Re: Introducing the Jimi Hendrix Signature Strat Set
IMO Seymour Duncan has produced some of the finest pickups ever made. Deserving of great respect for the man and the company he created.
It saddens me to see this capitalizing on Mr.Hendrix's name. It is pure greed and capitalism in a form of very poor taste. These pickups have no relation to the almost miraculous Hendrix musical legacy. They are just another flavor of Strat pickups. Why Carter-Duncan company lowers themselves like this when there is no need is bewildering.
"
Like Jimi’s music, the Jimi Hendrix Signature Strat Set pickups have their roots in the traditional but with an eye on the future. Each is custom wound for a richer, melodic tone. The bridge model has an
aggressive attack that cuts through while staying true to his iconic lead tone. The neck pickup sounds thick and full and is
great for chord work, bluesy melodies, double-stops and Jimi’s signature hybrid chord/melody style. And in the in-between positions there’s plenty of that classic Strat ‘quack.’"
How can they make a statement that the pickup set is like Mr. Hendrix's music and tone and style?
Way out of line. Calling a signature set sounds like Mr. Hendrix somehow participated in the development. He was likely the inspiration used for the development and it should be phrased in those terms.
This should be retracted and rewritten, it is almost blasphemous (using the term in a non religious context).
Not to make a criticism without a recommendation here is my meager/amateur attempt at more proper wording:
J
imi Hendrix inspired Strat set
Seymour Duncan did so and so....
the Jimi Hendrix inspired Strat Set pickups have their roots in the traditional but with an eye on the future. Each is custom wound for a richer, melodic tone. The bridge model has an aggressive attack that cuts through while producing a lead tone that has it basis in some of Jimi Hendrix's more familiar lead tones. The neck pickup sounds thick and full and is great for chord work, bluesy melodies, double-stops that you will recognize as Hendrix inspired. And in the in-between positions there’s plenty of that classic Strat ‘quack.’" - ONLY IF IT IS TRUE! -
I had not noticed before but on the flyer they even manage to defile the Christmas holiday spirit by peddling their product under that guise. The flyers look like something K-Mart would issue in a mass mailing, not something from the company Mr. Duncan envisioned. Surprisingly they did not put Jimi Hendrix in a Santa Clause suit.
But hey, hold on a minute...maybe Mr. Duncan bumped into Michael Bloomfield and they will do a Signature set using his name. I wonder how they get dead guys signatures.
Isn't it sort of legal fraud to put Jimi Hendrix's signature on pickups, even with the estate buying into the whole thing? It just seems to me that Mr. Hendrix using some of Mr. Duncan's pickups for one show and part of another after his legendary music, tone and style had already been established (Electric Ladyland had been almost completed in March of 1968) is a bit of a stretch for a signature pickup.
In the quoted discussions between Mr.'s Duncan and Hendrix regarding tone , or more accurately getting unique sounds out of a guitar, pickups are not mentioned as far as I can tell. They talk about picking techniques, uses of volume and tone controls. Did Jimi Hendrix, in any of his interviews, ever talk specifically about pickups?
I think I have I've read that 60s Strats used .1 caps, the Jimi Hendrix Voodoo style pickguard uses .047...wonder why?
The bottom line:
The concept of recreating a set of pickups young Mr. Duncan wound for Jimi Hendrix and actually had them installed in his guitar and performed with by the master at Xavier University is a great one. It represents offering guitar enthusiasts the opportunity to load up a part of those magical days in musical history when a towering genius like Jimi Hendrix was reshaping music in an almost unprecedented fashion. Great idea New Product team!
Unfortunately it fell into the hands of a marketing group who had to take what was a brilliant idea and dirty it with purchased signatures, K-Mart like mass mailing fliers and copy that exaggerates to the point of ridiculousness.
Buy the pickups for what they are. Ignore the garbage that is being written about them by marketing.
Thought about these pickups a little more...they could be like sort of a time machine taking you back to a real 60s Strat. If they can do that then they will be On my to get list. Have to wait and see what the reports from the field are when they start coming in.
