fdesalvo
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It's hard for me not to compare every pickup going forward to the Fralin Twangmaster. It really is that good – it’s literally my benchmark. But, this is about Chris Kinman's AVN-69 Woodstock.
This pickup is sitting in the neck slot of my telecaster and routed through a 3 way toggle, occupying the opposite terminal of the Bare knuckles Abraxis (AMAZING) that’s sitting in the bridge position.
Amp is my latest scratch build based off of a 40w blackface fender super. This head feeds an open back Avatar 212 with 2 V30s.
OD 1 is a JHS Morning Glory, which is an optimized Blues Breaker and it sounds fantastic.
OD2 is a G2D Cream Tone, which is a stellar medium gain pedal, but it’s not transparent.
This pickup as tested at lower volumes doesn’t have the body or sparkle of the Fralin Twangmaster. I realize this isn’t a fair comparison, but at that volume, the Twangmaster has this sparkling finish and chewy/woody overtones that are just incomparable to anything I’ve ever played. I’ll play it again at stage volume on Saturday, so that should be more revealing. This pickup is dead silent, however. It is, in fact, quieter than the bridge humbucker.
I’d say the tone is more centered around the mid range than any other band – this is considered their highest output pickup that has a neck position recommendation. That should be the first clue that the mids will dominate the spectrum, and they do.
Running both OD pedals in series, the tone is very SRV, albeit a bit sterile. With just OD1 running, it’s got a really nice edge of breakup tone, but again – not close to the Twangmaster.
I have Kinman’s new Impersonator 54’ pickup waiting in the wings. It’s supposed to represent his best effort yet in creating a true noise-free single coil design. He describes this one as having the edge and sparkle which were missing from his previous designs. One thing is for certain, the high watermark left by the Fralin leaves an enormous gap to span from where the Woodstock sits. Don’t get me wrong – the Kinman sounds damn good; the problem is that I heard the Fralin first.
Still, Kinman’s advertising and descriptive are wholly accurate according to what I have heard for myself. I had a sense of buyer’s remorse as soon as I saw the Woodstock’s tracking info in my inbox. I’m hoping the Impersonator will bring me the sparkle and body I’m missing. Otherwise, I’ll be searching for that Twangmaster tone in a singlecoil-sized package.
Updated:
At 9:00 on the amp's volume dial - not really loud - these things came to life! I had to adjust the eq and drive on OD1 and the sparkle is back. It's missing some of the scooped mids of the Twangmaster (along with some of the organic feel), but all in all this is the nicest "high output" single coil-sized p'up I've owned. I think it will really shine live, as it will cut.
The Impersonator is described as having the traditionally scooped mids and sparkle, so that will allow greater volume and perceived bass levels to give me that biggger sound that Twangmaster has. Moreover, it's also described not to compress under heavy picking, as the Woodstock does, which will restore dynamics. I'm positive that will sound great, as well.
I give these a big thumbs up! :guitarplayer2:
This pickup is sitting in the neck slot of my telecaster and routed through a 3 way toggle, occupying the opposite terminal of the Bare knuckles Abraxis (AMAZING) that’s sitting in the bridge position.
Amp is my latest scratch build based off of a 40w blackface fender super. This head feeds an open back Avatar 212 with 2 V30s.
OD 1 is a JHS Morning Glory, which is an optimized Blues Breaker and it sounds fantastic.
OD2 is a G2D Cream Tone, which is a stellar medium gain pedal, but it’s not transparent.
This pickup as tested at lower volumes doesn’t have the body or sparkle of the Fralin Twangmaster. I realize this isn’t a fair comparison, but at that volume, the Twangmaster has this sparkling finish and chewy/woody overtones that are just incomparable to anything I’ve ever played. I’ll play it again at stage volume on Saturday, so that should be more revealing. This pickup is dead silent, however. It is, in fact, quieter than the bridge humbucker.
I’d say the tone is more centered around the mid range than any other band – this is considered their highest output pickup that has a neck position recommendation. That should be the first clue that the mids will dominate the spectrum, and they do.
Running both OD pedals in series, the tone is very SRV, albeit a bit sterile. With just OD1 running, it’s got a really nice edge of breakup tone, but again – not close to the Twangmaster.
I have Kinman’s new Impersonator 54’ pickup waiting in the wings. It’s supposed to represent his best effort yet in creating a true noise-free single coil design. He describes this one as having the edge and sparkle which were missing from his previous designs. One thing is for certain, the high watermark left by the Fralin leaves an enormous gap to span from where the Woodstock sits. Don’t get me wrong – the Kinman sounds damn good; the problem is that I heard the Fralin first.
Still, Kinman’s advertising and descriptive are wholly accurate according to what I have heard for myself. I had a sense of buyer’s remorse as soon as I saw the Woodstock’s tracking info in my inbox. I’m hoping the Impersonator will bring me the sparkle and body I’m missing. Otherwise, I’ll be searching for that Twangmaster tone in a singlecoil-sized package.
Updated:
At 9:00 on the amp's volume dial - not really loud - these things came to life! I had to adjust the eq and drive on OD1 and the sparkle is back. It's missing some of the scooped mids of the Twangmaster (along with some of the organic feel), but all in all this is the nicest "high output" single coil-sized p'up I've owned. I think it will really shine live, as it will cut.
The Impersonator is described as having the traditionally scooped mids and sparkle, so that will allow greater volume and perceived bass levels to give me that biggger sound that Twangmaster has. Moreover, it's also described not to compress under heavy picking, as the Woodstock does, which will restore dynamics. I'm positive that will sound great, as well.
I give these a big thumbs up! :guitarplayer2:
