the Hy-Bro neck is in!
- Thread starter LtKojak
- Start date
LtKojak
New member
The wait is over! Testing done!
The wait is over! Testing done!
I'm finally wrapping this up, so I'll give you the skinny. For more details, just ask.
I'm falling short of presenting the Hi-gain samples that I was not able to provide at this point of time, due to circumstances out of my control, but I'm not making any excuses. I failed at that, that's on me, you can point your fingers at me all you want, me culpa, moving on.
So, I guess that at this point, you'll have to take part of my evaluation at face value, the rest is on my Soundcloud channel for you to hear and evaluate.
As you know, I have no affiliation whatsoever with the SD Co, so the only bias present in my review is due to personale taste and set of playing skills, but it IS based on actual, "hands-on" factual experience.
The goal behind this prototype was to create a NECK p'up, based on a hybrid design, to pair up both output- AND tone-wise with the production p'up known as the "'59/Custom Hybrid".
Even though the "'59/Custom Hybrid" has never been one of my all-time favorites, it IS an excellent and highly useful choice of p'up bridging that elusive gap where a '59b is too little and a Custom 5 is too much. Bach2rock's idea of matching a Custom slug bobbin with a '59b bobbin was simply genius, in both its simplicity and its effectivity. Top choice as THEE H in a H/S/S config with SSL-1s, as the quack produced when split in the 2nd position is ALMOST like having a SSL5 there, and being a great tonal match with the SSLs as a full HB.
Unfortunately, this p'up was marketed together in a "pack" of bridge p'ups for the Brutalz, so for a lot of people, it's in the same category as the DDs, BWs, etc.; where *I* don't think it belongs, as for my ears it's quite hot-vintage-sounding, having a lot of finesse and harmonic complexity that happens to get lost as the gain goes up, and remains "polite" in comparison with the others in the pack.
Having said that, that's what I think MJ had in mind when she created the Hy-Bro neck prototype as it was given to me for the test: a neck p'up for the Brutalz, designed mainly to have a liquid-feeling-single-note playing with massive gain applied, and 25,5" scaled-, 24-fretter guitars in mind.
If that was the goal, I can only say "mission accomplished", and with flying colors to boot. The attack of the pick produces great note separation for soloing and sustains for days.
However, it doesn't perform as great with 24,75" scaled, 22-fretter guitars. It's too bass-heavy to be used efficiently for chordwork; I had to set it pretty low and slanted to be able to produce the tones you can hear in the presented files in my linked Soundcloud account. Plus, a tonal- and output-wise "match" for the '59/Custom is NOT, at least in my very humble opinion but extensive experience with it.
As a neck p'up, I find it "loud and obnoxious". It does not have the "finesse" required to match the '59/Custom. It's like having an angry '59n on a steriods rage. It does not have the "universal appeal" the '59/Custom has.
So, being quite the busy bee I've been, I've tried other solutions, and the best-sounding of all, keeping with the "hybrid" concept, it's when I've switched the screw coil with a lighter wind, so I've tried a '59n, an APH1n and a Seth Lover neck screw coil with it, in which the latter made it to what *I* think is a much better match, in both output- AND tone-wise, with the '59/Custom.
That's the part I can not back-up with sound files, for as today, the day of the set deadline, I'm almost 1,000 miles away from home and the studio. So I hope you bear with me, but I digress.,
Anyway, so, as *I* see it, now we're facing with a dilemma/can-of-worms: what to choose to go into production?
Well, if I may, I have this idea: as it's the Custom Shop we're talking about, to make TWO runs of slightly different p'ups should not be such a big deal, I propose to have two sets:
1. The "Hy-Bro Brutalz set", with the neck p'up prototype as it was presented to me.
2. The "Hy-Bro Pro set", with the neck p'up prototype with a Seth Lover neck screw coil as I've proposed. This coil does NOT need to be the Butyrate-made, un-potted coil I've used, of course; just the actual Seth coil-geometry wind pattern in the normal polycarbonate bobbin.
Well folks, there you have it.
With this, I consider that I've fulfilled the asked task.
Hopefully by the end of this month, I'll add the sound files produced with the "modded" prototype, which includes some with high-ish gain, to deliver the "complete package", as promised.
To the ones that still care, stay tuned!
This project's been an extremely difficult ride for me, but all things considered, I had my moments of fun and I'm happy that an old dog can still learn new tricks, as I've learned a whole lot of new things by working closely with my friends at the studio and by experiencing different solutions to fulfill the task ahead.
I put my heart into this project and used personal economical resources to be able to "cross the finish line", so to speak. I only hope it's been at least useful for some of you out there.
For the next forum p'up tester, I'll strongly advice to elect somebody that doesn't have a life! LOL!
Yours very truly,
The wait is over! Testing done!
Hi Forum,
I'm finally wrapping this up, so I'll give you the skinny. For more details, just ask.
I'm falling short of presenting the Hi-gain samples that I was not able to provide at this point of time, due to circumstances out of my control, but I'm not making any excuses. I failed at that, that's on me, you can point your fingers at me all you want, me culpa, moving on.
So, I guess that at this point, you'll have to take part of my evaluation at face value, the rest is on my Soundcloud channel for you to hear and evaluate.
As you know, I have no affiliation whatsoever with the SD Co, so the only bias present in my review is due to personale taste and set of playing skills, but it IS based on actual, "hands-on" factual experience.
The goal behind this prototype was to create a NECK p'up, based on a hybrid design, to pair up both output- AND tone-wise with the production p'up known as the "'59/Custom Hybrid".
Even though the "'59/Custom Hybrid" has never been one of my all-time favorites, it IS an excellent and highly useful choice of p'up bridging that elusive gap where a '59b is too little and a Custom 5 is too much. Bach2rock's idea of matching a Custom slug bobbin with a '59b bobbin was simply genius, in both its simplicity and its effectivity. Top choice as THEE H in a H/S/S config with SSL-1s, as the quack produced when split in the 2nd position is ALMOST like having a SSL5 there, and being a great tonal match with the SSLs as a full HB.
Unfortunately, this p'up was marketed together in a "pack" of bridge p'ups for the Brutalz, so for a lot of people, it's in the same category as the DDs, BWs, etc.; where *I* don't think it belongs, as for my ears it's quite hot-vintage-sounding, having a lot of finesse and harmonic complexity that happens to get lost as the gain goes up, and remains "polite" in comparison with the others in the pack.
Having said that, that's what I think MJ had in mind when she created the Hy-Bro neck prototype as it was given to me for the test: a neck p'up for the Brutalz, designed mainly to have a liquid-feeling-single-note playing with massive gain applied, and 25,5" scaled-, 24-fretter guitars in mind.
If that was the goal, I can only say "mission accomplished", and with flying colors to boot. The attack of the pick produces great note separation for soloing and sustains for days.
However, it doesn't perform as great with 24,75" scaled, 22-fretter guitars. It's too bass-heavy to be used efficiently for chordwork; I had to set it pretty low and slanted to be able to produce the tones you can hear in the presented files in my linked Soundcloud account. Plus, a tonal- and output-wise "match" for the '59/Custom is NOT, at least in my very humble opinion but extensive experience with it.
As a neck p'up, I find it "loud and obnoxious". It does not have the "finesse" required to match the '59/Custom. It's like having an angry '59n on a steriods rage. It does not have the "universal appeal" the '59/Custom has.
So, being quite the busy bee I've been, I've tried other solutions, and the best-sounding of all, keeping with the "hybrid" concept, it's when I've switched the screw coil with a lighter wind, so I've tried a '59n, an APH1n and a Seth Lover neck screw coil with it, in which the latter made it to what *I* think is a much better match, in both output- AND tone-wise, with the '59/Custom.
That's the part I can not back-up with sound files, for as today, the day of the set deadline, I'm almost 1,000 miles away from home and the studio. So I hope you bear with me, but I digress.,
Anyway, so, as *I* see it, now we're facing with a dilemma/can-of-worms: what to choose to go into production?
Well, if I may, I have this idea: as it's the Custom Shop we're talking about, to make TWO runs of slightly different p'ups should not be such a big deal, I propose to have two sets:
1. The "Hy-Bro Brutalz set", with the neck p'up prototype as it was presented to me.
2. The "Hy-Bro Pro set", with the neck p'up prototype with a Seth Lover neck screw coil as I've proposed. This coil does NOT need to be the Butyrate-made, un-potted coil I've used, of course; just the actual Seth coil-geometry wind pattern in the normal polycarbonate bobbin.
Well folks, there you have it.
With this, I consider that I've fulfilled the asked task.
Hopefully by the end of this month, I'll add the sound files produced with the "modded" prototype, which includes some with high-ish gain, to deliver the "complete package", as promised.
To the ones that still care, stay tuned!
This project's been an extremely difficult ride for me, but all things considered, I had my moments of fun and I'm happy that an old dog can still learn new tricks, as I've learned a whole lot of new things by working closely with my friends at the studio and by experiencing different solutions to fulfill the task ahead.
I put my heart into this project and used personal economical resources to be able to "cross the finish line", so to speak. I only hope it's been at least useful for some of you out there.
For the next forum p'up tester, I'll strongly advice to elect somebody that doesn't have a life! LOL!
Yours very truly,
Last edited:
fab.regnaut
New member
Re: the Hy-Bro neck is in!
Idon't know what p-u coil is used along with the 59 neck coil , but to me if you want a good refined p-u for the neck using alnico 5 ,
a good idea would be a Jazz-n coil as slug coil and a JB coil together or a distortion neck coil .
Then you wouldn't have too much lows and you would have enough mids that alnico 5 doesn't provide much .
I currently have a jazz neck with air gap and alnico 8 , it works wonderfully for every kind of music ,
so I am not directly interested in this affair , just adding my two cents to the sake of it
Idon't know what p-u coil is used along with the 59 neck coil , but to me if you want a good refined p-u for the neck using alnico 5 ,
a good idea would be a Jazz-n coil as slug coil and a JB coil together or a distortion neck coil .
Then you wouldn't have too much lows and you would have enough mids that alnico 5 doesn't provide much .
I currently have a jazz neck with air gap and alnico 8 , it works wonderfully for every kind of music ,
so I am not directly interested in this affair , just adding my two cents to the sake of it
Last edited:
Re: the Hy-Bro neck is in!
Thanks for crossing the finish line Bro... Im alittle disappointed in the turn out of the pickup of course, but your summary made mucho sense. I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to outfit my Charvel with a perfect match for the hybrid bridge and what you described would not work for me.. Here's hoping for some tweaks!! Scuse me if Im being dense, but are you saying that it does hit the mark with the seth coil?
Thanks for crossing the finish line Bro... Im alittle disappointed in the turn out of the pickup of course, but your summary made mucho sense. I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to outfit my Charvel with a perfect match for the hybrid bridge and what you described would not work for me.. Here's hoping for some tweaks!! Scuse me if Im being dense, but are you saying that it does hit the mark with the seth coil?
KeeperOS
Active member
Re: the Hy-Bro neck is in!
Personal tastes aside, seeing as how the idea for a new SET of both neck and bridge pickups (that would need far less tweaking) was shot down, I seriously doubt that your proposal of what is basically two different pickups under the same umbrella would fly, and to be honest, I wouldn't be happy with it if it did.
What I'm reading from this is that although the pickup hit its' intended mark, it was not what was expected? Is it something that a new prototype would solve or are you talking about a "going back to the drawing board" route?
Personal tastes aside, seeing as how the idea for a new SET of both neck and bridge pickups (that would need far less tweaking) was shot down, I seriously doubt that your proposal of what is basically two different pickups under the same umbrella would fly, and to be honest, I wouldn't be happy with it if it did.
What I'm reading from this is that although the pickup hit its' intended mark, it was not what was expected? Is it something that a new prototype would solve or are you talking about a "going back to the drawing board" route?
LtKojak
New member
Re: the Hy-Bro neck is in!
Superstrat, 25,5" scale, 24 frets: MJ prototype.
Gibson, 24,75" scale, 22 frets: Seth-modded prototype.
HTH,
Summary:
Superstrat, 25,5" scale, 24 frets: MJ prototype.
Gibson, 24,75" scale, 22 frets: Seth-modded prototype.
HTH,
LtKojak
New member
LtKojak
New member
Re: the Hy-Bro neck is in!
Due to the hybrid nature, even though it could be used in the bridge position, there already are several p'ups much more adequate for that position.
HTH,
No. Why should I? The resulting design was intended for a NECK p'up, and so it is; a neck p'up through and through.
Due to the hybrid nature, even though it could be used in the bridge position, there already are several p'ups much more adequate for that position.
HTH,
Re: the Hy-Bro neck is in!
I think the Jazz seth hybrid would have worked best as that pickup is a great choice for both guitars (25.5'' and 24.75''). It's got the liquidy feel when you use an A2, it's got that middle ground (work your tonepot, dude!
) when you use an A4 and it's got that flutey, sparkly tone that we want in a 24.75'' 22fretter.
And that keeps in mind the true nature of the 59/Custom.
That's my say in this.
I think the Jazz seth hybrid would have worked best as that pickup is a great choice for both guitars (25.5'' and 24.75''). It's got the liquidy feel when you use an A2, it's got that middle ground (work your tonepot, dude!
) when you use an A4 and it's got that flutey, sparkly tone that we want in a 24.75'' 22fretter. And that keeps in mind the true nature of the 59/Custom.
That's my say in this.
Scott Olson
SD Media Manager
Re: the Hy-Bro neck is in!
Hey guys, first off many thanks to Kojak for checking out the pickup and the clips. We will be reviewing all the feedback and likely going to take a crack at a second version, with an official video demo that thoroughly showcases the pickup and allows the group to vote whether to proceed.
Hey guys, first off many thanks to Kojak for checking out the pickup and the clips. We will be reviewing all the feedback and likely going to take a crack at a second version, with an official video demo that thoroughly showcases the pickup and allows the group to vote whether to proceed.
LtKojak
New member
Re: the Hy-Bro neck is in!
And the Seth-modded prototype is DANGEROUSLY CLOSE to that!
I couldn't've said better myself.
And the Seth-modded prototype is DANGEROUSLY CLOSE to that!
I couldn't agree more. :cool2:
Re: the Hy-Bro neck is in!
Very cool!! Im still hoping to find the perfect match the my hybrid for the neck!! I KNOW MJ CAN DO IT!!!!
Very cool!! Im still hoping to find the perfect match the my hybrid for the neck!! I KNOW MJ CAN DO IT!!!!
LtKojak
New member
Re: the Hy-Bro neck is in!
To work as a bridge p'up, you'll need to install it with the screw coil facing the neck. Would you still be interested?
Last edited:
LtKojak
New member
Re: the Hy-Bro neck is in!
To the whole Forum and visiting guests:
to the completion of the "new version" and to take the decision of make it a production p'up, the Co. is monitoring actual posts for interest.
As I can see by the hits this thread has generated, the "silent majority" is overwhelmingly large, so I'd like to ask every one of you interested in this new p'up to post in this thread showing your interest, and if you haven't registered yet, now it's time to do it, so you can purchase it at "Forumite" prices.
Yours very truly,
To the whole Forum and visiting guests:
to the completion of the "new version" and to take the decision of make it a production p'up, the Co. is monitoring actual posts for interest.
As I can see by the hits this thread has generated, the "silent majority" is overwhelmingly large, so I'd like to ask every one of you interested in this new p'up to post in this thread showing your interest, and if you haven't registered yet, now it's time to do it, so you can purchase it at "Forumite" prices.
Yours very truly,
LtKojak
New member
Re: the Hy-Bro neck is in!
If they accept my tweaking proposal, I'm positive you'll be VERY happy for a long time with it.
TRex
New member
Re: the Hy-Bro neck is in!
I'm very interested in a hybrid pup
I'm not sure if this will end up with what I want, but I am always up for giving it a shot once it is available
I would need it to be good at cleans to highish gain. I don't really play with Uber gain. If you could get it to sould like a tighter 59 at low gain and more organic Jazz under high gain, I'd go for that.
Concept wise the 59/Jazz Hybrid sounds great, but who knows I'd it would work in practice.
I'm very interested in a hybrid pup
I'm not sure if this will end up with what I want, but I am always up for giving it a shot once it is available
I would need it to be good at cleans to highish gain. I don't really play with Uber gain. If you could get it to sould like a tighter 59 at low gain and more organic Jazz under high gain, I'd go for that.
Concept wise the 59/Jazz Hybrid sounds great, but who knows I'd it would work in practice.
Last edited:
KeeperOS
Active member
Re: the Hy-Bro neck is in!
Well, I was interested based on the original idea, my intended use would be as a replacement to the Jazz which TBH I love.
I was picturing this as a more organic, more liquid Jazz or a less boomy/bass-heavy, more articulate and clearer '59.
If the final product reflects this I might once again be interested in it.
My intended use might very well be in what is an affront to the OP, a 25.5" 24-fretted Floyded superstrat but it would be equally possible to use it in a 22-fretted single cut with a TOM (still 25.5").
Well, I was interested based on the original idea, my intended use would be as a replacement to the Jazz which TBH I love.
I was picturing this as a more organic, more liquid Jazz or a less boomy/bass-heavy, more articulate and clearer '59.
If the final product reflects this I might once again be interested in it.
My intended use might very well be in what is an affront to the OP, a 25.5" 24-fretted Floyded superstrat but it would be equally possible to use it in a 22-fretted single cut with a TOM (still 25.5").
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