pickups

[scrier7]

ok, so i want to put kent-armstrong tri sonic v's on my guitar, except im told its hard to get them in the uk, and even harder to get second hand. so i need a suitable substitute.

the sound im after is smooth at the lower end but with distortion and reverb on i want it to really scream you know? im trying to kinda get a similar sound to brian may but not quite. any suggestions cos all i hear about on the net really are seymour duncans

[Sethmetal]

I may be really off, but I saw that no one was responding, and I don't want to leave ya hangin.

First off did you know that Brian may has signature model pickups (I'm not sure who makes them....and I sure hope they're not the kent armstrong ones you speak of)

I'm not sure if the pickups you speak of are humbuckers or singles, so here are my suggestions

Brian may uses single coils from what I have seen.

Perhaps a Dimarzio Humbucker from Hell would do your job well (it is a dual coil full-size that has the brilliance and clarity of a single)

The Dimarzio Tone Zone does a good job of both of your sounds desired(As far as I've seen)

For single coils try a Dimarzio(Ok -I'm biased a little) HS-3, or Pro-track. The first being the lighter sounding, and the later more of a screamer.

I think to get the sounds you are looking after, some switching may be required, either to different pickups or series/parallel in the same unit.

Tell me your pickup configuration (H-S-S S-S-S H-S-H etc.)

and your switching controls and I'll give you my best suggestion.

In the meantime checkout www.Dimarzio.com They have sound clips for certain models...that might help

Oh yeah I think Seymour makes Brian's pickups I think they are called the tri-sonics and they are on his Guild signature models.

[scrier7]

finally a reply! cheers mate!

the pickups brian has endorsed are made by burns which are pretty much the same thing as k armstrongs.

as far as my set up goes i havent a clue what you mean! ive played for years now but i dont know many if any other guitarists, most of what i know tends not to be technical stuff.

but the pickups are definately sigles i know that much. but the ones on the guild are more than likely going to be out of my price range and i need ready availability in the uk

[Sethmetal]

Setup Wise I meant,

Do you have a Humbucker in the Bridge, then a single in the middle, and a single in the neck (H-S-S)?

Or Do you have three Singles (S-S-S)?

That's all I meant.

Dang, I checked on the Seymour Duncan site for Brian May pickups. They said they can make them but they are $120.00 (US) each. That it pretty steep.

Single-coil wise the Dimarzio's that I mentioned are about half the price of the Brian May model and should be available in your area. Dimarzio has a ton of other singles and I'm sure there is something to suffice. Dimarzio customer service is really helpful. Let em' know what you want and they will help you.

-Seth

[scrier7]

ahhhh!! makes sense now!

i dont know the setup simply because the one i have now is h - h but im selling it in a few days and i dont know what ill get in replace of it.

these dimarzios, how available are they? could i get them second hand?

[Sethmetal]

Ebay should have some second hand. Otherwise I'm not sure of availability in your area, but I'm sure there is.

If you end up with humbuckers Make sure they are 4 conductor, so you can coil tap. As brian's sound is often a single coil.

That's the beauty of humbuckers.....simply connect only one coil and you have a single.