RIP EMTY AHB3...

[Inflames626]

Thrash makes you a better player, though, I think. Playing that fast with all the string tension of standard tuning on 25.5" guitars? No wonder we used mostly 9s back then...

It's a style that does make your hands very strong. New detuned stuff--strings are like butter.

[Inflames626]

I really liked The Blackening and Unto the Locust, personally. I thought Locust even got NWOBH-ish at times. Cool stuff.

Not really into Thrash myself. Not that it's bad. It's just not my thing. I'm more into the downtuned stuff.

I mean, I like Testament. Killer tones too, but overall, not my usual go-to.

If you don't like thrash for its own sake, try to take some inspiration from the solos.

This is one of the best structured solos I have ever heard. Alex Skolnick was something like 21 at the time and he was using diminished licks, jazz ideas from Pat Martino, just all sorts of cool stuff--like he had been playing for 30 years. I would like to hear more of this in modern Gburg.

Greg Christian's bass is also mixed interestingly for the time. Lots of clank, a la Overkill. I also believe Greg was a finger player at this time.

https://youtu.be/AHOJVINZVR0?t=130

[chadd]

3) The main drawback with more traditional makers like SD and DiMarzio is they seem resistant to a modular design for passive pickups. My Duncans wired to Triple Shots, independent volume knobs, a phase switch, a killswitch, and a tone knob are always a pain in the ass to wire up relative to my EMGs, but the tonal flexibility I get from the Duncans is worth it. The downside is once they are installed I don't want to go back through that ^&(& again so they stay there.

I strongly advise Seymour Duncan to *consider* a modular passive pickup design, especially for people who use all 4 conductors for split/parallel voicings, and not see modularity as some unacceptable concession to modernity. You can always offer the traditional designs to purists. I guess the Liberator was a step in the right direction but I don't consider it as easy as putting quick connects on pins (simply doing this from the Triple Shot to pins on the back of a passive pickup would sell a lot more Triple Shots, IMO). You can always cut the connects off for non-Duncan brands.

That said, most people aren't going to go for the complicated wiring setups I tend to favor like something that would be on an old school BC Rich Bich. They just want the thing to be wired up simply and to work, if they even know how to solder at all.

Don't get me wrong. If you gave Fluences to me I'd use them. But I don't see much use in buying them new with the setup I currently have.

I've done hundreds of pickup swaps for people over the years and maybe 10-15% of people have wanted a coil split. Way under 5% wanted anything more complex than that. I'm not saying my experience exactly reflects the overall market, but most of the other guys I know have had fairly similar experiences.

[Inflames626]

I've done hundreds of pickup swaps for people over the years and maybe 10-15% of people have wanted a coil split. Way under 5% wanted anything more complex than that. I'm not saying my experience exactly reflects the overall market, but most of the other guys I know have had fairly similar experiences.

chadd , I don't doubt it. All the more reason for me to want diverse wiring options because it isn't commonly done.

I mean look at this--Jackson Dinky with Graphtech Ghost system and a Sustainiac. For some of us, more is more. We don't just want the pickups in there to do power chords on. If 95% of them want simplicity, I'd say that's a problem of the 95%.

https://youtu.be/GdFLT7LH-H8

At any rate, modular passive pickups would encourage people to experiment with passives in the same way they do with EMGs and Blackouts. Any time a variant of those comes out, I know it's a matter of plug and play. The simplicity of it all encourages me to buy more pickups.

If a new passive comes out and I'm taping off unused conductors, I'm losing the functionality of half of the pickup at least--75% if one considers a Triple Shot allows four modes and you want series only. Again, I'd say that's their problem for being limited in expectation.

With EMGs, you get a problem, but from another aspect. In order to simulate basic functions of a passive pickup, you have to buy special switches and what not to make the pickups sound out of phase, and it just isn't worth it. Or you have to buy an entire different pickup just to get split coil functionality.

Split/parallel isn't going to sound great on all pickups. But it can tame something like a Distortion, and for pickup models like the Custom line, you are losing a lot of tonal colors by choosing not to have more diverse wiring options.

I get where you're coming from--it's all about demand. But this is my complaint again with most players. They want something simple that works so they can play power chords and have it sound good.

[chadd]

chadd , I don't doubt it. All the more reason for me to want diverse wiring options because it isn't commonly done.

I mean look at this--Jackson Dinky with Graphtech Ghost system and a Sustainiac. For some of us, more is more. We don't just want the pickups in there to do power chords on. If 95% of them want simplicity, I'd say that's a problem of the 95%.

https://youtu.be/GdFLT7LH-H8

At any rate, modular passive pickups would encourage people to experiment with passives in the same way they do with EMGs and Blackouts. Any time a variant of those comes out, I know it's a matter of plug and play. The simplicity of it all encourages me to buy more pickups.

If a new passive comes out and I'm taping off unused conductors, I'm losing the functionality of half of the pickup at least--75% if one considers a Triple Shot allows four modes and you want series only. Again, I'd say that's their problem for being limited in expectation.

With EMGs, you get a problem, but from another aspect. In order to simulate basic functions of a passive pickup, you have to buy special switches and what not to make the pickups sound out of phase, and it just isn't worth it. Or you have to buy an entire different pickup just to get split coil functionality.

Split/parallel isn't going to sound great on all pickups. But it can tame something like a Distortion, and for pickup models like the Custom line, you are losing a lot of tonal colors by choosing not to have more diverse wiring options.

I get where you're coming from--it's all about demand. But this is my complaint again with most players. They want something simple that works so they can play power chords and have it sound good.

My point is simply that manufacturers aren't likely to go the route of adding cost to products. Not only would the cost increase (slightly), they would have to market the new feature that most people don't currently desire. Now you've added costs in two areas with only the hope of generating additional sales. Meanwhile, there is constant pressure on price from the bottom of the market thanks to import pickups as well as established brands at the higher end.

If 95% of them want simplicity, I'd say that's a problem of the 95%.

That attitude explains a lot. A major manufacturer can't afford to be dismissive of the general public.

[Inflames626]

My point is simply that manufacturers aren't likely to go the route of adding cost to products. Not only would the cost increase (slightly), they would have to market the new feature that most people don't currently desire. Now you've added costs in two areas with only the hope of generating additional sales. Meanwhile, there is constant pressure on price from the bottom of the market thanks to import pickups as well as established brands at the higher end.


That attitude explains a lot. A major manufacturer can't afford to be dismissive of the general public.

Valid points, but now "power users" like me are forced to go custom shop for what should be standard features, inflate price, and put more voodoo into the marketing machine for musical gear. It's a self-defeating cycle.

It's to the point where I nearly have to order the pre-painted body and parts and just do the electronics installation myself because what the market is offering is boring.

Meanwhile, Evertune bridges and Fishman pickups were "premium" things. Now because they are popular they are put on everything, bringing the cost down and making them a commodity due to how common they've become.

And although "power users" like me may seem extreme in our expectation, a $2-3k guitar with the features we expect will last a lifetime.

Meanwhile people will pay 1/3rd to 1/2 of that for a smartphone or other portable device that will be outdated in 5-10 years.

It's all about priorities. With that in mind, I double down on my comment.

If 95% of them want simplicity, I'd say that's a problem of the 95%.

More features, less cost, less marketing bs. Send me the parts and I'll build it myself. I'd paint it too, but I don't have a booth for it.

[Inflames626]

Also: "A major manufacturer can't afford to be dismissive of the general public."

Aka, "We can't do what you want and aren't willing to do so."

Me: "You aren't good enough. You lost a customer and so I am taking myself elsewhere."

In the event that what I seek can't be done, Sweetwater will most likely do the mods for me at less cost than what MSRP would be on a brand new guitar that did have said features.