are kent armstrong pickups any good
They also make a set of Rory Gallagher pickups that were made to replicate the original Rory pickups provided by his estate. Don't despare so quickly. Dan and Kent planned to reproduce the pickups that Dan and Bill Lawrence made for the famed see-through acrylic "Dan Armstrong" guitar, sold by Ampeg. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. Pasted as rich text. Kent Armstrong sells his pickups exclusively through WDmusic. and start thinking about it and then my bank account will suffer. Note: This instrument has been modified from it's original condition. I have the Tele bridge pickup and it's OK, but not great. I have another Tele with an SD AlNiCo II pickup that I prefer over the Kent Armstrong. We understand the questions. Sep 26, 2012 #9 Stephent28 Supporting Member Feb 1, 2005 C470, CO Especially the humbuckers and P90 humbucker retrofit and P90s Im very easy to satisfy; just give me a '58 Les Paul, a '52 Fender Tele w/ Bigsby, a '63 Gibson ES-335, a '62 Marshall JTM45, a '59 Fender Bassman, and a dozen or so assorted vintage Fender blackfaces and tweeds to play through and Ill be just fine. Learning Jazz Improvisation - "Imitate, Assimilate, Innovate". But the name is much more accurate than many players realize. What would you guys recommend fro the bridge of a Les Paul if I want deep bass, solid mids, and sweet(smooth) highs. These custom-made covers allow them to be manufactured in many different sizes and fit the most popular pickup routes like Strat pickups. From the well setup action and the finely-cut nut, to the smooth polyurethane I have some KA's in a Benedetto Benny. But they were very noise free. If this is your first visit, be sure to good low end with plenty of midrange cut-through and hi sparkle Alan Mearns - incredible Bach arrangements / playing. select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. I have The lead "Vintage" pickup was less chunky sounding than a Burstbucker 1 but creamier than an Antiquity. The problem with P90s is that they are more than often too hot. depends on the sound you want of course - they ARE at least as good as the Gibson Johnny Smith mini humbuckers that came on some of the older Gibbies and Heritage archtops, but well Also, the lack of adjustable poles is a turn off for me, YMMV, but I will say the best "smooth top" floating jazz pickup I've owned is the Bartolini 5J pickup, which is an excellent choice for that thinner, more acoustic sound. Maybe I got a bad set but they were the muddiest most life-less pickups I have ever tried. Along with Dire Straits Mark Knopfler, Page also found his Dano perfect for electrified blues slide. Display as a link instead, Is there any better bang for the buck in a new guitar than this. Epoxy casting inside the cover allows for added coil to give a sweet mini-humbucker tone. Using the middle pup with either gives you something inbetween which I didn't like much. Mar 9, 2015 #6 WebThese pickups are handwound in the USA by Kent Armstrong and retail for $160 new, not the import version. tone forum. The PAF and bridge humbucker in my Jackson Soloist are excellent pickups. Haven't got them yet. They offer authentic PAF tone, sounding open and warm while retaining excellent string to string articulation. i dont know anything about those models mentioned, but just a word of props for Kent Armstrong, he is a super nice guy and makes a quality product. I'm actually thinking of up grading. KENT ARMSTRONG Pickups?? I LIKE! | The Les Paul Forum Kent is a great guy. Gotta find that pup and find a guitar to install it in soon! Just youtube "Stockholm Sydrome Glastonbury" You'll get the idea, the idea that the motherbucker is Broootal! This explains why I wasnt as concerned with the Epiphones tone. The vintage is real nice - sweet and full. Improving my guitars tone. Part 2: A different pickup WebWPU90H Hot Rod Series Hot Soap P-90 This beefed up version of Kent Armstrong's already muscular WPU90 pickup utilizes the sweetness of a pure alnico magnet. Wasn't so keen on the bridge which is hot @ 15k. archtops) and has always had a real good product. You cannot paste images directly. I've never had any experience of KA humbuckers but the single coil pickups that japasul is considering are great and for the price of KA's I don't think that you can go too far wrong. humbuck size p90s.. and the vintage 12 pole humbuck. i think ill try and persuade my dad to rewire it for me. the only ones I didn't like were the stacked humbuck hot output.. way too dark for my taste. I currently have one of their mini-humbuckers in the neck of my Tele. This wiring results in an output boost with a woolier midrange punch than you might expect from lipsticks. I put Kent Armstrongs in my much-reviled epiphone LP about a year ago and found them to be a good pickup and much improved over the stockers (obviously). 04-16-2008, 05:17 PM Well by looking at the list of players that he's made pickups for, he should be **** good. Among its other design factors, Danelectros magic can be traced straight to the highly unique pickups that Nathan Daniel designed. custom pickups into a 1994 Gibson Les Paul Standard. Bags of twang and not microphonic like the SD pickup I replaced. do They are here to help. You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked. Up solos the neck pickup. link above. I have the Tele bridge pickup and it's OK, but not great. However, Dan and Kent had a major falling-out, as the story explains: "The proposal was for Kent to manufacture and distribute the pickups, and for using his fathers name they would split the proceeds. What's the opinion from those around here who's tried some of his work? If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. You must log in or register to reply here. But the in-between setting runs both pickups in series wiring. For such high output pups, they sure preserve a lot of the guitar's acoustic tone. Well by looking at the list of players that he's made pickups for, he should be **** good. I don't have one but I use the capacitor in my ToneBlock 202, and I do have the treble up higher than I used to. Some of the add-ons on this site are powered by. Very nice guy. I put a Vermont Armstrong P-90 pickup in my Ampeg AMG-100. Let me continue to believe that my stock Casino pickups are as good as any others because when I read opinions like yours I once again go to this page, http://www.pinupmusicparts.com/Pickups-Kent_Armstrong_P90_Famil.html. Maybe more like a Ford fusion, then say a Holdworth type thing. And Strat Players like SRV retrofitted lipsticks into their Fenders years ago. Unlike the Duncan SMB4D the Armstrong is very consistent all the way up the neck with thick mids, clear highs and growling lows. These pickups still deliver the same tone but are much more reliable and easier to manufacture. check out the FAQ by clicking the Very well built pickups, that sound good also. The neck model was built Reverse Wound / Reverse Polarity from the bridge model for hum-canceling operation when using both pickups. Vermont-wound pickups from Mr. Armstrong and his son are still within easy reach. Also, the bridge model had slightly increased output to better balance with the neck position pickup. Never worry about fitting a pickup under the strings again! Some others seemed to like them though. The, not so good, PUs may be great to other folks. Danelectros had a unique sound that no other guitar could capture. Between the warmth and adjustability, you just can't beat this pickup. The lipstick pickup construction not only achieved Daniels goal of being easy and cheap to make, but it also delivered a unique tone. I had a licensed Armstrong Floater installed in my Korean Gretsch Synchromatic(laminate) and I have to say it turned an unusable acoustic jazz guitar into an excellent electric jazz guitar for trad jazz/swing style rhythm playing and leads. etc.) I've had several pups in my sheri. The customer changed his mind and went with a Different Armstrong. It may not display this or other websites correctly. Kent Armstrong - Any Good? - Seymour Duncan User Alnico 3 with Formvar wire. Performance & security by Cloudflare. I got the hot-rodded PAFs and they have held up quite well. Specifically the tele bridge and the neck mini humbucker pickups. Anyone have any experience with them? I had a KA Hot 60s Tele Neck pup in a proje Happy hunting! Kent Armstrong pickups - any good? - Ultimate Guitar It was strung with Les Paul Signature strings (009). That is not a knock on Eastman, they I used them exclusively in my tele strat builds for a long time, and those are all nice pups, too. There was a Kent Armstrong humbucker of some sort in the bridge position of my US Masters when I got it. I thought it sounded terrible. Really thin Mike, thanks for the feedback (no pun intended). WebKent Armstrong is one of the foremost electric instrument pickup designers in the music industry. Sam Sherry, Thanks for your response. He has standard formulas,as well as winding to your spec.The cost for these is below the bareknuckles and comparable to the Dunkmores.I use Kent's pickups in just about all my guitars with great results.Of course I make sure of the specs of the model to best match it to the particular guitar and it's intended purpose.I also adjust the overall height and individual polepieces (if used). Indeed, the Kent Armstrong lipstick pickups on Scheff basses sound strong and clear. I've had a number of Kent Armstrong pickups over the years, and been pleased with them all. The extended cover allows for use with traditional 7 string arch-top electrics. They sound very authentic for P90's and when used in If yours sound like P-90's should sound OR you are happy with them, then don't even think about replacing them. Down solos the bridge pickup. Yup - I can stare at the screen for ages when you and Presa Tito are posting on a thread. I emailed Kent Armstrong himself, and he said they were PAF's. I can cast beige ones but adding the colour decreases my working time. So while many ended up collecting dust in basements, others found themselves on the worlds biggest stages and recording timeless rock n roll. again, i cannot help with what you are really asking, but after reading some disparaging other comments, i thought i should at least share my experience with his handmade jazz pickups, which are superb. We all do. The. yes. Yeah, I have his "high output" (not the "distortion" model but the one below that) and whatever is below that (forget what it's called) models in my Carvin DC-127. I've only tried his Firebird pickups & thought that, even though they seem like quality product, tonally they were very "polite" & lacking any personalityflat & not in a good way. What I did not know was the extent of the Kent Armstrong catalog. They were very impresive. This is probably a dumb question to a lot of you but I'm still relatively virginal guitar-wise. You are using an out of date browser. He'll also custom wind you anything you want if you call him. The pickups are priced nicely as well. He has a Classic 57 mounted as a floating humbucker That could be a great solution! All times are GMT-7. anyhow, i've had 2 or 3 of those on guitars i've owned and they are thin and overly bright. To start viewing messages, no, i don't like those one bit. As long as you are talking about KA pickups and bumping the thread, I think of it as no dis-service to the OP. A no brainer is if price is an issue and you're only playing jazz on this ax, you only need to replace the neck pickup. i wanted to have it rewired so it worked like a normal les paul but i could use the middle pickup on a push pull but i got told it would cost quite alot to do it. Really thin and very harsh. Your IP: I've been browsing the wdmusic site and have found a few products with identical descriptions, one is for a ceramic version the other an alnico version, both are the same price and tech specs except for the magnets. Ive found using a bridge Seymour Duncan Vintage Mini hum in the neck position of my Tele, gives me a warmer, darker No, I agree, with shells it's a lot easier and in some cases sounds richer. I tried the humbucker sized P90s. before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. And not only did these metal tubes give his pickups a unique look, but the metal cover helps shield the electronics and mellowed the otherwise ice-picky sound of his design. http://www.wdmusic.co.uk/product/PAF_Style_Chrome_Cover_HPAC-1, http://www.wdmusic.co.uk/product/Rocker_Alnico_Humbucker_Chrome_Cover_HRC-1A. Legendary Tones - 2000 Fender American Standard Strat There is a chance that you might have gotten a "good" set of P90's as stock equipment on your Epi. Glad a better product exists from them but they need a top notch marketing person in the states. the pickups in my bree/blue fretless are kent armstrong hand-wounds very nice. If you have any other questions about lipstick pickups, lipstick pickup construction, or lipstick wiring, dont hesitate to get in touch! Like FilterTrons to Gretsch, PAFs to Gibson, and Strat single-coils to Fender, they essentially define the soul of the brand. I have another Tele with an SD AlNiCo II pickup that I prefer over the Kent Armstrong. I have a set of Kent Armstrong's Icon series Strat pickups. You are using an out of date browser. That assembly was then wrapped in cellophane tape, vacuum wax potted, and inserted straight into the trademark lipstick tube coversactual lipstick tubes! The middle pup doesn't do much tone-wise on a 3 pup LP so the stock Epi pup is fine in my view. Roy and Sid worked together on the project on a no-compromises basis - the finest mahogany body, a quilt top that Paul Reed Smith himself suggested they use for the project and so on. 500k pots are good with P90's if the pickup resonance is in a good range. are actually Asian-produced "Rainbow" pickups by Kent Armstrong. They have a nice full tone not thin and bright like most pickups in this output range. Finally, modern lipstick single-coil pickups offer a variety of wiring improvements. Your link has been automatically embedded. Instead, they used a relatively crude Alnico V bar magnet with the copper wire wrapped directly around it. i dont like the idea of a guitar having a battery too toy-ish IMO. You are using an out of date browser. I dropped by my local guitar shop today and the tech had just installed KENT ARMSTRONG (?) WD Music's Kent Armstrong Humbuckers- Are these any but ebay prices will beat them.. handy for descriptions though. The fit and finish of the year 2000 Fender American Standard Strat are excellent. Well, this time he has outdone himself. These modern designs are much more reliable and standardized than vintage lipsticks while retaining most quirks that make old ones special. I may be wrong, but i think that is one of the overseas "licensed" pickups, not handmade in Vermont. Inside the pickup, the improvements continue. Great price. P90's are normally ~8H -- nearly double the inductance of an average PAF. Very warm sound. Cloudflare Ray ID: 7c0631601a9af2e4 These are the Kent Armstrong pickups in my Soloist: The bridge pickup has a bright fendery tone, for a humbucker it. And.they sounded way different too. They sound very authentic for P90's and when used in Parallel, they move into Tele territory for tone. I got the cheap ones (I was only 18 at the time) and was very pleased. Great depth of tone, and not real screamers. Between the warmth and adjustability, you just can't beat this pickup. Copyright 2021 Gibson Brands, Inc. All rights reserved. Pretty much what the thread title says, anyone know if Kent Armstrong pickups are decent? It is true he never runs out of notes. I have to admit I have only seen and heard the import stuff from Kent Armstrong. And Danelectro continues to build the reissue Danelectros around the lipstick pickup platform. I'm really shocked at reading this thread as I have bought 2 guitars that have had KA pups (mini hum and hums) and in both cases these guitars were totally liberated by replacing themI replaced the KA mini humbucker with a Duncan SM-3 mini and the humbuckers with a Duncan JB and a Bare knuckle Stormy Monday. the upgrade turned both guitars from potential ebay items into favourites.go figure!? I also suggest that you choose your priority for heat level. You can post now and register later. He was jamming on it while I was in the store which is what caught my attention. May 20, 2009 in Epiphone Electrics. I'm not sure how their other pickups are. I changed out the stock p.ups because they were pretty crappy (apparently they have improved a lot over the years). also with respect, I could not agree less. Some are excellent, some not so great, but of course that's a matter of taste. Then you can dial the middle one to zero. Quality-wise they are in between stock Epis and the more expensive Seymours and Gibsons. It will still fit and fasten to any other archtop that is replacing a floater. Specifically designed for use with traditional arch-top electrics. The variability might have worked in your favor. Announcing the all new jazz pickup line! I have used Seymours and Gibsons and there's very little difference, except in the price. My main problem is I live in a unit so I can never play anything out loud, I'm looking to re-locate asap. These new pickups allow you to completely equalize the string balance through height adjustment of individual polepieces. Archtop pickups are halfway down. After I wax potted them they weren't too bad. This pickup is vertualy brand new. Kiesel Guitars: Allan Holdsworth Signature. Webhey guys, i was wondering if any of u have had experience with kent armstrong pickups. Kent Armstrong Pickups So now I use the Gretsch when I know an amp is going to be needed and my Heritage 575 is too modern soundingah the choices I get to make. You must log in or register to reply here. Looking for the ultimate Jazz/Fusion Allrounder Guitar, The "capacitor trick" on a Superblock US: 3 values compared (with audio), Looking for some Wisdom on Mini Humbuckers. I love my Eastman 905, but I don't really love the Kent Armstrong floating pickup that came with it. So those VT hand-wound, 12 pole HB'show much does something like that run? Up solos the neck pickup. There seem to be a plethora of newer 100 watt smaller floor based amps these days. There are 2 different types of Kent Armstrongs. Unfortunately it didn't work out - for Dan wanted an additional 10% above of the proceeds for the use of his name. tone forum. I played a mates Bare-Knuckle p.ups the other day and they sounded AWESOME. They can be a little bit of figuring to roll off and clean up but once you find the sweet spot your good to go and you can't expect pristine creamy cleans from pickups of this output. Someone tell me if this is right, please add corrections? FWIW, the markings on the bottom of the original P-90's say Epiphone (engraved in the bottom plate) with a sticker on each that says either neck BHK or Bridge BHK for the respective pickup. At this point, I do not know if Kent Armstrong supplies Epiphone with other OEM pickups in addition to these P90's. I heard the hot rod vintage is better than a JB? I know for a while you could still get domestic KA pickups built custom direct by him and/or his sons - not sure if that is possible still today or if it is all via WD Music. Sunny Coalville. Daniel found he could source lipstick tubes from wholesalers for much less than standard pickup covers. Seymour Duncan Strat Sized Lipstick Pickup, Seymour Duncan Danelectro Lipstick Pickup, Seymour W. Duncan Biography: The Man Behind It All, Mark Holcomb Scarlet & Scourge Signature Humbuckers, The Wes Hauch Jupiter Rails Humbucker Pickup Set, The Present and Future of Lipstick Pickups. This is the 7 string version of Kent Armstrong's super popular jazz humbucking pickup. EDIT: forgot to mention, I'm especially interested coz I have a G-400 Custom which has 3 buckers also, and I have an active picup git, an Ultra-II with NanoMag, it can make some half decent tones. You must log in or register to reply here. Kent Armstrong Today, lipstick pickups and their tone are still synonymous with the Danelectro sound. I just ordered some Burstbuckers (#2, #3) on the strength of recommendations on this forum. They're were custom wound and came with the guitar. That said, other Korean Kent Armstrong pickups I tried sounded very good as well, so I would not hesitate trying them. (HJGN-2 for neck mount version) Made in the tradition of the Johnny Smith endorsed Gibson instruments introduced in the early '60s. I used the vintage in the neck and the HPAOR1 in the bridge. Posted March 1, 2021. I can tell you for fact that the Stock P-90's in my 2004 Casino were not even close to the Kent Armstrong P-90's I replaced them with. regardless, jazz pickups don't sound anything like MB pickups. The Kent Armstrong Humbucker on the Eastman AR371ce measured about 8.7K Ohms at the output jack. They are built/distributed by WD Music, which is a great company that is very helpful to smaller custom pickup builders with a wide range of pickup parts available for purchase. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again. Bridge position a hotter KA like : http://www.wdmusic.co.uk/product/Rocker_Alnico_Humbucker_Chrome_Cover_HRC-1A. You may have to register http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electronics,_pickups/Pickups:_Guitar,_archtop/Kent_Armstrong_Suspended_Jazz_Humbucker.html. 67 AB165 BF Bassman "restoration" complete. Talk with your fellow tone freaks on the web's liveliest (and friendliest!) [/quote] Thanks. I just fitted a tele bridge pickup and it's great. All rights reserved. Building A Jazz Language - Bebop focus, for the moment. Don't know for sure. Has anyone checked Peter Bernstein Zeidler? The cheaper type are made in the far-east while the more expensive ones are USA made. I was talking with my luthier the other day abound building an archtop and he was also saying he could put a BK Stormy Monday as a floating pickup even being a regular-sized humbucker. That meant that the bobbins and custom-machined pole pieces Fender and Gibson used were out. I imagine earlier pre WD Armstrong pickups would hold quite a bit of value. Kent Armstrong has long been the best jazz pickup designer in the industry. Also, dont forget to dig into the rest of the Seymour Duncan blog. This is the same pickup used by Eastman on their 7 string archtops. I've had several KA PUs. I like a pickup that is able to produce the true "natural" acoustic tone when it's fully on, but can go completely dark and everywhere in between. Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page. Every one of my archtops (5) has a Kent Armstrong 14-pole PAF humbucker. I wandered over to the Kent Armstrong website earlier. Playing them clean in a tube amp.best tone I've ever heard. Armstrong or Rautia pickups are a much better way to go. even the lower priced ones.. 30.00 or so, in single coils were excellent. Floating archtop pickups and bronze strings it does not have that upper mid spike and is much more PAFish? Any users out there? Just an opinion but the early ones are great. He made pickups for many UK builders (not to mention Benedetto (sp?) S, Copyright 2022 - Jazz Guitar Online - All rights reserved - Privacy Policy. son. I have mentioned in previous posts that my tech had claimed that the stock P90 pups in my '56 Gold Top Les Paul and Zephyr Blues Deluxe (see my sig.) They are very dull and lifeless None of that typical P-90 sound. What's the opinion from those I have a Bendetto floater on my Guild Benedetto AA and I love it. Im saving up for a burst les paul standard aswell would you recomend the same pickups for a peter green kind of sound? dude i love that guitar! I wanted to have some time with the guitar before I went with the swap but at the next string change, I'll change out the pickup. Middle position, your stock Epi neck pup, 3. They make the Mexi Standard that I've had since 1998 sound so good I play it as first choice on a lot of gigs now. I want to do it unobtrusively and I don't like piezo pickups, so I'm planning on getting a floating pickup and making a new pickguard to mount it. Well, this time he has outdone himself. I've known that these two types of pick-up magnets existed for a while now, what is the difference between them and what are the tonal characteristics of each? The copper wire coil is now wound around a custom-sized plastic bobbin that features an Alnico bar magnet right down the center. ive seen a few for sale and was hoping u could tell me a bit about their sounds and what Rickstar123 Sky/kent Armstrong Pickups For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. The neck pickup produces a surprisingly authentic jazz tone with, the tone rolled down, with it rolled up it's a a warm nice tone with. Terms & Conditions | Registered Trademarks, There are 2 different types of Kent Armstrongs. Best Pickups for Everything I know for a while you could still get domestic KA pickups built custom direct by him and/or his sons - not sure if that is possible still today or if it is all via WD Music. Armstrong pickups Kent Armstrong By WebEmail: sales@kentarmstrong.com Phone: (239) 543-3625 Fax: (239) 543-5874 WD Music Products, Inc. 17570 N. Tamiami Trail Suite 1 North Fort Myers, FL 33903 Theres a guy selling the following KA pickups around here for a reasonable price Are they any good? Kent Armstrong humbucker removed from Was put on a customers guitar and modified to fit a D'Aquisto see offset bracket in picture. Amazing humility saying built and repaired pickups for 50 years when he is the guy personally hand making the pickups for the amazing Ken Smith basses. The PAF and bridge humbucker in my Jackson Soloist are excellent pickups. When I first got the guitar my standard procedure was to swap things for Since I wrote that post I did some trawling and found some good references, also got on the humbucker page at GFS and copy/paste all the specs on the ones I'll get next windfall. Danos usually feature a 3-way toggle switch. Lipstick wiring is also a contributor. By For that sort of tone you want the alnico 2 magnets. Super Block United States. The pickups are hot a great pairing with my Engal Powerball, Mesa Roadking and Carvin V3 all modern high gain amps. Paste as plain text instead, Clear editor. i dont know anything about those models mentioned, but just a word of props for Kent Armstrong, he is a super nice guy and makes a quality product. To answer that question, well have to dig into their history, lipstick pickup construction, and their relationship to Danelectro guitars. JavaScript is disabled. Kent Armstrong It may have just been whatever model I had that I didn't like. WebThe Rocker cleans up nicely and is warm, even in an alder/maple set up. I have a KA 12 pole humbucker packed away somewhere that I had in the bridge position of a Tele I sold, not sure if it's a US, and remember that it sounded really good and was good enough that I made sure to remove it before selling the Tele. Kent Armstrong kent armstrong - Epiphone Electrics - Gibson Brands Forums This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies. S. Thank you for the awesome information in this thread to those who have posted. Based on what I read on this forum there seems to be a lot of variability in the stock Casino P-90's. I bought one of the pickups made by WD music in Kent's name. The action you just performed triggered the security solution. Alnico magnets are the traditional 50s/60s Gibson/Fender standards and generally have a warmer fuller tone than ceramic.
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