NGD: Iceman in the house. (New to me.)

Re: NGD: Iceman in the house. (New to me.)

Thanks Kac. And not meaning to change my own topic, but we've got to talk Trey into showing pics of his project that was in the back of his car. Very sweet. ;)

Ha! Well, it's going to be on the back burner for a week or so--but here's the pic of what part of the trade deal with Artie is going in:

View attachment 60327

I'll update that thread once I get pics of both pickups in it--the Dimebucker from Artie (thank you Artie!) is going in the bridge of this axe :D
 
Re: NGD: Iceman in the house. (New to me.)

I'm thinkin' . . . tight, clean and percussive. (Can I get some meat, too?)

The Screamin Demon was tight and clean in the bridge of this Iceman...I don't know about "percussive" though.

Best of luck on finding the tone and keep us updated!


EDIT: From SD's website: "This pickup was designed in the Custom Shop to provide the big open sound of our '59 Model with a little less bite and a little more growl. The tone is big, percussivewith a defined treble response that doesn't get harsh. It uses one row of allen screws and one row of standard slotted screws for a unique "airy" sound. Comes with four-conductor hookup cable." From Musician's Friends website: "The Seymour Duncan SH-12 Humbucker Pickup screams like a banshee or purrs like a kitten. Push it for a tone rich in harmonics and sustain; or back off for a fat, sassy, clean sound. 4 conductor."

I thought of it as tight but SD is describing it as big and open... perhaps I don't know what I'm talking about/trying to describe...? :kabong:
 
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Re: NGD: Iceman in the house. (New to me.)

The Screamin Demon was tight and clean in the bridge of this Iceman...I don't know about "percussive" though.

Best of luck on finding the tone and keep us updated!


EDIT: From SD's website: "This pickup was designed in the Custom Shop to provide the big open sound of our '59 Model with a little less bite and a little more growl. The tone is big, percussivewith a defined treble response that doesn't get harsh. It uses one row of allen screws and one row of standard slotted screws for a unique "airy" sound. Comes with four-conductor hookup cable." From Musician's Friends website: "The Seymour Duncan SH-12 Humbucker Pickup screams like a banshee or purrs like a kitten. Push it for a tone rich in harmonics and sustain; or back off for a fat, sassy, clean sound. 4 conductor."

I thought of it as tight but SD is describing it as big and open... perhaps I don't know what I'm talking about/trying to describe...? :kabong:

TONEWORDS. I have always equated tight and clean with a percussive sound. Others don't I guess? My guitarist uses the word "punchy" when he has too much bass. What many of us would call muddy or boomy or bassy etc... he calls punchy, which usually means a quicker and more immediate bass response around here; a tighter bass that is usually more restrained, not like some kind of sound where you dime the bass on your amp. So if he comes here asking for a pickup recommendation and used the words that he found fit to describe the sound in his head, he would likely get recommended something that would not even be close to what he wants. There should be a collaborative glossary for tonewords. I have been thinking about making a thread for one for a while.
 
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Re: NGD: Iceman in the house. (New to me.)

TONEWORDS. I have always equated tight and clean with a percussive sound. Others don't I guess? My guitarist uses the word "punchy" when he has too much bass. What many of us would call muddy or boomy or bassy etc... he calls punchy, which to us means a quicker and more immediate bass response; a tighter bass that is usually more restrained, not like some kind of sound where you dime the bass on your amp. So if he comes here asking for a pickup recommendation and used the words that he found fit to describe the sound in his head, he would likely get recommended something that would not even be close to what he wants. There should be a collaborative glossary for tonewords. I have been thinking about making a thread for one for a while.

Haha, this is so true. It would help until someone comes along asking for a "punchy, boomy, percussive, piercing, rolled treble tone with a tight bass and flabby low end that drops panties and gets bras thrown on stage".

The response would have to be along the lines of good luck with that dude.

Seriously though, tonewords seem to be getting as subjective as the subject itself these days.
 
Re: NGD: Iceman in the house. (New to me.)

TONEWORDS. I have always equated tight and clean with a percussive sound. Others don't I guess? My guitarist uses the word "punchy" when he has too much bass. What many of us would call muddy or boomy or bassy etc... he calls punchy, which usually means a quicker and more immediate bass response around here; a tighter bass that is usually more restrained, not like some kind of sound where you dime the bass on your amp. So if he comes here asking for a pickup recommendation and used the words that he found fit to describe the sound in his head, he would likely get recommended something that would not even be close to what he wants. There should be a collaborative glossary for tonewords. I have been thinking about making a thread for one for a while.

Haha, this is so true. It would help until someone comes along asking for a "punchy, boomy, percussive, piercing, rolled treble tone with a tight bass and flabby low end that drops panties and gets bras thrown on stage".

The response would have to be along the lines of good luck with that dude.

Seriously though, tonewords seem to be getting as subjective as the subject itself these days.

I agree with both.

Here is something from SD: http://www.seymourduncan.com/blog/the-tone-garage/dictionary-of-tone-terms/

When describing tone, many guitar players use a myriad of terms to describe the sonic qualities they perceive I want to take a closer look at some of those terms and try to explain what they mean. It is worth mentioning that most terms relate to ‘feel’; the feel a pickup gives you is crucial to the tone you perceive. I will attempt to describe some of the most and more often used tonal descriptions.

Aggressive – An aggressive tone is very energetic and forward. Everything you play seems to ‘hit’ you in the face vigorously. It has a lot of everything, too: lots of highs mids and lows, lots of output. The lows are generally very tight, the highs seem to have a lot of bite and cut to it and there’s a huge amount of midrange, designed to really push your amp to the edge.

Airy - Airy is a bit like flutey, but with less mids and even more articulation. Sits in between flutey and bright.

Articulation - Articulation is about how the notes are separated from each other. Some pickups show each note extremely clear, others are less defined. A very articulated tone is often quite bright and clean and can be flutey but is less likely to be creamy.

Attack – When every note starts very ‘sharp’ where ‘sharp’ has no relation to the pitch. Each note has a clearly defined, sharp, clear-cut start.

Bloom – This term is being used a lot with vintage styled pickups and means that the note ‘opens up’ (blooms, like a flower) when you hit the note. As if it gains a bit of power and volume after the initial pick.

Bright - Bright is the opposite of muffled and mushy: it has a lot of high end. Brightness doesn’t necessarily mean that the high end is harsh or biting, it just has a lot of it. Brightness can also mean that it’s very articulated (i.e.: clearly separated notes). Brightness and articulation can be used to mean the same thing.

Chunky – A powerful low end with a push in the lower mid range, giving you a solid feel.

Creamy - Creamy is usually used for the tone of neck pickups, but a bridge pickup can have that characteristic as well. It usually means that the notes flow together smoothly, without emphasis on the highs, but with a push in the mid range, giving that fluid feel. It’s almost as if legato runs flow out of your fingers by themselves. It should not be confused with ‘muffled’, which means that the voice of the tone is muffled as if you’re speaking with your hand in front of your mouth. It’s just about the way the notes flow together.

Compressed – Little or no difference in output. The lower output levels are bumped and the peaks are lowered. A compressed feel makes it quite easy to do complicated techniques like tapping and artificial harmonics.

Cutting through the mix – The mix means the sound the entire band makes. Cutting through the mix means that your tone stands out in that mix, like that little speck of garlic in a stew. You don’t need a lot of it (in guitar-terms: volume) to stand out.

Djent – This refers to a heavily distorted guitar that is being palm muted with staccato playing and produces a sound similar to dj-ent. It was coined and popularized by the metal band Meshuggah. Some people use this term to describe a style of music.

Fat - Fat is what happens just before the tone gets mushy. It has a lot of lows and lower mids but with enough clarity to not be swamped in the mix or in your own tone.

Floppy – A tone that’s overall not tight with a very loose, flexible feel.

Flutey – Flutey is a difficult term to describe. It often refers to the neck pickup and usually entails a specific kind of clarity. A flutey pickup stays clean, no matter how much distortion you dial in. It has a feel a bit like you’re blowing over the edge of a bottle; that’s the flutey thing going on! Joe Bonamassa has an amazing tone, and his neck pickup surely has that ‘flutey’ quality that’s being coveted by many players.

Growl – Some tones seem to have a lot of push in the lower mids, but retain a lot of their clarity. Growl perfectly describes that tone. It’s not really aggressive, it just growls, like a bear!

Juicy – Juicy is much like creamy, but a bit less thick. A creamy pickup can be a bit too unclear in some guitars, and a ‘juicy’ pickup will go a long way to be creamy, but has some ‘flutey’ qualities too.

Hot – If the tone has a lot of output and makes your amp distort more or more easily, ‘hot’ is the term that’s being used. Generally speaking, ‘hot’ pickups have a higher DC and a stronger magnet (ceramic, alnico 5 or alnico 8).

Icepick – A sharp tone with a lot of highs and upper mids that cut through the mix and sometimes can be even considered painful to the ear. If I recall, the term Icepick is shortened from ‘icepick through the head’, or similar.

Mushy/Muddy – When your tone has a lot of low end but lacks articulation, mushy or muddy is the term. The difference between the two is that muddy lacks even more clarity and mushy has even more emphasis on the low end.

Sizzle/fizz – If your tone simply don’t want to be clean up in the highs. If it’s just a little bit (which many players prefer), it’s called sizzle. If it’s a lot, it’s fizzy. It doesn’t mean that the tone has a lot of highs, just that it has a rough feel to the highs.

Twang – As the ‘quack’ is unique to the Strat, the twang is very unique to the Telecaster. If the quack has a scoop in the upper mids and a slight boost in the lows with softer highs, the twang has a scoop in the lower mids and a boost in the highs. The boost in highs can be experienced as an icepick in your ear, but this isn’t always the case. Twang isn’t just a lot of highs and upper mids, though. It also has a slight ‘nasal’ quality to it, that seems very hard to be reproduced in other guitars, just as the quack seems to be unique to the stratocaster.

Quack – A tone unique to the Stratocaster and happens only with the middle pickup engaged with either of the outer pickups. A quacky tone has a distinct scoop in the middle and has a voice reminiscent of a duck, hence the term quack.

Vintage – Vintage can refer to output (the opposite of hot) or tone. A vintage tone is often quite clean with a bump in the midrange and upper mids, lot of clarity, soft lows and sweet highs. Generally speaking, ‘vintage’ tones are achieved via pickups with less DC resistance and a magnet that isn’t as strong as an alnico 5, Alnico 8 or a ceramic.

Warm – A warm tone always has a lot of lows and lower mids. The term does not denote, however, the clarity of the tone. A warm tone can thus be very clear or muddy. Both are warm, just a different kind of warm.

Woofy / Boomy – Woofy and boomy are quite similar, but boomy is a bit tighter than woofy. Nevertheless, both have a lot of lows. It doesn’t mean that the lows aren’t tight (because usually, they are if one of these terms is being used), just that there’s a lot of it in an disproportionate way.
 
Re: NGD: Iceman in the house. (New to me.)

I agree with both.

Here is something from SD: http://www.seymourduncan.com/blog/the-tone-garage/dictionary-of-tone-terms/

When describing tone, many guitar players use a myriad of terms to describe the sonic qualities they perceive I want to take a closer look at some of those terms and try to explain what they mean. It is worth mentioning that most terms relate to ‘feel’; the feel a pickup gives you is crucial to the tone you perceive. I will attempt to describe some of the most and more often used tonal descriptions.

Aggressive – An aggressive tone is very energetic and forward. Everything you play seems to ‘hit’ you in the face vigorously. It has a lot of everything, too: lots of highs mids and lows, lots of output. The lows are generally very tight, the highs seem to have a lot of bite and cut to it and there’s a huge amount of midrange, designed to really push your amp to the edge.

Airy - Airy is a bit like flutey, but with less mids and even more articulation. Sits in between flutey and bright.

Articulation - Articulation is about how the notes are separated from each other. Some pickups show each note extremely clear, others are less defined. A very articulated tone is often quite bright and clean and can be flutey but is less likely to be creamy.

Attack – When every note starts very ‘sharp’ where ‘sharp’ has no relation to the pitch. Each note has a clearly defined, sharp, clear-cut start.

Bloom – This term is being used a lot with vintage styled pickups and means that the note ‘opens up’ (blooms, like a flower) when you hit the note. As if it gains a bit of power and volume after the initial pick.

Bright - Bright is the opposite of muffled and mushy: it has a lot of high end. Brightness doesn’t necessarily mean that the high end is harsh or biting, it just has a lot of it. Brightness can also mean that it’s very articulated (i.e.: clearly separated notes). Brightness and articulation can be used to mean the same thing.

Chunky – A powerful low end with a push in the lower mid range, giving you a solid feel.

Creamy - Creamy is usually used for the tone of neck pickups, but a bridge pickup can have that characteristic as well. It usually means that the notes flow together smoothly, without emphasis on the highs, but with a push in the mid range, giving that fluid feel. It’s almost as if legato runs flow out of your fingers by themselves. It should not be confused with ‘muffled’, which means that the voice of the tone is muffled as if you’re speaking with your hand in front of your mouth. It’s just about the way the notes flow together.

Compressed – Little or no difference in output. The lower output levels are bumped and the peaks are lowered. A compressed feel makes it quite easy to do complicated techniques like tapping and artificial harmonics.

Cutting through the mix – The mix means the sound the entire band makes. Cutting through the mix means that your tone stands out in that mix, like that little speck of garlic in a stew. You don’t need a lot of it (in guitar-terms: volume) to stand out.

Djent – This refers to a heavily distorted guitar that is being palm muted with staccato playing and produces a sound similar to dj-ent. It was coined and popularized by the metal band Meshuggah. Some people use this term to describe a style of music.

Fat - Fat is what happens just before the tone gets mushy. It has a lot of lows and lower mids but with enough clarity to not be swamped in the mix or in your own tone.

Floppy – A tone that’s overall not tight with a very loose, flexible feel.

Flutey – Flutey is a difficult term to describe. It often refers to the neck pickup and usually entails a specific kind of clarity. A flutey pickup stays clean, no matter how much distortion you dial in. It has a feel a bit like you’re blowing over the edge of a bottle; that’s the flutey thing going on! Joe Bonamassa has an amazing tone, and his neck pickup surely has that ‘flutey’ quality that’s being coveted by many players.

Growl – Some tones seem to have a lot of push in the lower mids, but retain a lot of their clarity. Growl perfectly describes that tone. It’s not really aggressive, it just growls, like a bear!

Juicy – Juicy is much like creamy, but a bit less thick. A creamy pickup can be a bit too unclear in some guitars, and a ‘juicy’ pickup will go a long way to be creamy, but has some ‘flutey’ qualities too.

Hot – If the tone has a lot of output and makes your amp distort more or more easily, ‘hot’ is the term that’s being used. Generally speaking, ‘hot’ pickups have a higher DC and a stronger magnet (ceramic, alnico 5 or alnico 8).

Icepick – A sharp tone with a lot of highs and upper mids that cut through the mix and sometimes can be even considered painful to the ear. If I recall, the term Icepick is shortened from ‘icepick through the head’, or similar.

Mushy/Muddy – When your tone has a lot of low end but lacks articulation, mushy or muddy is the term. The difference between the two is that muddy lacks even more clarity and mushy has even more emphasis on the low end.

Sizzle/fizz – If your tone simply don’t want to be clean up in the highs. If it’s just a little bit (which many players prefer), it’s called sizzle. If it’s a lot, it’s fizzy. It doesn’t mean that the tone has a lot of highs, just that it has a rough feel to the highs.

Twang – As the ‘quack’ is unique to the Strat, the twang is very unique to the Telecaster. If the quack has a scoop in the upper mids and a slight boost in the lows with softer highs, the twang has a scoop in the lower mids and a boost in the highs. The boost in highs can be experienced as an icepick in your ear, but this isn’t always the case. Twang isn’t just a lot of highs and upper mids, though. It also has a slight ‘nasal’ quality to it, that seems very hard to be reproduced in other guitars, just as the quack seems to be unique to the stratocaster.

Quack – A tone unique to the Stratocaster and happens only with the middle pickup engaged with either of the outer pickups. A quacky tone has a distinct scoop in the middle and has a voice reminiscent of a duck, hence the term quack.

Vintage – Vintage can refer to output (the opposite of hot) or tone. A vintage tone is often quite clean with a bump in the midrange and upper mids, lot of clarity, soft lows and sweet highs. Generally speaking, ‘vintage’ tones are achieved via pickups with less DC resistance and a magnet that isn’t as strong as an alnico 5, Alnico 8 or a ceramic.

Warm – A warm tone always has a lot of lows and lower mids. The term does not denote, however, the clarity of the tone. A warm tone can thus be very clear or muddy. Both are warm, just a different kind of warm.

Woofy / Boomy – Woofy and boomy are quite similar, but boomy is a bit tighter than woofy. Nevertheless, both have a lot of lows. It doesn’t mean that the lows aren’t tight (because usually, they are if one of these terms is being used), just that there’s a lot of it in an disproportionate way.

Yeah see? Loves all that.
 
Re: NGD: Iceman in the house. (New to me.)

Then you're doing it wrong.

Also have you considered the Full Shred?

On the 1st part, yes, I get it. On the 2nd part, absolutely. (Got one right here. Hybrid, that is.)

Ha! Well, it's going to be on the back burner for a week or so--but here's the pic of what part of the trade deal with Artie is going in:

View attachment 60327

I'll update that thread once I get pics of both pickups in it--the Dimebucker from Artie (thank you Artie!) is going in the bridge of this axe :D

Wow! Forgive me Trey. Somehow I missed the part of the conversation where this was the axe you were putting the Dime into. It's even more cool knowing that. (And as God is my witness, I only drank half of my margarita.)

The Screamin Demon was tight and clean in the bridge of this Iceman...

I'm definitely thinking along those lines.

It would help until someone comes along asking for a "punchy, boomy, percussive, piercing, rolled treble tone with a tight bass and flabby low end that drops panties and gets bras thrown on stage".

That's what I'm going for . . . minus the panties and bras. It would probably be my own grandmother. :guilty:

I agree with both.

Great post. (I won't quote the whole thang.) ;)

Thanks for the great feedback all. But, I'm still going to try the Duncan Designed "Distortions" and "59's" first. They're on the shelf. ;)
But I suspect a Screamin' Demon is somewhere in my future.
 
Re: NGD: Iceman in the house. (New to me.)

Btw, I think I just found what's going in here first . . . while tidying my crib:

GFS_Dream_90_Tuxedo.jpg

[URL="http://www.guitarfetish.com/Dream-90-Tuxedo-Pearl-White-with-Gloss-Black-trim-_c_145.html]GFS Dream 90's in "Tuxedo"[/URL]

Maybe sweet. :)
 
Re: NGD: Iceman in the house. (New to me.)

Btw, I think I just found what's going in here first . . . while tidying my crib:



Maybe sweet. :)

A former bandmate of mine used to have a set of those in a PRS SE he had. They were awesome pickups for the money!
 
Re: NGD: Iceman in the house. (New to me.)

That's good to hear. These will go in as soon as I get these pesky customers out of the way. :D
 
Re: NGD: Iceman in the house. (New to me.)

Wow! Forgive me Trey. Somehow I missed the part of the conversation where this was the axe you were putting the Dime into. It's even more cool knowing that. (And as God is my witness, I only drank half of my margarita.)

Ha! You mean half of the biggest medium margarita I've seen ;) lol No worries at all–I can be forgetful at times so I might have thought I told you but never did. lol

Hope those pickups work out great for you! The Iceman shape is probably one if not the most comfortable guitars I've played–I hope you get a lot of great use out of it!
 
Re: NGD: Iceman in the house. (New to me.)

Yeah, the shape is comfortable. Same reason I like my Bich Warlock. Looks metal, feels nice.
 
Re: NGD: Iceman in the house. (New to me.)

Added the Dream 90's tonight. I love how it sounds, but it really needs new pots and switch. Not a big deal. I planned on that. Here's the crappy cell-phone pic. Better ones coming this coming week when the sun is out. But . . . they look, and sound, killer in there.

P.S. GFS list the DCR as 8.4k bridge and 8.2k neck. I measured 7.74k neck and 9.09k bridge. That was after stabilizing in a temp and humidity controlled cal lab for 48 hours, then measured with an HP 3458A DMM. (I trust my readings.) ;)

Iceman_Dream-90.jpg
 
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Re: NGD: Iceman in the house. (New to me.)

Damn that looks awesome!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Re: NGD: Iceman in the house. (New to me.)

Cool. But before I spend real cash, I think I might throw a set of Duncan Designed Distortions in there. (HB-103's) I also have the HB-101's. (59 set.) Sometimes, inexpensive pups go great with inexpensive guitars. (Notice, I didn't say "cheap".) ;)

I have a Dimebucker in my Iceman it is BRUTAL!
 
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