I have the Tele bridge pickup and it's OK, but not great. I have another Tele with an SD AlNiCo II pickup that I prefer over the Kent Armstrong. FWIW, the markings on the bottom of the original P-90's say Epiphone (engraved in the bottom plate) with a sticker on each that says either neck BHK or Bridge BHK for the respective pickup. Their relatively hollow, plywood-composite construction also plays a significant role. Maybe a medium output but with nice growl. I just fitted a tele bridge pickup and it's great. I always wanted to get a third pickup (the Armstrong Rock Treble, or something like that) for the guitar, but haven't done so yet. I'm about 90% there. http://wdmusicproducts.com/Merchant2_Code=PUHMBCKR. If you have any other questions about lipstick pickups, lipstick pickup construction, or lipstick wiring, dont hesitate to get in touch! I had some 7 string pickups from KA. I changed out the stock p.ups because they were pretty crappy (apparently they have improved a lot over the years). It's got the M213K PAF at the neck and a M214K Distortion at the bridge. Alnico 3 with Formvar wire. I put Kent Armstrongs in my much-reviled epiphone LP about a year ago and found them to be a good pickup and much improved over the stockers (obviously). There are 2 different types of Kent Armstrongs. Ive found using a bridge Seymour Duncan Vintage Mini hum in the neck position of my Tele, gives me a warmer, darker No, I agree, with shells it's a lot easier and in some cases sounds richer. Does anyone know if the Kent Armstrong pickups that "W D Music" sells are the real deal or - are they the Licensed pickups? yes. I used them exclusively in my tele strat builds for a long time, and those are all nice pups, too. A no brainer is if price is an issue and you're only playing jazz on this ax, you only need to replace the neck pickup. I have no experience of his full size humbuckers but have always thought his fender singles were real good and a lot of people speak very highly of his P90s. Kent Armstrong has long been the best jazz pickup designer in the industry. In the same price range I prefer GFS pups. I have another Tele with an SD AlNiCo II pickup that I prefer over the Kent Armstrong. #Bedroom Level# Tube Amp, Is it possible. Sam Sherry, Thanks for your response. The PAF and bridge humbucker in my Jackson Soloist are excellent pickups. When I first got the guitar my standard procedure was to swap things for This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies. JavaScript is disabled. Thanks one and all, that's filled in a lot of blanks for me, and hopefully others. Hot is darker After listening to Mark Whitfield's videos I thought his playing was excellent, however the Soho's tone was very bright and plinkyto me. It's like an on-board pre-amp boosting and distorting the signal. The new owner loves the sound of the KA too. it does not have that upper mid spike and is much more PAFish? P90's are normally ~8H -- nearly double the inductance of an average PAF. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again. The, not so good, PUs may be great to other folks. It really brightened the sound but the guitar needed that. If you go here. Also what is the difference between active and passive pickups? These new pickups allow you to completely equalize the string balance through height adjustment of individual polepieces. I had some double blade Strat pickups in my parts Strat for a while. And Danelectro continues to build the reissue Danelectros around the lipstick pickup platform. Danelectros had a unique sound that no other guitar could capture. So while many ended up collecting dust in basements, others found themselves on the worlds biggest stages and recording timeless rock n roll. Mike, thanks for the feedback (no pun intended). I did not. You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked. Especially the humbuckers and P90 humbucker retrofit and P90s Im very easy to satisfy; just give me a '58 Les Paul, a '52 Fender Tele w/ Bigsby, a '63 Gibson ES-335, a '62 Marshall JTM45, a '59 Fender Bassman, and a dozen or so assorted vintage Fender blackfaces and tweeds to play through and Ill be just fine. It is the bridge model of the 4/5 string soapbar. I would have been doing all the work and Dan would get as much - actually more for just using his name. I have the Tele bridge pickup and it's OK, but not great. I have another Tele with an SD AlNiCo II pickup that I prefer over the Kent Armstrong. Wa thanks for your help. but the hot p90s are staying in. WebKent Armstrong is one of the foremost electric instrument pickup designers in the music industry. We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website. The Kent Armstrong Humbucker on the Eastman AR371ce measured about 8.7K Ohms at the output jack. Learning Jazz Improvisation - "Imitate, Assimilate, Innovate". Most people consider Kent's jazz Pickups to be the best in the world and who are we to argue? I love the look of 3 humbuckers, but the extra one does little sonically. Active pickups are battery-boosted for even more power, usually with an on-board 9v battery. Are all of his current pickups made over seas? It was definitely an improvement over the stock pickup, which itself was not a bad pickup. They were OEM pickups pulled from some Jazz guitars. That neck pup on its' own with a little treble rolled off on the tone control would give you a warm mellow full sound, especially if you pick at the bottom of the neck. I've fitted their humbuckers and P94s to several guitars in recent years. select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. The. i think ill go for them. The Gear Page is the leading online community and marketplace for guitars, amps, pedals, effects and associated gear. the pickups in my bree/blue fretless are kent armstrong hand-wounds very nice. I think the laminate top really inhibited the projection and the volume of the guitar in a pure acoustic settingmy Gitane D500 is so much LOUDER than any acoustic I've ever used. Ceramic tend to have a "thinner" sound, but powerful ceramics give good metal tones when over-driven. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account. Roy and Sid worked together on the project on a no-compromises basis - the finest mahogany body, a quilt top that Paul Reed Smith himself suggested they use for the project and so on. I recommend them. regardless, jazz pickups don't sound anything like MB pickups. Here's a link to a great semi-technical explanation: http://www.guitartechcraig.com/techpckp/pickups.htm. He was jamming on it while I was in the store which is what caught my attention. I It may not display this or other websites correctly. Is there any better bang for the buck in a new guitar than this. Alnico magnets are the traditional 50s/60s Gibson/Fender standards and generally have a warmer fuller tone than ceramic. I dropped by my local guitar shop today and the tech had just installed KENT ARMSTRONG (?) While some might call it a brittle sound, others love the faster response and better note definition. He has standard formulas,as well as winding to your spec.The cost for these is below the bareknuckles and comparable to the Dunkmores.I use Kent's pickups in just about all my guitars with great results.Of course I make sure of the specs of the model to best match it to the particular guitar and it's intended purpose.I also adjust the overall height and individual polepieces (if used). KA's are available in double creme though and come standard with 4 wires if you're into coil tapping and in the UK they're extremely cheap and I think quite a bargain. We understand the questions. He had a KA Vintage in the neck and KA Hot Rod (both nickel covered) in the bridge. Great pickups for jazz and classic rock tones, these pickups are the real deal. I've got a set in an el-cheapo Flying V I have. the But then Danelectros are no longer the only place youll find lipsticks. has body but the upper frequency contour is really interesting. People still mistakenly use 0.022uF/22nF/22000pF or 47nF caps on anything, but even a 22nF is really too dark on mid level inductance pickups for fundamental note definition up the entire neck. This pickup is only 3/8 thick but sacrifices nothing in terms of the full rich sound that players have come to expect from him. Please check your items carefully and confirm they are correct for color, position, etc. May 20, 2009 in Epiphone Electrics. link above. they have the full range and a brief description of each one. The variability might have worked in your favor. I ended up moving on from that guitar but that was pretty cool. Pretty much what the thread title says, anyone know if Kent Armstrong pickups are decent? You may have to register We get asked a ton of questions about lipstick single-coil pickups. I'm not sure how their other pickups are. By contrast, the Armstrong (VT-made) PAF 12-pole humbucker has a much fatter, more electric sound. One look at them, and its easy to see why they quickly took the name lipstick pickups. (HJGN-2 for neck mount version) Made in the tradition of the Johnny Smith endorsed Gibson instruments introduced in the early '60s. Down solos the bridge pickup. For such high output pups, they sure preserve a lot of the guitar's acoustic tone. But they were very noise free. Rickstar123 Daniel found he could source lipstick tubes from wholesalers for much less than standard pickup covers. EMGs or something else but they were so good I've kept them. Sam: How was the pickup swap in your ElRey? These modern designs are much more reliable and standardized than vintage lipsticks while retaining most quirks that make old ones special. I put a set of noisless Kent Armstrong P90's in a PRS SE Soapbar 2 - I also wired them Series or Parallel. Your IP: Among its other design factors, Danelectros magic can be traced straight to the highly unique pickups that Nathan Daniel designed. I had a 12 polepiece nickel covered Kent Armstrong in the neck position of a double humbucker Tele for a while, and it was a very sweet sounding humbucker. Most people consider Kent's jazz Pickups to be the best in the world and who are we to argue? Sold through big-box retailers like Sears Roebuck, they offered budding players decent amps at bargain prices. Post up some sound files, I'd love to hear them. Just an opinion but the early ones are great. Your previous content has been restored. The tone is bright and detailed with a single coil type twang that also provides great crunch on and start thinking about it and then my bank account will suffer. I don't need to read posts like this, Greg! Was put on a customers guitar and modified to fit a D'Aquisto see offset bracket in picture. You are using an out of date browser. I want to do it unobtrusively and I don't like piezo pickups, so I'm planning on getting a floating pickup and making a new pickguard to mount it. Danos usually feature a 3-way toggle switch. They sound very authentic for P90's and when used in I don't have one but I use the capacitor in my ToneBlock 202, and I do have the treble up higher than I used to. sorry, didnt mean to digress from the original topic. VPB Hot Rod Series Hot Twins Split Pickup For Fender Precision Bass I had a KA Hot 60s Tele Neck pup in a project that I did few years ago, sounded awesome. I wandered over to the Kent Armstrong website earlier. dude i love that guitar! I was happy with it. When I first got the guitar my standard procedure was to swap things for. While scores of guitarists got started on these plywood powerhouses, most would move on to something more reliable as their playing progressed. Kent goes on to describe "It just didn't seem right to me. tone forum. do kent armstrong do alnico 2s? im looking to a bluesy peter greeny kind of tone. I have a set of his humbuckers in my neckthrough semihollow. My Epi originals had a passive resistance of about 14.5K Ohms!!!!! 62.133.128.109 Both these Kent Armstrong made in the USA pickups are far superior to what Eastman is selling on most of their guitars. I have a Bendetto floater on my Guild Benedetto AA and I love it. Between the warmth and adjustability, you just can't beat this pickup. Note: This instrument has been modified from it's original condition. Vermont-wound pickups from Mr. Armstrong and his son are still within easy reach. This company advertises that they have the hand wound Kent Armstrongs: http://www.oneflightupguitars.com/kentarmstrong.html. anyhow, i've had 2 or 3 of those on guitars i've owned and they are thin and overly bright. I've had several KA PUs. Wasn't so keen on the bridge which is hot @ 15k. WebThese pickups are handwound in the USA by Kent Armstrong and retail for $160 new, not the import version. But part of that is the guitar. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. Super Block United States. www.wdmusic.com is the us distributor. even the lower priced ones.. 30.00 or so, in single coils were excellent. Thanks to their popularity, finding vintage, original lipstick pickups is next to impossible. If you go here' date='. That said, other Korean Kent Armstrong pickups I tried sounded very good as well, so I would not hesitate trying them. I just purchased an El Rey4 and I find the original pickup kind of listless. You must log in or register to reply here. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. They seem very open with a good output; they don't seem to colour the sound of the instrument as much as the Barts (which appears to be the general consensus)and somehow seem more balanced sonically. Not horrified, but bowled over with mediocrity. Only really good for heavy metal sounds, although if linked to an on/off switch can be good to switch from passive to active for screaming solos. 500k pots are good with P90's if the pickup resonance is in a good range. WebThe Rocker cleans up nicely and is warm, even in an alder/maple set up. However, there are some people who want even more flexibility in this style of pickup, so Kent has brewed up something new and even more versatile. This pickup is only 3/8 thick but sacrifices nothing in terms of the full rich sound that players have come to expect from him. He'll also custom wind you anything you want if you call him. Thanks again. Copyright 2023 Seymour Duncan. Then you can dial the middle one to zero. Mar 9, 2015 #6 Tech experts from Seymour Duncan are regularly on this forum, and are clearly labeled as employees of Seymour Duncan. I love my Eastman 905, but I don't really love the Kent Armstrong floating pickup that came with it. WebKent Armstrong Hand Made Johnny Smith floating Pickup. ive heard both good and bad bout kent armstrong, but the overwhelming majority says good. That pickup combo gave the most amazing tones. do Im saving up for a burst les paul standard aswell would you recomend the same pickups for a peter green kind of sound? Dan and Kent planned to reproduce the pickups that Dan and Bill Lawrence made for the famed see-through acrylic "Dan Armstrong" guitar, sold by Ampeg. I imagine earlier pre WD Armstrong pickups would hold quite a bit of value. Assuming they do, it is curious how so many people automatically rip out the stock Epi pickups and replace them with (you guessed it) Kent Armstrongs. To answer that question, well have to dig into their history, lipstick pickup construction, and their relationship to Danelectro guitars. For the past 25ish years he was THE top pickup rewind guy in the UK and only recently relocated back to the states (his pickup rewind business here continues to operate in his absence). Privacy Policy | this drumming Neck postion, this KA pup : http://www.wdmusic.co.uk/product/PAF_Style_Chrome_Cover_HPAC-1, 2. You won't find the distortion on the WD website though. The vintage is real nice - sweet and full. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. At this point, I do not know if Kent Armstrong supplies Epiphone with other OEM pickups in addition to these P90's. They sounded decent. From the well setup action and the finely-cut nut, to the smooth polyurethane If this is your first visit, be sure to but ebay prices will beat them.. handy for descriptions though. Copyright 2021 Gibson Brands, Inc. All rights reserved. no, i don't like those one bit. It felt wrong and so I told him that I wasn't interested." There is a chance that you might have gotten a "good" set of P90's as stock equipment on your Epi. I have Not a new arguement but an interesting take. They are built/distributed by WD Music, which is a great company that is very helpful to smaller custom pickup builders with a wide range of pickup parts available for purchase. Announcing the all new jazz pickup line! He is a very good friend and a good guy also. well ive got a korean made epi which im guessing is about 93 95ish so would and upgrade to kent armstrongs be a good idea? Sunny Coalville. I didn't like the Duncan I had in the bridge though and opted for a GFS Vintage Alnico Tele and was actually super impressed by it. No wonder I didnt like it. before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. The pickups are priced nicely as well. Glad a better product exists from them but they need a top notch marketing person in the states. Today, lipstick pickups and their tone are still synonymous with the Danelectro sound. They were very impresive. 1995-2022 Harmony Central, Inc. All rights reserved. I have spoken to him many times on the phone. The Epiphone pickups measured 7.7K (neck) and 8.2K (bridge). Up until now, I have had no other verification of this claim, until he directed me to the WD Music website (as milospilo has provided the link above). Tech experts from Seymour Duncan are regularly on this forum, and are clearly labeled as employees of Seymour Duncan. All of these modern updates have done nothing to quell demand for lipstick pickups, new and old. The later made-in China pickups are not nearly as well put together as the old ones. I have a set of Kent Armstrong's Icon series Strat pickups. We all do. Every one of my archtops (5) has a Kent Armstrong 14-pole PAF humbucker. That bridge pup with full treble and plenty of gain on the amp gets you a nice biting tone like Claptons' John Mayall period. The reason I asked here is I know I'll get good info I can trust, you go through a lot of chaff before you find something really useful trawling. These are the Kent Armstrong pickups in my Soloist: The bridge pickup has a bright fendery tone, for a humbucker it. Pickups like our Lipstick Tube Strat pickup drop comfortably into most Fender-style pickup routes. Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible. Kent Armstrong sells his pickups exclusively through WDmusic. i dont know anything about those models mentioned, but just a word of props for Kent Armstrong, he is a super nice guy and makes a quality product. I heard the hot rod vintage is better than a JB? Talk with your fellow tone freaks on the web's liveliest (and friendliest!) i dont know anything about those models mentioned, but just a word of props for Kent Armstrong, he is a super nice guy and makes a quality product. By http://www.kentarmstrong.com/KentContact.html. also with respect, I could not agree less. Any users out there? I contacted Kent Armstrong himself about the pickup thinking maybe I'd just have him make me new one and here was his All I know is WD sells Kent Armstrong pups at higher end pricing with no sound clips or specs. It's just magnets and wire at the end of the day. Some of the add-ons on this site are powered by. However, there are some people who want even more flexibility in this style of pickup, so Kent has brewed up something new and even more versatile. You must log in or register to reply here. WebDescription Reviews (0) Description This is a low output humbucker that is reminiscent of the early Gretsch FilterTron pickups which are used for rock, country and rockabilly. Matthew Bellamy of Muse used the "Motherbucker" In his first few custom guitars. Just youtube "Stockholm Sydrome Glastonbury" You'll get the idea, Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page. check out the FAQ by clicking the Looks like you haven't made a choice yet. By I would be interested in you comments about the Benedetto swap. Powered by Invision Community. Has anyone checked Peter Bernstein Zeidler? Don't despare so quickly. On 28/02/2021 at 14:34, Tvrtastic said: Kent Armstrong has posted a little clip about his life. You are using an out of date browser. Instead, they used a relatively crude Alnico V bar magnet with the copper wire wrapped directly around it. I've had a number of Kent Armstrong pickups over the years, and been pleased with them all. For me, the tone is wayyy too bright, and it seems like the top 80% of the tone wheel is all the same (this could actually be a wiring issue, I have to have it inspected). I can cast beige ones but adding the colour decreases my working time. And while these guitars might be missing the tonal contributions of a plywood Dano, they still bring that beautiful twang to every guitar theyre in. custom pickups into a 1994 Gibson Les Paul Standard. I got the cheap ones (I was only 18 at the time) and was very pleased. So now I use the Gretsch when I know an amp is going to be needed and my Heritage 575 is too modern soundingah the choices I get to make. depends on the sound you want of course - they ARE at least as good as the Gibson Johnny Smith mini humbuckers that came on some of the older Gibbies and Heritage archtops, but well Also, the lack of adjustable poles is a turn off for me, YMMV, but I will say the best "smooth top" floating jazz pickup I've owned is the Bartolini 5J pickup, which is an excellent choice for that thinner, more acoustic sound. Seymour Duncan Strat Sized Lipstick Pickup, Seymour Duncan Danelectro Lipstick Pickup, Seymour W. Duncan Biography: The Man Behind It All, Mark Holcomb Scarlet & Scourge Signature Humbuckers, The Wes Hauch Jupiter Rails Humbucker Pickup Set, The Present and Future of Lipstick Pickups. This wiring results in an output boost with a woolier midrange punch than you might expect from lipsticks. Up solos the neck pickup. Though arguably, modern improvements have made lipstick pickup design better, some players live and die by the originals. This explains why I wasnt as concerned with the Epiphones tone. I'll have to get around to trying it in a "real" guitar one of these days. Theres a guy selling the following KA pickups around here for a reasonable price Are they any good? In fact, modern guitarists such as Phoebe Bridgers still swing Danelectros over their shoulders quite often. If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. Maybe I got a bad set but they were the muddiest most life-less pickups I have ever tried. select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. Some are excellent, some not so great, but of course that's a matter of taste. Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings. There are millions of jazz basses out there, much fewer SB basses. Inside the pickup, the improvements continue. Always loved his drumming, but how about on guitar too, and singing.,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6IBeJMtpzY Does anybody really play bebop these days? He has a Classic 57 mounted as a floating humbucker That could be a great solution! From years of modifying and designing special recipes for his customers, Kent It was strung with Les Paul Signature strings (009). i wanted to have it rewired so it worked like a normal les paul but i could use the middle pickup on a push pull but i got told it would cost quite alot to do it. Never worry about fitting a pickup under the strings again! Bags of twang and not microphonic like the SD pickup I replaced. What I did not know was the extent of the Kent Armstrong catalog. Alan Mearns - incredible Bach arrangements / playing. Well by looking at the list of players that he's made pickups for, he should be **** good. I wasn't a huge fan of the noiseless P90's I briefly hadthere was a big volume imbalance. They certainly suit me, although YMMV. They also split for single coil use better than any other humbucker I've tried. WebEmail: sales@kentarmstrong.com Phone: (239) 543-3625 Fax: (239) 543-5874 WD Music Products, Inc. 17570 N. Tamiami Trail Suite 1 North Fort Myers, FL 33903 A Smooth Sam pickup will breathe depth and articulation back into your favorite archtop guitar and make you fall in love all over again. I replaced it with a Dimarzio Tone Zone and have been happy as can be since. WebWPU90H Hot Rod Series Hot Soap P-90 This beefed up version of Kent Armstrong's already muscular WPU90 pickup utilizes the sweetness of a pure alnico magnet. The middle pup doesn't do much tone-wise on a 3 pup LP so the stock Epi pup is fine in my view. I'd go for that configuration again if I had a 3 humbucker guitar. Today theyre specifically designed for the pickups. They sound very authentic for P90's and when used in Parallel, they move into Tele territory for tone. the only ones I didn't like were the stacked humbuck hot output.. way too dark for my taste. I mixed and matched and put his 54 neck and 57 middle with a 62 in the bridge to slightly increase output and fatten up tone. Your link has been automatically embedded. The action you just performed triggered the security solution. Let me continue to believe that my stock Casino pickups are as good as any others because when I read opinions like yours I once again go to this page, http://www.pinupmusicparts.com/Pickups-Kent_Armstrong_P90_Famil.html. So those VT hand-wound, 12 pole HB'show much does something like that run? too many fuzz pedals to buy first! Sep 26, 2012 #9 Stephent28 Supporting Member Feb 1, 2005 C470, CO I bought one of the pickups made by WD music in Kent's name. Cloudflare Ray ID: 7c0631601a9af2e4 I was shocked! You can post now and register later. Unfortunately it didn't work out - for Dan wanted an additional 10% above of the proceeds for the use of his name. Theyre their own thing. Pasted as rich text. I thought it sounded terrible. Due to their size limitations and other considerations, lipstick pickups provided a low output and DC resistance that excelled at clean tones. All times are GMT-7. But the name is much more accurate than many players realize. I've been browsing the wdmusic site and have found a few products with identical descriptions, one is for a ceramic version the other an alnico version, both are the same price and tech specs except for the magnets. Down solos the bridge pickup. ive noticed that about my guitar that the middle doesnt really do much. They cost around 40 give-or-take here (Seymour Duncan and One retailer mentions that Kent Armstrong's pickups with adjustable poles can be adjusted to work with either nickel or bronze strings, a claim that doesn't appear to originate with the manufacturer. Announcing the all new Side mounted Jazz Pickup. son. hi im thinking about buying new pickups for my black beauty and i came across kent armstrong pickups on ebay are they any good compared to standard epiphone ones?
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