Reflex electronic in an Albert Lee

[jonahstepro]

I have had the chance to play a reflex and an Albert Lee HH and really like both of them.

I like the sound/electronics of the Reflex better, but the body style and ergonomics of the Albert Lee

I really don't care for the tone of the Albert Lee HH though, especially the coil taps, they sounded quite thin compared to the coil taps on the Reflex.

Does anyone know if there is a way to swap out the electronics on the HH for those that are found on the Reflex?

 

[peterd79]

i'll jump on this one...

from my understanding all of the pickups in EBMM guitars are proprietary for each guitar and not sold as sets from the factory. They could be purchased second hand if someone were to do a pickup swap and sell them. They would most certainly fit.

But you wouldn't be able to call EBMM and order an Albert Lee with Reflex pickups. So that direction to go wouldn't be an option.

You could possibly contact Seymour Duncan or DiMarzio and ask them what would be similar to the pickups made for the Reflex and they could get you close but it wouldn't be the same pickups...

I contact DiMarzio about some pickups similar to an Axis and they're close but certain't not THE SAME As...

hope that helps some...

 

[lock-ny]

I thought they were the same pups in both guitars??

 

[jonahstepro]

i'll jump on this one...

from my understanding all of the pickups in EBMM guitars are proprietary for each guitar and not sold as sets from the factory. They could be purchased second hand if someone were to do a pickup swap and sell them. They would most certainly fit.

But you wouldn't be able to call EBMM and order an Albert Lee with Reflex pickups. So that direction to go wouldn't be an option.

You could possibly contact Seymour Duncan or DiMarzio and ask them what would be similar to the pickups made for the Reflex and they could get you close but it wouldn't be the same pickups...

I contact DiMarzio about some pickups similar to an Axis and they're close but certain't not THE SAME As...

hope that helps some...

I thought they were the same pups in both guitars??

Thinking about it, I really like the tone of the humbuckers on both guitars. Really I am just trying to get the same sort of coil tap sound out of the AL as is currently only on the Reflex

I was thinking they were different pickups because the coil tap sounds so different, but I definitely could be wrong.

 

[jzeijen]

They are the same pickups, but on the reflex you can switch from parallel to series. I suspect that's not the same on your AL, and that's where the sound difference comes from. But I'm not a technical person, there's probably someone on here who can explain better (coil tapping is not the same as series/parallel switching).

 

[jonahstepro]

They are the same pickups, but on the reflex you can switch from parallel to series. I suspect that's not the same on your AL, and that's where the sound difference comes from. But I'm not a technical person, there's probably someone on here who can explain better (coil tapping is not the same as series/parallel switching).

I am not super technical either so definitely no worries. They both have coil tapping, but whether I am using the series or parallel side of the Reflex it just seem to sound better. Like I would have no problem leaving my Strat or Tele at home and just using the Reflex, but couldn't really do that with the AL

 

[Stratty316]

They are the same pickups and even if you wired the two guitars the same they would sound way different. All 4 of my guitars have Axis/EVH pickups and the Axis sport and HHAL have a way different personality from the 2 standard Axis guitars. The Axis Sport and HHAL are wired the same and even then they have a different sound.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Barny]

I think one major thing being overlooked here is that they are totally different guitars made of different combinations of wood, not to mentiont that the reflex is also chambered which the AL is not, I own several different reflex's with different body/neck wood combos and they all sound different.

Also the pickup mounting methods are totally different, which I personally think also has an effect on the tone.

 

[beej]

Yep, I've got both, same pickups but they do have their own things going on.

That said ... on the Reflex you can get the bridge or neck pickup in parallel (as well as any of the coils in series), so there are some wiring differences that are noteworthy.

If that's the issue, and you're missing those particular sounds, you could re-wire your HH AL to do the same thing. You'd need an extra toggle switch, but it's not rocket science.

 

[kimonostereo]

I guess if I were in the OP's boat, I'd get the guitar that SOUNDS best to me. While you can mod the AL HH, it's still not the same wood or body. Body size and shape can play a big part in the sound your guitar makes. Also, the reflex is chambered so that may be a huge influencer in sonic differences. Some may disagree, but I think headstock size can play a part too.

I got your PM asking me about my Al HH and the series/parallel switching. I swapped the HH pickups for TV Jones filtertron pickups and used a Fender tele 4 way switch and a push/pull pot for coil splitting. I get the following sounds:
Position 1: Bridge only
Position 2: Bridge and Neck in Parallel
Position 3: Neck only
Position 4: Bridge and Neck in Series

Pulling up on the Tone knob splits both bridge and neck pickups.

Hope that helps,
thanks,
\\scott\\