OK, so I am insane...

[Bloozcat]

As most of you know, I am very pleased with the Agile AD 3000M I recently purchased, and it's just such a pleasure to play. The Alnico V pickups that came in it do an admirable job of getting a nice rock vibe...better than I had expected. The combination of a mahogany body and neck along with the 3/4" maple cap really produced that wonderfully woody LP tone.

BUT (and you just knew there was a "but" coming), I want this particular guitar to capture that classic LP tone. Not just some mythical and amorphous PAF tone that's only in my head, but that PAF tone that I hear coming from Claptons LP on the Bluesbreaker album, and Duane's tone on Live at the Filmore East. Yeah, that PAF tone...

The wood is there, and with it the right acoustic tone, so it's down to the electronics...and more specifically, the pickups. So, after drooling over the sound clips for the WCR Filmore humbuckers for a few years, and more recently the clips of the Sheptone Blue Sky humbuckers, I think I have found some pickups that may deliver that tone without breaking the bank. $260.00 a set just seemed a little too steep for me to justify for a $400.00 guitar - and that price included a HS case).

So after some lengthy research on the components and particular windings that produce the type of tone I was looking for, I went on a search for someone who could wind this magical pickup at a price that wouldn't break the bank. As I had done when I first found Highorder Pickups ($80.00 for a set of PAF's, now $140.00), and Vintagevibe Guitars ($70.00 for the Alnico P-90's, now $151.00), I found a winder who's just starting to gain a reputation and following. I found him on E-bay and his business is called GUITARFORCE Custom Pickups. Here's the set I ordered today:

Lord of the Blues -- The Lord of the Blues set produces pure to the core PAF tone. Using a different winding recipe and a reliced Alnico 4 magnet, we have given this pickup a dynamically rich PAF voicing. The bridge pickup generates plenty of vintage chime and midrange punch as well as clarity on the high end that comes through without ever being harsh. The ultra-sensitive string response of the neck pickup provides an abundant amount of note definition making picked notes and chords sparkle. This set enhances any guitar but works particularly well for Les Paul-type guitars with the mahogany body/maple top combination. This is an outstanding set for the blues, country, or rock player. If you have been searching for the holy grail of PAF tone, you may have just found it with this vintage-style pickup. Specifications: Bridge DCR: 8.5K Ohm, Neck DCR: 7.3K Ohm, Magnet: Alnico 4.

As a special introductory E-bay special price they cost $125.00...

It'll be a couple of weeks 'til I get them and then I'll know if I found a lucky score again...:

http://guitarforcepickups.com/home

[Blaze]

Clip Time


http://guitarforcepickups.com/sound_clips

[Bloozcat]

Clip Time


http://guitarforcepickups.com/sound_clips

Yep, the set I just ordered are on the first half of the first clip. Man, if I can't get Duane tone with them....then I'll know it's me....

[Blaze]

Yep, the set I just ordered are on the first half of the first clip. Man, if I can't get Duane tone with them....then I'll know it's me....

Now , ya have to find Duane s slide & amp..:

[Bloozcat]

Now , ya have to find Duane s slide & amp..:

I still have my original Coricidan bottle for slide...although I've never been very good with it...

After a lot of deliberating and after trying and owning a bunch of amps, I think I'm going to sell off some equipment and consolidate down to 3-4 amps. The one I've decided on for a lot of the tone I'm looking for, not just Duane's (although it'll do that in spades), is a JTM45 clone with KT66 power tubes. I'd like to have a good EL84 based amp around too (Lord knows I've got the tubes for it!), probably an 18 Watt Marshall clone, and a amp in the 18-22 watt range for Fender-type cleans (probably another clone of a Fender). I'd keep the little Valve Jr. around too just for low volume crunch practice. Oh yeah, with that line-up I'd have to do something about reverb as well...maybe a pedal?

It's time to get down to what exactly what I want for tone. I'm tired of screwing around with "almost" there.

[Blaze]

Keep on goin man and good luck !!

[duhvoodooman***]

Insane?? That doesn't sound insane to me, BC! Then again, I'm insane on similar matters, so you might want to consider my opinion inherently suspect....

[markb]

A Marshall would be the ideal choice for both the classic Lester tones you mention in your original post. You may have to add a treble booster for the "Beano" tones and a Fuzz Face (with a nearly dead battery ) for the Fillmore stuff. The 1974x 18w reissue is a killer now they've sorted out the transformer problems.

[Ch0jin]

Good Luck with your new PU's mate. I'd also like to say that in your case I'd substitute the word "Insane" with words like "Driven" and "Focussed" and maybe "Determined".

All words that look better on a resume than "Insane"

[Bloozcat]

Insane?? That doesn't sound insane to me, BC! Then again, I'm insane on similar matters, so you might want to consider my opinion inherently suspect....

Well, insanity does love company...:

A Marshall would be the ideal choice for both the classic Lester tones you mention in your original post. You may have to add a treble booster for the "Beano" tones and a Fuzz Face (with a nearly dead battery ) for the Fillmore stuff. The 1974x 18w reissue is a killer now they've sorted out the transformer problems.

I've got an Analogman Sun Face fuzz and a few non-alkaline 9 volt batteries in various stages of charge, so that's covered. My Voodoo Labs Sparkle Drive may handle the treble boost role, not sure though. After spending lots of time following posts at 18watt.com, I think I'll probably go 1974X clone for the 18 Watt...more options. It'll all sort itself out...

Good Luck with your new PU's mate. I'd also like to say that in your case I'd substitute the word "Insane" with words like "Driven" and "Focussed" and maybe "Determined".

All words that look better on a resume than "Insane"

I don't know...insane might look better on a resume for "Bloozcat, mad tinkerer"

[Bloozcat]

Well, my Lord of the Blues pickups arrived yesterday. Very nice, neat construction, vintage single conductor hook-up wire with braided shield ground, in DOUBLE CREAM PAF style coils...:

My wife will be gone almost all day tomorrow, so I'll finally get the chance to thoroughly try out the Ceriatone Overtone Special amp, and my AD 3000M Agile with the stock humbuckers for a baseline and then with the new LOTB pickups.

The guitars in the lineup for tomorrow's Ceriatone test will be:

Agile AD 3000M with stock pickups and then with the new LOTB A4 humbuckers installed.
Agile 2800 CSB DLX with Highorder A3 neck pickup, and bridge pickup with both an A3, then an A4 magnet.
Custom Koa Strat with Kinman AVN Blues pickups.
Trans Blue Ash Bodied Strat with custom wound pickups by Jeremy Cusick (Guitarman Pickups).
Ibanez AS73 with custom Truetone Technologies PAF humbuckers.

No more excuses after this. The equippment is top notch, so now there will be no excuse for the playing...

Should be a fun day...

Oh yeah, and in case I failed to mention, "and plenty of beer to keep me hydrated..."

[Kazz]

Oh yeah, and in case I failed to mention, "and plenty of beer to keep me hydrated...


something tells me you may end up dehydrated

[tot_Ou_tard]

Very cool Blooz.

I noticed that Guitarforce currently only has humbuckers, although they mention that strat, tele, P90, & bass pups are coming.

Dood must be a bucker-freak. Good call Blooz!

[Bloozcat]

Well, I finally got the pickups in the guitar, and all I can think of to say is...

HOLY CRAP....!!

These are some really sweet pickups. They really define what a PAF pickup should sound like in my estimation. The tone is just as described on the web site and shown in my first post here. In overdrive they can go from warm and bluesy, to warm classic rock fullness, to a crisp, biting tone...with no icepick at all - just great note definition.

I was a little surprised to find .047mf caps as stock in the guitar. Most manufacturers use .022mf anymore. I thought I'd keep the same value cap with the new pickups but not the ones that came in the guitar, which are cheap little poly caps. I had picked up some NOS Goodall Vitamin Q PIO caps in .047mf a while ago, so I put those in. Big difference in the tone control swell with these over the original caps. The tone rolls down subtley with the full sweep of the pot usable. Often, as you roll off on the tone pot, you get nothing initially, and then the tone goes from bright to rather muted quite quickly. With these caps, the effect is slower and much more even. Really cool...

At $125.00 a set, these pickups are a real bargain right now. I'm sure that just like the Highorders were a great bargain when I first tried them, but have risen in price now by about 60%, so will the Guitarforce pickups when people find out about them.

I'm still workin' on dialing in the Duane tone...but I know it's in there. Just a matter of time...just a matter of time...

[sumitomo]

That's good to know Bloozcat,I think I,m gunna pick me up a set.I also noted you have a voodo labs sparkle drive,how do you like it cause I saw one for 60 and that sounded good to me.Sumi

[Bloozcat]

That's good to know Bloozcat,I think I,m gunna pick me up a set.I also noted you have a voodo labs sparkle drive,how do you like it cause I saw one for 60 and that sounded good to me.Sumi

As a non-modified pedal it's pretty good. It has a nice clean boost that you can mix with the OD as well. I've heard they were even better with a Keely mod.

Mine's stock and I certainly like it better than my TS-9.