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Post by Phil (aka Phil) on Feb 17, 2007 14:29:12 GMT -7
My "baby", my first really good guitar, is a 1985 Kramer Baretta that I worked a year washing dishes to get. It's in extremely good condition except for the pickup. I took it out to put in an EMG in the '90s and unfortunately can't find the original. A few years ago I ordered a Seymour Duncan EVH pu for it which I never liked 100%. Now upon further inspection, I know why. Number one, the body of the guitar is made of maple!! Talk about bright (and heavy). Number two, the because the pickup on a Baretta is angled and the neck is extremely wide, the pole pieces of the pickup do not line up under the strings. I'm looking for "good tone", something like the early EVH level of gain. Conventional wisdom says you need a lower output PU like the EVH is (8.5K). However, conventional wisdom also says that a hotter PU like a JB, Custom Custom or the like is best for mellowing a bright guitar. Then there's the pole piece spacing. Should I get Trembucker spacing, or should I start thinking about a rail design (which I really don't like). I don't see how anything's gonna line up with the way the PU is angled.
thanks,
PDW
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Post by hdahs143 on Feb 18, 2007 16:25:11 GMT -7
My"first" real guitar is my 1987 Kramer Pacer Custom. I'm not sure what body wood it is. It came with a Duncan JB in the bridge. The bridge pickup is tilted in mine as well. A few years ago I replaced the stock spaced JB with a Custom Custom Trembucker. The polepieces definitely lined up better with the Floyd string spacing. And as a bonus, the Custom Custom is a great sounding pickup. Sweet vintage sound with more than vintage output. I like it way better than the JB. Good luck! Harold
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Post by Phil (aka Phil) on Feb 18, 2007 18:01:08 GMT -7
Thanks Harold! If I may ask, where did you get your Custom Custom?
PDW
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Post by sonicgator on Feb 18, 2007 20:10:02 GMT -7
You may also want to try a covered pickup. I was going to mention rails, but if you don't like them, maybe you can look into a covered pickup as there is more surface area to "pickup" the strings vibrations. What I'm not familiar with in covered pickups is if some manufacturers isolate the metal cover from the poles, but most I've seen have a direct contact with the screws.
**edit**Forgot to mention, if you don't mind spending the dough, you may want to look into the Bare Knuckles Pickups covered VHII pickup.
Another option is the Lace Alumitone. I'm enjoying the sound in my Strat and string spacing would not be an issue.
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Post by hdahs143 on Feb 21, 2007 18:07:37 GMT -7
Thanks Harold! If I may ask, where did you get your Custom Custom? PDW I got mine from Mars Music several years ago, when they were on their way out and selling everything cheap! Harold
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Post by mystic on Feb 22, 2007 20:42:26 GMT -7
The pole pieces being off a little should'nt matter very much, the whole coil pickups the strings. It sounds to me like what you want is a trembucker type pickup. #44 guage wire will give you less highs.
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Post by (8^D) on Feb 23, 2007 20:28:59 GMT -7
I'm thinking the original pup in the early Kramer Baretta was made by Schaller...then went to the Seymour Duncan JB. If the body is Maple, I'm guessing it had the earlier Schaller pup. Believe the later models were Alder like the typical strat. That's not from any documentation, but from what I sort of remember growing up with the Kramers - Kramers and Jackson/Charvel pretty much ruled my adolescent dreams in the 80's.
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Post by Phil (aka Phil) on Feb 25, 2007 9:09:16 GMT -7
Well, I did my research. I settled on the SD Custom Custom, even though the output was higher than I usually like for good tone. The pickup is listed as "vintage toned with more output" and is specifically recommended for bright guitars (like my maple Kramer). About the spacing: according to VintageKramer.com, the original pickups were non-trem spaced (non-Trembucker, I guess). I measured the pole pieces in the EVH pickup I had put int there and it's definitely a Trembucker. The really early Kramers had Schallers, but mine came with a Seymour Duncan JB. I never liked that PU in my Kramer. No wonder, I have a maple guitar! So, I ordered a Custom Custom in normal spacing. Hopefully this weekend I'll get it in.....
PDW
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Post by guitarboy02451 on Mar 2, 2007 16:20:05 GMT -7
This is a great thread! While I can't really help with the pup deilema, I have to say my first real guitar was a 1985 Kramer Focus 2000. Way cool guitar!!!! Man I miss that thing. What a cool guitar. It sounded awesome. I had it up until 1995 and sold it. I wish I could find another exact model.
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