WCR or SD? (Smit's it is!)

[ohmygodtheykilledkenny]

I am very surprised that no one has brought up Smits Pickups as an option.

I have heard many a great thing about both of these, and Andy's Black Flag clips showcase the Smits rather nicely I thought.


They are highly customizable and lower cost. I have talked to Kevin about his pickups and he seems to have a wealth of knowledge on PAF's and their tones.

Just throwin' it out there,

Travis

[harddriver]

Hey toner check out Smits handwound pickups. They are reasonalby priced and they sound great. I got the 9K scatterwound asymmetric PAF's and it sounds great.

I was/am a devout Seymour Duncan player and these Smits kicked the newer Duncan's butt.

[marT]

IMO skatterbranes are awesome for rock that you are describing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0U0WsaeM9rY

but if you simply can't afford them then that's fair enough.

[Flames1950]

In his original post Toner did mention the Smits as an option. And nothing against the many other killer pickup makers out there (WCR, Voodoo, Skatterbranes etc.) but I have zero desire to remove the Smits from my guitars!! Sheptones ain't bad either.

[toner]

After talking with Kevin at Smits, I'm going to order a set from him. The prices are in my budget and the "30 day tweak policy" is hard to beat.

After explaining my goals and guitar/amp, he recommended these:

bridge: Boosted Classic BC9 alnico 4
neck: Classic Coils CC alnico 3

Thanks everyone!

[St August]

I love my smit's 13.7 Alnico 5 and a bucker light in the neck,,, Like Andy said there not leaving my guitar

[Iron Horse]

Duncan's closest to that sound might be Screamin' Demon, with the Allen screws changed for standard screws. Also, the DiMarzio Virtual Hot Paf might be good, it's slightly hotter paf with Alnico V mags. with A II, it's really close to SD Custom Shops Van Halen bucker ('78).

Then, if you had the money, Bare Knuckle pickups has the Riff Raff.

[Twistingcrow]

Hi!
So, what is your feedback on those Smits' toner? I'm about to pull the trigger as well right now...
Thanks!

[Twistingcrow]

Well, I pulled the trigger on those Smits'
Neck: Classic CC2N
Bridge: Boosted Classic BC9-2
Can't wait to put those in my Goldtop!

[Lefty Lou]

Can I mention a couple of subjects that may not have been touched upon? Balanced pup sets 1) I believe one poster here is confused about the word "balanced". Some winders match both coils in a single humbucker (usually with very accurate winding machines using digital counters and consistent wrap techniques), and then there are the hand wound (hand guided) humbuckers where no two individual coils in one humbucker are the same which is the most accurate PAF representation. 2) Has anyone discussed potting pickups when playing at higher volume levels to reduce feedback and squeel? Seymour Duncan Seth Lovers and Antiquity humbuckers are NOT potted and if you try to replicate AC/DC especially at higher volume levels you're gonna get "Squeel". Also, someone here mentioned you can't get the Led Zeppelin sound from SD Alnico II pup sets which is utter nonsense. My ears appreciate the A2 PAF designs or degaussed A5 PAF designs but, some guys prefer just the opposite. However, over the years its gotten to the point to where I can hear the difference in magnet types in PAF humbuckers so long as there is zero to minimal signal processing just by the hardness (edginess) or softness (smoothness) of their tone, and I'm NOT talking about the subtle nuances in playing styles. But, then again I think most guys here on this forum can hear what I do as well.

I do love my OLD DiMarzio PAF humbuckers (which typically had black/white bobbins) in my early 80's lefty Greco "Super Real" Les Paul guitar that was once owned by Elliot Easton. I have owned a played most SD humbucker types, so naturally my preferences point to the A2 PAF types. I currently have two Gibson lefty LPPP guitars, one with a Tom Holmes set, and the other LPPP with the Tim White "Timbucker" A2 or A3 set, and I prefer the "Timbuckers" over the Tom Holmes A5 set. I also have two brand new never used WCR humbucker sets which I've never used, the Crossroads set and the Moore/Green set which are both A5 sets. Hope this helps.

[Lefty Lou]

See my: SD and WCR pickups for sale (header) on this forum under Member Classifieds.

[fillmore nyc]

The Duncans you're listing, IMO are gonna be too mellow for the type of sound you've listed there. AC/DC and Zep have a little more of an aggressive tone than an Al Pro II, a Seth Lover, OR an Antiquity. (I've used Antiquities, and they're very good, but they're pure PAF~~not a lot of output).

Also, someone here mentioned you can't get the Led Zeppelin sound from SD Alnico II pup sets which is utter nonsense.

You know, the posts here are based on opinions gathered from experience in real world playing situations, but they're OPINIONS, and should be treated as such, with a healthy debate and counter opinions. Saying that what I posted is "utter nonsense" is insulting and infers that I dont know what Im talking about, which, to use YOUR terminology, IS utter nonsense.

Try to engage others here by offering a counter opinion based on some fact related to your personal experience, and maybe avoid informing others that your opinion differs from what another poster has said by denegrading what that poster has written by calling it "utter nonsense", ok?

[Lefty Lou]

fillmore nyc, I did state they were only my opinions if you read closely enough. Also, about the SD Alnico II set you CAN get Led Zeppelin tones, does that wording appease you?

[fillmore nyc]

fillmore nyc, I did state they were only my opinions if you read closely enough. Also, about the SD Alnico II set you CAN get Led Zeppelin tones, does that wording appease you?

If YOU read your own post closely enough, you never mentioned that these are your opinions, what you DID state is that my comment was utter nonsense. If you read MY post I DID specifically say that THIS was my opinion:

The Duncans you're listing, IMO are gonna be too mellow for the type of sound you've listed there. AC/DC and Zep have a little more of an aggressive tone than an Al Pro II, a Seth Lover, OR an Antiquity...

If your opinion differs, there WOULD be ways of expressing that other than saying what someone else says is nonsense. You'll find most people here wouldnt appreciate that either... Im fairly confident that I wouldnt be the only one.

I dont need to be appeased OR patronized... I dont appreciate your inference that my knowledge of guitars is nonsense and thats it. That shouldnt be too hard to understand.

If I told you that your opinion was nonsense, would YOU appreciate THAT?????
I didnt criticize your opinion... I criticized the way you expressed yourself by denegrading another post.

I stand by what I said, both to "Toner" AND to you:

(1)IN MY OPINION, SD Alnico II pickups are not THE BEST CHOICE for that particular tone. ANY pickup is "workable", some more than others.
IMO, based on 40+ years of playing gigs on the East Coast from Southhampton N.Y. to NYC to Jacksonville, Fla. there are better choices.

(2) I dont appreciate your comment, the same way Im sure YOU wouldnt appreciate YOUR OWN comment if it was directed at you.

Get it now??

[Lefty Lou]

Some people on forums like to wear their emotions on their sleeves, or are quick to judge or misinterperet others intentions. I never meant any malice or harm to you. I was just saying basically when you state that certain tones or responses can't be gleaned from certain pickups like, "You can't get ------ sound with these pickups" I disagreed and that was my opinion because I've been there and done that with success. I really appreciate your interest and knowledge like everyone else here on this forum and nobody is challenging your status here. As the old saying goes, "Opinions are like arseholes, everybody got one."