Recent content by cvansickle

Re: NAD - Marshall Finally! It's one of these: http://www.ampendage.com/

Re: who here just loves their single bridge pickup guitars? I brought this baby home just last Friday. It's a keeper!

I tried it out yesterday. I didn't sleep much last night. Today I pulled the trigger. Marshall DSL40C - 40 or 20 watts of EL34 112 crunchness. The clean sound is pure, sweet and bubbly. The hi gain settings are all classic Marshall.

My Vox Valve Effects Loop Buffer crapped out on me last night. It has been a vital part of my rig and my sound for 11 years. It was in production in the 90s, but Vox no longer makes them. What it does is it allows regular stomp boxes to be used in the effects loop of an amplifier. I need it for...

I finally gave it a try. I had an old, 1980s era Duncan Custom (DCJ on the little white sticker) that I converted to a Custom 8 last night. Interesting construction during that era - both the individual coils were taped as well as tape around the final assembly. I put this in the bridge of a Les...

This may be a stupid question, but: I may have a line on a MIM Lone Star Strat, which has a Pearly Gates Plus bridge pickup. If I replace the stock Alnico 5 magnet in the Plus with a genuine Alnico 2 magnet, will that make the pickup a true Pearly Gates? Or is the wind different as well as the...

I put a Pearly Gates neck model into my Charvel So-Cal this past weekend. It joins a Custom Custom bridge that I'm already happy with. Hoooooooollllllleeeeeeeeeeeeeee Cow! What a great sounding pickup! It really sounds awesome in this guitar! Played clean or dirty, it has both bite and...

I've never used one before, but I've done some searches on the Pearly Gates neck pickup, and the responses all seem pretty favorable. However, everybody seems to be using the PGn on Les Pauls or SGs. Who is using a Pearly Gates neck model on a super-Strat? How is it working for you for this...

Uncle Sam paid me back, so I treated myself to this sweet MIM:

I like the 5-2 Strat pickup. The concept makes sense. Has anyone tried this on a humbucker? I'm thinking about cutting an Alnico 2 and an Alnico 5 magnet in half, then stick the two halves together with the Alnico 2 side under the treble strings and the Alnico 5 side under the bass strings...

First, I was sold on the Tiny Terror. Next, I had to add the Night Train. Today I tried the Mesa TransAtlantic. I have to say that AMP GAS IS A *****!!! Price is $899.99. It's a lot of amp for that money. Here's a quick first impression of this killer: Two channels with a footswitch, two...

Thanks to a stupid mistake in my workshop, the (traditional single coil) neck pickup on my Strat got exposed to a powerful magnet. Now, the pickup is extremely weak, almost silent. Is there any way to get the pickup's rod magnets back to their old sound, or it this pickup a goner? Thanks.

The JB2 thread got me thinking. I have a few guitars with Lindy Fralin pickups, which all use the alnico 4 magnets. I wonder, would a JB have tight bass, gutsy mids and a smoother, less ice-pickey top end, if it used an alnico 4 magnet? I just did a magnet swap in another pickup, and I'm...

Howdy all! Happy holidays! I have a Charvel So Cal guitar, one of those dual humbucker, maple neck Super Strats. Great playing guitar, but the stock pickups were meh. So I tried a pair of Duncan Custom 5 pickups I had lying around in it. Better, but still not what I'm after. The guitar is a tad...

I just got a new Gibson Melody Maker, the 59 Reissue model with two pickups. I'm thinking about beefing it up. Does anybody know if a Hot Rails Strat pickup will fit in the MM's pickguard without modification? Thanks.