Livewire label identification
- Thread starter idsnowdog
- Start date
allstarrme
New member
Are there colored bands on the lead wire anywhere?
They used a black band on the metal and blue or yellow on the livewire classics depending on the position.
I’ve never seen a metal version of the neck either. Maybe they changed over the years, they weren’t good sellers.
They used a black band on the metal and blue or yellow on the livewire classics depending on the position.
I’ve never seen a metal version of the neck either. Maybe they changed over the years, they weren’t good sellers.
idsnowdog
Imperator of Indignation
The neck has a blue band. The bridge doesn't have one. I'm relatively sure they are both Livewire Classics. The bridge HB-LW-B is easy to decode Humbucker-LiveWire-Bridge and I would think the neck would just be HB-LW-N. I just don't understand what the acronym HMNHB-LW-N means for the neck? So does HMNHB stand for Heavy Metal Neck Humbucker?
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allstarrme
New member
I had to look on reverb to get it right, the livewire classic bridge had a yellow band, and the classic neck had a blue band.
There was never a metal neck from what I recall, you just used a classic or left your passive neck pickup in place and added a resistor to the active one to get the values to work. Maybe they sold a pair of the classic neck with the metal bridge and called it the heavy metal set?
There’s not much information left on these, maybe someone from the company could tell you what that means. How do they sound?
There was never a metal neck from what I recall, you just used a classic or left your passive neck pickup in place and added a resistor to the active one to get the values to work. Maybe they sold a pair of the classic neck with the metal bridge and called it the heavy metal set?
There’s not much information left on these, maybe someone from the company could tell you what that means. How do they sound?
idsnowdog
Imperator of Indignation
I installed them today in my old Charvel model 3 and they a fairly well balanced from one to to another. The pickguard has a humbucker at the bridge and middle position like a Kramer Nightswan. If as I suspect these are the classic set they are plenty powerful and it's hard to imagine what a Livewire Metal would sound like. They are almost as powerful as Blackouts and much more powerful than EMGs. The middle position has a thick and powerful doom tone but a GFS Red Active might be a better option because they have DIP switches to boost bass, treble, and volume. The treble boost might be useful.
idsnowdog
Imperator of Indignation
I looked up that code and other people have similar codes https://forum.seymourduncan.com/for...p-on-metal-live-wire-humbucker-set#post180846 . It's possible the code doesn't stand for what I think it does and that's why I was asking if anyone knew for sure. It isn't any hotter than the bridge which I believe is a classic bridge. It's sad that SD doesn't keep better records and they have such high turnover that nobody can identify them. When I have written to Dimarzio about mystery pickups I have gotten emails from Steve Blucher who has been able to identify them without much trouble. But he's been with them since the beginning and their website lists former products.
idsnowdog
Imperator of Indignation
I finished setting up the Livewires today on the Charvel. I added an EMG BTC control to the guitar and its very useful for tweaking the final tone. I have heard of the Blackouts described as a seething, slobbering, drunken, giants and the Livewires are too. They sound seething and hateful in a guitar tuned to C#.
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