I Use GIBSON PICK-UPS, Why?

PAF Humbucker Pickup on a Gibson Les Paul (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

For years or decades, I’ve played electric guitar in bands at bars, schools, concerts and recording sessions yet I couldn’t tell you what pick-ups (p/u’s) were about. I mean, I didn’t have a clue as to what a pick-up did what to my sound. I grew up in a Gibson family. I mean that my relatives when they didn’t ridicule me for my participation as a rock and roll guitar player, said if I played the guitar, it had to be a Gibson. So, I only had a clue about humbucker type pick-up’s Gibson used. Oh yeah, it’s little brother the P-90.

My first electric was a Tiesco Del Ray I got for Christmas in 1967. I did get a Mattel Tiger guitar that was made of plastic and used a contact type pick-up. My brother and I each got one that XMAS so often times we’d use one of the pick-ups as a vocal mic.

Those days’ electric strings were extremely limited in types and gauges available to young poor city folk like yours truly. I think I only remember Gibson, Fender and Black Diamond strings. This is before the Maestro Fuzz and the Vox Wha-Wha were available to the buying public like me. Back to pick-ups!

With the limited info as to how the stars were getting “THAT SOUND” we just kept trying to learn guitar without “how to” magazines and poor sounding phonograph players playing 45’s on a tiny speaker. You could say there was no reason to discern between p/u’s.

In the mid 70’s I was already playing full time and knew about vintage Les Pauls and the legendary PAF pick-up’s that were installed in them. Around that time an N.Y. Co. was making a name for themselves as a replacement for your non- Gibson brand type (humbucking) pick-up, DeMarzio. I ended up buying one for my 76 Explorer. Mind you I owned since the mid 60’s, a late 50’s Epiphone symmetric cherry finish Coronet with a, I think someone called it a cobalt pick-up. It is referred to as the “P-90”, or “soap bar” single coil type pick-up. I loved that guitar and its sound. I just thought I should have a “real vintage” sounding guitar with a humbucking p/u installed. I also owned a Les Paul Deluxe with the mini humbuckers. It sounded great, I just thought it should have full sized p/u’s to sound and look right. To quote Ian Hunter in the mid 70,s, “Rock guitarist’s seem to have this Gibson fetish”, and I did! I wanted the “look”.

Gil Pini, the other Guitarist playing with me was using the DeMarzio super Distortion humbucking , and I for some reason didn’t feel good about its sound and feel, although it was touted as “heaven sent “ sort of thing, especially for Marshall amplifiers back then (no master volume on the pre-amp stage). I eventually purchased a Super 2 p/u, because it had more bite. And to me, meant, it would cut through cleaner and not be as transparent in the mix. I even bought the Alembic ‘Hot Rod Kit” for my 56 Les Paul Jr. (stupid) in 1976 or 77. That was supposed to be a good idea because it was hotter (better sounding) with a ceramic magnet to install, and since it was from Alembic (from California) and not some “upstart p/u manufacturer” it was the right thing to do. I didn’t think about the DeMarzio pick-up’s and I didn’t know that those pick-up’s used the ceramic magnets at the time.

As I started to record in major recording studios I’d learn to discern my sound. I didn’t have those how-to magazines to hip me to that elusive vintage “sound”. Yet, I could hear my Gibson Explorer and my Les Paul Jr. distorting at all volume levels as well as attack approach. It just wouldn’t smooth out. I was puzzled. Still trying to connect the look with the sound, I stumbled through the maze for years.

Not having the patience, or the money to buy and compare p/u’s, I just tried to make a sound with what I had. I had all the right Pro equipment. Yet I was looking back, “wagging the dog”.

A good sound starts from the fingers to the guitar to the P/u’s. If you don’t start there, you’re spinning in circles and you’ll end up with a transparent (fuzzy) sound without body and response. “Your fingers are your tone generators”. Not the amps or pedals. Those are tools to augment your expression. And if you learn anything about troubleshooting on the fly, you go down the line to find the problem with your sound or rig. The same goes for finding your sound. When establishing your sound you start with you, through the pick-up on down to the amp. With troubleshooting on stage, you should start with the amp and go down the line back to you. Which makes sense since you’ve established your rig set up, and you’re trying to fix what was working, you backtrack. If not, you’re spinning in circles, again!

So, I had a friend who made the point about how some pick-up’s play you and PAF’s don’t. I soon tried two 57 Classic pick-up’s installed on my 92 Les Paul Classic and what do you know? I had a sound that was tight on the bottom ringing on the top and honking clear/dirty mids when I played hard, and subtle soft tones when I backed off the and played lightly. I was in HEAVEN!! And the great thing that went with it was that this same thing happened regardless of the volume setting on the guitar.

My experience was that the tone I got on full could be bright and tight with a honk, and as soon as I backed off the guitar’s volume, the tone would take on a dark or dull shade. This meant I would spend a lot of time tweaking the blend between my rhythms (clean and crunch) and lead tones. Looking for each was a drag and a waste of time!

I’m no tech. so I can’t and won’t waste your time with my take of their specs. I do know that there’s something about the combination of the enamel coated copper wire and the alnico magnets that give me a sound I can play with and use dynamics. It was soon after I started using the Gibson 57 Classic pick-up, that Gibson came out with their 57 Classic plus. This p/u was designed as a bridge p/u.

In the 50;s the gals at the pick-up dept. would wind these pick-up’s using an egg timer or something like that. Sometimes they’d be distracted and some pick-ups would end up with more winds. Other times they would end up with less.

The p/u’s with more sounded “hotter” and when people started going for the tone, they’d notice the sound of certain pick-ups compared to others. It wasn't rocketed science to come up with the idea to put one of those “hot” pickups in the bridge position you would have a bright, tight, and honk’n lead tone where there wasn’t. And a whole new submarket in ‘vinatge' pick-up’s ‘ came about.

Which brings us full circle, “I use Gibson Pick-ups and I’m sure that the other brands quality alnico pickups are a good sounding product. I do know what sounds good to me and what I know from “my” experience. I’m a guitarist who’s been around the block and my ears have a sense as to what a pickup should sound like, that’s what I go for all the time.

Make your self happy and keep the communication’s open!

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How to Restring an ELECTRIC GUITAR

Electric Guitar - Photo by angelocesare 

For a newbie, this may seem a little intimidating.  But with the right tools, a little knowledge, and some practice, you'll be able to restring an electric guitar like a professional guitar tech.  When I was gigging regularly, I would restring my guitar every week.  My body chemistry is acidic and the sweat and oils from my hands would tend to dull the brightness of the strings as well as make them feel "dirty".  For me, the bright sound and smooth feel of a new set of strings would inspire my playing.  It became a ritual for me the night before the weekend's gigs started.  I would sit in front of the TV and restring my electric guitar; my acoustic was much less frequent.

OK, so you've decided you don't want to pay the guys at the music store and you want to know how to restring an electric guitar yourself.  Here is the list of tools and supplies you will need:

· A new set of strings (naturally!) Click here for info on string sizes

· A string winder (not required but very handy)

· A pair of wire cutters

· A guitar tuner (again, not required but helpful)

You will need to set aside about an hour of time to do this correctly, but as I stated earlier, with practice you will know how to restring your electric guitar in about 20-30 minutes.  

The first thing to remember, do NOT remove all six strings at the same time.  The guitar neck is designed to withstand the tension of the strings and if all of the tension is removed for any significant amount of time you could damage your guitar.

Also, there are some guitars that are literally held together by the string tension. I remember reading a story about a guy who had recently gotten hired as a guitar tech for the Ramones.  Wanting to make a good impression on Johnny Ramone he decided to restring his guitar for him right before the show.  He removed all six strings and Johnny's Mosrite guitar literally fell apart in his hands.  The string tension held the whole guitar together!  What's worse, the bridge of the guitar bounced across the floor and fell down the air conditioning duct.  

If I remember the story correctly, they spent quite some time using a coat hanger and chewing gum trying to rescue the bridge from the duct.  He retrieved it and managed to keep his job, living to restring the guitar another day.  But not all six strings at once!

But I digress.  Some people work in pairs of strings at a time, I prefer to work on individual strings.  You will quickly decide what works best for you.  Use this article as a guideline to get you up to speed quickly.  

OK, let's get down to it.  I always start with the high E string (personal preference); it helps keep me organized.  

If your guitar has a locking nut tremolo (whammy bar) system you will have to unlock it.  It works best if you remove the clamps completely and work with just the nut until the restringing process is done and the strings are stretched and tuned.  Then replace the locking clamps and fine tune using the tuners on the tremolo bridge.

· Use your string winder and loosen the string until there is enough slack that you can unwind the string from the tuning post by hand. 

· Use your wire cutters to cut off the curled end of the string and discard.  Do this to minimize the chance of scratching the finish of your guitar.  Push/pull the string back through the bridge slowly making sure it does not drag across the body.  You don't want to restring your guitar to result in refinishing your guitar!

· Next, unwrap the appropriate new string.  Insert it through the bridge of the guitar, over the saddle, up the neck, over the nut and into the hole in the tuning post.  Again make sure the trailing end of the string doesn't drag across the guitar body.

· Start turning the tuner by hand making sure the string wraps over the top of the tuning post.  Ideally, you want to have 3-4 wraps of the string around the tuner, but this is nothing to stress over. 

· Turn the tuner until the slack is out and the string is properly seated in the nut and over the bridge saddle.  

· Next clip the excess string off close to the tuner and use your string winder to bring the string up to pitch.  

· Use your digital tuner and tune to pitch.

· Next, grab the string with your picking hand halfway between the bridge and the nut and lightly tug the string away from the fretboard.  Do not pull real hard, just hard enough to pull the stretch out of the string and tighten it around the tuner post.

· Tune to pitch and repeat the stretching process until the string stays in tune.

Now repeat the entire process for the remaining five strings.  Know that the pitch of the new strings may fluctuate as you work on the remaining strings.  This is especially true with a Floyd Rose or similar type floating bridge. When you have replaced and stretched the last string make sure all six strings are still in tune.  If you have a locking tremolo system, replace the clamps for the locking nut, tighten, and use the bridge fine tuners to get the proper pitch.

The final step is the best one; sit back, crank up your amp and enjoy. Make sure you play something with lots of note bending in it and make sure the stretch is all played.  

Take satisfaction in knowing that you now know how to restring an electric guitar.

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