"Rails" characteristics?
- Thread starter Artie
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tone4days
Heel Whacker
Re: "Rails" characteristics?
i can only speak from limited experience with my duckbucker which i was told is essentially the same pickup as the vintage rails .. there is a pretty substantial 'drop off' in signal strength as you bend the string (i.e. causing the string to move from its position over the (teeny tiny) pole pieces) .. i assume that if i had the VR, the signal strength would not drop off as the rail 'poil piece' would keep picking up signal irrespective of lateral position ... i do not consider this a terrible problem because a) i love the tone of the duckbucker, b) i dont bend alot when using it - i mostly use it for rhythm, and c) i raised the pickup as high as i comfortably could so the effect is less noticeable
to back this up somewhat, i do have 2 very sweet mid-80's Bill Lawrence 500XLs in my Ibanez Artist AM-50 semihollow .. the signal response is consistent when bending - no drop off at all
i'll be interested in hearing what other folks have to say
hope this helps
cheers,
t4d
i can only speak from limited experience with my duckbucker which i was told is essentially the same pickup as the vintage rails .. there is a pretty substantial 'drop off' in signal strength as you bend the string (i.e. causing the string to move from its position over the (teeny tiny) pole pieces) .. i assume that if i had the VR, the signal strength would not drop off as the rail 'poil piece' would keep picking up signal irrespective of lateral position ... i do not consider this a terrible problem because a) i love the tone of the duckbucker, b) i dont bend alot when using it - i mostly use it for rhythm, and c) i raised the pickup as high as i comfortably could so the effect is less noticeable
to back this up somewhat, i do have 2 very sweet mid-80's Bill Lawrence 500XLs in my Ibanez Artist AM-50 semihollow .. the signal response is consistent when bending - no drop off at all
i'll be interested in hearing what other folks have to say
hope this helps
cheers,
t4d
Last edited:
Re: "Rails" characteristics?
There may be 1 more reason, and the main reason I use rails on single size pups-
Apparently 2 rails see more of the string than 1, and this provides more of a humbucker sound..ie you are getting a wider range of harmonics- I almost can get a minihumbucker sound out of my joe bardens with both rails on full-
When I roll off the 2nd coil, the sound gets much more strat like and I believe that a lot of this is due to this factor and I really like the contrast-
There may be 1 more reason, and the main reason I use rails on single size pups-
Apparently 2 rails see more of the string than 1, and this provides more of a humbucker sound..ie you are getting a wider range of harmonics- I almost can get a minihumbucker sound out of my joe bardens with both rails on full-
When I roll off the 2nd coil, the sound gets much more strat like and I believe that a lot of this is due to this factor and I really like the contrast-
Kommerzbassist
Thunderbirdologist
Re: "Rails" characteristics?
Hmm I looked at this problem when you said that before, but this seems strange to me because if you have a normal SC Pup with Polepieces, you'll also bend the string off the Poles and it doesn't drop in volume... I have no experiences whith the non-rail SC HBs, but I cant imagine it's that difference between having normal and the Duck's adjustable Polepieces...
tone4days said:
Hmm I looked at this problem when you said that before, but this seems strange to me because if you have a normal SC Pup with Polepieces, you'll also bend the string off the Poles and it doesn't drop in volume... I have no experiences whith the non-rail SC HBs, but I cant imagine it's that difference between having normal and the Duck's adjustable Polepieces...
Bluesman75
New member
Re: "Rails" characteristics?
I haven't found any tonal characteristics that are specific to blade style pickups. And I've never had problems with volume loss while bending over pole style pickups (unless my strings are too low and the "fret out" - but that's not a pickup issue).
I own some blade style pickups simply because I like their overall tone and they just HAPPEN to have blades instead of poles.
I haven't found any tonal characteristics that are specific to blade style pickups. And I've never had problems with volume loss while bending over pole style pickups (unless my strings are too low and the "fret out" - but that's not a pickup issue).
I own some blade style pickups simply because I like their overall tone and they just HAPPEN to have blades instead of poles.
The New Guy
New member
Re: "Rails" characteristics?
+1
Bluesman75 said:
+1
JB_From_Hell
Jomo's Nimions
Re: "Rails" characteristics?
This would be easier to figure out if they made a Distortion with or w/o blades, or the Dimebucker w/ poles.Bluesman75 said:
Empty Pockets
BadHairDayologist
Re: "Rails" characteristics?
I just like Rails, i'd like someday to have a Jackson/Charvel/Fender/Something with three Hot Rails...and i've been rolling over the thought in my head as to whether or not to call up the Custom Shop for a full-size Hot Rails for my Warmoth...
I just like Rails, i'd like someday to have a Jackson/Charvel/Fender/Something with three Hot Rails...and i've been rolling over the thought in my head as to whether or not to call up the Custom Shop for a full-size Hot Rails for my Warmoth...
Quencho092
New member
Re: "Rails" characteristics?
they should make a rails PAF style humbucker but with a full nickel cover....or a slit for one of the rails to show....
they should make a rails PAF style humbucker but with a full nickel cover....or a slit for one of the rails to show....
BlueGuitar
New member
Re: "Rails" characteristics?
FWIW the polepieces on a normal SC pup are magnets, while the screws on a Duckbucker are considerably smaller than those of a PAF-style humbucker. But I'm not sure if that would cause drop-outs when bending...
Now I have a Hot Rails pickup in one of my Tele's and the rail closest to the bridge extends only as far as the high E string, while the rail closest to the neck does not extend much beyond the low E string. Because of this the volume of the high and low E strings is slightly lower than that of the other strings- not necessarily a bad thing.
In any case the high E string will increase in volume as you bend it up by pushing it towards the middle of the fretboard.
Kommerzbassist said:
FWIW the polepieces on a normal SC pup are magnets, while the screws on a Duckbucker are considerably smaller than those of a PAF-style humbucker. But I'm not sure if that would cause drop-outs when bending...
Now I have a Hot Rails pickup in one of my Tele's and the rail closest to the bridge extends only as far as the high E string, while the rail closest to the neck does not extend much beyond the low E string. Because of this the volume of the high and low E strings is slightly lower than that of the other strings- not necessarily a bad thing.
In any case the high E string will increase in volume as you bend it up by pushing it towards the middle of the fretboard.Similar threads
