Humbuckers: To Direct Mount or Not to Direct Mount...

[Evan Skopp]

... that is the question. Here's the answer.

[Luke Duke]

Re: Humbuckers: To Direct Mount or Not to Direct Mount...

Nice to see this addressed in some way.

Maybe Ed Roman wasn't COMPLETELY full of crap after all!

[SAVAGE DISTORTION]

Re: Humbuckers: To Direct Mount or Not to Direct Mount...

I have always done this right after i buy a guitar,especially ibanez rg's, these things need all the help they can get to beef up the tone so i not only mount the pu's into the body but i use a trem stop for diving only and virtually set the neck at the joint to default the all access neck joint they use which is a tone robber totally!
A duncan JB never sounded so good in a ibanez rg.
the writer in that blog is definitely not hearing things,if you play a low E chord unplugged and touch the pickup while it is ringing and do the same thing after the pickup is mounted directly to the body you can feel the pickup getting more vibrations after the mod. But dont use foam or any other vibration absorbing material under the pickup or it defeats the whole effect of direct mounting, ibanez and a few others make the mistake of using foam and their direct mount is only visual not audible.

[jmh151]

I find EMGs are the most sensitive to direct mount

[ItsaBass]

Re: Humbuckers: To Direct Mount or Not to Direct Mount...

I'd like to read a much better article on the topic. That article seems more like an off-the-cuff blog entry than a quality technical article.

[Powdered Toast Man]

Re: Humbuckers: To Direct Mount or Not to Direct Mount...

Hmm, but how would it sound with an Alnico 8 direct mounted to the body?

[jhale667]

Re: Humbuckers: To Direct Mount or Not to Direct Mount...

Hmm, but how would it sound with an Alnico 8 direct mounted to the body?

A direct-mounted Custom 8 sounds pretty killer.

[SoundAt11]

Re: Humbuckers: To Direct Mount or Not to Direct Mount...

Sustain and sensitivity definitely increases and the tone is definitely beefier. On thick-sounding pickups that I've tried like the Invader or EMG 85, though, things can get a bitty muddy. I do miss the adjustability of a ring and screws, though.

[DonP]

Re: Humbuckers: To Direct Mount or Not to Direct Mount...

Don't like the look of direct mounted.

[metalmachine]

Re: Humbuckers: To Direct Mount or Not to Direct Mount...

I still say snake oil

[crguti]

Re: Humbuckers: To Direct Mount or Not to Direct Mount...

I'd like to read a much better article on the topic. That article seems more like an off-the-cuff blog entry than a quality technical article.

+1

"There seems to be an increase in resonance"... great job!, there is or there isn't. Evidence or it doesn't exist.

[Gypsyblue]

Re: Humbuckers: To Direct Mount or Not to Direct Mount...

I don't care for the look of direct mounted humbuckers.

But I did like the sound of my Ernie Ball Axis with the Dimarzios mounted that way.

That was an exceptionally lively sounding and lively feeling guitar but the neck was to skinny.

I think I'd agree with EVH's opinion on the merits of this way of installing pickups over the less gifted nay-sayers who haven't even tried it.

[jhale667]

Re: Humbuckers: To Direct Mount or Not to Direct Mount...

+1

"There seems to be an increase in resonance"... great job!, there is or there isn't. Evidence or it doesn't exist.

Even had I said "there is" - it'd still be my opinion, wouldn't it? IMO there is - YMMV.


Feel better now?

[aleclee]

Re: Humbuckers: To Direct Mount or Not to Direct Mount...

I still say snake oil

I dunno. It seems pretty intuitive that a vibrating direct-mounted pickup (relative to the strings) should create a different signal compared to a stationary floating pickup.

That said, is it a difference that actually sounds better? IMO, there's no definitive answer to that. Some might love it, others not so much.

[Custom B]

Re: Humbuckers: To Direct Mount or Not to Direct Mount...

Nice to see this addressed in some way.

Maybe Ed Roman wasn't COMPLETELY full of crap after all!

What about direct mounting single coils, tried anything there? I have always direct mounted mini humbuckers mainly because of the nature of the rings. On my higher end guitars I fabricate a wood PU ring. You suppose this makes a difference?