LtKojak
New member
Last month I've posted my fight against a Squier guitar, which I've built to be used on a recording project in September.
Well, I got involved in another recording project with some oldtimers I know, so it was the perfect occasion to have her "maiden voyage" in a studio. It was late '60s, early 70s Italian Pop music, so this guitar should be a good match for the project, with many arpeggios, double-stop melodies and obligato parts to play.
So, after three days and numerous takes, that's what I feel like to share with you, good people of the SDUGF.
An observation 'bout EMG p'ups which may apply to all other active single coil: due to the flat bar polepiece design, they work better with guitars with flatter radius, being 12" the absolute minimum, I'd say. As stated before, the Squier has a 9.5" radius, as most modern Fender designs.
In the studio I'm using a compressor, so the outcome is OK, but while you're playing, the difference of output between the weak and puny fourth string and the loud and obnoxious third string bugs me bunches; it takes a wholelotta concentration to pluck the strings in a way to minimize the issue, so the expression suffers.
I've used a Valley Arts Standard Pro loaded with a 89/SA/SA set in my busiest working days as a musician back in the '90s, and I don't remember having this issue but, looking at the specs, the neck had a 12" radius and I was using a compressor in many of the clean patches... plus maybe then I wasn't as picky as I am today?
The EMG S set I'm using doesn't sound "vintage-y" at all. Having said that, man, do they sound great on record! They have a tone of their own that's both full and sharp enough the be considered "clinical" or "sterile" by some, but boy, oh boy; once they're on record, they blend oh so well in the mix with the rest of the instruments conserving great note separation, in both chord- and arpeggio-work. I've completely forgotten how well this "lowly" set of p'ups performed on record with little to no post-EQ'ing. 80% of the biggest hits of '80s and 90s were recorded by guitars hosting EMG SA p'ups (Larry Carlton and Steve Lukather, fx), many of Country music biggest hits of the '80s and 90s were recorded with guitars hosting the set I'm using; the S set, also called the "Vince Gill" set.
Anyway, FWIW, there you have it. Consider yourself warned!
Well, I got involved in another recording project with some oldtimers I know, so it was the perfect occasion to have her "maiden voyage" in a studio. It was late '60s, early 70s Italian Pop music, so this guitar should be a good match for the project, with many arpeggios, double-stop melodies and obligato parts to play.
So, after three days and numerous takes, that's what I feel like to share with you, good people of the SDUGF.
An observation 'bout EMG p'ups which may apply to all other active single coil: due to the flat bar polepiece design, they work better with guitars with flatter radius, being 12" the absolute minimum, I'd say. As stated before, the Squier has a 9.5" radius, as most modern Fender designs.
In the studio I'm using a compressor, so the outcome is OK, but while you're playing, the difference of output between the weak and puny fourth string and the loud and obnoxious third string bugs me bunches; it takes a wholelotta concentration to pluck the strings in a way to minimize the issue, so the expression suffers.
I've used a Valley Arts Standard Pro loaded with a 89/SA/SA set in my busiest working days as a musician back in the '90s, and I don't remember having this issue but, looking at the specs, the neck had a 12" radius and I was using a compressor in many of the clean patches... plus maybe then I wasn't as picky as I am today?
The EMG S set I'm using doesn't sound "vintage-y" at all. Having said that, man, do they sound great on record! They have a tone of their own that's both full and sharp enough the be considered "clinical" or "sterile" by some, but boy, oh boy; once they're on record, they blend oh so well in the mix with the rest of the instruments conserving great note separation, in both chord- and arpeggio-work. I've completely forgotten how well this "lowly" set of p'ups performed on record with little to no post-EQ'ing. 80% of the biggest hits of '80s and 90s were recorded by guitars hosting EMG SA p'ups (Larry Carlton and Steve Lukather, fx), many of Country music biggest hits of the '80s and 90s were recorded with guitars hosting the set I'm using; the S set, also called the "Vince Gill" set.
Anyway, FWIW, there you have it. Consider yourself warned!
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