match these? I guess none. The antiquity set with an alnico3 and alnico 4 might do the trick (same mags as this set I believe), otherwise a seth lover/screaming demon hybrid, but really... nothing comes close.
mostly it's pics or it didn't exist but I don't think it would really help cause they're 'just humbuckers' with a nickel cover. but the tone.... the tone!
I really want to tell it right now but I'll write a more complete review LOADED with pictures later this month but I think many people wish to know the sound of these puppies and few people have tried them. I think... so here we go.
The guitar I put them in is an ibanez Totman signature.
nah just kidding. A '59 inspired les paul with a maple cap on mahogany, mahogany neck with a brazilian rosewood board. all hail warmoth. The pickups were antiquities (ps: are they supposed to be signed by Seymour Duncan? the signature is very much alike the one I have on the bonamassa pickups and it's clearly done in a sharpie). The antiquities were amazing. I had a hard time deciding to take them out cause I like the guitar and the pickups so much. But helas my curiosity got the better of me and I yanked them out nonetheless. The tone with the antiquities was balanced with a bit more upper mids but less than a pearly gates. sweet but not as forgiving as the seths and tight but not as boomy as the '59's. The neck pickup was singing and flutey but lacked a bit of output for my taste but that was all doable. the tone was lovely.
I think to have kid myself in thinking that I had enough experience to cope with this new set of pickups.
How wrong could I Have been? Very wrong. The bonamassa set is unlike anything I've tried before. It's so warm and velvety, yet so incredibly articulate, dynamic and precise. It's uncanny actually. The highs sing but are more present than with the PG or seth. the mids are HUGE and thick but not congested like an invader can be sometimes. the lows are bouncy and spongy but not boomy like a 59 or woofy and sometimes unclear like a PG. The neck pickup is just that only duh... with the neck 'tone'. More warmth yet more velvety smooth suppleness. The bridge pickup is a bit hotter than an antiquity, the neck pickup is something like the antiquity, maybe a tad hotter. The neck pickup is a bit more choppy than I'd like, it's not as smooth or creamy but that's nothing a tonepot can't handle. In fact, I think that's perfect cause now your tone will get cleaner and more fluid if you roll down the volume pot instead of a tad dark.
Do I love these pickups? Hell yes. They are amazing. But... they are not for the weak. they really require some chops. Not that I'm a stellar player but I get a sense of what's needed to get the best out of this set. The antiquities are much more forgiving. Harmonics pop less easy with the Bonamassa set (perhaps because they're tweaked to his playing and he doesn't use harmonics as much as I do... pinched harmonics I mean) but if you place them perfectly on the string they do jump out. I know it has to be the pickups cause with the antiquities I had to readjust my technique in order to get LESS harmonics.
I was also surprised how the height of the pickup makes an even greater tonal impact than with other pickups. Two or three turns of the set screw was enough to make the bridge pickup brighter with easier harmonics than before, but with nearly the same level of output.
I am very pleased by this set, but the tinkerer in me thought: what's a good hybrid to match these? I guess none. The antiquity set with an alnico3 and alnico 4 might do the trick (same mags as this set I believe), otherwise a seth lover/screaming demon hybrid, but really... nothing comes close.
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