The Al's neck compared to the Luke's neck?

[Lucidology]

Was wondering if the pickup slots on The Music Man Al model are routed deep enough for EMG's, if one preferred to use these instead of the stock pickups... ?

(I ask this because I was shocked when awhile back when I had purchased an "Eric Johnson Strat" and could not drop my beloved EMG's in because the pickup route was not deep enough... )

I've been seriously, seriously thinking about adding an Al to my collection...So the other question is: how, besides that it doesn't have a V, does the Al's neck compare to the Luke's's...in girth or otherwise..?
Is it mostly pretty close...?

(Oh by the way, "the Eric Johnson Strat" was one of those big purchase mistakes ... was sucked in by the promise of Mojo, but it just didn't work for me... The pickups were very hi-fi, which I usually like, however these were extremely thin sounding. So, like " Eric Johnson" does for a good clean tone, you would need a lot of delay, chorus and reverb to fill out the sound. Plus mega amounts of distortion or fuzz (also as Eric does) are needed for a that full-singing violin solo sound... Not to mention, that the neck was a huge, monsterious baseball bat. Even though it had a 12' radius, it was a real struggle to play for my small to medium sized hands...)

 

[tommyindelaware]

[
(Oh by the way, "the Eric Johnson Strat" was one of those big purchase mistakes ... was sucked in by the promise of Mojo, but it just didn't work for me... The pickups were very hi-fi, which I usually like, however these were extremely thin sounding. So, like " Eric Johnson" does for a good clean tone, you would need a lot of delay, chorus and reverb to fill out the sound. Plus mega amounts of distortion or fuzz (also as Eric does) are needed for a that full-singing violin solo sound... Not to mention, that the neck was a huge, monsterious baseball bat. Even though it had a 12' radius, it was a real struggle to play for my small to medium sized hands...)[/QUOTE]

i did a setup on a eric j. geetar a couple weeks ago. i i found the guitar to sound really good.a very solid sounding guitar. i liked the pickups alot . the neck was fairly big....but i've seen bigger on a fender. i liked the v to c contour & the flatter fingerboard.
the pickups & pots are unique. (330k ?????) the guitar had great sustain & very stratty...but bigger. it sounded almost as good as my albert lee model.
ya know......... eric backs off his tone controls alot which has alot to do w/ the approach of his magnificient tone. that....along w/ what is most to credit his tone.....his hands. he could play a silvertone and sound absolutely amazing.
he also uses alot less distortion than most people think.

 

[SteveB]

Was wondering if the pickup slots on The Music Man Al model are routed deep enough for EMG's, if one preferred to use these instead of the stock pickups... ?

<..snip..>

I've been seriously, seriously thinking about adding an Al to my collection...So the other question is: how, besides that it doesn't have a V, does the Al's neck compare to the Luke's's...in girth or otherwise..?
Is it mostly pretty close...?

I can't answer the pickup question, but I can tell you that the Albert neck is a lot different than the Luke neck. The Albert neck has a nice, round feel to it and it's rather thick (not wide). I was surprised that I actually liked the feel of it because I'm more of a thin neck player.

The Luke neck of course has that V shape which is pretty unique among the MusicMan necks.

The tone of the Albert Lee is amazing whether you choose the S-S-S or MM90 configuration. The fingerboards are maple, although I did play a rosewood one-off at the open house... I think you can get a rosewood fingerboard on an AL if you get the 2006 limited edition package.

 

[kbaim]

Traitor!

 

[Spudmurphy]

As Steve says the LE AL comes with a rosewood fingerboard.
Mr Dubaldo can give you full details on it.

I don't have big hands but love the feel of the AL neck. - 2 5/8" at the nut and 3 7/8" at the 12 th fret - I would call it a C shape perhaps Jimid would confirm?

Any local shops by you, carrying EB guitars?
Spud

 

[Lucidology]

I like the way Tommy said that the EJ sounded 'almost' as good as his Al... so Tommy how would you compare the Swamp Ash Al to the Alder EJ tonewise...?
And you're so right Tommy... rolling back the tone knob certainly makes those pickups sound fuller...(Oh, and anybody who uses a Fuzz box uses a lot of distortion, or is it just more of a buzz... )

So Steve, the rosewood neck is a limited edititon option only 'eh... ?

And Spud.. you mean't 1 5/8's at the nut right..? Oh and I don't know who Mr. Dubaldo is yet (though I finally found out who NorM was.. )


And Keith... not a traitor dude, you know how the V in the Luke hurtfully cramps up my left hand (though your beautiful Blue-Burst Luke has barely a V to it... In fact, one could say it was almost completely a C shape)

 

[PeteDuBaldo]

I like the way Tommy said that the EJ sounded 'almost' as good as his Al... so Tommy how would you compare the Swamp Ash Al to the Alder EJ tonewise...?
And you're so right Tommy... rolling back the tone knob certainly makes those pickups sound fuller...(Oh, and anybody who uses a Fuzz box uses a lot of distortion, or is it just more of a buzz... )

So Steve, the rosewood neck is a limited edititon option only 'eh... ?

And Spud.. you mean't 1 5/8's at the nut right..? Oh and I don't know who Mr. Dubaldo is yet (though I finally found out who NorM was.. )


And Keith... not a traitor dude, you know how the V in the Luke hurtfully cramps up my left hand (though your beautiful Blue-Burst Luke has barely a V to it... In fact, one could say it was almost completely a C shape)

That would be me! (or my brother Nick who occasionally drops a sarcastic line here and there)

The only way to get a rosewood fretboard on the Albert Lee is to order a 2006 Limited Edition AL. The Ltd Ed package gets you a Black finish w/ matching headstock, rosewood fretboard with buttercream inlays, black/cream/black ply pickguard, gold hardware, and a special hard-shell case with a green crushed velvet interior. Plus you get the Limited Edition 2006 screened logos. Tremolo & MM90 pickups are optional at additional charge. (Please note that the piezo is not available on this guitar)

 

[kbaim]

^ good guy.

Hey Joseph,
I guess you could quote Ghandi.
I'm still going with Moe.

 

[Katana6506]

+1 for the "good guy" aspect of Pete.

 

[Spudmurphy]

Sorry Guys - I took my wifes cloth tape measure and measured the circumference not the width.

In hindsight without the profile it's a meaningless measurement.

I'll try harder, and will do better next time