cryo cooled pickups and parts
- Thread starter halfintegerspin
- Start date
I'm thinking of making a series of guitar pickups that have been aged in oak barrels for 10 years. Sometimes I change it up and use sherry butts, which I think adds a softer, rounder, almost vinous character to the tone, but usually reclaimed oak bourbon casks are what we use. An 8-year has the most highs, with biting treble and a edgy rawness, and the 12-year matures and smooths that out with a warmer, bell-like top end. For those with deep pockets we do have an unblended single cask 30-year variety, for the ultimate in finely aged tone.
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halfintegerspin
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you know liquid oxygen is light blue, so you might get an even bluer guitar after a treatment in that... and better yet, the pickups will let bluer tones shine through... great for the blues...
C
callaway
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I hate when legitimate threads like this go to crap.
callaway said:
Don't worry, i'll save it!
Basically what the wiki article says is true (though i didn't actually finish reading it.)
But i used to play brass instruments and i read about a lab somewhere up north (i'm in texas) that would freeze brass instruments in the same way. When metal cools it gets denser, kind of like water turns to ice. However, according to this procedure the structure remains harder when brought back to room temp, therefore increasing spontaneous vibrations within the metals. I guess when translated to a guitar that would mean the pole pieces would pick up the vibrations with more intensity.
Death by Uberschall
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Might be a little too much blue in your diet. :icon_jokercolor:GoDrex said:Superlizard said:
I decided to try this and here's what happened:
Sounds really bad now. :laughing7:
DangerousR6
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That's just TMI....We didn't need to hear that..... :doh:jerryjg said:
Superlizard
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Welp, here's the deal: I have no clue whether or not the cryo process does anything (like someone said, you'd have to get 2 same pickups and treat one and test), but those H/SRVs are by far the best sounding single coils I've ever heard; and IMO as good as the sweetest SCs recorded on album.
Best I can describe is the top end is bright, chimey and clear with zero harshness, and when you put gain/dist on it, you can still hear the top end. In my case with my amp with dist, it puts a sweet fine grind on top (JTM45s "grind" more than "crunch" in Marshall-speak) with the wound strings, and you can still hear the pick attack nuances on the plain strings. And the low end is never muddy; never dull.
Best I can describe is the top end is bright, chimey and clear with zero harshness, and when you put gain/dist on it, you can still hear the top end. In my case with my amp with dist, it puts a sweet fine grind on top (JTM45s "grind" more than "crunch" in Marshall-speak) with the wound strings, and you can still hear the pick attack nuances on the plain strings. And the low end is never muddy; never dull.
halfintegerspin said:
I have no idea if it is the cryo treatment that makes a difference, but I put the H/SRVs and a full set of Callaham hardware on my "black strat" project, and it sounds incredible. Easily best single coils I've ever played. Loud, full sounding, articulate when distorted, great cleans, just perfect. Pretty darn quiet too, all things considered. For me, worth the money, however they get them to sound this good. Cryo treating, dancing around them in a circle with chickens on their heads, reciting the Parrot Sketch from Monty Python over them - I don't care, they sound great!
-erik
I know it's blasphemy, but the sounds you guys describe here are exactly how I'd describe my dimarzio 'area' set, except they are totally noise free and the bridge is really fat and perfect for switching to on a solo. Admittedly I don't have a super boutique amp to hear them through.
I would be really interested in doing a side by side comparison of these pickup sets, since everyone who gets the HSRV seems to go gaga over them.
I would be really interested in doing a side by side comparison of these pickup sets, since everyone who gets the HSRV seems to go gaga over them.
I'm new so I don't know the exact protocol, but I tried a set of the Callaham standards in my American Standard Strat. They were very nice pickups, but I replaced them with Novak's. They just sound better to my ear.
As far as cryo goes, I was awake durring enough of Engineering Physics to understand the theory, but it would seem the amount of any improvement would be negligible.
Some years ago it was fashionable in high power rifle competition to cryo barrels. All maner of improvements were claimed, but over time experience showed little, if any, improvements in barrel life, machining properties, or accuracy. I think only a few custom makers use it anymore; for what it's worth.
As far as cryo goes, I was awake durring enough of Engineering Physics to understand the theory, but it would seem the amount of any improvement would be negligible.
Some years ago it was fashionable in high power rifle competition to cryo barrels. All maner of improvements were claimed, but over time experience showed little, if any, improvements in barrel life, machining properties, or accuracy. I think only a few custom makers use it anymore; for what it's worth.
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