Pinch harmonics and actives?

[RG 2570]

Re: Pinch harmonics and actives?

Jolly does it find with the Custom and PG so maybe I am way wrong. I still find certain pickups do a better job in my opnion.

Yeah and the funny thing is that the same pup you may find that is better to pinch harmonics on is not so great for another guy to get on the same pup
:yell:
this is very true unfortunately but is still the facts, it is how you attack the string and the guage of pick, nickel or stainless steel strings, how much presence/mids you use on the amp, how responsive the guitar you play is,and so forth.
a pup alone is not responsible for great harmonics if it were i would use THAT pup! :laugh2:

 

[papersoul]

Re: Pinch harmonics and actives?

Yeah and the funny thing is that the same pup you may find that is better to pinch harmonics on is not so great for another guy to get on the same pup
:yell:
this is very true unfortunately but is still the facts, it is how you attack the string and the guage of pick, nickel or stainless steel strings, how much presence/mids you use on the amp, how responsive the guitar you play is,and so forth.
a pup alone is not responsible for great harmonics if it were i would use THAT pup! :laugh2:

Well, I am working on my technique.....I use GHS Boomers 11-54, Dunlop 1.14 Ultex picks and I don't use a lot of treble/presence at the amp.

I just think the vibrato pinch harmonics Zakk gets in the lower registers are unreal.

 

[papersoul]

Re: Pinch harmonics and actives?

Yeah, it's in the fingers, but the right tonal emphasis helps it to jump out even more, be it amp, pedals, or pups ... Concerning EMG's I never care for them personally ... the actual idea makes great sense though .... that being that you can wind the pup to get the exact tone (bandwidth) that you want, with the exact string pull you want, and then adjust it's output separately, and make any additional tonal changes you need. Rather than the passive game of compromise of tone, string pull, and output ... as they are all effected when you change one, you chnge the others also. I think EMG's might be great for bass, or for getting a really flat (direct box) type tone.

Kent, check out these clips...all EMG
http://www.thesamhillband.com

 

[Lightning]

Re: Pinch harmonics and actives?

PaperS,

After my last post I thought someone would arrive on the scene with some real specs. When I read the article (years ago) EMGs had just come out. The 85 or what ever Zak uses came out later. I don't know if all EMGs are 2k and the preamp colors it to sound like say a vintage or a metal pickup now, but when they came out the single coil and humbucker shaped pickup were both 2k.

Sam Hill guy is obviously using the Zak one. Those EMG pres is hot, like twice the output of a DD. I think if you ran a blues driver (spanking clean boost) into a metal zone into a 900 with your BB pros I think you'd be on top of that Sam Hill guys tone.

BBs, Blues Driver, and a Tube screamer, old 4 input Marshall Y corded with the power amp bias tilted toward class A and you be on Zak.

I've seen guys 20 grand down the road realize this was the detail I I mean they missed (the Y cord/treb and bass pres in parallel).

One day Zak will come back to the later arrangement.

If I know anyone still using EMGs it's cause they haven't switched back yet.

Standard or down tuned Zak pinches mean on the fifth fret with his thumb on the node in between the pickups...where did he get that...Nugent...Rhoads.

I know Zak professes that he doesn't use a delay in the signal path (so maybe at board level?) but I hear 80? 100ms cursive r report (single repeat (we're talking flanging here)) after his pick attack.

Better yet a harmonizer 4th up and a 5th down with the pre delay set at 80 ms…It's up to you to provide the harmonic.


Give that a pinch.

PS I still think the guy that wants it all should cut another hole in his LP (LOL). Later, Chuck

 

[Oldslowhand]

Re: Pinch harmonics and actives?

I think it's mostly in the fingers but Billy Gibbons uses a metal pick just to get better pinched harmonics and I find that a hard pick makes it easyer to get them sometimes without tryin'!

 

[Kent S.]

Re: Pinch harmonics and actives?

Kent, check out these clips...all EMG
http://www.thesamhillband.com

As I've said before, I agree with the theory of them, and some people pull really good tones from them ... however in my mind, and only in my opinion, there is something *organically lacking* in them ... Sterlie? I think not, still there is something missing ... IMHO . I've got to run now, I'm doing two things at once, I'll try to check the clips later though, thanx! :cool3:

 

[Kent S.]

Re: Pinch harmonics and actives?

........................
............I know Zak professes that he doesn't use a delay in the signal path (so maybe at board level?) but I hear 80? 100ms cursive r report (single repeat (we're talking flanging here)) after his pick attack.

Really man, and maybe I'm being nitpicky here, but just like that posting I saw that confused slapback with doubling delay times ... 80ms~100ms would be considered wide doubling to short slapback in order of delay time, .5ms~20Ms is generally considered flanging; 5ms~40ms is generally considered chorusing,20ms~ 80ms is condsidered doubling, 80ms~150ms slapback, and from there on echo ... although, once again it's all an *approximate range*only.

Better yet a harmonizer 4th up and a 5th down with the pre delay set at 80 ms…It's up to you to provide the harmonic.
Later, Chuck

And a pitch shifter, or harmonizer, adds it's own character to the sound being a delay based unit ... in other words there is still a doubler type range delay introduced upon the signal ... the greater the interval (musically) from the original pitch, the greater the delay imposed. That would tend to further the effect that you are speaking of here.

 

[Lightning]

Re: Pinch harmonics and actives?

Kent,

Totally sincere when I say thanks for the technical moderation. Now that I think of it 20 to 40 ms was my blunt ice pick range. I think beer (5.5) had something to do with the increased delay time.

 

[Pepi]

Re: Pinch harmonics and actives?

They are? I personally have never thought the pickup had anything to go with getting pinch harmonics. I've always thought it was about style and technique myself.....but that's just me.:dunno:

I agree with Jolly on this. I can get very good pinch harmonics from an acoustic. :dance:

 

[RG 2570]

Re: Pinch harmonics and actives?

I just think the vibrato pinch harmonics Zakk gets in the lower registers are unreal.

ZAKK uses a lot of aggression when he does them. i am not sayin the EMG 81 does not help but it is not the sole reason for his insane harmonics.
where you hit them along the string is another big factor

FWIW, i found that the GHS brand boomers are more metallic sounding and get great harmonics try a set of them?

 

[papersoul]

Re: Pinch harmonics and actives?

ZAKK uses a lot of aggression when he does them. i am not sayin the EMG 81 does not help but it is not the sole reason for his insane harmonics.
where you hit them along the string is another big factor

FWIW, i found that the GHS brand boomers are more metallic sounding and get great harmonics try a set of them?

Good point about the GHS Boomers.....but I don't go for a metallic sound. I like warmth but clarity is essential. Maybe I'll try Dean Markley strings because for my strings to give a nice rich and warm tone is more important to me than stinging harmonics .

 

[Guitarist]

Re: Pinch harmonics and actives?

They are? I personally have never thought the pickup had anything to go with getting pinch harmonics. I've always thought it was about style and technique myself.....but that's just me.:dunno:

Definetely not the case!! I'm squealing like a MFer with my Custom, went to GC and tried out an Epi LP just to compare to mine. It was at least 5 times harder to get the kind of squeal I could get with the SH-5. Maybe it's not such a big deal when you're swapping stock Gibby pups compared to the one's in my Epi because I know you own many Pauls! (SOB...) But, in cases like mine, when you start with something like Epiphone, you definetely are a step behind in this category!

 

[Kent S.]

Re: Pinch harmonics and actives?

Kent,

Totally sincere when I say thanks for the technical moderation. Now that I think of it 20 to 40 ms was my blunt ice pick range. I think beer (5.5) had something to do with the increased delay time.

Ah, yes ... beer consumption can causes an effect known as ...*intra-neurological psycho-acoustic aural perception to cognitive communicative linguistic shift* kinda like phase shift for the brain ... I've studied the theory, and done quite a bit of field research over the years myself in regard to the subject ... :friday:

 

[fab.regnaut]

Re: Pinch harmonics and actives?

With a C5 modified with allen screws , 10 to 54 string gauge , D tuning and a VL 1002 Ampeg i get more harmonics than Wilde does on high and low strings .

 

[papersoul]

Re: Pinch harmonics and actives?

With a C5 modified with allen screws , 10 to 54 string gauge , D tuning and a VL 1002 Ampeg i get more harmonics than Wilde does on high and low strings .

I use 11-54 strings, dropped C# tuning and have used the C-5. But, what is the allen screw modification? I have heard of the dual adjustable pole pieces but not the allen screws. I actually keep all pole pieces flat as I like the thicker tone compared to radiusing the poles.

 

[Lightning]

Re: Pinch harmonics and actives?

Kent,

Hope you did your INPAAPCCLS research at a distance greater than an arm's length, I'm a living example of what happens if you get any closer.


PaperSoul,

Home Depot has 12mm x 5mm black (Metric pickups), 10-32 x 1/2, and 10-24 x 1/2 (1/2" or 5mm for alnico mags). I think Seymour's uses a 10-40 so if you can find them go for it. It really doesn't matter cause you will be cutting the threads for the first time yourself. Put some soap on a Q-tip and run it through the holes first. Also heat the screws up a little (with a lighter) and then thread them on in. You'll be looking Full Shed in no time.

Try the delay man...It's just a delay repeat until you sweep the repeat within the ranges that Kent expressed so it's not like we're saying to put chorus or flange on.

 

[southadc]

Re: Pinch harmonics and actives?

I think that pickups etc do affect how a pinched harmonic comes out at the amp end, provided you can play them.

I just dropped some EMGs into one guitar, and an EMG-SPC mid booster into another. On both guitars I find it easier to make the pinched harmonics squeal. On the one with the mid boost, I can hear the difference if I pull off a pinched harmonic and hold it while I crank up the mid.

 

[fab.regnaut]

Re: Pinch harmonics and actives?

I use 11-54 strings, dropped C# tuning and have used the C-5. But, what is the allen screw modification? I have heard of the dual adjustable pole pieces but not the allen screws. I actually keep all pole pieces flat as I like the thicker tone compared to radiusing the poles.

I just changed the six screws with six allen head screws i took from a Dimarzio Humbucker From Hell and those screws by the bridge are litteraly gaging for harmonics and make the pickup tighter and mean .
Amasing screws !!!!!