Cool new vid with Blues Saraceno

[GoKart Mozart]

Ran across this new vid with Blues demoing one of those Duncan pedal-sized class D power amps.

The REAL star of the show is one of his OG Albert Lees with humbuckers; those two gold ones predate the production Albert Lee HH by ~7 years, IIRC.

 

[xjbebop]

I remember being fascinated when I learned about this many years ago...

 

[Spudmurphy]

I've gone over to using my Alberts through a Line 6 HX XL, and a Headrush 12 FRFR powered Speaker.
I got fed up of not getting a consistent sound using analog pedals -it's not that I used many FX anyway. Delay, Chorus, Distortion, Wah wah, sometimes a compressor.

I've played with different valve amps over the years Impact 60, Marshall JTM 45, Burmann, WEM, Marshall Silver Jubilee, Mesa, MusicMan RD50 and RP65 - it just had to be done lol
But now having gone digital - its a doddle to set up in the hour allotted prior to our Pub n Club gigs, and not say a prayer hoping the FX will come in and work as required.

Get lovely sustain when I back up next to the speaker ... it's pretty damn good!

 

[Iperfungus]

Ran across this new vid with Blues demoing one of those Duncan pedal-sized class D power amps.

The REAL star of the show is one of his OG Albert Lees with humbuckers; those two gold ones predate the production Albert Lee HH by ~7 years, IIRC.

F***!!!
Guys, you've to STOP making me drool for a HH AL??? RIGHT??????

Jesus....what a tone!!
The HH AL shares the same Axis DiMarzio pickups, isn't it???

Anyways....I use a small Harley Benton 100W class D power amp (the GPA-100)...it's a small beast....79 euros of power!
I use it with a Mooer GE250 and...wow....it's a blast of a combo!

 

[Iperfungus]

I remember being fascinated when I learned about this many years ago...

Ah....so we've to say a big THANK YOU! to Blues for the AL HH?????

 

[Sweat]

Very Cool, yea his AL was/is sweet

 

[NickNihil]

If I'm not mistaken, he has Seth Lovers in that Gold AL (he has others with the Dimarzios and others with his sig Trembucker). His bridge pickup tone on that recent vid is to die for. That said, the Dimarzio Axis/EVH pickup that comes standard in the AL is probably my favorite bridge Humbucker.

I should also note that I know very little of Blues Saraceno, I just loved the tone in that Seymour Duncan vid and had to do some research.

 

[Ted]

Man, If we could get this guy to release another album of guitar music like the first three he did--before he eventually just went into production music for Tv shows.... I know, I know "i'm too busy, it takes too much time and makes no money"... come on Blues.... you're denying the world your talent by refusing to give us that thing that makes us happy.

Let me put it this way... back in high school in art class I had to weave a rug. My favorite album at the time was "Hairpick"--and I still have the rug that I made with the Hairpick guitar pick logo thingie on it-- it's got to be somewhere in my parents' basement.

 

[Iperfungus]

That said, the Dimarzio Axis/EVH pickup that comes standard in the AL is probably my favorite bridge Humbucker.

The Axis pickups set is one of the best I ever tried, one of them being the T&B combo on my 1987 PRS Custom.
Eddie was second to none also as designer.

 

[GoKart Mozart]

If I'm not mistaken, he has Seth Lovers in that Gold AL (he has others with the Dimarzios and others with his sig Trembucker). His bridge pickup tone on that recent vid is to die for. That said, the Dimarzio Axis/EVH pickup that comes standard in the AL is probably my favorite bridge Humbucker.

I should also note that I know very little of Blues Saraceno, I just loved the tone in that Seymour Duncan vid and had to do some research.

Yeah, there was a forum post a loooong time ago (20+ years) where Brian Ball said that one of Blues's gold ALs had Duncan Seth Lovers and the other had Duncan Custom Customs. Not sure if that's still the case these days or not.

 

[Iperfungus]

Yeah, there was a forum post a loooong time ago (20+ years) where Brian Ball said that one of Blues's gold ALs had Duncan Seth Lovers and the other had Duncan Custom Customs. Not sure if that's still the case these days or not.

Yep.
I meant the standard production AL HH.
I've read on EBMM site that pickups are DiMarzio Custom humbuckers and I've read somewhere else here that AL HH shares Axis pickups...so I wonder if those are the same pickups on both guitars.
About the custom guitar, I would not choose Seth Lovers....they are good pickups, but they're unpotted...not my first choice for a guitar like that and a guitar player like that...with all that gain and volume.
But it's a matter of taste, of course.

 

[loocnmad]

Quick personal anecdote. It was back when the plaid album first came out. I was already a big fan of his and saw him play at the Dallas Guitar Show. We bumped into him as he was leaving and as a star struck 13yo I asked if he would sign my ticket. He had his manager go get one of the full sized posters to sign and hung out talking with us until he got back.

He had to still be a teenager himself at the time but I always thought that was such a classy move on his part.

 

[GoKart Mozart]

The Axis pickups set is one of the best I ever tried, one of them being the T&B combo on my 1987 PRS Custom.
Eddie was second to none also as designer.

Well, calling Ed a "designer" in that context is probably a bit of a stretch but I understand what you mean. Steve Blucher and Larry Dimarzio just came up with several options for him to choose from based on the previous pickup that he had been using. The Airbucker technology & asymmetrical-wound coils in the bridge pickup were things that DiMarzio cooked up on their own. I think Sterling has said that Ed was so indecisive when it got down to the final two revisions on the bridge pickup that Luke basically said "Just pick that damn one!!" so that they could go on to lunch. The rest is history.

Yep.
I meant the standard production AL HH.
I've read on EBMM site that pickups are DiMarzio Custom humbuckers and I've read somewhere else here that AL HH shares Axis pickups...so I wonder if those are the same pickups on both guitars.
About the custom guitar, I would not choose Seth Lovers....they are good pickups, but they're unpotted...not my first choice for a guitar like that and a guitar player like that...with all that gain and volume.
But it's a matter of taste, of course.

Yeah, it's no secret that the regular production Axis, AL HH, 25th Anniversary/Reflex all share the same pickups.

As far as Blues using the unpotted Seth Lovers, I think he was trying to blend some vintage specs into a modern instrument since his two gold Albert Lees also have 1/2" maple tops on them and larger necks. The unpotted pickups combined with all that probably jive pretty well together.

 

[Iperfungus]

Well, calling Ed a "designer" in that context is probably a bit of a stretch but I understand what you mean. Steve Blucher and Larry Dimarzio just came up with several options for him to choose from based on the previous pickup that he had been using. The Airbucker technology & asymmetrical-wound coils in the bridge pickup were things that DiMarzio cooked up on their own. I think Sterling has said that Ed was so indecisive when it got down to the final two revisions on the bridge pickup that Luke basically said "Just pick that damn one!!" so that they could go on to lunch. The rest is history.



Yeah, it's no secret that the regular production Axis, AL HH, 25th Anniversary/Reflex all share the same pickups.

As far as Blues using the unpotted Seth Lovers, I think he was trying to blend some vintage specs into a modern instrument since his two gold Albert Lees also have 1/2" maple tops on them and larger necks. The unpotted pickups combined with all that probably jive pretty well together.

You know what?
Eddie was a self-made guitar player who put together the guitar that made him famous piece by piece....a Charvel body and neck....a Fender vintage tremolo he set floating....an old Gibson pickup that he rewound and wax potted to avoid squeal...
A pioneer.
When he met MM and the guys at DiMarzio, he was Van Halen already, with his experience and ideas.
Maybe designer is not the right word to describe him, you're right.
He makes me think to Valentino Rossi with his Yamaha M1...do you remember?
Ok...he did not design the bike and the engine....but without him and his hints, Yamaha wouldn't have had all that success.
About the AL pickups, I was remembering but I was not sure.
Now, the problem is that I love my Axis and her DiMarzio pickups and I like the AL HH a lot....and this is a big, big damage, you know?

 

[tbonesullivan]

You know what?
Eddie was a self-made guitar player who put together the guitar that made him famous piece by piece....a Charvel body and neck....a Fender vintage tremolo he set floating....an old Gibson pickup that he rewound and wax potted to avoid squeal...
A pioneer.
When he met MM and the guys at DiMarzio, he was Van Halen already, with his experience and ideas.
Maybe designer is not the right word to describe him, you're right.
He makes me think to Valentino Rossi with his Yamaha M1...do you remember?
Ok...he did not design the bike and the engine....but without him and his hints, Yamaha wouldn't have had all that success.
About the AL pickups, I was remembering but I was not sure.
Now, the problem is that I love my Axis and her DiMarzio pickups and I like the AL HH a lot....and this is a big, big damage, you know?

Eddie was the ears, the player, who knew exactly the sound he wanted, and also knew how to communicate it to the designers of the pickups and the guitar to result in the end product. Maybe "producer" or "advisor" would be best? Not really sure, but it's no different than the input that people like Steve Morse, Steve Lukather, and others have had in the design of their artist models with EBMM, though I would say the stakes were radically higher. Eddie was an experimenter, much in the same way that Les Paul experimented with all kinds of things.

The pickup set for the EVH / Axis is honestly one of the best pickup sets ever designed for a 25.5 scale tremolo guitar. There is a reason that it keeps showing up on other guitars, and that the pickups that didn't get chosen are also extremely popular. It's also amazing how part of it was "unintended consequences", as the entire reason for needing the "air" technology on the neck pickup was because Eddie's use of a drill to play was what would kill the magnets in the neck pickup, so they needed to use more powerful magnets that wouldn't get degaussed, but figure out a way to have the sound and feel of a vintage A2 magnet.

 

[Iperfungus]

Eddie was the ears, the player, who knew exactly the sound he wanted, and also knew how to communicate it to the designers of the pickups and the guitar to result in the end product. Maybe "producer" or "advisor" would be best? Not really sure, but it's no different than the input that people like Steve Morse, Steve Lukather, and others have had in the design of their artist models with EBMM, though I would say the stakes were radically higher. Eddie was an experimenter, much in the same way that Les Paul experimented with all kinds of things.

The pickup set for the EVH / Axis is honestly one of the best pickup sets ever designed for a 25.5 scale tremolo guitar. There is a reason that it keeps showing up on other guitars, and that the pickups that didn't get chosen are also extremely popular. It's also amazing how part of it was "unintended consequences", as the entire reason for needing the "air" technology on the neck pickup was because Eddie's use of a drill to play was what would kill the magnets in the neck pickup, so they needed to use more powerful magnets that wouldn't get degaussed, but figure out a way to have the sound and feel of a vintage A2 magnet.

Amen!!!
I really love those pickups, both.
But neck one has some magic...

 

[DrKev]

It's true, Eddie couldn't decide between the final options. Lukather made the final choice. Nice problem to have.

 

[Iperfungus]

It's true, Eddie couldn't decide between the final options. Lukather made the final choice. Nice problem to have.

Luke has no patience...

 

[Ninemile]

Nice, thanks for posting. I got into Blues in high school when his first cassette came out. I even went out and bought the tab book. Fast forward about 25 years and that book came in handy when my mom died. I was asked to play a song at an event honoring her at the Columbus Art Museum in Ohio. I immediately knew what song I would do and it was Blues' 'Deliverance'. Beautiful song. And he was so young for that album.