Hellion
New member
I've always liked higher output pickups for the bridge then a lower output at the neck. The Washburn Falcon originally came with Dimarzios that "split", but they really didn't. They were 2 conductor pups that were harnassed to a phenolic circuit board that ran the output through some circuitry that would mimic the lower output and pronounced treble of a single coil. Over the last 20 years, that circuitry broke down and I decided to replace the electronics totally.
This particular model guitar has a neck through body construction made up of alternating lengthwise pieces of maple and walnut. Consequently, it's a rather heavy instrument. I was afraid that the JB might be a bit too bright for it, but the maple seems to be offset by the walnut, and although there's plenty of top end response from the JB, it's not overpowering, and there's still quite a bit of bass articulation as well. With the coil tapped, it does a fairly decent Tele impersonation although not quite. Full on with distortion, it's a screamer.
The '59 that I put in the neck position is also a 4-conductor pickup. As mentioned earlier, I like a lower output pup in the neck. The 59 seemed to fit the bill. With the tone control rolled all the way off, I can cop some convincing Wes Montgomery type tones, but still articulate and clear, possibly due again to the maple. I must admit that I can't tell a lot of tonal difference with the coils split, maybe a trifle less "woman".
Something that I was toying with when I had them installed was a type of Peter Green modification, and I had the pickups installed out of phase with each other, since I rarely use both together on this particular instrument. The result was interesting. With both pickups in full on mode, there is a slight "out of phase" squawkiness, which, while not unpleasing, isn't very useful. However with both pups split, they're immediately out of phase and produces a very nice "lead/middle" Strat combination, which comes in handy for the odd Brooks & Dunn "Neon Moon" type of tone.
Sorry, ArtieToo, I'm not really used to doing reviews. Hope that was what you were looking for!
This particular model guitar has a neck through body construction made up of alternating lengthwise pieces of maple and walnut. Consequently, it's a rather heavy instrument. I was afraid that the JB might be a bit too bright for it, but the maple seems to be offset by the walnut, and although there's plenty of top end response from the JB, it's not overpowering, and there's still quite a bit of bass articulation as well. With the coil tapped, it does a fairly decent Tele impersonation although not quite. Full on with distortion, it's a screamer.
The '59 that I put in the neck position is also a 4-conductor pickup. As mentioned earlier, I like a lower output pup in the neck. The 59 seemed to fit the bill. With the tone control rolled all the way off, I can cop some convincing Wes Montgomery type tones, but still articulate and clear, possibly due again to the maple. I must admit that I can't tell a lot of tonal difference with the coils split, maybe a trifle less "woman".
Something that I was toying with when I had them installed was a type of Peter Green modification, and I had the pickups installed out of phase with each other, since I rarely use both together on this particular instrument. The result was interesting. With both pickups in full on mode, there is a slight "out of phase" squawkiness, which, while not unpleasing, isn't very useful. However with both pups split, they're immediately out of phase and produces a very nice "lead/middle" Strat combination, which comes in handy for the odd Brooks & Dunn "Neon Moon" type of tone.
Sorry, ArtieToo, I'm not really used to doing reviews. Hope that was what you were looking for!
