DrKev
Moderator
- Thread starter DrKev
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DrKev
Moderator
Virtuoso
Well-known member
Bleugh - I'm not a fan of those finishes. Brulee reminds me of that awful Fender Antigua finish from the 70s!
If they make a Cutlass HT in Starry Night or Dargie II though I will be powerless to resist!
If they make a Cutlass HT in Starry Night or Dargie II though I will be powerless to resist!
John C
Well-known member
I posted this in the other thread but moving it to this one:
The HTs are very cool guitars! I see that the older RS models are still on the website - are the HTs are additional models to the EBMM family or will the RS models eventually be discontinued?
The HTs are very cool guitars! I see that the older RS models are still on the website - are the HTs are additional models to the EBMM family or will the RS models eventually be discontinued?
tbonesullivan
Well-known member
Oh wow, "Showtime" is definitely a great finish.
DrKev
Moderator
And my questions:
The HT models all appear to have the push-push 20dB boost and buffered output, but does the Cutlass HT still have the silent circuit as before? It's not mentioned on the product pages.
The middle and neck single on the Cutlass are "underwound for a more traditional voice". How to they compare to the existing Cutlass pickups? What ball park are we in here, e.g. vintage 50s bright and thin or more Texas Special thickness?
The HT models all appear to have the push-push 20dB boost and buffered output, but does the Cutlass HT still have the silent circuit as before? It's not mentioned on the product pages.
The middle and neck single on the Cutlass are "underwound for a more traditional voice". How to they compare to the existing Cutlass pickups? What ball park are we in here, e.g. vintage 50s bright and thin or more Texas Special thickness?
John C
Well-known member
The Cutlass HT does still have the Silent Circuit; it's the last item in the highlights, right above the Specifications table. But it's not mentioned in the Specifications table like it is on the RS models.
Cutlass HT
Featuring the familiar shape and feel of previous Cutlass models, the Cutlass HT showcases new custom Music Man pickup technology inspired by over a decade of guitar string research delivering an incredibly dynamic and responsive playing experience.
www.music-man.com
DrKev
Moderator
Thanks John, I'll suggest they update.
Sweat
Well-known member
Look forward to seeing some and someone getting one, will be quite awhile for me as I have one on hold to be shipped when I move and one being built 
DrKev
Moderator
The problem with pickups is it's so hard to compare them. There is no way to quickly A-B compare in the same guitar and we still end up relying on memory when switching between guitars (and our audio memory is shorter than a goldfish's). And recording never fully captures the differences between pickups that we experience when we play them. And there are hundreds of variants of every stye of pickup, none of them are truly bad, somebody somewhere loves some that others can't stand, and nobody is wrong that opinion.
The new pickups will be adored by some and hated by others, because all pickups are. They will either float your boat or burst your bubble, new technology not withstanding, because that just how things are. And on top of that guitarists are notoriously just old-fashioned and are prone to reject anything Leo Fender or Seth Lover didn't personally caress with their own lips. Neodymium and heat treatment will hurt the feelings of the vocal "only AlNiCo" diehards. I expect a lot of unwarranted bad reviews from keyboard warriors on one or two particular guitar forums.
Tastes aside, as consumers; we just want to know the differences.
They sound great to my ears based from the EBMM videos I've seen so far.
But we still want to know how they are different... like them or not.
Are they simply hotter? More modern sounding and people looking for the more traditional variant of S type tone should stick with the original version of the Cutlass.
In the one video, the player was playing an overdriven setup. The single coils sounded like humbuckers. Very cool achievement.
But again; how does it compare to the original.
They sound great to my ears based from the EBMM videos I've seen so far.
But we still want to know how they are different... like them or not.
Are they simply hotter? More modern sounding and people looking for the more traditional variant of S type tone should stick with the original version of the Cutlass.
In the one video, the player was playing an overdriven setup. The single coils sounded like humbuckers. Very cool achievement.
But again; how does it compare to the original.
DrKev
Moderator
Agreed.
I'm currently shopping for pickups for my Silhouette Special and it's frustrating that so many pickup makers just list DC resistance (which is of little use for judging output or tone) and give some sort of marketing blurb that doesn't tell me much about how they'll actually sound compared to anything I may have heard before.
beej
Moderator
Put me down as interested in these pickups. I'd love to hear more about the engineering, though. Agreed that this is always missing from pickup descriptions.
DrKev
Moderator
Alright, here are the answers to our questions from AJ at customer service. Thanks AJ!
Will the Cutlass HSS be offered as an HT guitar?
It is very likely that we will offer it eventually. That being said, when you engage the boost that bridge single gets into humbucker territory. These pickups have an increased frequency range when it comes to the output and the low end frequencies are quite potent.
Will the RS models be discontinued in favor of the HT models?
Not immediately, but it is likely.
Will the HT be added or an upgrade to other models in the future, e.g. Luke III or Majesty?
This is very likely. When it comes to signature guitars it will be driven by the artist. If the artist likes the technology and wants to apply it to their model, we'll do it. There's a good possibility that the technology will be applied to basses also.
How are the HT single coils voiced on the Cutlass? Brighter than the Cutlass RS singles?
They are brighter, in a sense, without sounding brittle. The easier way to describe them is stronger. The Cutlass single coils in the RS are voiced after 60s style single coils so they have a bit of a vintage vibe to them. The HT has more low end, hits the front end of the amp harder and is maybe a little brighter without sounding thinner at all. With the volume all the way up the HT single coils can be quite aggressive, especially if you are a heavy handed player who digs in. With the volume rolled back or with a lighter touch they clean up nicely. The pickups are very dynamic and responsive. With the boost engaged they are just plain over the top.
Will the Cutlass HSS be offered as an HT guitar?
It is very likely that we will offer it eventually. That being said, when you engage the boost that bridge single gets into humbucker territory. These pickups have an increased frequency range when it comes to the output and the low end frequencies are quite potent.
Will the RS models be discontinued in favor of the HT models?
Not immediately, but it is likely.
Will the HT be added or an upgrade to other models in the future, e.g. Luke III or Majesty?
This is very likely. When it comes to signature guitars it will be driven by the artist. If the artist likes the technology and wants to apply it to their model, we'll do it. There's a good possibility that the technology will be applied to basses also.
How are the HT single coils voiced on the Cutlass? Brighter than the Cutlass RS singles?
They are brighter, in a sense, without sounding brittle. The easier way to describe them is stronger. The Cutlass single coils in the RS are voiced after 60s style single coils so they have a bit of a vintage vibe to them. The HT has more low end, hits the front end of the amp harder and is maybe a little brighter without sounding thinner at all. With the volume all the way up the HT single coils can be quite aggressive, especially if you are a heavy handed player who digs in. With the volume rolled back or with a lighter touch they clean up nicely. The pickups are very dynamic and responsive. With the boost engaged they are just plain over the top.
Those descriptions, at least for the Cutlass HT, seem to conjure a similar vibe to the Harmonic Design Vintage Plus’-they have a rep of being some of loudest, widest range single coils with potent low end that actually still keep the proper single coil snap, dynamics, and tone. Beautiful little monsters (I have one in the neck of a strat-it’s a cannon on par with, oddly enough, a Lollar Charlie Christian, the most powerful single coil I’ve ever heard) Of course the materials and construction are different so I doubt they sound the same.
