On Monday, January 11, 2016 at 4:44:26 PM UTC-10, cibola de oro wrote:
> dsi1 wrote:
> > On Monday, January 11, 2016 at 6:53:06 AM UTC-10, cibola de oro wrote:
> >> dsi1 wrote:
> >>
> >>> http://www.lacemusic.com/alumitone_single_coil.php
> >>>
> >> Forgot to include my comments on these:
> >>
> >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFHE9sL1IfU
> >>
> >> Very clean but a definite jangley sound.
> >>
> >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsHeBClnTls
> >>
> >> Just super bright and even a tad trashy?
> >>
> >> A fascinating pickup.
> >>
> >> I wouldn't do an entire axe, but I can see using one as a go to for
> >> certain songs.
> >
> > It didn't suit my archtop because an archtop guitar should have a particular sound to them. As it goes, I don't want a wide range of tones on an archtop. It's actually a bit of a muddy, dark, sound.
>
> Yes, agreed.
>
> > The Alumitones are the most radical design in magnetic electric guitar pickup in the history of magnetic electric guitar pickups. Theoretically, they are the holy grail of magnetic pickups - low impedance, high output.
>
> Pretty cool!
>
> > They do this by inducing current flow through a chunk of aluminum instead of coils of wire. They then use a small coil of wire as a secondary transformer winding for the output. This results in a very quiet, extended frequency range, pickup that is not going to get microphonic with age as pickups coils of wires can.
>
> I like that term. "microphonic" and you're right, as they age they tend
> to pick up archives, remnant sounds.
>
> > As it goes, most guitarists prefer their guitars to have pickups designed 50 - 60 years ago and the Alumitones are holy grails that was kind of a bomb in the marketplace. My guess is that it's going to take a little while longer before guitarists move into the modern age.
>
> What are your thoughts on the Fender lace sensors?

I have not played Lace Sensors but from what I have heard, it's an extended range pickup and a lot of players think it sounds "thin" and the output ain't that hot. The good part is that it's a quiet pickup.

The truth is that I don't play much electric guitar these days - but I'd like to. If I built a Tele-style guitar, I'd just stick in a couple of Alumitones and monkey with the tone capacitor and volume control pot. It's not going to sound like my Strat but that would be a good thing.