50s strat with major hum issues :(
- Thread starter gp5384
- Start date
Re: 50s strat with major hum issues 
ovtavedoctor: thanks. i am going with the paint as mentioned above, i think that's best despite the $$$. UK? awesome! i like the thought of not only getting help from all over the world, but the world seeing how bad my tech is. I can now say his piss poor work is known world wide! Anyway, to answer your other question: YES! the "tech" charges money for this. He works at Brook Mays music in Arlington, TX. Name is Jim. 90 bucks I was charged. I got a full refund due to him being an incredible *******/****ty work. I've been trying to resist the details but I'll go ahead and give u guys the lowdown on what a retard he is. With all you've done to help me out the least i can do, since the story is pretty entertaining in my opinion but a long read so feel free to ignore it.
Day 1: i go to take my poor strat to the shop. Met Jim. Had a great vibe. He was quiet, unassuming, 50-ish. Much better than leaving my guitar with a heavy metal young 20s beer drinker (not that there's anything wrong w/that in any other scenario. in fact that was me when i was early 20s, heh). He says "i'll call you with an update soon." I leave
Day 4: No call. Decide to check on how it's going: Jim: "i haven't gotten to it yet. i'll call u when i do"
Day 8: Still no call. I call him: "I got to it, but i was stuck on it for a few hours so I put it down to work on other stuff." Me: "umm, ok. u put it down in leu of other instruments that came in AFTER mine did?" Jim: "yeah, i know that sounds funny but that's just the way it works around here..." (jim not realizing i used to work at brook mays and know the routine is not like that at all). Jim: "I will call you when i get it figured out" I'm thinking to myself, ok he is a pro tech. this isn't a human heart. You can electronically test the pots/switch, soldiering, and bing-boom-bam it can only be one of a few things. No real tech is going to sit there for HOURS 100% stumped on what to do. This was my first clue he didn't know what the hell he is doing. I assumed he was a rookie tech.
Day 12: I get a call to fill in for a gig. i need my strat. I've been real patient and polite. i call in. Me: "jim, look buddy, i really need my guitar, i have a gig." Jim: "well, just be patient (!!!!! it's freaken day 12!!!), i'll get on it today and call you back." Me: ok, this is real important, u promise to call back? i haven't heard from you." Jim: "Yes, i will." Jim does call back and says it's ready. Me: Did you wire it by the Seymour Duncan / Dimarzio schematics? Jim: "no, i don't carry those in my shop. I did look at Fender schematics thoroughly. The guitar works though, it's ready (jeez i can't argue with that i guess). I rush down there and get it (by the way it's an hour drive round trip), go straight to the gig. plug it in for sound check. "HUMMMMMMMMMMM...." wtf??? Totally unuseable. Tried it on two amps, a pa, and with 3 different cords. Here's the best part. You know what i had to use for a mostly blues set? A Dimebag Darrell Dean (borrowed from a band that played the prior set. Thanks Chad!). Oh it was a gasp man... A spinal tap moment.
...continued on next post
ovtavedoctor: thanks. i am going with the paint as mentioned above, i think that's best despite the $$$. UK? awesome! i like the thought of not only getting help from all over the world, but the world seeing how bad my tech is. I can now say his piss poor work is known world wide! Anyway, to answer your other question: YES! the "tech" charges money for this. He works at Brook Mays music in Arlington, TX. Name is Jim. 90 bucks I was charged. I got a full refund due to him being an incredible *******/****ty work. I've been trying to resist the details but I'll go ahead and give u guys the lowdown on what a retard he is. With all you've done to help me out the least i can do, since the story is pretty entertaining in my opinion but a long read so feel free to ignore it.
Day 1: i go to take my poor strat to the shop. Met Jim. Had a great vibe. He was quiet, unassuming, 50-ish. Much better than leaving my guitar with a heavy metal young 20s beer drinker (not that there's anything wrong w/that in any other scenario. in fact that was me when i was early 20s, heh). He says "i'll call you with an update soon." I leave
Day 4: No call. Decide to check on how it's going: Jim: "i haven't gotten to it yet. i'll call u when i do"
Day 8: Still no call. I call him: "I got to it, but i was stuck on it for a few hours so I put it down to work on other stuff." Me: "umm, ok. u put it down in leu of other instruments that came in AFTER mine did?" Jim: "yeah, i know that sounds funny but that's just the way it works around here..." (jim not realizing i used to work at brook mays and know the routine is not like that at all). Jim: "I will call you when i get it figured out" I'm thinking to myself, ok he is a pro tech. this isn't a human heart. You can electronically test the pots/switch, soldiering, and bing-boom-bam it can only be one of a few things. No real tech is going to sit there for HOURS 100% stumped on what to do. This was my first clue he didn't know what the hell he is doing. I assumed he was a rookie tech.
Day 12: I get a call to fill in for a gig. i need my strat. I've been real patient and polite. i call in. Me: "jim, look buddy, i really need my guitar, i have a gig." Jim: "well, just be patient (!!!!! it's freaken day 12!!!), i'll get on it today and call you back." Me: ok, this is real important, u promise to call back? i haven't heard from you." Jim: "Yes, i will." Jim does call back and says it's ready. Me: Did you wire it by the Seymour Duncan / Dimarzio schematics? Jim: "no, i don't carry those in my shop. I did look at Fender schematics thoroughly. The guitar works though, it's ready (jeez i can't argue with that i guess). I rush down there and get it (by the way it's an hour drive round trip), go straight to the gig. plug it in for sound check. "HUMMMMMMMMMMM...." wtf??? Totally unuseable. Tried it on two amps, a pa, and with 3 different cords. Here's the best part. You know what i had to use for a mostly blues set? A Dimebag Darrell Dean (borrowed from a band that played the prior set. Thanks Chad!). Oh it was a gasp man... A spinal tap moment.
...continued on next post
Re: 50s strat with major hum issues
Monday of the next week: I call in, of course he tells me to drive the guitar out again. I get there. I politely say "this totally ruined my gig". His reply: "Well, you TOTALLY shouldn't have WIRED it so poorly!!!" omg. that is such a retarded response on so many levels. 1) my work wasn't in the guitar when it ruined my gig, his was. 2) I'm not the professional tech. 3) when i wired it, as bad as it looked, it worked for years before going out. 4) You can't be a smartass with customers in a professional environment. Esp with ones you made wait two weeks AND did poor work AND ruined their gig AND made them drive a ton due to you AND they were being cool with you in spite of all that!!! Any person with 1% of decency would at least feel real bad and would take a humble stance on the issue. Nope, not this guy. I realized at this point i was dealing with a special breed of moron. A sad mix of crazy, stupid, and no common sense. After informing him that at least my amatuer hands got the guitar to work, we listened to the guitar through a fender amp. no hum. hmm... i then plugged it in a smaller fender and there was a hum. Jim said he'd call me. I said (no longer having trust in him) "ok, if i don't hear from you, when should i call you by?" He says "tomorrow afternoon." Ok fine, i can do that
The next afternoon: I call in. Not only am I being polite mind you, but I am going out of my way to be extra cautious in my demeanor because I now know Jim is mental. I make 3 calls in a 2 hour period. He's at lunch all 3 times. Finally on my 4th try I get him. This is EXACTLY how the conversation went
Me: Hi Jim, this is Gean, you told me to call this afternoon for an update on the sunburst strat?
Jim: It's not done.... (dead silence)....
Me: Pausing a few more seconds, thinking maybe he's taking a drink off a coke.... "umm, okay...... any idea when it'll be done?" (VERY politely said btw)...
Jim: "16 MINUTES!!! IT'LL BE DONE AND READY TO GO OUT THE DOOR IN 16 MINUTES!!!"
Me (calmly yet surprised): "Jim... are you getting smart with me again?"
Jim: "WELL I'M TIRED OF YOU BOTHERING ME ABOUT THIS DAMNED GUITAR!!!!"
Me: "what?! Jim, you're the one that... (CLICK!!!)....
hung up in my face. I **** you not, i leave nothing out, i exaggerated nothing, not even 1%. That is exactly what happened with this lunatic "tech."
I didn't even bother calling back. I immediately called store mgr. Not in. I then called Scott Christianson (their GM) at the corporate office. he was on vacation.
I got someone the next day. I don't wanna say who since I will likely fwd this thread's address to Brook Mays and Jim so it's clear what a moron this "tech" was/is/will be. But I was told Jim has a history of unprofessionalism. He once had a high school needing a bunch on instruments fixed. He told them it'd be a month. Jim was told that's unacceptable, he needs to pass the instruments to another brook mays with better turnaround time. He didn't wanna do that since he doesn't get paid for instruments he didn't fix. He knows a high school band doesn't have the luxury of waiting (not to mention they're a BIG client coveted by Brook Mays). Didn't care. How a "veteran tech" keeps his job for 20 years w/that type of mentality/behavior is beyond me, but it has made me rethink giving Brook Mays business in the future. They're not responsible for Jim's brain waves, but they indirectly condone his behavior, and condone their customers having to deal with such an a-hole. That says a lot. They're as apathetic as he is, therefore i CAN blame them as a company. The person i talked to did ask what the company could do to make up for it. I said I don't need to profit off this, I just want a refund. He granted the refund. He was very cool about everything, and very apologetic (as he should be).
Monday of the next week: I call in, of course he tells me to drive the guitar out again. I get there. I politely say "this totally ruined my gig". His reply: "Well, you TOTALLY shouldn't have WIRED it so poorly!!!" omg. that is such a retarded response on so many levels. 1) my work wasn't in the guitar when it ruined my gig, his was. 2) I'm not the professional tech. 3) when i wired it, as bad as it looked, it worked for years before going out. 4) You can't be a smartass with customers in a professional environment. Esp with ones you made wait two weeks AND did poor work AND ruined their gig AND made them drive a ton due to you AND they were being cool with you in spite of all that!!! Any person with 1% of decency would at least feel real bad and would take a humble stance on the issue. Nope, not this guy. I realized at this point i was dealing with a special breed of moron. A sad mix of crazy, stupid, and no common sense. After informing him that at least my amatuer hands got the guitar to work, we listened to the guitar through a fender amp. no hum. hmm... i then plugged it in a smaller fender and there was a hum. Jim said he'd call me. I said (no longer having trust in him) "ok, if i don't hear from you, when should i call you by?" He says "tomorrow afternoon." Ok fine, i can do that
The next afternoon: I call in. Not only am I being polite mind you, but I am going out of my way to be extra cautious in my demeanor because I now know Jim is mental. I make 3 calls in a 2 hour period. He's at lunch all 3 times. Finally on my 4th try I get him. This is EXACTLY how the conversation went
Me: Hi Jim, this is Gean, you told me to call this afternoon for an update on the sunburst strat?
Jim: It's not done.... (dead silence)....
Me: Pausing a few more seconds, thinking maybe he's taking a drink off a coke.... "umm, okay...... any idea when it'll be done?" (VERY politely said btw)...
Jim: "16 MINUTES!!! IT'LL BE DONE AND READY TO GO OUT THE DOOR IN 16 MINUTES!!!"
Me (calmly yet surprised): "Jim... are you getting smart with me again?"
Jim: "WELL I'M TIRED OF YOU BOTHERING ME ABOUT THIS DAMNED GUITAR!!!!"
Me: "what?! Jim, you're the one that... (CLICK!!!)....
hung up in my face. I **** you not, i leave nothing out, i exaggerated nothing, not even 1%. That is exactly what happened with this lunatic "tech."
I didn't even bother calling back. I immediately called store mgr. Not in. I then called Scott Christianson (their GM) at the corporate office. he was on vacation.
I got someone the next day. I don't wanna say who since I will likely fwd this thread's address to Brook Mays and Jim so it's clear what a moron this "tech" was/is/will be. But I was told Jim has a history of unprofessionalism. He once had a high school needing a bunch on instruments fixed. He told them it'd be a month. Jim was told that's unacceptable, he needs to pass the instruments to another brook mays with better turnaround time. He didn't wanna do that since he doesn't get paid for instruments he didn't fix. He knows a high school band doesn't have the luxury of waiting (not to mention they're a BIG client coveted by Brook Mays). Didn't care. How a "veteran tech" keeps his job for 20 years w/that type of mentality/behavior is beyond me, but it has made me rethink giving Brook Mays business in the future. They're not responsible for Jim's brain waves, but they indirectly condone his behavior, and condone their customers having to deal with such an a-hole. That says a lot. They're as apathetic as he is, therefore i CAN blame them as a company. The person i talked to did ask what the company could do to make up for it. I said I don't need to profit off this, I just want a refund. He granted the refund. He was very cool about everything, and very apologetic (as he should be).
octavedoctor
New member
Re: 50s strat with major hum issues
This might have been done to match the signal polarity of the DiMarzio and the SD to the single coil in the middle, so it's not necessarily wrong.
But it also looks as though the coil bridge wires of the Dimarzio have been left loose and uninsulated, potentially shorting against the screen.
ColdHit said:
This might have been done to match the signal polarity of the DiMarzio and the SD to the single coil in the middle, so it's not necessarily wrong.
But it also looks as though the coil bridge wires of the Dimarzio have been left loose and uninsulated, potentially shorting against the screen.
Re: 50s strat with major hum issues
Anyway, that was my nightmare experience with Jim, and Brook Mays Music, and what led me to start this thread. Truly a Twighlight Zone experience. hope it was comedy for those that read it.
So... in a nutshell this is where I stand now. I am taking Draco's advice on the new parts whether i go emg, duck****er, or the like.
Due to Coldhit's diagram, hot/ground legend, i was able to get the pickups wired properly, however the hum is still there (tho less pronounced than before). i have saved all your great links. For now though if someone could weigh in on my emg / seymour question i'd be grateful
ps: If you guys need some music posted, or a band page put up, or anything i can use my site for to help you out don't hesitate to ask. I really appreciate the time you guys took to help me out and I'd happily return the favor
Anyway, that was my nightmare experience with Jim, and Brook Mays Music, and what led me to start this thread. Truly a Twighlight Zone experience. hope it was comedy for those that read it.
So... in a nutshell this is where I stand now. I am taking Draco's advice on the new parts whether i go emg, duck****er, or the like.
Due to Coldhit's diagram, hot/ground legend, i was able to get the pickups wired properly, however the hum is still there (tho less pronounced than before). i have saved all your great links. For now though if someone could weigh in on my emg / seymour question i'd be grateful
ps: If you guys need some music posted, or a band page put up, or anything i can use my site for to help you out don't hesitate to ask. I really appreciate the time you guys took to help me out and I'd happily return the favor
octavedoctor
New member
Re: 50s strat with major hum issues
An entertaining story G, although i have to say that as a professional tech myself i'm starting to feel some empathy with Jim as the story sounds so familiar; if only his work wasn't so shocking...
One of the difficulties we have as pros is that very often we are the only technicians that the customers have to deal with so the assumption they make (albeit subconsciously) is that they are the only customers we have to deal with. The inference is that we are just sitting around twiddling our thumbs just waiting for them to bring their guitar in whereupon we will, like Superman, swing into action and rescue them from their (usually self inflicted) catastrophe in time for their important gig on Friday evening. Never mind that everyone else has the same idea...
Actually, it not so much that they assume they are the only ones as that they just aren't aware of anyone else; this much is obvious by the number of phone calls i get which start something like "It's Dean I brought my guitar in last week i was wondering if it was ready yet?" or "it's Alex here with the black Strat." like he's the only Alex in the world with a black Strat...
Incidentally it is a little known quirk of fate that every musician in the whole of the Bristol and South West catchment area is called either Alex or Ben...
"Ah yes Alex" i say, very politely so as to disguise any hint of sarcasm, "have you got a surname mate, it might help me to narrow it down a bit", as i survey the serried ranks of black Strats that line the walls of my workshop...
Now i'm not saying that your Jim is a top guitar tech but you can't blame him for juggling his priorities; we all do it, we have to.
If I'm working on a refret for someone and another guy comes in and his output jack's not working am I going to tell him to come back in a few days when i've finished the refret?
If Van Morrison needs his guitars knocked into shape for a european tour starting Saturday am i going to tell him to go elsewhere 'cos i'm too busy fixing a neck break for the guy who was to dumb/mean to buy a hard case for his Les Paul and who's "missing it like crazy".
The reality of professional guitar repair is that there are some jobs which take nine months and some that take nine minutes and there are some that you can't tell how long they are going to take but i'm not going to turn away a dozen nine minuters because i happen to be working on a nine monther at the time, I have bills to pay and the guy with the dodgy jack will pay me now, the guy with the refret won't pay me till the job's done in a week, maybe two, maybe four...
You mention sending the customer to someone with a faster turn round time but Jim sounds like he's either self-employed or on piece-work so he's not going to turn business away. In any case a good tech usually has a huge backlog of work, not because they are slow, because the faster we work the more we earn, but because they are popular and this is usually because they are good at what they do.
It's physically impossible to work on everyone's guitar at the same time yet that is what we are often called upon to do.
On one busy Saturday i spent the entire day being called away from my workbench to book repairs in or source spares and I got no work done at all. The following monday i got no work done because i was constantly being interrupted by the same people coming in or phoning "just to see if you've made any progress". One actually said to me "but you've had it two days are you saying you haven't even looked at it yet?"
At the end of the day i wanted to scream "IF YOU ALL LEFT ME THE F**K ALONE I MIGHT HAVE A CHANCE TO GET THE JOBS DONE!"
So you have to juggle priorities and multitask and the more jobs you divide yourself between the longer each one takes and the more impatient your clients get and the more diplomatic you are required to be.
Until something inside snaps...
An entertaining story G, although i have to say that as a professional tech myself i'm starting to feel some empathy with Jim as the story sounds so familiar; if only his work wasn't so shocking...
One of the difficulties we have as pros is that very often we are the only technicians that the customers have to deal with so the assumption they make (albeit subconsciously) is that they are the only customers we have to deal with. The inference is that we are just sitting around twiddling our thumbs just waiting for them to bring their guitar in whereupon we will, like Superman, swing into action and rescue them from their (usually self inflicted) catastrophe in time for their important gig on Friday evening. Never mind that everyone else has the same idea...
Actually, it not so much that they assume they are the only ones as that they just aren't aware of anyone else; this much is obvious by the number of phone calls i get which start something like "It's Dean I brought my guitar in last week i was wondering if it was ready yet?" or "it's Alex here with the black Strat." like he's the only Alex in the world with a black Strat...
Incidentally it is a little known quirk of fate that every musician in the whole of the Bristol and South West catchment area is called either Alex or Ben...
"Ah yes Alex" i say, very politely so as to disguise any hint of sarcasm, "have you got a surname mate, it might help me to narrow it down a bit", as i survey the serried ranks of black Strats that line the walls of my workshop...
Now i'm not saying that your Jim is a top guitar tech but you can't blame him for juggling his priorities; we all do it, we have to.
If I'm working on a refret for someone and another guy comes in and his output jack's not working am I going to tell him to come back in a few days when i've finished the refret?
If Van Morrison needs his guitars knocked into shape for a european tour starting Saturday am i going to tell him to go elsewhere 'cos i'm too busy fixing a neck break for the guy who was to dumb/mean to buy a hard case for his Les Paul and who's "missing it like crazy".
The reality of professional guitar repair is that there are some jobs which take nine months and some that take nine minutes and there are some that you can't tell how long they are going to take but i'm not going to turn away a dozen nine minuters because i happen to be working on a nine monther at the time, I have bills to pay and the guy with the dodgy jack will pay me now, the guy with the refret won't pay me till the job's done in a week, maybe two, maybe four...
You mention sending the customer to someone with a faster turn round time but Jim sounds like he's either self-employed or on piece-work so he's not going to turn business away. In any case a good tech usually has a huge backlog of work, not because they are slow, because the faster we work the more we earn, but because they are popular and this is usually because they are good at what they do.
It's physically impossible to work on everyone's guitar at the same time yet that is what we are often called upon to do.
On one busy Saturday i spent the entire day being called away from my workbench to book repairs in or source spares and I got no work done at all. The following monday i got no work done because i was constantly being interrupted by the same people coming in or phoning "just to see if you've made any progress". One actually said to me "but you've had it two days are you saying you haven't even looked at it yet?"
At the end of the day i wanted to scream "IF YOU ALL LEFT ME THE F**K ALONE I MIGHT HAVE A CHANCE TO GET THE JOBS DONE!"
So you have to juggle priorities and multitask and the more jobs you divide yourself between the longer each one takes and the more impatient your clients get and the more diplomatic you are required to be.
Until something inside snaps...
octavedoctor
New member
Re: 50s strat with major hum issues
This is the correct term for what a lot of people call "out of phase"
The reverse polarity bit refers to the direction of the pickup's magnetic core flux.
The reverse wound bit refers to the direction of the coil winding,
The combination of a standard coil and a rw/rp coil produces a noise cancelling pair because the induced noise signal in each coil is flipped in the rw coil, cancelling its inverted image in the other.
The signal induced by the string however, being dependent on the magnetic polarity, is not inverted relative to the companion coil as the polarity of the windings and the magnet are both flipped.
It's possible to use a standard coil with reverse polarity magnets and simply swap the ground and signal wires but a rw coil offers certain advantages in noise suppression.
Reverse wound, reverse polarity.gp5384 said:
This is the correct term for what a lot of people call "out of phase"
The reverse polarity bit refers to the direction of the pickup's magnetic core flux.
The reverse wound bit refers to the direction of the coil winding,
The combination of a standard coil and a rw/rp coil produces a noise cancelling pair because the induced noise signal in each coil is flipped in the rw coil, cancelling its inverted image in the other.
The signal induced by the string however, being dependent on the magnetic polarity, is not inverted relative to the companion coil as the polarity of the windings and the magnet are both flipped.
It's possible to use a standard coil with reverse polarity magnets and simply swap the ground and signal wires but a rw coil offers certain advantages in noise suppression.
octavedoctor
New member
Re: 50s strat with major hum issues
Link please?
gp5384 said:
Link please?
Re: 50s strat with major hum issues
Octave: I hear ya, fully. I have worked at Guitar Center (the biggest music chain in the states), as well as Brook Mays. I know what techs go through and the mindset of the avg customer. That is why i was so patient with him. If you notice I didn't call him until day 4. He didn't look at it yet. Still, I then didn't call again till day 8. He promised to call ME. Busy or not, it is professional to make a quick call when that much time has passed (and when you voluntarily promised you would). Especially when you have over 2 hours to spare for lunches. If there is a cause for such delay, there is no reason to not let the customer know of your backlog upfront.
The scenarios you painted, while quite frustrating, is not how I handled Jim.
I was polite, patient, and understanding. He in turn did poor work, was very unprofessional, showed zero remorse that his "work" ruined my gig, etc etc.
I see no reason why there is EVER a reason to be unprofessional with customers. I did not act like any of scenarios you mentioned, and even if I did I wouldn't have deserved such poor treament.
No Jim is a full time, full Brook Mays employee. Not a tech contractor. It was his direct boss that told him to defer the backlog to another store. Jim was content to let the instruments sit in the shop for a full month even though they were from a time sensitive, mega dollar consistent client. There is no excuse for that, his behavior, or his poor work after 20 years of experience.
You treat everyone with respect, period amen. Especially in business. I am a senior IT mgr for AT&T. When we have a system go down, we lose in excess of $100,000 per minute. You think your job is stressful? Try being in such a panicked situation, frantically trying to find the problem at 3am while being on a conference call with 20 people, poking u with a stick and saying "why did it go down? what's the problem?" Then after an hour of such downtime the president of IT is on the line asking the same questions you were asked 100x already. Another hour, the CEO.
I have no sympathy for Jim or people like him, regardless of the field they're in. You treat people with respect. Jim is a grown man with no common sense, no reasonable job skills for guitar repair (c'mon, who doesn't have pickup schematics in their guitar shop? you of all people know how inexcuseable that is), and no control over his emotions. You can't excuse that.
He sure did change his tone though when i went there the next week and had a face to face.
Octave: I hear ya, fully. I have worked at Guitar Center (the biggest music chain in the states), as well as Brook Mays. I know what techs go through and the mindset of the avg customer. That is why i was so patient with him. If you notice I didn't call him until day 4. He didn't look at it yet. Still, I then didn't call again till day 8. He promised to call ME. Busy or not, it is professional to make a quick call when that much time has passed (and when you voluntarily promised you would). Especially when you have over 2 hours to spare for lunches. If there is a cause for such delay, there is no reason to not let the customer know of your backlog upfront.
The scenarios you painted, while quite frustrating, is not how I handled Jim.
I was polite, patient, and understanding. He in turn did poor work, was very unprofessional, showed zero remorse that his "work" ruined my gig, etc etc.
I see no reason why there is EVER a reason to be unprofessional with customers. I did not act like any of scenarios you mentioned, and even if I did I wouldn't have deserved such poor treament.
No Jim is a full time, full Brook Mays employee. Not a tech contractor. It was his direct boss that told him to defer the backlog to another store. Jim was content to let the instruments sit in the shop for a full month even though they were from a time sensitive, mega dollar consistent client. There is no excuse for that, his behavior, or his poor work after 20 years of experience.
You treat everyone with respect, period amen. Especially in business. I am a senior IT mgr for AT&T. When we have a system go down, we lose in excess of $100,000 per minute. You think your job is stressful? Try being in such a panicked situation, frantically trying to find the problem at 3am while being on a conference call with 20 people, poking u with a stick and saying "why did it go down? what's the problem?" Then after an hour of such downtime the president of IT is on the line asking the same questions you were asked 100x already. Another hour, the CEO.
I have no sympathy for Jim or people like him, regardless of the field they're in. You treat people with respect. Jim is a grown man with no common sense, no reasonable job skills for guitar repair (c'mon, who doesn't have pickup schematics in their guitar shop? you of all people know how inexcuseable that is), and no control over his emotions. You can't excuse that.
He sure did change his tone though when i went there the next week and had a face to face.
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Re: 50s strat with major hum issues
actually what i'm wondering is, can I get a real good David Gilmour tone out of a seymour duncan pickup? (think solo for comfortably numb). if so, what pickup, the duckbucker?
i was weighing this purchase with an emg preloaded pickguard that has the exact configuration dave uses. but that's $300 bucks so if i can get a similar tone from a SD, i'd prefer that route. I listened to all the pickups from the site but i can't tell since they use a much different distortion than i would, and the licks the person is playing makes it hard to judge as well
Thanks
octavedoctor said:
actually what i'm wondering is, can I get a real good David Gilmour tone out of a seymour duncan pickup? (think solo for comfortably numb). if so, what pickup, the duckbucker?
i was weighing this purchase with an emg preloaded pickguard that has the exact configuration dave uses. but that's $300 bucks so if i can get a similar tone from a SD, i'd prefer that route. I listened to all the pickups from the site but i can't tell since they use a much different distortion than i would, and the licks the person is playing makes it hard to judge as well
Thanks
octavedoctor
New member
Re: 50s strat with major hum issues
Dave's one of my favourite guitarists; it's a close run between him and Mr. Beck.
To be honest I think that you have as much chance with either; so much of a guitarist's sound comes not from the pickup or the amp or any of the technology but from the players themselves.
No-one will ever sound like Mark Knopfler for example unless they are prepared to ditch their picks and play with their fingers.
But using the same pickups is probably a good start.
I'm not sure i'm the person to comment on this as i don't really have an ear for this sort of thing. I'm listening to Comfortably Numb now but I have no conception of how you would reproduce that sound; there is a lot of acoustic processing going on. The duckbucker isn't what leaps to the forefront of my mind when i hear it though.
I'm much better on the nuts and bolts of fixing stuff than the grey areas, it suits my borderline Asperger's type personality...
Yes i know that G, it's just that at times it sounded so much like what i go throughgp5384 said:
gp5384 said:
Dave's one of my favourite guitarists; it's a close run between him and Mr. Beck.
To be honest I think that you have as much chance with either; so much of a guitarist's sound comes not from the pickup or the amp or any of the technology but from the players themselves.
No-one will ever sound like Mark Knopfler for example unless they are prepared to ditch their picks and play with their fingers.
But using the same pickups is probably a good start.
I'm not sure i'm the person to comment on this as i don't really have an ear for this sort of thing. I'm listening to Comfortably Numb now but I have no conception of how you would reproduce that sound; there is a lot of acoustic processing going on. The duckbucker isn't what leaps to the forefront of my mind when i hear it though.
I'm much better on the nuts and bolts of fixing stuff than the grey areas, it suits my borderline Asperger's type personality...
Re: 50s strat with major hum issues
oh great, all that typing for nothing...? admit it. as a tech u were secretly saying "Fck yeah!" when u read of his outlash (as a vicarious fantasy of what u wanted to say at times). ah!
don't get me wrong. i once in my life got in a customer's face but that was only because he personally disrespected me. anything short of that i just smile. they want to push it, i tell them to see my boss.
awesome. yes dave is incredible. a real good guy too it seems. i was thinking duckbucker or vintage rails (not so much the cool rails) or a mix of both in neck/middle. I know what to do on the processing side to get that sound, i am just analyzing the texture. slightly ducky to me (quacky), good harmonics, bright yet bluesy, etc. Full. I'm wondering (in my ignorance on pickups) if the fact that those emg pickups are "active" makes that extra difference (9V)? I know nothing of active pickups or their advantages/disadvantages, etc.
Thanks for weighing in. I have no confidence in my ability to choose a good neck pickup
oh great, all that typing for nothing...? admit it. as a tech u were secretly saying "Fck yeah!" when u read of his outlash (as a vicarious fantasy of what u wanted to say at times). ah!
don't get me wrong. i once in my life got in a customer's face but that was only because he personally disrespected me. anything short of that i just smile. they want to push it, i tell them to see my boss.
awesome. yes dave is incredible. a real good guy too it seems. i was thinking duckbucker or vintage rails (not so much the cool rails) or a mix of both in neck/middle. I know what to do on the processing side to get that sound, i am just analyzing the texture. slightly ducky to me (quacky), good harmonics, bright yet bluesy, etc. Full. I'm wondering (in my ignorance on pickups) if the fact that those emg pickups are "active" makes that extra difference (9V)? I know nothing of active pickups or their advantages/disadvantages, etc.
Thanks for weighing in. I have no confidence in my ability to choose a good neck pickup
octavedoctor
New member
Re: 50s strat with major hum issues
Yeah. OK I admit it. You got me pegged...
Nancy Wilson (Heart) on Dave Gilmour: Not that many notes, but every one is in just the right place and just the right length
The duckbucker's a nice pickup, but it's designed to sound like a single coil. The sound you are looking for sounds more to me like a humbucker; perhaps a cool rails?
The principal advantage of EMG's is their low impedance output which allows them to drive a wide variety of equipment without impedance mismatching problems. Tonally, they are rather inflexible. it's not like using other pickus as the coils can't be directly accessed so you have none of the series, parallel and split jiggery pokery that characterises the high impedance world. It's like you are dealing with an "electronic signal source generator". They are very consistent, predictable and reliable and, some would say, boring.
If I had to hazard a guess at what DG is using on that track I'd put my money on two SAs, neck and middle, perhaps with a touch of EXG expander thrown in.
Is that what's in the Dave Gilmour set? Is it an SA-SA-85?
PS, a really good tech doesn't need schematics of anything as mundane as ordinary pickups, we know them all by heart and can wire them in our sleep, blindfolded, with boxing gloves on...
Well you get the picture.
gp5384 said:
Yeah. OK I admit it. You got me pegged...
gp5384 said:
Nancy Wilson (Heart) on Dave Gilmour: Not that many notes, but every one is in just the right place and just the right length
The duckbucker's a nice pickup, but it's designed to sound like a single coil. The sound you are looking for sounds more to me like a humbucker; perhaps a cool rails?
The principal advantage of EMG's is their low impedance output which allows them to drive a wide variety of equipment without impedance mismatching problems. Tonally, they are rather inflexible. it's not like using other pickus as the coils can't be directly accessed so you have none of the series, parallel and split jiggery pokery that characterises the high impedance world. It's like you are dealing with an "electronic signal source generator". They are very consistent, predictable and reliable and, some would say, boring.
If I had to hazard a guess at what DG is using on that track I'd put my money on two SAs, neck and middle, perhaps with a touch of EXG expander thrown in.
Is that what's in the Dave Gilmour set? Is it an SA-SA-85?
PS, a really good tech doesn't need schematics of anything as mundane as ordinary pickups, we know them all by heart and can wire them in our sleep, blindfolded, with boxing gloves on...
Well you get the picture.
Last edited:
Re: 50s strat with major hum issues
haha. :22:
Nancy Wilson eh? Well, she's right.
Judging by the site's sound samples i ruled cool rails out. Maybe erroneously so, again it's hard to judge. the neck cool rails sounded a tad muddy to me at the time but i know their reputation so i may be wrong
i did look at the fender hot noiseless pickups (beck style) and the reviews have me intrigued. i know they're basically a hotter single coil but even still. I just may get their 3 pickup set, only not use the bridge one (use my hotrails). Ebay it, or use on a project guitar. i still have more research to do before i pull that trigger.
i found a few cool sites on Dave's sound. Apparently I'm not the first person to seek out his mindset
http://www.gilmourish.com/
http://www.geocities.com/cfuehrer/ampsdiagram.htm
http://www.pinkfloyd-co.com/band/interviews/djg/djg96.html
"Is that what's in the Dave Gilmour set? Is it an SA-SA-85?"
Close. Looks like 3 SA's
"three SA single-coil active pickups five-way selector switch master volume knob EXG Guitar Expander circuit SPC Presence Control circuit deluxe White Pearl pickguard with matching white knobs battery clip and switching output jack This is an incredibly flexible setup. The SA pickups are hot but low in buzz and hum which is especially important when you're running with a lot of effects or a big rack. They use alnico magnets which give a warmer tone with a little more midrange than the EMG-S. The low-impedance design preserves your tone quality when using a cord or wireless transmitter."
excerpt taken from:
http://shop.store.yahoo.com/timsguitarworkshop/emgdgdavgilp.html
Thanks again. Since we have similar musical tastes I'll be sure to send you a link when my current demo is complete
PS: True true. But if you don't know ground from hot for a common pickup like Dimarzio, and u fix guitars for a living, you had BETTER have one! haha. He had it backwards. Wish there were techs like you here locally!
haha. :22:
Nancy Wilson eh? Well, she's right.
Judging by the site's sound samples i ruled cool rails out. Maybe erroneously so, again it's hard to judge. the neck cool rails sounded a tad muddy to me at the time but i know their reputation so i may be wrong
i did look at the fender hot noiseless pickups (beck style) and the reviews have me intrigued. i know they're basically a hotter single coil but even still. I just may get their 3 pickup set, only not use the bridge one (use my hotrails). Ebay it, or use on a project guitar. i still have more research to do before i pull that trigger.
i found a few cool sites on Dave's sound. Apparently I'm not the first person to seek out his mindset
http://www.gilmourish.com/
http://www.geocities.com/cfuehrer/ampsdiagram.htm
http://www.pinkfloyd-co.com/band/interviews/djg/djg96.html
"Is that what's in the Dave Gilmour set? Is it an SA-SA-85?"
Close. Looks like 3 SA's
"three SA single-coil active pickups five-way selector switch master volume knob EXG Guitar Expander circuit SPC Presence Control circuit deluxe White Pearl pickguard with matching white knobs battery clip and switching output jack This is an incredibly flexible setup. The SA pickups are hot but low in buzz and hum which is especially important when you're running with a lot of effects or a big rack. They use alnico magnets which give a warmer tone with a little more midrange than the EMG-S. The low-impedance design preserves your tone quality when using a cord or wireless transmitter."
excerpt taken from:
http://shop.store.yahoo.com/timsguitarworkshop/emgdgdavgilp.html
Thanks again. Since we have similar musical tastes I'll be sure to send you a link when my current demo is complete
PS: True true. But if you don't know ground from hot for a common pickup like Dimarzio, and u fix guitars for a living, you had BETTER have one! haha. He had it backwards. Wish there were techs like you here locally!
octavedoctor
New member
Re: 50s strat with major hum issues
Yes point taken! In fact it looked to me as though he had everything backwards.
:doh:
Do you think maybe he had his head on backwards? Could explain a lot...
:boggled:
If you like the sound of these have a listen to the Dimarzio Virtual Vintage series; Heavy Blues or Solo.gp5384 said:
I appreciate that; my musical tastes are incredibly varied and encompass everything from renaissance music to Cocteau Twins. You'd be amazed at my iTunes collection...gp5384 said:
gp5384 said:
Yes point taken! In fact it looked to me as though he had everything backwards.
:doh:
Do you think maybe he had his head on backwards? Could explain a lot...
:boggled:
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