I've got some Voodoo a comin...

Post by **VelvetGeorge** » Thu Apr 08, 2004 4:30 am

Upon the enthusiastic endorsment of John from Sozo, I ordered a set of Voodoo pickups for my Les Paul. Just in time too, I was ready to buy SD Antiquities.

Much like playing through a vintage Marshall, the first chord you strike through real PAF's will ruin you. Once again I refer to the "there it is" phenomenon. You know, where you plug in, hit a big chord, and go "there it is!". That's the tone I've heard so many times before.
Real PAF's are it. End of story. Why do you think they're selling on Ebay for $1500 each?

Anyway, I have been disapointed in the PU's I've tried so far. Most seem to do one thing pretty good. The Pearly Gates for example. Nice overwound PAF sound. The Burstbuckers seem to get the job done as well.
But. I've yet to find a single PU with the characteristic "honk" that screams PAF.

These Voodoos come highly recommended, and Peter (who winds them by hand) really knows his stuff. A pleasure to speak with, too. We must have been on the phone near an hour talkng about caps, Heyboer vs MM, you name it.

Well, I guess I posted this because I'm excited about getting some authentic sounding PU's. If I don't post a complete analysis in the next few days, it's because I can't stop playing long enough. (fingers crossed, and optimistic).

George

Country Boy Shane · Post by **Country Boy Shane** » Thu Apr 08, 2004 8:56 am

I've also heard that they are whooping ass in the compitors field like Gibson, DiMarzio, and Seymour Duncan. I can't wait to see what ya find d00d.

Post by **VelvetGeorge** » Sat Apr 10, 2004 4:12 am

Voodoo- Day 1.

Another extremely busy day. Two shipments to Canada, two to Australia, several domestic.
However in lieu of eating dinner (over rated) I installed my just arrived Voodoo '59 pickups.

First off, packaging was great. They even came with mounting rings.
Installation was a snap. I even installed some new (mystery) tone caps.
bwahahhahhaa....

First impression-great balance between neck and bridge. A few quick adjustments and I was off to the races, err...I mean gig.

Gigside- final tweaking of height and balance. Let's rock. Great warm, meaty tone. Useable (finally) neck pickup for rhythm.
Actual midrange!!!! So many pickups boost the lows and highs, which just eliminates mids altogether.

These are just my first impressions. I'm pleased so far. But, I will do some critical listening and comparing against original PAF's.
All in all, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend these to anyone looking for a more accurate PAF style PU. Those of you who need a little more grind may find the output of these too low. But for me, they're nice and sweet.
Pristine when I want it, and as heavy as I want to sound according to my playing.

George

jkmcgrath · Post by **jkmcgrath** » Sun Apr 25, 2004 6:49 pm

I hear them are just the bomb baby!

I am thinking of going with the vodoo60's though since they have a tad more balls.

Man midrange rocks in my opinion. Like you say everyone wants to get rid of it for some reason.

YOu know them cheap radios really bring the guitar to life in most classic rock songs and they are midrangy as hell too!

How do you adjust your pole pieces and pickup height?

I follow the manual for height AFTER I screw the pole piece flush with the chrome cover and then set the base height from the cover then I unscrew each pole peice to match up to the fretboard radius.

After reading a post by the guy that winds timbuckers about how critical it was to have the pole peices not to high or low in relation to the bobbin and not the cover. This way I feel I am not breaking the basic rules of the pickups physics.

Of all the methods I have tried this has been the best sounding to me.

BUT I do want to get a DB meter and fine tune the g b to balance the sound even more.

What do you think about this method?

Flames1950 · Post by **Flames1950** » Sun Apr 25, 2004 11:07 pm

I can usually find a bridge humbucker that I like. It's finding a good neck humbucker that has any clarity instead of pure mud that drives me up the wall.
I'm full circle back to twenty-year old DiMarzio PAF's right now in the neck slots of my Gibsons. Can't find anything else that I wanna pay for that's worth a crap.

gnugear · Post by **gnugear** » Wed Jun 02, 2004 12:02 am

Hey George, I'll be curious to hear what you think of the Voodoos next to the SG PAFs you just got.

Post by **VelvetGeorge** » Wed Jun 02, 2004 12:00 pm

I was thinking exactly the same thing. I may have to put those PU's in my standard until the '59 is done.

Technically, they're not the same model, but I want to see if the '69s have the PAF "quack".

George

flemingmras · Post by **flemingmras** » Wed Jun 02, 2004 2:11 pm

Oh...you guys and your passive pickups!!!

Jon

Bluesbishop · Post by **Bluesbishop** » Sat Jun 05, 2004 12:45 am

Jon, Jon, Jon,.....AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It is THE 11th Commandment " Though Shalt never use Active Pickups with a Plexi, so saith the Lord thy GOD...." ( It's in very, very, small print....but trust me...I'm a Bishop, I know these things

)

All of the GREAT tones we LOVE have come from....you gueseed it....PAF pickups!!! Page knew it, Frampton Knew, Eddie Knew it( his great brown sound was what...PAF's through a PLEXI!!!) ...heck...they all know it!!c LOW output pick ups with a Marshall is TONE to die for!!

George, you have tried the Lindy Fralin's??? For my Buck, the are GREAT, as close as you will ever find to REAL Paf's. For a great Cheap pickup, I think the SD '59 gives serious bang for the buck. The Voodoos sound like they would be as nice as the fralins....but that is ALOT of dough for pickups!!!

flemingmras · Post by **flemingmras** » Sat Jun 05, 2004 4:28 am

Actually, that's because active pickups weren't even around when those guys were big!!! Well, I could be wrong about that so PLEASE don't quote me on this!!!

However, the EMGs to me sound just like a PAF...but with a built in clean boost! I proved this tonight. My axes sound just like a Les Paul...but hotter. I get more breakup and harmonics with my EMGs.

However, I had one take a shit on me tonight! I've been using them for years and have never had this happen! It started doing this wierd feedback thing, but only when I'd play. At first I thought it was the amp and I tried swapping everything, so then I swapped guitars and it went away so at first I thought it was the battery. Then after the first set I tested the battery and it was good. But I changed the battery anyway and still had the problem. Switched guitars again and the problem went away. This told me it was definitely the pickup.

The pickup was only a couple of months old, but the nice thing about EMGs is that instead of the pickup wire being hardwired onto the pickup, they plug into the back of the pickup so you can swap them. Well, since all my guitars use the same exact pickups, I scrapped one out of my Jackson that I never use after the first set and did a pickup swap during the break after the first set. Once again, my Les Paul was cocked, locked and ready to rock!

That pickup will be going back tomorrow.

Jon

Bluesbishop · Post by **Bluesbishop** » Sat Jun 05, 2004 2:15 pm

In the 80's, a use to play Jackson's and Charvels ( Didn't everyone?) with Active pickups..and back then I did like them. nice boost...but hated when batteries crappped out. They were great pic up for metal, I 've just found for what I enjoy playing now ( Blues, some classic rock) the PAf's sound MUCh warmer, and muchmore responsiver to pick attack, volume contol, etc.

I know you got a few Pauls...do yourself a favor and put some fralins ( 8 K neck, 9 K bridge ) and you will never go back!!!

Ken

Flames1950 · Post by **Flames1950** » Sat Jun 05, 2004 8:44 pm

On the flip side, since EMG's didn't require grounding the bridge/strings, it was always nice to be able to TOUCH the microphone without seeing stars.....

But I still prefer passive, and I just check the mic and my guitar bridge for voltage with a DVM before I give the Shure a smooch.

Post by **Scumback Speakers** » Tue Oct 17, 2006 1:29 pm

Had a set of Voodoo 59's for four years now, although I had mine wound differently (which now costs $400 per set, I see). 7.4k A3 magnet neck, and 8.4k A5 magnet bridge...they sound great!

Bluesgeetar · Post by **Bluesgeetar** » Wed Oct 18, 2006 12:11 am

Bah! Voodoos suck. I had a set. Stuck some WCR Crossroads in my SG then sold the Voodoos. I guess I'm glad you guys haven't gotten around to trying WCR. For now his prices are ok. Once you've been stung by the Wagner bee, your hooked for life. I'll give you a hint. My Wagners sounded so good that they drew a crowd (everyone in this large music store) over to see where this sound was coming from. They shit even further when they saw that the store manager was playing my SG through one of these SS Crates modeling computer crap amps. The pickups changed alot of people that day. Many guys said they didn't know that the pickups made such a huge tone difference. This was in a store with vintage Gibbys and vintage Fenders on the wall a plenty. The manager was converted that day into a Wagner addict.

Post by **Scumback Speakers** » Wed Oct 18, 2006 9:12 am

Bluesgeetar wrote:Bah! Voodoos suck. I had a set. Stuck some WCR Crossroads in my SG then sold the Voodoos. I guess I'm glad you guys haven't gotten around to trying WCR.

Correction, perhaps YOUR Voodoos sucked, but not all of them do. I never fell for the standard Voodoo wind theory of 7.8K neck and 8.2k bridge, you need more separation (like around 1K) between the two to make the bridge be as loud as the neck. I learned that from Lindy Fralin when I got one of his sets.

FYI, I have 4 set of WCR's, and we had a demo room together at the LA AMP Show, so I'm real smitten with his pickups. But I also have two Wolfetone sets (P90 & custom wind), the Voodoos, the WCR's, real PAF's, Fralins, etc, etc.

So, in all fairness, perhaps you got Peter's standard Voodoo set, and it sucked, but not all Voodoos suck.

Metropoulos Forum

I've got some Voodoo a comin...

I've got some Voodoo a comin...

Active Pick-up's are a SIN

EMG

hmmm

Re: hmmm