HH Albert Lee before and after demo

[brokenvail]

Ok as some of you may know I decided to swapcout the bridge pup the bridge pup on my HH AL for a Dimarzio AT-1. I was asked to make a demo before and after. I have never done this before but I decided to give it a shot. Here are two clips. Same licks guitars backing track...same everything. Only difference is one is with stock pup and one with the AT-1

HH AL Stock by Otoniel Acevedo on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free
HH AL AT1 Demo by Otoniel Acevedo on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free

 

[threeminutesboy]

wow Otto to be honest the difference is very subtile, can't tell which one I prefer , maybe the stock one

 

[DrKev]

Dude, thanks SO much for doing it. You have no idea how helpful people are gonna find that.

AT1 is really creamy and seems to have a little more "mmph!" to it. Is it higher output too? I think I'd stay with the stock pickup because I'd like the extra brightness on clean sounds and I do dig the extra edginess on your drive tones.

Are you happy with your choice?

 

[brokenvail]

LOL it is actually a little frustrating because they don't sound like in the room as close as they do in the recording. The creamyness with less highs is exactly what I am after. The stock ones are thinner, brighter and are actually hotter. There are more mids in the AT-1. As I said they are def not as close as the seem to be. There is a big difference in feel but that can't be measured in a clip. In the end I think what the clips really show is no matter what the player always sound like themselves. LOL

 

[Jack FFR1846]

The creamyness with less highs is exactly what I am after.

I would think that you are happy with the change. That's success!

 

[Norrin Radd]

I wish you had posted those blind. You know, us not knowing which was which. To be very honest, the differences were tremendously minimal. If I hadn't known and you told me those two clips were identical except for the drum part in one spot or the keys in one spot, I never would have expected that the pickups were different - AT ALL. What matters is - do you hear a difference? Because even an informed interested audience (me) could hardly detect one. And if I didn't, no live audience in the world will notice.

 

[brokenvail]

I would think that you are happy with the change. That's success!

Total success. I have to experiment with the height ect so that when in positions 2-4 they play nice but the straight bridge pup has be very happy

 

[brokenvail]

I wish you had posted those blind. You know, us not knowing which was which. To be very honest, the differences were tremendously minimal. If I hadn't known and you told me those two clips were identical except for the drum part in one spot or the keys in one spot, I never would have expected that the pickups were different - AT ALL. What matters is - do you hear a difference? Because even an informed interested audience (me) could hardly detect one. And if I didn't, no live audience in the world will notice.

As I mentioned above there is a major difference in the feel for me but the clips really prove that the player will always sound like them no matter what. I agree that those clips sound almost the same and I attribute that now to the player but in the room I hear more of a difference and the feel is totally different. In the end I feel like a) I did the AT1 no justice and b) these clips are of no help to the forum lol

 

[LawDaddy]

I found the differences to be very minimal, as well. One thing a demo cannot reveal is how a pickup "feels" underhand. If it feels better to you, then it's a win.

 

[Spudmurphy]

To me the stock AL pu didn't have the harshness of the replacement. The stock AL sounded a lot creamier especially in the intro.
There wasn't a great deal in it to be honest but a clip with more dynamics may hint at other differences.

My only experience of a HH Al was a roasted neck AL and in stock form it was awesome

 

[Norrin Radd]

I found the differences to be very minimal, as well. One thing a demo cannot reveal is how a pickup "feels" underhand. If it feels better to you, then it's a win.

Yup. I wasn't trying to be critical - just pointing out the limitations of recordings vs. being in the room. I understand that it's about feel. I'm not one to be critical of modding, either! None of my fiddles is stock. My #1 is a 2001 ash bodied beauty that has the pick guard, pickups and electronics installed from my HH! Sounds awesome. Feels perfect. I also finally found strings that work perfect for me after 35 years. To be fair, they weren't making Titanium coated 10-52s back then though.

Point is, we all like what we we like and when it feels right to the player, that translates to more confidence and that = a better performance and after all, isn't that the goal of fine tuning these high performance machines, anyhow? I've always believed the guitar is a tool. Make it the tool that best helps you get the job done the way you want to do it.

 

[brokenvail]

Curiosity kills the cat. I just recorder the same thing again but this time using my SS that has a maple neck maple board. The player will always sound like themselves apparently.

SS AT1 by Otoniel Acevedo on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free

 

[LawDaddy]

Yup. I wasn't trying to be critical - just pointing out the limitations of recordings vs. being in the room. I understand that it's about feel. I'm not one to be critical of modding, either! None of my fiddles is stock. My #1 is a 2001 ash bodied beauty that has the pick guard, pickups and electronics installed from my HH! Sounds awesome. Feels perfect. I also finally found strings that work perfect for me after 35 years. To be fair, they weren't making Titanium coated 10-52s back then though.

Point is, we all like what we we like and when it feels right to the player, that translates to more confidence and that = a better performance and after all, isn't that the goal of fine tuning these high performance machines, anyhow? I've always believed the guitar is a tool. Make it the tool that best helps you get the job done the way you want to do it.

Agreed. I currently resisting the urge to change the neck pickup in my new Morse Y2D.

I checked the DiMarzio site, and given the EVH pup is (supposed to, or rumored to be) a variant of the Tone Zone, perhaps an "Aired" version, the AT-1 doesn't appear to be a dramatic EQ shift, so there must be a certain resonance that he hears that is rubbing him the wrong way, and the AT-1 fixes it. Probably be hard to reveal in a quick demo.

I hadn't read up on the AT-1 before, looks like a great choice for mahogany-bodied 25" axes, and shares some of the 36th PAF technology. The 36th PAFs are some of my favorite pickups they make, now I'm intrigued...

 

[brokenvail]

AT1 is really creamy and seems to have a little more "mmph!" to it. I think I'd stay with the stock pickup because I'd like the extra brightness on clean sounds and I do dig the extra edginess on your drive tones.

To me the stock AL pu didn't have the harshness of the replacement. The stock AL sounded a lot creamier especially in the intro.

Crazy how we each perceive things differently. I know many people swear by that stock pup and I don't think I could bash it per say but the AT1 seems to suit me better (for now) LOL

 

[Spudmurphy]

Mind you - this is the opinion of someone with cr4p hearing !!! lol

 

[DrKev]

Funny! Two Kev's, two different opinions! Clearly, tone is so subjective different people will describe the same sound differently, even if those two people have the same first name.

And now we have the Silo Special (Alder/Maple/250k vol & tone) A/B'd with the HH AL (Mahogany/Rosewood/500k vol & tone) with the same bridge pickup. They sound very close to my ears, more so than the Al does with different bridge pickups. Interesting! It's almost like alder/maple vs mahogany/RW is roughly equivalent to 250kOhm vs 500kOhm pots!

See? This is what happens when a guitar playing ex-physicist whose girlfriend is away for six weeks stays in on a Saturday night!

 

[brokenvail]

Looks like I have no chance of ever not sounding like me LOL

 

[Norrin Radd]

Looks like I have no chance of ever not sounding like me LOL

As funny as that sounds - we ALL are blessed/cursed with that same predicament. I have come to embrace it and realize that no matter how hard I try, I will never sound like Andy Timmons nor be able to play like JP. I am ME when it comes to the guitar. I really started enjoying playing a whole lot more when I came to accept that realization. Honestly - I've enjoyed my own playing more than ever over the last 5-7 years or so since I crossed that bridge. It's weird how coming to grips with your limitations frees you up to enjoy what you can do a bunch more.

 

[LawDaddy]

This is turning into an interesting thread. Listening to playback from my bands, I've been made aware that I tend to sound like me no matter what I am playing. (of course, that can be a good OR bad thing) By the end of the first set, I'll have dialed in the rig and room to sound like I want.

I also note that the old cats, like BB King and Albert King, always sound so recognizable even given the disparate backline amps provided.

Interestingly, some people DO notice. My Dad, who has Golden Ears (he works in High End audio) noticed the first night I brought my Morse Y2D out to a gig. He commented on how "quick and fast" it sounded under my fingers. He was noticing the ceramics, and he doesn't even play guitar.

 

[threeminutesboy]

isn't playing guitar all about getting your own sound? I think it's good to be recognize at the first note like Knopfler or Gilmour and, this, whatever the guitar or PUPs they use.

As you said this is a matter of feel, is this one feels better to you then you are happy

but this thread makes me realize that I probably need only 1 or 2 guitars to cover my needs