Forum design vote #6 (Choose wisely)

[DarkMatter]

Re: Forum design vote #6 (Choose wisely)

Might as well hold your vote. We are waiting on info from the Custom Shop. I'll probably redo this poll after we know a bit more.

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Forum design vote #6 (Choose wisely)

I would be interested to hear what the Zebro sounds like (as I am interested to hear what any pickup sounds like), but I wouldn't actually buy one for my own guitars. The humbucker, I'd definitely buy one set, and probably either a second set or individual pickups in addition.

 

[dominus]

Re: Forum design vote #6 (Choose wisely)

I would REALLY like to be with you on this man but I can't, just can't and the reason is that no-one that is saying this actually bothered with the FuglyBucker BECAUSE of its' looks.

I've been playing my FB-equipped guitar again yesterday and was, again, floored by how great it sounds with 'em, yet, I am only one out of five or six people that think so because most chose to steer clear of 'em, not because of how they sounded (which is freakin' brilliant) but of how they look.

Yup. Too many people focused on the appearance rather than the sound... Although for the people that really like to dial things in, a row or two of screws and the ability to swap a magnet for tweaking is a must for pickup choices. Why stop at 95% of the tone you want? Most of the people buying this are going to be experienced members of the forum. These aren't going to be available from music stores.

 

[KeeperOS]

Re: Forum design vote #6 (Choose wisely)

^ Good point!

Might as well hold your vote. We are waiting on info from the Custom Shop. I'll probably redo this poll after we know a bit more.

And make it a public poll, the way the ZeBro keeps one-upping the hybrid every time there's a tie I am now convinced that someone is tampering with the votes...

 

[Gibson 1964]

Re: Forum design vote #6 (Choose wisely)

And why would you assume it was the zebro fans doing that and not the hybrid fans?

The zebro is a more interesting concept and has been getting a steadier stream of votes. The insinuation is I think a pretty cheap & dirty way of dismissing others. There are quite a few of us who have made no bones we voted zebro. I think the fact that it keeps one upping the hybrid is because the votes have been oscillating, but a new concept is more interesting than a boring hybrid.

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Forum design vote #6 (Choose wisely)

Again: it is NOT a hybrid of existing coils; that's a misnomer (which I believe has cost it more than a few votes). It is a pickup with significantly mismatched coils, custom wound specifically for us. It is not going to be made by slapping together two pre-existing coils. There's nothing "boring" or redundant about it; nothing like it has ever been made by S.D. It just looks normal, while the Zebro doesn't.

 

[Gibson 1964]

Re: Forum design vote #6 (Choose wisely)

So mismatched coils, not a hybrid at all. Calling it a hybrid does mean that it is a mix of two things. Personally, that does raise interest, from absolutely trivial idea to not really very interested.

To me, that is nothing really new. Numerous makers make significantly mismatched coils as part of their production line. It is a cooler idea than a hybrid, but still something I don't see as a significant hole in the duncan line that merits a forum special pickup. I see how making a neck pickup for the c/59 hybrid would be a good production model move for SD to create a set. But I actually have tended to have my symmetrically wound humbuckers be my favorites over the long haul. I also am not a huge neck pickup guy.

 

[DreX]

Re: Forum design vote #6 (Choose wisely)

Might as well hold your vote. We are waiting on info from the Custom Shop. I'll probably redo this poll after we know a bit more.

We're going on 72 hours. You know... maybe this whole forum pickup thing is an imposition on the Custom Shop.

 

[KeeperOS]

Re: Forum design vote #6 (Choose wisely)

... on the other hand, the CS DOES have a business to run and can't give such answers at the drop of a hat. Plus I'm guessing they'd want to think things through first before answering, it's not just giving a simple answer to a single client where they can talk about what the intended pickup is and come to a conclusion. It IS a more complicated question to answer right off the bat.

On the chance that you are right however, well, it's been fun nevertheless :9:

And why would you assume it was the zebro fans doing that and not the hybrid fans?

It's the way it happens. The ZeBro is in the lead for a prolonged period of time but as soon as the "hybrid" ties, the ZeBro almost automatically one-ups it again. But yeah, it could theoretically indeed be the other way around. A public multi-option poll would solve that issue as well.

 

[KeeperOS]

Re: Forum design vote #6 (Choose wisely)

Even Steven, 35 to 35...

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Forum design vote #6 (Choose wisely)

Not only a tie, but what seems to me to be a very low number of voters over all. There doesn't seem to be much interest in a forum pickup at all, regardless of what it is.

I would say howzabout we compromise: call the Zebro the forum pickup, and ask (beg?) S.D. to highly consider designing a neck match for the '59/C as an addition to their regular catalog starting next year. (But those of use who want to buy one of the early "prototype" run now, 10 months early or whatever it is, can do so.) As for the tweaked '59/C bridge pickup (the brighter/clearer one), I'd love to have that pickup, but in the interest of not being greedy and demanding, I say we drop the idea, as part of the compromise that I proposed.

 

[blueman335]

Re: Forum design vote #6 (Choose wisely)

To me, that is nothing really new.

Are you after 'new' for the sake of new, regardless of tone and the interest level with the public? New isn't always better, or necessarily interesting. Lots of new things flop. The Zebro's definitely a gamble.

What's needed most, a hybrid neck HB (for general and for a match to the '59/Custom), or a new PU experiment? I'd rather see something with more practical use and market appeal, than something new to try to interest a few bored forum members.

 

[DarkMatter]

Re: Forum design vote #6 (Choose wisely)

The low interest has bothered me from the beginning. It's only gotten worse. I'll take some blame for having bad polls and whatnot but I always tried to do what I thought was best. 35 votes for either, and how many will actually put their money on the table when the time comes? Right now, I'm once again searching out threads from the old designs. The last poll for the Fuglybucker had around 70 total votes too. By comparison, several polls from the crazy 8 had 150-175 votes.

Does anybody know what terms I could use to search and find Brobucker polls? It's the only one I cannot find.

 

[Maggot]

Re: Forum design vote #6 (Choose wisely)

Are you after 'new' for the sake of new, regardless of tone and the interest level with the public? New isn't always better, or necessarily interesting. Lots of new things flop. The Zebro's definitely a gamble.

What's needed most, a hybrid neck HB (for general and for a match to the '59/Custom), or a new PU experiment? I'd rather see something with more practical use and market appeal, than something new to try to interest a few bored forum members.

I think that you're getting into a bit of hair-splitting, though to differentiate a C5/Custom neck from Screamin' Demon/59/Jazz/PG (possibly with A5 magnets), etc. It's not necessarily gonna carve out a niche for itself because it has so many fine competitors within the SD lineup.

Noiseless, humbucker-size P-90s, by contrast, are rare, and there are none in the SD lineup. Lindy Fralin makes one that's decent but it has more output and a real specific sound and he says he can't wind it any hotter. GFS and DiMarzio have supposed noiseless P-90s that are essentially straight-up humbuckers. LOTS of people (like me) like P-90s. I prefer to have them in HB size for flexibility, and I'd love to have noiseless. I think there's great potential there. SD P-90 stacks are decent, but, having tried the G&L split coils, I wouldn't be surprised if a split coil design was more happening. I actually think that there's more room in the market for the Zebro, because for a lot of people, a P-90 is a holy grail sound. I don't get where a marginally tweaked neck humbucker is easier to market.

 

[DreX]

Re: Forum design vote #6 (Choose wisely)

To reiterate, the Zebro cant and won't actually sound like a P-90 due to the geometry of the design. The P-90 thing is just a target sound, or relative output level.

 

[DreX]

Re: Forum design vote #6 (Choose wisely)

I also doubt many will buy the Zebro simply because 3+3 designs are already available from other winders, and SD even lists one, but not only do they attract little attention, nobody voting for the Zebro has apperently ever even tried one and reported to us on how they sound. I think some people like the idea that its a forum pickup more than they like the pickup for what it actually is.

 

[Maggot]

Re: Forum design vote #6 (Choose wisely)

Of course it won't. You wouldn't be able fit that much wire in it. But if you can get close, you're gold.

If it sounds great, which it will, and more like a P-90 than a Bluesbucker or Dream 180, which is setting the bar pretty low IMHO, people will like it.

 

[Gibson 1964]

Re: Forum design vote #6 (Choose wisely)

To reiterate, the Zebro cant and won't actually sound like a P-90 due to the geometry of the design. The P-90 thing is just a target sound, or relative output level.

I don't buy this because I suspect the folks in the custom shop can get the right output and voice. I for one, am not about to say that I know what MJ and company can't do.

 

[KeeperOS]

Re: Forum design vote #6 (Choose wisely)

The low interest has bothered me from the beginning. It's only gotten worse. I'll take some blame for having bad polls and whatnot but I always tried to do what I thought was best. 35 votes for either, and how many will actually put their money on the table when the time comes? Right now, I'm once again searching out threads from the old designs. The last poll for the Fuglybucker had around 70 total votes too. By comparison, several polls from the crazy 8 had 150-175 votes.

To be fair, the Crazy 8 was only a bridge which meant a total of about 150 pickups maybe? That was also at a fiscally better time and with a magnet when the Custom 8 was the next best thing. (I love it to this day so, yeah )
The Fuglybucker was a SET, from the ones that voted they'd get one, I'd be willing to wager resulted in an average of two pickups per member, again for a total of about 140 or so pickups.

If this pickup materializes (and continues to interest me), I fully expect to get a set as well so, there's that.

I still want to hear from the CS and then go for a revote where we'll gauge actual interest, although the how still needs to be determined...

 

[DreX]

Re: Forum design vote #6 (Choose wisely)

I don't buy this because I suspect the folks in the custom shop can get the right output and voice. I for one, am not about to say that I know what MJ and company can't do.

Well, there's physics and stuff.