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 libirm |
Orderd 280/200/298 for strat |
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Posts: 3 Fri, Apr 3, 2009 21:14:56 |
I have read allot about setup here is there specs for a typical setup?
Can't wait for these to come! |
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Narcoleptigon |
#1 | |||
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Posts: 15 Sat, Apr 4, 2009 06:06:19 |
There is no should, here. Having all different PUP's offers more tonal versatility. I have a 280n, a 200m, a 200l and a 280l in a Parker Nitefly strat type
guitar, and now that I finally have everything balanced, I am very pleased.
When setting the PUP's up, you can use a Fender Twin type Amp or an amp sim with the input optimized and the amp gain on about 7 with the tone knobs set flat as a reference. Good headphones will make this much easier. First, make sure you are using a fully broken in set of the string type and gauge you like and the neck, action, and intonation are to your liking. Bill Lawrence's site recommends setting the height of the Lead PUP first. When you do, pay attention to string balance and particularly low end punch on the low E, which I believe is a result of proximity effect. If you set the PUP too high, you'll notice the tone getting too boomy on the low end and the punch will be overwhelming on the high E. I found that the difference between tonal nirvana and high E harshness comes down to less than a quarter of a screw turn. I set my low E height to where it just punches and then adjust up and down inside of about a quarter turn till it sounds balanced with the other low strings. The height balancing process becomes exponentially more difficult the more PUP's you have. I guess I would set the 280n next, using the above as a guide. There are no absolutes, but I did find that the neck and middle PUP mix sounds best when the middle PUP tone is louder than the neck PUP tone by about an eighth of a screw turn. You will find the right height by raising and lowering the the middle PUP. On the high E side, when it's too low, the mixed tone sounds too brittle. Too high and it sounds kind of metallic. Again, an eighth of a turn above evenly balanced offers me nice pop, quack and definition without sounding brittle. I set the middle PUP low E side just slightly lower than the neck PUP low E side. It cuts down on mud when the PUPs are mixed and gives a nice, even defined low string growl when used by itself. You may have to re-balance things a few times before it's right for you. Obviously, you will need to favor either the front 2 PUP mixed tone, or the rear 2. I favored the front 2 and the rear 2 just happened to sound great. It took me about 30 hours of adjusting over several days to get it right, but it finally sounds perfect to me on every setting. I am surprised this is possible: a testament to Dr. Lawrence's engineering, no doubt. I hope this helps.
Last Edited By: Narcoleptigon Sun, Apr 5, 2009 07:45:46.
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tmenss |
#2 | |||
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Posts: 2 Sat, Apr 4, 2009 18:19:30 |
Narco.... That was very helpful. I got l45s but I'm making a new pickguard to hold them all. Your post will be most helpful when it comes time for the
installation. I did stick one into the middle position of my old guard and jumpered a plug across it. I fed the output into my son's Pod Farm [GX toneport]
and ran a few of the clean amp sim presets. While not the same as loading the pups across the input of a real amp, but anyway I got a nice variety of pickup
tones just by altering the pickup height. I have to admit a guilty pleasure, in that the l45s run into the Pod amp sims sounded so nice, I've been
procrastinating on completing the pickguard.
Librim don't look back and second guess your decision, I have a feeling your combination will setup just fine once you get the feel for each pickups character. I don't recall where the Hendrix schematic is but I'll email a copy. good luck |
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tmenss |
#3 | |||
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Posts: 3 Sun, Apr 5, 2009 00:51:32 |
Hendrix wiring diagram by Bill
http://guitarsbyfender.yuku.com/topic/3033 (Tele & Strat) L-280's/L-290's: options/characteristics |
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Narcoleptigon |
#4 | |||
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Posts: 16 Sun, Apr 5, 2009 08:20:29 |
Dang. Now I want to replace at least one of my 280's with an L-45. Don't get me wrong, the 280s are really nice once set up, but I wonder if the L-45
might offer broader bass response and better-tamed high end? That's my impression, anyway.
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libirm |
#5 | |||
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Posts: 4 Sun, Apr 5, 2009 10:53:56 |
Narcoleptigon
Thanks for a great post, I keep everyone inform when they are installed and how the set up is going. |
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libirm |
#6 | |||
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Posts: 5 Wed, Apr 8, 2009 18:15:47 |
I have seen that the 280's are height senseative.
Could someone comment on the starting height with initial install? Maybe this need a new thread?... Thanks PB |
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tmenss |
#7 | |||
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Posts: 4 Wed, Apr 8, 2009 19:05:33 |
Narcoleptigon, I only have the l45s. I decided on them because they aren't "voiced" a particular way. They have considerable note definition and
on my (albeit "raw")setup tend to be bright but not harsh. I have my pickup a little further away from the strings and have the bass side a little
lower so the low E and A sound clean (never flubby) but don't overpower on barre chords. My musical taste runs more toward jazz, and alternative music,
some blues. The individual notes in the high registers could be described as both chimey attack with smooth decay. There's enough room in just pickup
adjustment to empahsize more bass or different high note character.
I've also heard that these pickups are responsive to a change in conjucntion with capacitor value changes (alter the peak resonance). There is a discussion of such methods in the boards. For some backgrouns see Helmuth Lemmes' "Buildyourownguitar.com" for specifics. In a nutshell, you would put a large resistance and a capacitor seletor switch in parallel (with or without the regular tone pot and capacitor) before the volume control. Selecting the different capacitors would change the resonance peaks without the overall "dulling of tone" or flattening of the "midrange scoop" that a normal tone circuit would introduce. Lemme has illustrations of a peak resonance change vs the tone control repsonse, very informative. Hope this gives you some helpful ideas. |
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libirm |
#8 | |||
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Posts: 6 Wed, Apr 8, 2009 20:04:37 |
starting height with initial install?
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gatguy |
#9 | |||
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Posts: 433 Wed, Apr 8, 2009 22:22:33 Contributing Silver Member |
By using the search engine, you can access a lot of information on this forum. For example, searching on "height adjustment" pulls up many threads with relevant info including the above words from Bill himself. |
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libirm |
#10 | |||
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Posts: 7 Wed, Apr 8, 2009 22:29:59 |
Thanks
A yo might have noticed i am new to this forum, it is a little different than others I will take your sage advice. PB |
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tmenss |
#11 | |||
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Posts: 5 Wed, Apr 8, 2009 22:45:58 |
libirm..There's a thread about starting points being one nickel width on the bass and treble strings as start point. I'm almost two nickels down on the
treble and more than two nickels on the bass. I'm using Dadario 110XLs (10.5-48) on a Washburn mg400.
My setup is for testing right now, and is unusual. It is not a Strat (Washburn MG 400) though it does have stratty tones. Also I'm setting it up as an SSS it was originally HSS. While I finish the pattern for the new pickguard. I stuck one of the L45s in the middle position and clipped it to the output jack. There are no electronics in between and i'm feeding it into a Line 6 UX1 and Pod farm amp sims Primarily the Roland Jazz Amp sim. It's all through headphones for the adjustments..and that's how I arrived at the unusual pickup heights. While the clean amp sims and headphones are instructional and allow you to get use to the subtle affects that height and position in the blend with the other pickups, a real amp and your best cable will still require some tweaking and will introduce its own set or rules for adjustments. When I plug my pod optimized setup into a blues jr. it is very thin sounding on the bass but bring everything up to about nickel height and a tweak here and there and that even clarity and string articulation comes back out. I'd prefer throwing in some clean boost at that point rather than turning up the volume on the BJr. |
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tmenss |
#12 | |||
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Posts: 6 Tue, Apr 14, 2009 18:29:28 |
libirm.. got them pups in and setup yet? Interested in your results.
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libirm |
#13 | |||
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Posts: 8 Tue, Apr 14, 2009 18:39:44 |
working on it as we speak.
Just got them yesterday. They look like they are built magnificently! I will keep in touch.
Last Edited By: libirm Wed, Apr 15, 2009 15:07:51.
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libirm |
#14 | |||
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Posts: 9 Wed, Apr 15, 2009 15:11:39 |
The guitar sounds really good, pick-up set it sounds great ,really unbelievable, thank you Bill Lawrence and Becky!
The nickel space seems to be spot on, I noodled a-bit with the height , but I like the way it sounds as is, at least for now. Maybe I missing something but I adjust later after the "honey moon". One small annoying thing, I cannot figure out. When I touch the screw to the pickup, the one closest to the floor I hear a small "pop", or "crack". Happens on the middle pick-up as well. No other place, no other screw, when I touch it do I get the "pop". It only happens when I touch it, not with a pick. All but the P/U cavity is shielded, all ground wires are intact and functioning, check them with a meter. Any thoughts? PB
Last Edited By: libirm Wed, Apr 15, 2009 15:22:05.
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gatguy |
#15 | |||
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Posts: 434 Thu, Apr 16, 2009 01:13:44 Contributing Silver Member |
No other place, no other screw, when I touch it do I get the "pop".If the pickup cavity is not shielded, then I can't imagine what the problem is because there shouldn't be anything conductive in there to deliver a charge to the screw. Could the mounting screw be contacting some shielding on the back of your pickguard? |
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libirm |
#16 | |||
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Posts: 10 Thu, Apr 16, 2009 11:22:50 |
My good friend at http://logancustoms.googlepages.com/home Bob told this:
It is static electricity that is building on the pick-guard. the fix went as follows: I finished the body cavity shielding, Carvin only has you put it in the electronics part of body AND the back of the guard. Made sure that they contacted the ground on the guitar. He also suggested that I twist the lead wires from the pick-ups to cancel each other out. I did all the above and not only is the pops gone but the guitar is completely silent. Thanks Bob. By the way he builds great custom guitar for a reasonable price. PB Did I mention that these pick0ups are great sounding in the Alder guitar of mine! I love it. I admit that the height thing scared me a little, but the nickel thing seemed to work great! |
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Narcoleptigon |
#17 | |||
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Posts: 19 Thu, Apr 16, 2009 17:00:17 |
Great news!. Always wondered why they twisted wire leads. If you can, listen through a setup with headphones on. That way you can really check the tone
closely. Amongst other things, I discovered that I had my PUPs so high that the pick attack was way too loud. The phones really helped me balance the mixed
sounds, exactly. What is not so obvious becomes immediately evident through a good pair of at least semi-closed phones, particularly because they block out the
string attack sound. Oh, and I can't resist...I looked at your friends site. That's a serious "piece of ash" on that last guitar. Hehe.
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libirm |
#18 | |||
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Posts: 11 Thu, Apr 16, 2009 17:11:54 |
I know I ordered one..check this out..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkpKsMg6gPw Full thread is here, check post #200 http://www.tdpri.com/foru...stom-guitars-club-5.html 
Last Edited By: libirm Thu, Apr 16, 2009 17:16:39.
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tmenss |
#19 | |||
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Posts: 7 Sat, Apr 18, 2009 01:43:46 |
Great info on twisitng the pup leads! Also love those Logan Tele's. It'll be a while but my next will be a Tele.
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libirm |
#20 | |||
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Posts: 12 Sat, Apr 18, 2009 12:51:33 |
I am glad to can add somthing to this forum thanks Here is what should be my new Tele!!
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