UberMetalDood
New member
Just got my set of Zhangbuckers today (mucho thanks to David). I spent about an hour going back and forth between 4 strats through a Bogner Ecstasy 20th Anniversary head. The four strats I compared had:
Norton/PAF Joe
Air Norton/Injector
PATB-1/Jazz
Zhangbuckers *
My Zhangbucker models are the Slugbucker bridge and Pagey neck. I had them specifically crafted with a few of my own specifications, but am not going to share the ingredients of my unique sound. Let's just say that what turned out is really, really good.
I'll start with the neck pickup because it's what surprised me the most and just happened to be the first one I tried. It was more powerful than I thought it would be, with a deep (not woofy or boomy like say a Duncan 59) low end, clear and balanced mids, and articulate highs.
I expected the bridge pickup to be more along the lines of perhaps an EVH Wolfgang or something, and it is in a way but airier. To me, the bridge is kind of the same difference between a Marshall JVM (EVH pickup) and Friedman Brown Eye (Zhangbucker). The bridge pickup is kind of like a brown-sound type pickup that is slightly constrained by warmth and refinement. It has a lot of midrange overall, but very clear and articulate. It's slightly lower output than I expected, but still within the medium to medium-high output range.
There are five aspects of these pickups which are as perfect as pickups can get: feel, sustain, dynamics, and cut.
It feels like a cross between a real vintage PAF and a Dimarzio Air Norton - very natural.
It sustains beautifully and leaves nothing to be desired. It feels like you can bend up and hold a vibrato for a whole minute with one strike of the pick. The dynamics are absolutely perfect. It's not the kind of dynamics that can be frustrating. It's exactly the kind of dynamics you want when you play even a lot but gets quieter or louder if you want it to. One of my frustrations with the PATB-1, though I love it's sound, is the dynamics. The dynamics are very similar to my Norton.
David described it as a "vintage high end," which meant 'present but airy' in my mind. That's almost precisely what I got. There is no harshness of any form, in fact, if it's kind of a bright pickup then the high end is as smooth as a bright pickup can be.
They are pickups that might otherwise be aggressive, but are tamed by influence rather than authority. I tried my best to describe in detail and provided examples of my own unique style of playing, and he couldn't have done a better job matching the pickups to my style.
One other thing of note is that there are many pickups that sound great, but not all of them have something more around the edges. It's called dimension. I remember playing a set of Lollar Imperials (as I was told they were) and they were some of the most 3D sounding pickups I ever played. By 3D, I do not mean hi-fi in any way. Also, there are couple of Dimarzios which have a 3D quality but sounds kind of artificial or processed (PAF 36th comes to mind). Then there are pickups like the Dimarzio Norton or Duncan Seth Lover which have 3D'ness. Finally, there are really amazing pickups like the Lollars that have a real 3D depth kind of the way a Matchless amplifier blooms. I would say that the Zhangbuckers fall in between the Lollars and Dimarzio/Duncan category in terms of 3D'ness.
The truth is that I wasn't sure if this Zhangbucker guy was some ordinary pickup tinkerer making stuff in his garage, or if he was a real talent. All I could go on was what I read about him. Now that I received my first set of pickups from him, he seems to be a man of real talent. He's concise with his words and marginally descriptive, so you don't expect him to pickup the nuance you try to achieve. However, he seems to have an ear for pickups and the ability to make them sound like you want them to sound - almost as if he knows better than you do.
I think there is a little bit of work to be done, but I'm entirely satisfied. This Zhangbucker guy seems legit and he has done a great service for me, and for this, I am grateful. However, I will not recommend him because I don't want all of you placing orders and tying him up so that it ends up taking a long time to get some pickups made :smokin:
In comparison to my Dimarzios and Duncans, the Zhangbuckers are up there. I'm not going to get rid of my Dimarzios or Duncans now that I've had a taste of the Zhangs. In fact, knowing how good these Zhangs are and still being completely satisfied when I plug in with my Dimarzios and Duncans only reinforce my love for them.
Norton/PAF Joe
Air Norton/Injector
PATB-1/Jazz
Zhangbuckers *
My Zhangbucker models are the Slugbucker bridge and Pagey neck. I had them specifically crafted with a few of my own specifications, but am not going to share the ingredients of my unique sound. Let's just say that what turned out is really, really good.
I'll start with the neck pickup because it's what surprised me the most and just happened to be the first one I tried. It was more powerful than I thought it would be, with a deep (not woofy or boomy like say a Duncan 59) low end, clear and balanced mids, and articulate highs.
I expected the bridge pickup to be more along the lines of perhaps an EVH Wolfgang or something, and it is in a way but airier. To me, the bridge is kind of the same difference between a Marshall JVM (EVH pickup) and Friedman Brown Eye (Zhangbucker). The bridge pickup is kind of like a brown-sound type pickup that is slightly constrained by warmth and refinement. It has a lot of midrange overall, but very clear and articulate. It's slightly lower output than I expected, but still within the medium to medium-high output range.
There are five aspects of these pickups which are as perfect as pickups can get: feel, sustain, dynamics, and cut.
It feels like a cross between a real vintage PAF and a Dimarzio Air Norton - very natural.
It sustains beautifully and leaves nothing to be desired. It feels like you can bend up and hold a vibrato for a whole minute with one strike of the pick. The dynamics are absolutely perfect. It's not the kind of dynamics that can be frustrating. It's exactly the kind of dynamics you want when you play even a lot but gets quieter or louder if you want it to. One of my frustrations with the PATB-1, though I love it's sound, is the dynamics. The dynamics are very similar to my Norton.
David described it as a "vintage high end," which meant 'present but airy' in my mind. That's almost precisely what I got. There is no harshness of any form, in fact, if it's kind of a bright pickup then the high end is as smooth as a bright pickup can be.
They are pickups that might otherwise be aggressive, but are tamed by influence rather than authority. I tried my best to describe in detail and provided examples of my own unique style of playing, and he couldn't have done a better job matching the pickups to my style.
One other thing of note is that there are many pickups that sound great, but not all of them have something more around the edges. It's called dimension. I remember playing a set of Lollar Imperials (as I was told they were) and they were some of the most 3D sounding pickups I ever played. By 3D, I do not mean hi-fi in any way. Also, there are couple of Dimarzios which have a 3D quality but sounds kind of artificial or processed (PAF 36th comes to mind). Then there are pickups like the Dimarzio Norton or Duncan Seth Lover which have 3D'ness. Finally, there are really amazing pickups like the Lollars that have a real 3D depth kind of the way a Matchless amplifier blooms. I would say that the Zhangbuckers fall in between the Lollars and Dimarzio/Duncan category in terms of 3D'ness.
The truth is that I wasn't sure if this Zhangbucker guy was some ordinary pickup tinkerer making stuff in his garage, or if he was a real talent. All I could go on was what I read about him. Now that I received my first set of pickups from him, he seems to be a man of real talent. He's concise with his words and marginally descriptive, so you don't expect him to pickup the nuance you try to achieve. However, he seems to have an ear for pickups and the ability to make them sound like you want them to sound - almost as if he knows better than you do.
I think there is a little bit of work to be done, but I'm entirely satisfied. This Zhangbucker guy seems legit and he has done a great service for me, and for this, I am grateful. However, I will not recommend him because I don't want all of you placing orders and tying him up so that it ends up taking a long time to get some pickups made :smokin:
In comparison to my Dimarzios and Duncans, the Zhangbuckers are up there. I'm not going to get rid of my Dimarzios or Duncans now that I've had a taste of the Zhangs. In fact, knowing how good these Zhangs are and still being completely satisfied when I plug in with my Dimarzios and Duncans only reinforce my love for them.
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