Re: the Hy-Bro neck is in!
Ok, people; it's been an extremely unlucky, complicated, contorted and bumpy ride for me since I got the Hy-Bro prototype. But as even bad times pass, seems that's been the end of the "Hy-Bro" curse, so I finally have a whole weekend of peace and quiet to put together my thoughts and talk about my experience with the prototype.
At the beginning I didn't bond with the p'up at all. It felt as an even fatter version of a '59n with none of its virtues. I thought it was dull and uninspiring. But at the time I was using a software modeler listening to bedroom levels with a not-so-well functioning computer. It took me some time to find the "sweet spot", and it was not until I went to the studio and could play it with a certain level of volume with a "real" amp that it suddenly came to life.
At that moment I was able to match the output with the '59/Custom Hybrid on the bridge, and from that moment on, I felt I was getting somewhere.
This p'up is a MJ creation, and her "touch" was shining thoughout the whole process, kind of a "deja-vu" experience that I had with my '59n J in 2007. Once I set the polepieces to the right stagger, I was able to hear all six strings in perfect balance, with beautiful note separation, making chordwork a pleasure to work with.
Having said that, although the chords sound excellent, the area where this p'up REALLY shines is in the single-note department. As you'll hear later on, soloing with this is an experience you'll need to have for yourself. All notes cleanly jump with an unusual commanding assertivity, and it tracks to death every nuance of your playing, all the good and the bad, providing sustain for days, and the "right" articulation at every note, making expression
à la Larry Carlton an easy task.
The guitar used for this project is a 1986 Vantage DL-405, a LP Custom copy made with a mahogany neck and a body with an inch-thick maple cap. Classic Gibson specs, 24,75" scale, with the particularity that the p'ups are placed in the spots corresponding with late '50s specs, just like in the Historic series. The neck shape is a thick '59 profile, being the construction top-notch with pretty good tone-wood put to good use.
I've played several styles of music, although as I suck hard at the heavier styles, you'll be hearing what I thought it was the best played and tone-wise the most representative of the product shown: a funky backing track made by a Swedish player called Mats Nermark, who generously granted me the permission of use it for this project, a slow blues backing track and an excerpt of a Larry Carlton song. I've tried to play in a concise way and to the point, musically speaking, so I kept everything under a minute and a half, which is plenty to realize the footprint tone of the prototype.
Together with the final mix, I thought of putting at the disposal of the Forum the isolated tracks of the guitars present on every song. The "Rhythm" files were recorded in the "middle" position, meaning both the neck and the bridge together in parallel. This way you can better hear it and decide if it's something for you or not. And the opportunity to mock me to death about how bad I suck at playing!
If some of you would like to hear something specific about the p'up, and don't mind to hear a track made with a software modeler, time permetting, I might be able to fix something up for the occasion, now that Studio One is finally running smoothly as it should in that computer.
I'm open to hear from you with any questions you may have about the p'up, so just say the word and I'll try to comply to the best of my abilities.
Have fun!
HERE ARE THE AUDIO FILES
https://soundcloud.com/theodore-kojak/tracks
Yours very truly,
