Helldunkel Posted September 28, 2010 Report Share Posted September 28, 2010 edit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwedishLuthier Posted September 28, 2010 Report Share Posted September 28, 2010 Great looking stuff. How well will the flame of the maple transfer to the mold? And will you do the casting or will Kent ARmstrong do it? I ask because I am very interested in doing a similar thing for my bass pickups (using ash for the templates) and I havn't been able to find a decent suplier of casting resin in Europe, only in the US. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helldunkel Posted September 28, 2010 Author Report Share Posted September 28, 2010 edit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecowboy Posted September 28, 2010 Report Share Posted September 28, 2010 Nice pickup covers! It's too bad you painted them black I would of really liked to see that stained darker. The wood looked so beautiful natural. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helldunkel Posted September 28, 2010 Author Report Share Posted September 28, 2010 edit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RestorationAD Posted September 28, 2010 Report Share Posted September 28, 2010 Thank you for sharing. While I am familiar with the process a lot of guys here are not so it is good for them to see it. They look awesome. I am afraid I am going to have to start casting at some point... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stereordinary Posted September 28, 2010 Report Share Posted September 28, 2010 Interesting post! Casting is a lot of fun, I've done a little bit. Just some control knobs. But lately I've been thinking about making a sort of combination pickup ring/cover kind of like a Jazzmaster pickup, only with a different look. This is giving me some inspiration... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecowboy Posted September 28, 2010 Report Share Posted September 28, 2010 Haha sorry I know i read casting and by the time i got to the bottom i forgot 1300...wow thats intense! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helldunkel Posted September 28, 2010 Author Report Share Posted September 28, 2010 edit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helldunkel Posted September 28, 2010 Author Report Share Posted September 28, 2010 Ok, took a quick pic.... aluminium master template and the final cast... slightly modified the internal corners to match the pickups because I got the measures screwed up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwedishLuthier Posted September 28, 2010 Report Share Posted September 28, 2010 This thread got me so inspired that I just ordered some mold making silicone and some black casting resin. I have the perfect test guitar/set of pickups coming up... Greta looking guitar BTW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stereordinary Posted September 29, 2010 Report Share Posted September 29, 2010 That's some beautiful work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
low end fuzz Posted September 29, 2010 Report Share Posted September 29, 2010 so if i understand; cause i understand what casting is; those black set of pickups are not wood at all? the grain and figure showde up in mold? to me that would be crazier then the finished product, which are very nice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helldunkel Posted September 29, 2010 Author Report Share Posted September 29, 2010 edit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kammo1 Posted September 29, 2010 Report Share Posted September 29, 2010 Beautiful work brutha have to agree entirely about Kent's pick-ups have been using them for well over 30+ years and have no desire to look elsewhere. I laugh my bollocks off when I read posts about Bareknucle pick-ups and how wonderful they are I refuse to build any guitar that a customer requests when they insist on BKP-ups I show them the door ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted September 29, 2010 Report Share Posted September 29, 2010 Beautiful work brutha have to agree entirely about Kent's pick-ups have been using them for well over 30+ years and have no desire to look elsewhere. I laugh my bollocks off when I read posts about Bareknucle pick-ups and how wonderful they are I refuse to build any guitar that a customer requests when they insist on BKP-ups I show them the door ! explain! you may laugh your bollox off at this - but bareknuckle offer a great service and make wonderful pickups, as do many other people... which does not diminish kent's work in any way Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helldunkel Posted September 29, 2010 Author Report Share Posted September 29, 2010 There is sadly a lots of HYPE surrounding BK pickups... This has nothing to do with their impeccable customer services, they do a great job and quality pickups, myself I have mounted some in 2 recent creations because the customer already bought a guitar from me and wanted to experiment so I gladly accepted. But I really dont put anything else into my guitars, this was and will be the 2 exceptions. .....but there are also many other great pickup makers like for exemple Lindy Fralin which I'm sure would have plenty HYPE is MESHUGGAH (which brand got popular because of them? lundgren) would all of a sudden decide to exclusively use them... (this is how HYPE gets started by little fan boys...) But I guess this is also how the guitar world works... How many threads in forums do you read in which somebody who has no experience using BK pickups (just for an exemple) but instantly recommends them because his favourite band is using them or because a moderator likes them? Many new brands use HYPE to get a name out there usually surrounded by idiotic endorsements etc... and that's cool if it works out for them that way but being around for 40 years is a much greater accomplishement... Kent is a legend, he has been there for almost 40 years yet there is no HYPE arround his pickup because most of them are being played by highly regarded professional jazz and modern players around the world. When he was building pickups for benedetto 25 years ago there was not a new pickup maker starting a new business everyday... Of course many people dont realise the difference between the production armstrong pickups that you can buy at WD music products and the trully handmade ones that he builds by himself in Vermont (like the ones I am using on my guitars) and everytime I receive a packet from him its like christmas again, I feel honoured to receive so much knowledge inside a packet, it would be like if Mozart would be sending you an original composition Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted September 29, 2010 Report Share Posted September 29, 2010 And what would you say is a better alternative? Would you expect every guitarist to study pickup winding and magnets for a few years before deciding which set they should buy?Or should they maybe take the word of a boutique oriented snob about what the "best pickups in the world" are regardless of that guy's experience in the type of music the guitarist wants to play? Or should the guitarist look at the equipment of the guitarist whose sound he likes the most?The guy who inspired him to play? I think the most logical thing for most guitarists who really don't give a crap about how many windings or what type of magnets are in a set of pickups is to just grab a guitar that has similar specs to their hero and start playing...but then again,I care nothing about boutique voodoo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helldunkel Posted September 30, 2010 Author Report Share Posted September 30, 2010 And what would you say is a better alternative? Would you expect every guitarist to study pickup winding and magnets for a few years before deciding which set they should buy?Or should they maybe take the word of a boutique oriented snob about what the "best pickups in the world" are regardless of that guy's experience in the type of music the guitarist wants to play? Or should the guitarist look at the equipment of the guitarist whose sound he likes the most?The guy who inspired him to play? I think the most logical thing for most guitarists who really don't give a crap about how many windings or what type of magnets are in a set of pickups is to just grab a guitar that has similar specs to their hero and start playing...but then again,I care nothing about boutique voodoo. If a player get paid (en endorsement deal for exemple) to say that his pickups are the best he ever played, his fans will anyway listen to him and blindly follow him (this is how the guitar industry work and why most big companies who have tons of cash succeed. Most famous guitar players for exemple do not necessarely use their endorsement deal product to record their albums but they only use them for public exposure, gigs, media and interviews and pictures. I dunno man, I think its a lost cause really, but I would encourage a player to experiment as much as he can instead to simply follow ''a blind mass'' because the guitar world is trully facinating and there is really a lots of amazing things to discover then to simply follow our favourite musician. To be yourself takes a little more personality because you dont follow the blind mass and will anyway be put aside because you think differently but its worth the sacrifice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted September 30, 2010 Report Share Posted September 30, 2010 <snip> +1 to most of that, but personally i dont limit myself too much - for general stuff i usually use BKP but am happy with others like Bulldog, catswhisker, lollar, etc specialist stuff normally means looking elsewhere, like lollar or SD antiquity for my recent mini-hums (although i still have other mini-hums i want to try), tv jones for filtertrons, ThroBak for an awesome PAF replica generally i have found that certain makers have certain strengths and i try to play to those i only recommend stuff i have actually used and been happy with, and the same rule applies for stuff i want to moan about to avoid the fanboy nonsense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kammo1 Posted September 30, 2010 Report Share Posted September 30, 2010 Beautiful work brutha have to agree entirely about Kent's pick-ups have been using them for well over 30+ years and have no desire to look elsewhere. I laugh my bollocks off when I read posts about Bareknucle pick-ups and how wonderful they are I refuse to build any guitar that a customer requests when they insist on BKP-ups I show them the door ! explain! you may laugh your bollox off at this - but bareknuckle offer a great service and make wonderful pickups, as do many other people... which does not diminish kent's work in any way Wez I just don't rate their products at all and to be brutally honest I don't think they are that good but thats JMHO. I have heard these and others and have to say that for me its a load of old tosh. Very expensive,overated and to be honest if they gave them to me I would chuck them in the bin, Kents pick-ups are head and shoulders above these guys and over the years they have done me and my guitars proud and service second to none, so for me its the moto "if it ain't broke don't go under the bonnet" if you know what I mean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted October 1, 2010 Report Share Posted October 1, 2010 Wez I just don't rate their products at all and to be brutally honest I don't think they are that good but thats JMHO. I have heard these and others and have to say that for me its a load of old tosh. Very expensive,overated and to be honest if they gave them to me I would chuck them in the bin, Kents pick-ups are head and shoulders above these guys and over the years they have done me and my guitars proud and service second to none, so for me its the moto "if it ain't broke don't go under the bonnet" if you know what I mean which is fine, and a lot less teenage fanboy than your previous post. I had to respond because of the negative implications to a self confessed 'BKP fanboy' like me Like all pickup manufacturers they do some things better than others and success with them is more likely if you actually consult the maker. Never been unhappy with anything tim has suggested, but sometimes had some that didnt quite work for me when i chose myself without consultation There are a few pickups in the range i am yet to find a rival for, the blackguard flat 50, manhattan Humbucker sized P-90 and the P-91. I find humbuckers a bit harder to pin down. i have a bulldog set which is far more like a typical les paul than anything i have had from BKP - but generally thats not what i am after from them since i dont make les paul style guitars The manhattan i mentioned is the perfect jazz pickup for me... so clear and transparent, really lets the wood shine through. and I have found a tele pickup i like nearly as much as the blackguards, its a custom shop Seymour Duncan called the BG-1400, a lot less traditional tele construction, but still mainatins that flavour with a hell of a lot more kick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kammo1 Posted October 1, 2010 Report Share Posted October 1, 2010 Wez sorry if I came across as slagger but I say things as they are and don't mean to offend anyone ever and if you are a fan of them thats perfectly fine as obviously you have found something in them that I haven't........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted October 1, 2010 Report Share Posted October 1, 2010 you understand though. If i came on here saying i would laugh my bollox of at anyone that liked kent armstrongs i am sure you would have something to say about it. it would be a silly thing for me to say I never buy anything for the hype! if i can talk to the manufacturer thats the first step, if i receive something i like thats the second. if i dont and i can return it and then get something i like that works better for me thats the third, if i get that consistently from them then i am happy to recommend them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helldunkel Posted October 3, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 3, 2010 So we are installing my new 8 string dark flame maple pickups into Clive's Blackmachine 8, here are some cool vids, more to come: unpacking installing the pickups Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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