Morse Pickup Discussion - and pickups in general

[Samoht]

I'll start with two simple questions:

1. Has anyone ever put a tele-type bridge pickup in the bridge single coil position on a Steve Morse standard? (thinking like Albert Lee bridge pup, or Duncan twangbanger --strat size with a base plate)

2. Is quack attainable by combining split bridge or neck humbucker on the Morse with either single coil? (The split coil could be either coil of a humbucker)

Another question:

Have you ever felt that your standard Morse is robbing you of some sound/tone because of all the string pull? I've heard folks from Phil X to Jerry Donahue argue that even one additional pickup, in use or not, can alter tone. Opinions please.

Thanks!

 

[kestrou]

On the final question - I keep the single coils pretty close to the body - and believe this would be a MINOR issue in any case.

I recall the Mr. Horsepower guitars have FOUR humbuckers - for a total of eight bobbins - and strings seem to vibrate pretty well on that beast!

Kevin

 

[Samoht]

On the final question - I keep the single coils pretty close to the body - and believe this would be a MINOR issue in any case.

I recall the Mr. Horsepower guitars have FOUR humbuckers - for a total of eight bobbins - and strings seem to vibrate pretty well on that beast!

Kevin

Cool! Do you find yourself using the slanted pickup much? I wish I could go through Steve's catalog and ask him which pickups he used on certain songs...or certain parts of songs. Beyond the lead playing. I have a handle on what he's doing there.

He gets some great clean tones on songs like "Well, I Have", "John Deere Letter", "Runaway Train", and the end section of Flying Colors' "Cosmic Symphony" to name a few. Also great clean tones on the EBMM-era Morse live versions of "General Lee", "Night Meets Light" and "Ice Cakes". Another favorite for clean tones is "Jammin'" from "Live in New York".

I think most of my personal search for tones centers around not being in love with the two single coils.

 

[DrKev]

2. Is quack attainable by combining split bridge or neck humbucker on the Morse with either single coil? (The split coil could be either coil of a humbucker)

Yes. It'll be lower volume, brighter and thinner than the sound of the full humbucker with the single coil. Perhaps even quackier! Exactly what result you get will depend somewhat on which coils and their relative distances to the strings.

Have you ever felt that your standard Morse is robbing you of some sound/tone because of all the string pull? I've heard folks from Phil X to Jerry Donahue argue that even one additional pickup, in use or not, can alter tone. Opinions please.

Excess String pull causes a string to sound out of tune with itself particularly on the higher frets (when the sting is closer to the pickups). If there are no obvious tuning or weird note issues, string pull is not an issue.

 

[kestrou]

Cool! Do you find yourself using the slanted pickup much?

Pretty much "never"...

Have you taken a good look at the Y2D? Obviously doesn't have that slanted single coil...

My ideal guitar is a Y2D (no slanted single coil) with the "add bridge" toggle of the Standard Morse - which is why I've made two guitars exactly THAT.

Get out your Dremel tool and join in on the fun!

Kevin

 

[Samoht]

Thanks guys. DrKev, I am hoping to soon figure out which coil of the bridge humbucker combined with which single coil makes the quackiest sound. I'm doing a triple-shot like setup for the bridge humbucker. Two SPST switches, that will give series, parallel, or either coil alone for the bridge HB. Fingers crossed. I actually have the switches in place and wired. Just need to figure out how I'm going to connect and switch everything else.

Kevin, I might be more in the Y2D camp once I get my current (most recent, among many attempts) pickguard finished. I've had a Dimarzio Bluesbucker sitting around for a couple of years, and i"m going to try that out. It does a pretty convincing single coil tone in series mode, but also does parallel and split screw coil. I think the slug coil is barely wound, and only there to cancel hum. Anyway, once I have that, I'll SHOULD be getting a convincing neck single coil sound...which should replace my use of the slanted single. The Morse is such an odd bird compared to everything else out there that it seems there really is only one way to find out: DO IT! Not too many modded Morse guitars on youtube or soundcloud that I can find. Maybe mine will be one of the first.

One of my favorite demos is from Greg's Guitars...clean playing while switching between pickup combinations:

 

[beej]

Adding a baseplate isn't going to give you the tele sound- it just gives you a little more beef out of an existing pickup.

As for 'quack', it's hard to get from the Morse. The singles are too close together to really do it by themselves. I've had the best luck combining the neck single with the bridge, or split bridge.

Personally my favourite Morse sounds are from my Y2D with a split bridge combined with the neck humbucker- it's a great combination.

 

[Samoht]

Thanks beej. Since you can get the same combo from your Standard Morses (you have 2, right?) what do you attribute the different sound of the same combo on the Y2D? Direct mounting, maple top, one less pickup under strings?

 

[beej]

Sorry- that's not what I meant. I don't get quack with the neck/split bridge combo ... I just mean it's a non-standard sound from that guitar (splitting the bridge), and it's a great clean tone. I can't really get any kind of quack from the Y2D.

 

[Samoht]

I got you...I was asking about the difference you hear between that same pickup combo on your Y2D vs Standard. I believe I recall you having the split ability on your standards as well. So, if you can get the same pickup combo on both types of Morses, why do you prefer that combo on the Y2D? I wasn't clear.

 

[beej]

Hey sorry, been travelling the past week. For whatever reason, my Y2D just sounds better. It sounds clearer and (I cringe as I write this) 'woodier'.

I don't know if it's the maple cap, or just the fact that every guitar sounds a bit different.

 

[Samoht]

Cool. Thanks for the followup.

I've been playing my Standard a lot lately since getting into Troy Grady's "cracking the code" interviews and analysis. I find my Morse to be supremely comfortable for casual practice. I think that's why I'm so bent on changing things about it...because the body and neck and perfect for me.

 

[beej]

I agree with that. I'm on sort of a never-ending quest with my standard Morse, changing the pickups at regular intervals. Some stuff works, some stuff doesn't, but I've never quite gotten to the point that I'm done. But it just plays so damn well.

 

[fbecir]

Hello

The Morse pickups don't sound "hot" when you play at home at low volume (especially if your pickups are low, like Steve does). My Axis or my AL sound much "hotter".
But when I play with my band, the Morse makes sense : the Morse is made for playing loud !
Even with a loud band, the Morse is present in the mix but without killing your ear drums with screaming high frequency ...

 

[kestrou]

Even with a loud band, the Morse is present in the mix but without killing your ear drums with screaming high frequency ...

Exactly - very well balanced - not a one trick pony!

Kevin

 

[Samoht]

I'm not so much dissatisfied with output as I am searching for my ideal set of tones. If I was attempting to just cover the Les Paul base I'd probably leave the pickups alone. I'm intrigued by what could be with four pickups and potentially some switching options that aren't stock. It's a hobby for me.

 

[Samoht]

Here's my custom wiring diagram for my Standard Morse. It doesn't have every combination possible, most notably not having true "out of phase" switching. It does have "half out of phase" that Bill Lawrence came up with for the slant single. The Bluesbucker in the neck doesn't split to the slug, so the only three options are series, parallel, and screw coil only. The Duncan 78 can split to either coil, so I used two spst switches to emulate the Duncan Triple Shot switching...series, parallel, or either coil individually. There's an "add bridge" switch that's been relocated to behind the tone control, where it makes more logical sense to me.

Thanks to many forumites for the idea of having a three way toggle to choose between the two middle single coils. That switching is bridge single, both, slant single. The HOoP switch feeds this switching.

There's a resistor on the 5-way for the single coils because I'm using 500k pots.

Not shown is a simple treble bleed circuit on the volume pot. Soon, when I finish, I'll try to post sound clips.

 

[kestrou]

Dang - you've got great graphics skills - at least compared to my "back of the napkin scribbling"!

Kevin

 

[Samoht]

Thanks Kevin! I used Snag-it...which is primitive, but works well for me for making diagrams.