Sometimes, all it takes is a change of pickups...

[DocNrock]

Being off work for six weeks following a very uneventful spine operation, I've had the opportunity to go through my guitar collection and do some much needed, and long overdue maintenance and reassessment.  Of note, I have two VIPs that I had made back in March, 2009, when camphor burl was a new option as a lam top, and when Warmoth first introduced their "dual-lam" technique for carved tops.  Back then, I called them and asked if they could do camphor burl carved tops.  They hadn't done it before, but decided to give it a shot.  Well, the camphor burl cracked on both of them, so they gave me the option of backing out, or giving me the bodies at a deep discount.  The fill job they did on the cracks was awesome, and you couldn't tell unless you knew it was there.  So I had them continue. 

One of the builds got a Sustainiac and a DiMarzio Tone Zone in the bridge.  The other I put Seymour Duncan Blackouts.  As years passed, I rarely ever (never) played the one with the Blackouts.  I guess I just never got on with their tone.  Funny, because I like EMGs.

Anyway, I almost put the one VIP up for sale, but yesterday I decided to swap out the pickups for passives.  I went a route I rarely go.  I put in vintage output pickups that I just happened to have in my parts bin.  I put a DiMarzio Air Classic in the neck and an EJ Custom in the bridge. 

This is now one guitar that I will finally play.  The EJ is a bright pickup, but the black korina body and Imbuia/Brazillian Rosewood neck tame it quite a bit.  It is a very different, and very useful, tone from the rest of my collection. 

Anyway, I thought I would share. 

 

[DocNrock]

...

 

[bagman67]

Photo?

 

[DocNrock]

Photo?

Ask sir, and you shall receive.  :icon_biggrin:









Here is the crack.  It extends from the center of the Floyd route towards the end of the guitar.  It is about 7/8" in length.  From even one foot away from the guitar, it is not noticeable, at all. 



I think the cost of the bodies was supposed to be around $800 each.  If I recall, I got them for around $350 each. 

 

[bagman67]

Lovely lovely lovely.

 

[MikeW]

Meh... Just kidding. That is a gorgeous guitar Doc.

 

[fdesalvo]

Very cool looking! 

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

What's happening with the Sustainiac circuit?
Puttin it into another guitar, or conjurring up a new build?

 

[DocNrock]

What's happening with the Sustainiac circuit?
Puttin it into another guitar, or conjurring up a new build?

Sorry, Tony, I guess I wasn't clear.  It is the other VIP that has the Sustainiac:  http://unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=8399.0.  I'm not taking it out.  But originally, that guitar had a MegaDrive in it, but swapped that out for a Tone Zone about a year ago. 

The one pictured above in this thread is the one that had the Seymour Blackouts.

And thanks to MikeW and Fdesalvo!

Also, in the original post I mentioned the sound of the EJ Custom, but neglected to comment on the Air Classic in the neck slot.  If anyone is looking for a neck humbucker that sounds great clean, with grit, and with high gain, this one is certainly on the short list. 

 

[Strat Avenger]

The fretboard material will have no affect on the tone that the pickups produce.

 

[DocNrock]

The fretboard material will have no affect on the tone that the pickups produce.

Ah yes, this is an age-old argument.  I have never seen a frequency spectrum printout of the same pickup in two guitars that are identical except for their fretboards.  And even then, the two guitars would not be identical as no two bodies are identical, nor are two necks, even if made from the same wood, as no two pieces of wood are identical.  There will be differences in density, residual water content, etc. 

That said, assuming that you could have two guitars identical in every way except for the fretboard material, even if there was a frequency spectrum printout that showed distinct differences, would that be audible?  Would the listener be able to discriminate between the two?  Possibly some could, possibly not.  As a side note, it is funny that this discussion is arising in this thread because the pickup involved is the EJ (Eric Johnson) Custom.  Eric Johnson has been quoted as saying that different brands of batteries in his stomp boxes change his tone. 

Anyway, The EJ Custom is a bright pickup.  Previously, I had it in an alder guitar with a maple neck and maple fretboard.  To my ears, it was too bright in that guitar.  In this guitar, it is still bright, but not as bright as it was in the other guitar.  The highs are certainly there, but are much more balanced by the mids and lows that were not as noticeable in the alder/maple guitar.  You may note that I did not attribute the difference specifically to the fretboard, but rather to all three of the different woods that went into making this guitar.  But, some will say that the woods an electric guitar is made from have absolutely no effect on the tone, and that the tone comes 100% from the pickups and electronics.  Is that true?  Perhaps to some people's ears, it may very well be. 

The problem:  tone is a subjective experience, and it is highly likely that no two people experience tone the same way.  I have no way of knowing if Eric Johnson really can tell the difference in stomp box batteries, or not. It sounds ludicrous, to me. But the man is an incredibly talented musician, and much of that like arises from his subjective experience of tone. So, does the fretboard material change tone?  I honestly could not answer that question. Perhaps to some it does and to others it does not.  Perhaps it makes no difference to anyone.

Sorry my response was so long. I didn't have time to write a shorter one.  :icon_thumright:

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

I had an Air Classic in the Z that got stolen.  Such a sweet neck pickup in both humbucking and SC modes.

 

[DocNrock]

I had an Air Classic in the Z that got stolen.  Such a sweet neck pickup in both humbucking and SC modes.

I fully agree, Tony. It is a very sweet neck pickup. I haven't heard it in SC mode, but in HB mode, it's great.

On a differnt note, sorry to hear you had a guitar stolen. Totally sucks, man.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

It's been a few years since it was ripped off.  Loaned it to a friend who's apt got broken into & they took it along with a whole mess of other electronic stuff of his.
I'm hoping to build a TFS7 later this year, and a Sustainiac equipped TFS6 (#2) next year.

 

[elgravos]

Had an air classic neck in my jazzmaster which I really, liked though I ended up swapping it out for a sustainiac... Air classic was definitely the better pickup of the two, but it's not so hot at generating infinite sustain so it had to go!  Still a great pickup though. Will pull if out of the parts bin if the right opportunity comes up.

 

[musicispeace]

Have to agree about changing pickups. I had some very nice vintage style Bare Knuckles in my first Warmoth project but they left me feeling they were a little too polite. I put Kliens in it and love it now. If you like an instrument but something seems missing new pickups can be like a magic bullet.