New Soloist on it's way!

[mrpinter]

I've had my eye on this neck and body for a while, and finally ordered them, along with a bunch of parts. Neck is maple with pau ferro fingerboard, painted black gloss on the back of the neck. Body is lightweight (3 lb 8 oz) poplar. It's going to get one Screamin Demon in the neck position. Unusual yes, but I think I know what I'm doing. I'm very familiar with that pickup model. It's getting Sperzel tuners. Can't wait to get it built. I'm going to have John Westcott assemble it and do the intonation, fret dressing and setup for me. Here is a representation of it:

 

[SustainerPlayer]

Great stuff. I will look forward to see some of your fantastic shots of that fingerboard. I'm contemplating one myself (Pau Ferro + Black shark fin inlays).  :icon_thumright:

 

[mrpinter]

Thanks for the kind words, SP. I'm a big fan of pau ferro. I have an early 90s Hamer T62 that has a p.f. fingerboard, and it's very nice. I'm also a big fan of goncalo alves, and if I'm not mistaken, the guitar in your avatar photo has a g.c. neck. Am I right?

 

[SustainerPlayer]

Right!  :sign13:

Goncalo Alves neck with Pau Ferro fingerboard.

 

[mrpinter]

Update: I ordered a Souldier strap and some Thomastik-Infeld Jazz Bebop strings for it (custom set of .010 .014 .018 plain .026 .034 .047). UPS Quantum View says it will be here this coming Wednesday. Hooray. It will be at the tech's shop for the assembly and setup on Thursday!

 

[bbl4ck]

I had never looked at those Souldier straps.  Those are pretty cool :icon_thumright: Which design did you select?
Nice looking Soloist  :glasses9: I look forward to seeing her put together...
:rock-on:

 

[mrpinter]

The Souldier straps are stylish and very comfortable. I ordered one of the simple striped ones, like this one on the guitar in this representation:

I have a couple of Souldier straps, and I also like straps made by Couch (handmade vinyl straps, out of New Old Stock automotive vinyl). They're really cool too.

 

[mrpinter]

It's here!!! Next it goes to Mr Westcott the guitar tech for assembly and setup. Can't wait!

 

[DangerousR6]

Cool, didn't peg you for a soloist person, but good on you.. :icon_thumright:

 

[stubhead]

I've considered that Mr. DiMarzio probably started a movement or cult that wiped out a few billion collective I.Q. points from the minds of upcoming youth when he named that very first pickup a "Super Distortion." PICKUPS DO NOT DISTORT, or at least they'd better not. If your pickup distorts, it is malfunctioning (and if you hear "spank" "shimmer" or "balls" because the ads tell you to, your causal chains are clogged with mental floss). Amps distort, sometimes nicely*. The "Screamin' Demon" (and "Pearly Gates", FWIW) are low-output P.A.F. types - I would guess you're shooting for something a bit Holdsworthy?


*(hint)

 

[mrpinter]

I'm not sure what you're saying here Stubhead. You are quite correct that the Screamin' Demon is not a  high output pickup. It isn't really low output either - but is classed as moderate output. It does have a certain airy (I would almost say shimmery ) quality in the upper midrange and highs that I really like. I already have this pickup in another guitar, so I'm quite familiar with it. And I guess you could say I'm going for a sort of Holdsworth-ish or Scofield-ish thing - what I want is a jazz/rock fusion type of guitar. That''s why I'm putting jazz strings on it.  And hopefully playing it won't erase any more of my meager IQ points.

 

[stubhead]

I'm just saying that the expectations generated by a pickup named "Screaming Demon" are out of line with what it does... you know what it does, but in the description Seymour Duncan feels the need to explain it isn't "screaming" at all! Neck pickups are important to me, If I had to make do with one.... well, I don't. :icon_biggrin: I've always though this was one of the best sounding guitars McLaughlin ever played:



French luthier Mike Sabre, mostly-maple body, but with a single old Gibson mini-humbucker in the neck. Round bite?

 

[mrpinter]

I'm just saying that the expectations generated by a pickup named "Screaming Demon" are out of line with what it does...

I agree with you that the name is misleading. They should have called it the "Air Duncan" or something like that.  :toothy11:

 

[Cagey]

Pickup names are almost always misleading, because they're largely created by marketing weenies who have a different agenda: they're charged with selling the little rascals to hero worshippers, not using them to create music. Unfortunately, as has been pointed out in the past (Martin Mull is often given credit), talking about tone is like dancing about architecture. There's no common ground. It's a complete and total disconnect. So, what adjectives do you use? You almost have no choice but to appeal to emotion, where again words fail. But, at least you can paint a word picture, so you describe anger, destruction, happiness, serenity, darkness, complacency, light, control, etc. in terms that don't use those heavily loaded words and hope it strikes a chord (no pun intended).

What's worse is even if they could describe how something sounds, there's no guarantee or even any modicum of assurance that the behavior they describe is what you'll experience once those pickups are installed in your particular guitar. The strings, the neck, the bridge, the cord, the special effects, the amp, the speakers, the microphones, etc., etc., and most importantly, your playing style all have their contribution to make, so all bets are off.

I agonize every time I buy pickups because I have very little idea how something is going to sound once it's built. Sometimes, I'm pleased. Other times, not so much. But, on the plus side, it's always fun. And the great thing about electrics is the majority of the instrument's character comes from the pickups, so you can always change it easily. As long as the thing plays well, tone is fungible.

 

[TBurst Std]

tone is fungible.

The replacement for tone is in the fingers
:icon_tongue:

 

[rapfohl09]

You couldn't have even taken it out of the foam for us?  :laughing7:

I wonder, do they fill in the index hole if you have them do a solid finish, then just finish over it? I would be flabbergasted if they didn't, but who knows.

 

[Cagey]

I think the index hole always ends up where a pickup route goes, regardless of type, so there's nothing to fill. If you look at the bodies in the showcase, you can see the ones that have finishes but aren't routed for pickups yet still have an index hole.

 

[mrpinter]

Yep, because mine didn't get routed for a bridge pickup, it still has the index hole. My tech was amazed they let it go like that. He told me I should find a big screw and put in there, just so it wouldn't be a hole LOL.

 

[rapfohl09]

Yep, because mine didn't get routed for a bridge pickup, it still has the index hole. My tech was amazed they let it go like that. He told me I should find a big screw and put in there, just so it wouldn't be a hole LOL.

Wow, that is crazy...

 

[mrpinter]

You couldn't have even taken it out of the foam for us?  :laughing7:

I kept it unopened until I got together with my tech, so he could be the first to see the parts, along with me. Sort of a professional courtesy I guess.