Well, hello everyone!
I recently 'made over' a red Strat and bought a Roadhouse Special neck pickup. http://www.roadhousepickups.com/
I'm VERY happy with this pickup and have a few words to share.
First off the service was great! I was able to talk to Ken for a few minutes about the sound I was looking for and he was very friendly and listened to what I was going for. He wound it right up and the shipping was quick. Good packaging also, very professional.
When I got the pickup, the instal was easy. I'm using it with a humbucker in the bridge. It's a BLUSA XL500. The three way switch chooses either the bridge humbukcer in series, both pickups in parallel or the neck pickup (the roadhouse) on it's own.
The construction was very clean and robust, nothing cheap at all. The leads were nice and sturdy too, not a thin wire.
Output level was pretty high! I was expecting less simply because it's a single coil, but it keeps up with the Bridge Humbucker no problem. :icon_thumright:
The clean sounds are outstanding. Sweet and bigg with no harshness. It's sounds...smooth. The highs are delicate and a bit rounded, but so...attentive! Chords have a wealth of harmonic content. Part of my style is to play moving high notes in a chord. The high notes i was changing didn't get lost in the chord, I could make them out, singing over the lower tones. Single note lines have a sweet ring to them. The level of brightness is just right for jazz, and is also just right for rock! It's hard to describe in words, but it makes me PLAY! The Strat Zazz is there for sure, but better, bigger, more musical. Sort of like a saxophone compared to a recorder.
With Distortion, it still keeps the "rang" of the clean sound, you know, that string 'thnap' that strats make when you dig in to a note. It doesn't get covered up by the gain.
Power chords are power chords, but with this pickup they sound...different. They have a pang on the attack, and them swell and get really phat. If you've ever played guitar through 15 inch speakers then that's the sound I'm talking about. I wouldn't use these as a bridge pickup in a metal band, but it's a real good sound to use for deep rhythms when blended with the bridge 'bucker. One of our songs is a slow drudgy Sabbath type riff and the middle position really deepens things without sacrificing articulation.
On solos, it really shines. The attack is always sharp and crisp. Some times the lower single notes swell to a kind of Fuzz tone, and I think that's a cool sound. When you let the note ring out a bit, the sustain is really nice and full.
Well, I hope I've provided a good insight into these pickups. I'd recommend them in a heartbeat for almost everyone. I'd say if you are into death metal or something really crazy like that then these aint for you. Other than that, I can't think of a style of playing these would not do well in. The price is really reasonable so I'd strongly advise anyof you to give them a try. I'm Very happy with it!
I recently 'made over' a red Strat and bought a Roadhouse Special neck pickup. http://www.roadhousepickups.com/
I'm VERY happy with this pickup and have a few words to share.
First off the service was great! I was able to talk to Ken for a few minutes about the sound I was looking for and he was very friendly and listened to what I was going for. He wound it right up and the shipping was quick. Good packaging also, very professional.
When I got the pickup, the instal was easy. I'm using it with a humbucker in the bridge. It's a BLUSA XL500. The three way switch chooses either the bridge humbukcer in series, both pickups in parallel or the neck pickup (the roadhouse) on it's own.
The construction was very clean and robust, nothing cheap at all. The leads were nice and sturdy too, not a thin wire.
Output level was pretty high! I was expecting less simply because it's a single coil, but it keeps up with the Bridge Humbucker no problem. :icon_thumright:
The clean sounds are outstanding. Sweet and bigg with no harshness. It's sounds...smooth. The highs are delicate and a bit rounded, but so...attentive! Chords have a wealth of harmonic content. Part of my style is to play moving high notes in a chord. The high notes i was changing didn't get lost in the chord, I could make them out, singing over the lower tones. Single note lines have a sweet ring to them. The level of brightness is just right for jazz, and is also just right for rock! It's hard to describe in words, but it makes me PLAY! The Strat Zazz is there for sure, but better, bigger, more musical. Sort of like a saxophone compared to a recorder.
With Distortion, it still keeps the "rang" of the clean sound, you know, that string 'thnap' that strats make when you dig in to a note. It doesn't get covered up by the gain.
Power chords are power chords, but with this pickup they sound...different. They have a pang on the attack, and them swell and get really phat. If you've ever played guitar through 15 inch speakers then that's the sound I'm talking about. I wouldn't use these as a bridge pickup in a metal band, but it's a real good sound to use for deep rhythms when blended with the bridge 'bucker. One of our songs is a slow drudgy Sabbath type riff and the middle position really deepens things without sacrificing articulation.
On solos, it really shines. The attack is always sharp and crisp. Some times the lower single notes swell to a kind of Fuzz tone, and I think that's a cool sound. When you let the note ring out a bit, the sustain is really nice and full.
Well, I hope I've provided a good insight into these pickups. I'd recommend them in a heartbeat for almost everyone. I'd say if you are into death metal or something really crazy like that then these aint for you. Other than that, I can't think of a style of playing these would not do well in. The price is really reasonable so I'd strongly advise anyof you to give them a try. I'm Very happy with it!
