Neck match for Allan Holdsworth?

[Masta' C]

Re: Neck match for Allan Holdsworth?

Have the Custom Shop wind you a "Jazz Bridge Model" with the double fillister screw coils to match the Holdsworth

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Neck match for Allan Holdsworth?

I'll run all your ideas by him and let you know what he says.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Neck match for Allan Holdsworth?

Yeah, the high output pickups he was using sort of stopped back in the 80s, really....his best tone came after that, which was the neck double-screw 59 (but in the bridge). His playing became a lot more dynamic, and chord-based around that time, too. Anything after 'Sand' doesn't sound like a high output pickup to me at all. The other thing is, that he changed gear a lot. I wouldn't be surprised if he tinkered with pickups all the time. His sound is so wrapped up in his technique and his musical 'language' that I don't even think what pickup he used matters as much.

 

[Masta' C]

Re: Neck match for Allan Holdsworth?

Yeah, the high output pickups he was using sort of stopped back in the 80s, really....his best tone came after that, which was the neck double-screw 59 (but in the bridge). His playing became a lot more dynamic, and chord-based around that time, too. Anything after 'Sand' doesn't sound like a high output pickup to me at all. The other thing is, that he changed gear a lot. I wouldn't be surprised if he tinkered with pickups all the time. His sound is so wrapped up in his technique and his musical 'language' that I don't even think what pickup he used matters as much.

True that!

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Neck match for Allan Holdsworth?

His sound is so wrapped up in his technique and his musical 'language' that I don't even think what pickup he used matters as much.

I'm similar, where I care more technique and precision over the guitar's tone itself, because with the right equalizer, you can get close enough to any tone that the audience won't notice the difference. I just mess around with gear because it's fun to do, even though as a guitar player I'm really the only one who notices. My non-guitar buddies can't tell the difference between a Seth Lover and an Invader.

I think if many of us spent half the time we spend making awesome gear making awesome music, we'd be famous by now.

 

[Masta' C]

Re: Neck match for Allan Holdsworth?

I think if many of us spent half the time we spend making awesome gear making awesome music, we'd be famous by now.

True that!

LOL

Seriously, though...look into a custom wound "Jazz Bridge" model for the neck. It's the Holdsworth's secret soulmate

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Neck match for Allan Holdsworth?

An almost Jazz with an almost JB? Sounds like a match made in heaven. :lmao:

 

[beaubrummels]

Re: Neck match for Allan Holdsworth?

In the Custom Shop, MJ actually winds the Holdsworth a bit, dare I say, "hotter" today than most of the original versions from the 1980s. In other words, you can expect a modern, standard-spaced Custom Shop Holdsworth to regularly appear in the low 17K DCR range compared with an upper-16K wind for the original ones. Newer trem-spaced models regularly hit around 18K, which is noticeably higher than MJ currently winds/rewinds a JB, which typically ends up a tad over 17K in trem-spacing.

Knowing that DCR doesn't equal output and that pickups are wound to a turn count not DCR, I can't help but wonder if it's just an artifact of, or if she is compensating for, the wire they are getting these days to make it _sound_ the same as the old ones.

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Neck match for Allan Holdsworth?

A slightly off topic question, but do trem spaced pickups sound different than standard spaced? Because from what I gather from information posted earlier in this thread is that trembuckers should sound different.
This might be a case of lack of more info, but pickups being wound to a turn count seems like that would end up with more wire on the bobbin for trembuckers due to their wider pole spacing. Do they do some magic to limit the variation of the tones? Because I've never heard a difference.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Neck match for Allan Holdsworth?

Yeah, they technically sound different. But by the time I'd take one out and test it with a non-trembucker, I wouldn't hear it. Maybe some people can, but the difference is small.

 

[gregory]

Re: Neck match for Allan Holdsworth?

I don't know that I would be able to tell the difference in a well-controlled, double-blind test, but in addition to the geometry being slightly different, every trembucker I've opened also had grounded copper shielding around each coil.

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Neck match for Allan Holdsworth?

I got an odd 59/Custom TB one time where the 59 coil was shielded, but the Custom was not.

 

[metalchurch79]

Re: Neck match for Allan Holdsworth?

An almost Jazz with an almost JB? Sounds like a match made in heaven. :lmao:

Hahaha, yea pretty much man! So that in itself is unique, so I guess you're onto something there. Whatever you choose, it will be unique and you won't be likely to run across someone with the same pickup set that's for sure.
I admire you taking an alternative route any trying something different!
You'll have to report an update once you make your decision, and also when you get them installed. I know I'll be interested in checking back on this.

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Neck match for Allan Holdsworth?

I talked to him about it and I think it sounds like a great idea. I'll report back with results as soon as it comes in.

 

[Masta' C]

Re: Neck match for Allan Holdsworth?

Knowing that DCR doesn't equal output and that pickups are wound to a turn count not DCR, I can't help but wonder if it's just an artifact of, or if she is compensating for, the wire they are getting these days to make it _sound_ the same as the old ones.

I've thought about both possibilities. Who knows!

 

[gregory]

Re: Neck match for Allan Holdsworth?

The Duncan/Ibanez HB-103B is double long screw, trem-spaced and "weighs-in" at ~16.0k. I doubt the hex heads make any significant difference. The screws are chrome on the outside. I have zero clue if the composition differs on the inside and haven't spent any time swapping anything to see if it makes a difference. I suspect the threading is metric as I do remember having difficulty trying to thread them into other coils.

It's a very good pickup, and I am hesitant to claim (or believe claims) that the coils are inferior because they weren't wound in Santa Barbara. I think I like it better with an A2 than the 0.125" ceramic, but that's me. I'd be curious to try it with a RUA5, but half is currently sharing a base plate with Custom screw coil, waiting for a guitar.

 

[Masta' C]

Re: Neck match for Allan Holdsworth?

The Duncan/Ibanez HB-103B...I'd be curious to try it with a RUA5, but half is currently sharing a base plate with Custom screw coil, waiting for a guitar.

Well, if you want another one, I have a nice used Duncan/Ibanez HB-103B I'd sell you I also have a couple brand new HB-112B pickups, which are the exact same pickup as the Duncan/Ibanez branded version, but feature black hex poles like the Screamin' Demon instead of chrome.

Seriously, though...what was the point of your post? Doesn't really apply to the OP's questions outside of both coils having screw poles. Is that why you brought up the Duncan/Ibanez?

 

[Masta' C]

Re: Neck match for Allan Holdsworth?

A slightly off topic question, but do trem spaced pickups sound different than standard spaced? Because from what I gather from information posted earlier in this thread is that trembuckers should sound different.
This might be a case of lack of more info, but pickups being wound to a turn count seems like that would end up with more wire on the bobbin for trembuckers due to their wider pole spacing. Do they do some magic to limit the variation of the tones? Because I've never heard a difference.

The general consensus among the gurus is that there is "no" real discernible difference. Some will argue to the contrary and every once in a while, even I think I can tell a tiny difference (I have one guitar whose spacing is right in between), but it's never enough to warrant choosing one spacing over the other based on sound alone.

If my guitar is F-spaced, I go with a Trembucker because that ensures that the magnetic field coming off of the poles is properly centered on my strings. If it's G-spaced, I go with a standard spaced version for the same reason.

Honestly, keeping your strings in the "sweet spot" of a pickup's magnetic field makes a much bigger difference than any physical differences between an F- vs G-spaced version of the same pickup

 

[gregory]

Re: Neck match for Allan Holdsworth?

I thought I'd throw you a bone to help you sell your pickup, and no(!), I don't want it. I take it you don't think it sounds anything like a Holdsworth bridge despite a similar construction and slightly weaker wind(?).

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Neck match for Allan Holdsworth?

How much is your asking price? I don't want it now, but maybe later when I get bored.