David Allen Pickups?

[hermetico]

Re: David Allen Pickups?

They're really good.

I've installed them in a couple of Strats (not my own) and compared them to the Duncan Antiquitys, Fralin Vintage Hots and the Klein 62's.

The Allen's are right up there with the best I've tried.

I don't hear them as being better than the Antiquitys, and the Antiquitys have a certain throaty quality that I really like and tend to prefer - but the Allen's are excellent.

Yup, Lew, I agree with you in most of your comments. However, every DA is like an Antiquity and, that gives you a broad range of top-notch usable tones.

 

[hermetico]

Re: David Allen Pickups?

I've used David Allen pickups for a while now in both guitars and basses. They always deliver the tone. My favorites are Dover's for strat: Cheetah's for Tele: Alley Cat's for humbuckers (or Dirty Cat's if you want a little more oomph), and his P-bass pickup will stand with any I've played. Plus David is a great guy and very approachable.

I will use DA's in every guitar. Still modding guitars (75% converted).

Dovers for strat are a real workhorse and, do anything with easy. I totally agree. But, Stratcats have the sweetest vintage tones with silky high end. Voodoos are in Hendrix territory, etc. Maybe, the only singles' set I don't dig so much is his Hot 54/59. All the rest of his strato sets are awesome, just specific nuances between clean/distortion tones, for each set but, overall, so big tone as in SD Antiquities, in every set.
And, middle pickups aren't just a neck pickup put on middle position. They are individually voiced and engineered to truly complement each of his sets.

Tele's Cheetahs are just perfect. I love them.

In humbuckers, the P51 are quite similar to BKP's The Mule, since they use Alnico IV magnets and, deliver that good PAF classic tones.
AlleyCats are vintage-hot and, beefer but, still with a vintage soul in their core.
HellCats are modern hi-gain humbuckers.

All DA sets have in common the same quality level of any Antiquity and, the clarity and definition of BKPs. Price makes a difference. Just compare.
Best thing is that David isn't just trying to copy a pickup found in somewhere, period-correct material by material. He has the knowledge to get that sound using modern material and by his own approach.

Please, don't get me wrong. I still thing SD large production pickups are the best on their own and, that their Antiquity series are hard to beat. I simple love the fact that every DA's is just, at least, on same level of "Antiquities", which gives me more options to choose, to tweak my tone.

 

[DreX]

Re: David Allen Pickups?

I don't think you can ever choose a set of adjectives and say they are common to quality pickups, or say another set of adjectives are associated with poor quality pickups. For example, you mention clarity and definition and then liken DA's to Antiquities, but IMO a characteristics of the Antiquities is less emphasis on clarity and definition than, say, a common production '59 or an SSL-1, which have more treble and presence response than the Antiquities, having stronger magnets than the Ants. It all comes down to hitting a tasteful balance, and one person's taste can be different than someone elses. I think one thing D Allen and BKP do better than some pickups makers is match players to the right pickup, perhaps by calling a pickup "the Dover" if they want you to think Eric Johnson, or "Irish Tours" if they want you to think Rory Gallagher. That might be a more efficient than saying "this pickup works great for country, pop, blues, rock, soft rock, blues pop..."

 

[King IzzO)))]

Re: David Allen Pickups?

David Allen Coe is a racist D-Bag.