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A Cool Alternative Tone Control for Bass
Looks vintage, but it ain't. After auditioning so many different tone-control schemes over the course of the Mongrel Strat Project, I wound up with more tone circuits than I have Strats, so I figured...
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“Nashville” Tele Wiring . . . in a Strat?!
What do you get when you cross . . . I’ve been coveting one of those “Nashville-Style” Telecasters — you know, the hot-rodded, three-pickup versions popularized by Nashville session superhero Brent...
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“Vintage” Les Paul Wiring: BS or BFD?
Which sounds better: modern or vintage wiring? The experts disagree! There’s a wealth of information online about the relative merits of “vintage” vs. “modern” wiring in Les Pauls. And after reading...
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Hello Kitty Strat: Not for Pussies!
Would this be anything less than awesome? I think not. As I gloated last week, Jane Weidlin gave me her Hello Kitty Stratocaster — the most bitchin’ $99 guitar ever conceived! I finally had a chance...
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Behold the Synyster Kitty!
Kitty power!!! Okay, as promised: One more quick video featuring the Hello Kitty Strat, this time with one of those new Duncan Synyster Gates Invader pickups. I’m told the ceramic-magnet Invader is...
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Mixing Magnets in One Pickup
Aggressive on the bass side, sweet on the top. I was talking to Seymour the other day about the types of magnets used in vintage Fender pickups. I knew that Fender used strong, punchy alnico V magnets...
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A Cheap Archtop Upgrade!
Sounds like MONEY! I’ve said it so many times, I feel like the parrot of pickups, but here goes again: These days the weakest links on inexpensive Asian and Mexican guitars are invariably the pickups....
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What’s the Deal with Alnico VIII Magnets?
Like this royalty-free clip-art illustration, the Alternative 8 manages to be both aggressive and round. I was talking to some of the Seymour Duncan dudes the other day about pickups models deserving...
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A Really Basic Pickup Install Tutorial
I always forget — which end is the hot part? Somewhat embarrassingly, I never got around to changing one of my own pickups until I was knocking on senility’s door recently. I owe part of the...
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The Secret is Out…
Last winter I tried an odd experiment: a website where players were encouraged to post their best tone secrets — the kinds of tricks and techniques that are almost too good to share. But in order to...
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