Introducing The Joe Bonamassa 1950 Broadcaster Pickup Set

So, we are saying that the difference between a 1950 Broadcaster and a current Squire is zero?
Or we are saying that those pickups sound the same whatever they are in?

I'm just saying that these guys are selling pickups. And I'm watching a Youtube video that is of questionable authenticity. Not that it isn't a real video, or that Joe is lying. I'm saying I want to hear it in the room with my own ears.

I am skeptical at best.
 
In the demo, Joe B plays those pickups in a new Squier Affinity tele, if you'd ever watch before posting. :sword:

I was about to say, I don't think that's an Affinity. But first, I fact checked myself, and it doesn't appear that they're putting the "Affinity" label on anything these days.

Slightly changing gears, I can't help but wonder what my Squier Standard Tele, with the TE-101 Duncan Designed set, would sound like in Joe's hands.
 
same amp, same hands, same mic. the only real difference is the old guitar/old pups and new guitar/new pups. and they sound great!

I'm saying sales and marketing people will do anything.

this is also true
 
I'm saying sales and marketing people will do anything.

bro, please just come out and tell us what you think is so dubious. are you thinking they used a Squier neck on a Real™ Fender body? or a Real™ Fender neck with a Squier decal? what exactly has your hackles up, buttercup?
 
bro, please just come out and tell us what you think is so dubious. are you thinking they used a Squier neck on a Real™ Fender body? or a Real™ Fender neck with a Squier decal? what exactly has your hackles up, buttercup?

Do you know who you are saying that to???? Bold statement. Mods are gonna cliché - LOL I'm guessing not...

Let me clarify to be clear (redunandlty receptive on purpose). And I'll be civil.:

#1 Bonamassa is more merchandise over-saturated than Gene Simmons. I am not interested in any Joe Bonamassa anything. While he is a fantastic player, I simply do not wake up every day with anticipation of anything he has played since I last heard him. To that end, I'm more likely to hear about his latest guitar, pickup, Strat, top hat, golf glove or whatever. That's my bias and I know it.

#2 While I consume guitar gear demos as much as anyone, I have zero trust in company promotional videos. That is what this is. I don't care who the company is, they have a vested interest in making their gear sound as good as possible via whatever means. So to believe that this clip is not produced, eq'd etc to death to sound righteous is foolish. And I love Seymour Duncan. Just check my guitars if you don't think so. That's SD's bias, and you all are ignoring it. Joe is welcome to stop over and bring the guitars and play them in my music room ion he wants. I'm not a Tele guy, so even if he did I probably wouldn't care.

#3 Everyone here extolls the virtues of a good pickup kicking a cheap guitar into high gear. Me included. But to think that a) A pickup is going to make a Squire sound as good as an original Broadcaster is silly at face value unless either the broadcaster is as crappy as the Squire, or the Squire is as good as the Broadcaster. That means basically a pickup is 90%+ of the tone and we all know that isn't true. And B) A $350 pickup in a $199 guitar???? Right....how about we talk about the amp. No one would ever say "Get a set of PG's and put them in your Epiphone. It will sound just like Billy Gibbon's Pearly Gates!" That's what is being applauded in this thread. My PG loaded guitars don't sound like Pearly, unless of course Billy G is playing them. So -

#4 As Beau mentioned - I wonder how ANY guitar would sound with Joe playing it. That's like Pete Thorn demoing gear. YOU will never sound like that, because Pete is not capable of sounding bad. Maybe that's just leveling the playing field, except the playing is so damned good...it may very well overwhelm the gear itself.

If you want to fawn all over the Joe vs Squire with Custom Shop pickups...fine. If you love Joe B and would pay for his branded toilet paper, fine. He is a fantastic player. I'm just saying this looks a little silly. But, in today's world, critical thinking and reason are out the window, so I shouldn't be surprised.

When I see a bunch of independent reviews online, call me. Until then - fanboy away.
 
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I don't think I'm asking a hard question, but that's an awful lot of text that still doesn't answer it. I don't think I can phrase any more clearly than this:

what underhanded 'tricks' do you think SD is doing in this video to make the guitar with a Squier logo sound good?

That's all I wanna know.

I never argued that marketing teams don't try to present their products in the best possible way, nor did I ever say I care about Joe at all (most blues bores me to tears, I just like a nice sounding Tele). Gun to my head, I couldn't name a song by him.

I don't think anyone here believes (nor does even SD's ad copy anywhere say) these pickups will make your Squier sound just like Joe's broadcaster. Theyre just replicas of his pickups, and it's hard to imagine they wouldnt make a cheap guitar with bad pickups sound goood.

I am skeptical of how much wood actually matters, tho. I changed a maple/rosewood neck out for a wenge/ebony neck last year and it made ZERO difference in plugged in sound which surprised me since I was actually expecting there to be a pretty big difference.


BTW if SD marketing did figure out how to EQ a Squier into sounding like a legendary Fender they should immediately sell that as a DAW plugin cause a million people would buy it.
 
I was about to say, I don't think that's an Affinity. But first, I fact checked myself, and it doesn't appear that they're putting the "Affinity" label on anything these days.

Slightly changing gears, I can't help but wonder what my Squier Standard Tele, with the TE-101 Duncan Designed set, would sound like in Joe's hands.

Fair enough. Squier Fender Telecaster, according to the label on the headstock.
 
I don't think I'm asking a hard question, but that's an awful lot of text that still doesn't answer it. I don't think I can phrase any more clearly than this:

what underhanded 'tricks' do you think SD is doing in this video to make the guitar with a Squier logo sound good?

That's all I wanna know.

Good lord, you can't be that obtuse. :eek2::lame: He is saying that he suspects the audio has been tweaked extensively to create the illusion of similarity between the 2 in that video when in reality they are not that close. Is that clear enough for you? Are you now going to tell us you have never heard of EQ, compressions etc?
 
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Good lord, you can't be that obtuse. :eek2::lame: He is saying that he suspects the audio has been tweaked extensively to create the illusion of similarity between the 2 in that video when in reality they are not that close. Is that clear enough for you? Are you now going to tell us you have never heard of EQ, compressions etc?

lmao I mentioned EQ in two of my posts. again if you've figured out how to EQ (and compress) a cheap Squier into sounding just about as good as a nice Fender, please put it in a plugin and make a million dollars :lmao: until then, great pickups, technique, and a good amp will pretty much get you there.
 
got it, you're skeptical of a video and find it dubious and yet you also don't think they did any trickery (that doesn't make sense, but ok, I'll let it go now, please reflect on this)

That video has been compressed, eq'd, and then YouTubed again. If there are differenced, I likely will not hear them on the video.
And we don't know that Squire didn't sound pretty damn close in the first place.

I'm saying this isn't a shootout or anything controlled, and in a world where things are not nefarious, the goal here is still to show how a set of these pickups can make your Squier sound like a vintage 50's broadcaster.

And if you think it is a completely authentic representation of the awesome, well then go buy a Squire and drop one in. I'll pass for all kinds of reasons...none of them necessarily nefarious.
 
lmao I mentioned EQ in two of my posts. again if you've figured out how to EQ (and compress) a cheap Squier into sounding just about as good as a nice Fender, please put it in a plugin and make a million dollars :lmao: until then, great pickups, technique, and a good amp will pretty much get you there.

Now your arguing with the wrong guy. I didn't say it. I interpreted it for you.
 
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