Albert Lee Questions

[Trock]

Hello everyone, I have a few questions about the Albert Lee model, and was hoping some of you might be able to answer them. Does anyone know if the AL is a one-pice body or a two- piece ? Also has anyone tried the EMG SA series in the AL and if so how does it sound ?

I Have read many posts on how great the Al is compared to other stratty-style sounding guitars and I think the difference people are hearing might be the ASH body since the vast majority of "stratty" guitars have alder bodies. Some boutique builders like d'pergo and detemple also use ash for bodies. Has anyone had any experiences with them?

Thoughts and opinions are welcomed and appreciated

Here is My Ball!!

 

[Ripper]

Hey Trock, the AL is made by a 2-piece ash body. I believe the real old ones are 1 piece. Here's a pic of an AL with EMG SAs:

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Belongs to one of our forum members here. But pickups have changed back to the stock ones. You can do a search on posts on "ALs with EMGs".

 

[Red Scare]

Mine is a 2 piece (very hard to see the seam). If you replaced the bridge pickup with anything else, it would make a HUGE difference. The stock SD with the metal plate is super bright and hard to control (though I like that).

 

[beej]

Uvacom on the forum replaced his AL p'ups with EMGs. If I recall, he lost the quack in the in-between positions- it didn't stand out as much. Do a search- it's here somewhere.

The AL's p'ups are great and vintage-y sounding. The bridge is a great hybrid between a strat & tele sound- lots of twang. I'm also very partial to the neck p'up- awesome blues tone. Personally, I love it and wouldn't change a thing.

Personally I love the sound of the Ash- my old MM90 Sport is also Ash. Both guitars are to die for, sonically.

 

[Red Scare]

I would also say that the AL is the first strat-type guitar where the 2nd position sounds great for dirty rhythm. That super bright bridge makes all of the difference. But, I have found I use all of the positions just about equally. I've never done that on a Strat. The AL is by far the best overall combination for a 3-pickup guitar as far a usable tones.

 

[Trock]

Thanks for all the info fellas.... gonna do a search and some reading now ..

 

[robelinda2]

you know, one day i would like to try a set of EMG single coils in one of my AL's, just to satisfy some curiosity.

 

[Colin]

Uvacom on the forum replaced his AL p'ups with EMGs. If I recall, he lost the quack in the in-between positions- it didn't stand out as much.

Uvacom sold the original AL pickups to me, so does that means I have his quack?

 

[beej]

Uvacom sold the original AL pickups to me, so does that means I have his quack?

Silly duck, lost his quack.

Nice score! That's a great set of p'ups. Did you get the Silent Circuit too?

 

[uvacom]

Yeah, those are the SVs though, not SAs. I can't vouch for those - I do have some EMG Hs in another guitar (exactly the same pickup as the S, which is close to the SA) which sound great in that guitar.

My AL is a 1-piece made in 2006, so pretty recent. Also, as colin said I don't have the originals anymore, but I have some lindy fralins with a baseplate on the bridge, and I am quite satisfied with how they sound now - I don't anticipate any more pickups swaps.

 

[glockaxis]

If it was made in 2006 and is a single piece of ash (no pun intended) are the
2007's 2 pieces glued together? I'm confused.

 

[uvacom]

I think they still try to use 1-piece bodies particularly on transparent colors - there's no guarantee you'll get a 1-piece, it's all dependent on availability. But honestly, I wouldn't worry about it. I've never seen an EBMM with a really obvious, bad 2-piece body. Whatever you get will be attractive. Leo made plenty of great guitars with 2 pieces of wood back in the day.

 

[Colin]

Did you get the Silent Circuit too?

yes and I should put them into something soon

 

[Red Scare]

It's strictly a matter of tree availability. As far as tone, I doubt you could tell much if any difference between a 1 and 2 piece. A laminate, definitely as the amount of glue increases, it kills the resonance. People pay big $ for late 50's Les Pauls, and they are at least two pieces due to the maple top. So does it really matter...

 

[beej]

yes and I should put them into something soon

Nice! And that something would be ... ?

 

[glockaxis]

It doesn't matter, I just wanted to satisfy my curiosity and my knowledge of the instrument.

 

[Colin]

Nice! And that something would be ... ?

I'm thinking about putting them into an original Morse and maybe putting the Morse pickups into an AL. It might just be a symptom of my recent concussion though

 

[beej]

Holy smokes- that would be something! Hope you stumble on something that'll pay for the loss of the camera and hospital bill ...

If you're going that route, I'd love to see the Morse bridge bucker in place along with the AL set - could be SSSH? The twang of the AL bridge would go well with the Morse Bridge ...

 

[Colin]

Holy smokes- that would be something! Hope you stumble on something that'll pay for the loss of the camera and hospital bill ...

If you're going that route, I'd love to see the Morse bridge bucker in place along with the AL set - could be SSSH? The twang of the AL bridge would go well with the Morse Bridge ...

I'm hoping insurance covers the medical and I needed a good camera anyway (and some new jokes). But the idea of swapping the pickups is something I've had for awhile. Any idea of who would cut a pick guard to suit?

 

[beej]

Best of luck on the joke reimbursement (I can't afford new ones so I have to steal 'em.) Seriously though, that's such a horrible turn of events. I'm glad you're well buddy.

Chandler have all the MM guards- I'm guessing they'd cut something for you if you asked. Problem is just making sure all the p'up openings line up with the body routs.

You could order one with no p'up openings and route yourself. (Old school is to do it with files- I've done it before with files and it's not too bad a job.)