Making R8 brighter

[jimmi]

"Filter" is the word I always use regarding the secondary (amplified) tone. The marriage of the individual pieces of wood and their assembly determines how the notes' frequencies are filtered in the primary tone. It's what those pieces do together that determine whether the guitar is bright, dull, midrangy...

Passive pickups and electronics (in the guitar) can only further filter what comes out. They can't add what isn't there to begin with.

I agree with it but honestly most of the newer historics for sure and a lot of the older ones sound good unplugged. So the sound is there you just have to have electronics that don’t get in the way or enhance the better qualities. Even if the guitar is truely a bit dark, amplifying the higher frequencies that are there can help a bunch.

 

[LPPlayer86]

Thanks for all the replies, I didn’t get an email notification so I’m only just seeing the comments!

So to address the easiest questions first:

- it was set up by a pro last month and he also adjusted the pole pieces to follow the radius.
- Strings I use Rotosound 10 exclusively on electrics. I have Gibson on my acoustic so would be open to trying theirs out too
- picks I use Dunlop 1.14 or a Jazz III on another Les Paul
- I haven’t tried listening specifically to the G string at particular frets, but the guitar sounds beautiful and resonant unplugged

I haven’t lowered the pickups myself but they’re already set low in the guitar. I have made adjustments on the amp and it certainly helps, I find the clean channel on my amp struggles to be bright on this R8 but it’s better with some gain.

Regarding pickups, some of these comments basically nail my concern - what sounds good in one guitar doesn’t sound good in another. The custombuckers in the R9 sounded awesome and I’d buy them without hesitation for my R8, except they may sound awful.

Bare Knuckle have really good customer support and recommend specific pickups based on the guitar so I could have a chat with their team and explain the guitar’s characteristics to see what they recommend.

 

[jimmi]

Thanks for all the replies, I didn’t get an email notification so I’m only just seeing the comments!

So to address the easiest questions first:

- it was set up by a pro last month and he also adjusted the pole pieces to follow the radius.
- Strings I use Rotosound 10 exclusively on electrics. I have Gibson on my acoustic so would be open to trying theirs out too
- picks I use Dunlop 1.14 or a Jazz III on another Les Paul
- I haven’t tried listening specifically to the G string at particular frets, but the guitar sounds beautiful and resonant unplugged

I haven’t lowered the pickups myself but they’re already set low in the guitar. I have made adjustments on the amp and it certainly helps, I find the clean channel on my amp struggles to be bright on this R8 but it’s better with some gain.

Regarding pickups, some of these comments basically nail my concern - what sounds good in one guitar doesn’t sound good in another. The custombuckers in the R9 sounded awesome and I’d buy them without hesitation for my R8, except they may sound awful.

Bare Knuckle have really good customer support and recommend specific pickups based on the guitar so I could have a chat with their team and explain the guitar’s characteristics to see what they recommend.

Call ReWind. You will talk directly with James. If you don’t like the pickups he will exchange them or alter them for you. I bought a set and wasn’t completely satisfied with the results. We talked and then he sent me different magnets that brought it into the window I was aiming for fit that guitar. If you have a set you really like he will even take them and replicate them for you. Super nice guy.

They aren’t cheap but you can customize them to what you are looking for and he stands behind his product.

 

[LPPlayer86]

Call ReWind. You will talk directly with James. If you don’t like the pickups he will exchange them or alter them for you. I bought a set and wasn’t completely satisfied with the results. We talked and then he sent me different magnets that brought it into the window I was aiming for fit that guitar. If you have a set you really like he will even take them and replicate them for you. Super nice guy.

They aren’t cheap but you can customize them to what you are looking for and he stands behind his product.

Is he in England?

 

[jimmi]

Is he in England?

No, he is in Utah. He literally wrote a book on vintage PAFs. He has sacrificed several sets of vintage pickups to get the materials, windings (there are many different windings in vintage PAFs…always different even in the same pickup) etc correct. Really OCD about all of it and very easy to work with.

 

[gmann]

You want 550 pots if you replace them. Less than $100 on reverb. Those and pickups with stronger brighter A4 or A5 magnets can help a good amount. You can buy the magnets from ReWind also on reverb for $110 and see how that works for your current pickups. $210 isn’t bad really.

And as I stated on the other thread, the 2008 I picked up is really great and if I am honest I probably like it at least as much…maybe more than the 2 2018+ reissues I also bought and those are both great guitars. So the year itself, even if less historically accurate isn’t the whole story. I agree I think the newer ones are more consistently good though.

$110 for a magnet?

 

[jimmi]

$110 for a magnet?

For 2 (55 each)

 

[LPPlayer86]

No, he is in Utah. He literally wrote a book on vintage PAFs. He has sacrificed several sets of vintage pickups to get the materials, windings (there are many different windings in vintage PAFs…always different even in the same pickup) etc correct. Really OCD about all of it and very easy to work with.

Ah, I’m in England so the shipping would really bump the price.

But we have Bare Knuckle pickups here and they offer 2 week returns as well as personalised advice on what ones they think would work best in the guitar, so I’ll probably go that route when it comes to choosing which ones

 

[jimmi]

Ah, I’m in England so the shipping would really bump the price.

But we have Bare Knuckle pickups here and they offer 2 week returns as well as personalised advice on what ones they think would work best in the guitar, so I’ll probably go that route when it comes to choosing which ones

I bought a set of Ox4s which are there in England. I was happy with them. And they run cheaper than some. They aren’t tailored like the ReWinds but still very good

 

[Any Name You Wish]

Thanks for all the replies, I didn’t get an email notification so I’m only just seeing the comments!

So to address the easiest questions first:

- it was set up by a pro last month and he also adjusted the pole pieces to follow the radius.
- Strings I use Rotosound 10 exclusively on electrics. I have Gibson on my acoustic so would be open to trying theirs out too
- picks I use Dunlop 1.14 or a Jazz III on another Les Paul
- I haven’t tried listening specifically to the G string at particular frets, but the guitar sounds beautiful and resonant unplugged

I haven’t lowered the pickups myself but they’re already set low in the guitar. I have made adjustments on the amp and it certainly helps, I find the clean channel on my amp struggles to be bright on this R8 but it’s better with some gain.

Regarding pickups, some of these comments basically nail my concern - what sounds good in one guitar doesn’t sound good in another. The custombuckers in the R9 sounded awesome and I’d buy them without hesitation for my R8, except they may sound awful.

Bare Knuckle have really good customer support and recommend specific pickups based on the guitar so I could have a chat with their team and explain the guitar’s characteristics to see what they recommend.

The pole pieces don't need to follow the fretboard radius. That was something we did back in the 70's. If you carefully adjust each one to get just the right volume/tone, you'll usually end up with sort of a "wave" pattern. It takes time to get it right - many cycles over a week or two. But it should sound good to begin with by adjusting the height. If you can't get a good sound doing all the adjustments mentioned by everyone here, then what the hay, try some of the boutique pickups on the market. Could be fun and enlightening, or a rabbit hole. You never know. I personally have never had to change a pickup in a guitar because I've always played several of them and picked the best one. I did try it on a Japanese Strat once and it sucked even though it was one of these deity pickup winders out there. Stockers actually sounded better, so go figure. It is truly a crapshoot. If you really want a bright Gibson try a custom shop '61 SG. Bright out the wazoo.

 

[KR1]

Pole piece screws on humbucking pickups are largely cosmetic (they are not the poles). Unlike Fender-style single coils, the dual-coil magnetic field is horizontally-oriented.

Screw height has an effect, but it’s minimal. Keep this real.

 

[gmann]

For 2 (55 each)

I was thinking that was expensive but I checked Throbak’s site and they are $48. So I guess prices have gone up, a lot. Still much cheaper than buying new pickups!

 

[c_wester]

You may also have just darks sounding wood. Then I would sell.... sometimes It cannot be fixed...

 

[c_wester]

I changed out the bridge and posts to actual vintage 50s Gibson Abr and really didn’t hear a big difference to the newer historics. The 550 pots are like $60 and 100$ for a whole harness. Less risk for those who aren’t savvy with electronics and reversible if they want to sell the guitar at some point.

Will add Rewind and Ox4s to your list as well as a good set of Pat# TTops and swapped bright A5 magnets. Of course vintage preTTop Pat#s/PAFs are a good option but cost more than the guitar at the moment.

I don't think original posts are as bright sounding as stainless steel ones. The reason for stainless steel is to get a brighter sound from the reissue wood which is softer compared to old wood.
It is a hack to get around softwood.

 

[LPPlayer86]

You may also have just darks sounding wood. Then I would sell.... sometimes It cannot be fixed...

I don’t think so, the guitar can get very bright and I’ve been able to make big differences with adjusting pick-up height. I just feel like the neck pick-up could lose a little of its oomph

 

[c_wester]

I don’t think so, the guitar can get very bright and I’ve been able to make big differences with adjusting pick-up height. I just feel like the neck pick-up could lose a little of its oomph

Try a weaker magnet.

 

[jimmi]

I was thinking that was expensive but I checked Throbak’s site and they are $48. So I guess prices have gone up, a lot. Still much cheaper than buying new pickups!

I was quoting the prices from ReWind off Reverb. And yeah it isn’t a bad place to start instead of pickups out of the gate. Changing to a strong long A5 transformed an otherwise so-so sounding TTop I had for example. It is now one of the better pickups I have. Combines some of the good qualities of the vintage TTops with PAF flavor

 

[renderit]

Pole piece screws on humbucking pickups are largely cosmetic (they are not the poles). Unlike Fender-style single coils, the dual-coil magnetic field is horizontally-oriented.

Screw height has an effect, but it’s minimal. Keep this real.

Valid point on HB's, not a HUGE difference.

On P90's it works like a charm.

My bad.

 

[poor man's burst]

Pole piece screws on humbucking pickups are largely cosmetic (they are not the poles). Unlike Fender-style single coils, the dual-coil magnetic field is horizontally-oriented.

Screw height has an effect, but it’s minimal. Keep this real.

I disagree.

 

[poor man's burst]

Valid point on HB's, not a HUGE difference.

On P90's it works like a charm.

My bad.

Considering that only one of the two coils is adjustable in a humbucker, it is no surprise that itt is less efficient than in a P-90. In theory, you'd have to turn the screws twice as much in a humbucker as in a P-90 for the same effect.