Pure L wrote:What kind of pickups are in the Electricals?

Powerful as fuck ones. Well, at least the single coil in my bass seems that way.

The reason I ask is because the pickups in a tb are a big part of the sound of the tb, no?

I have yet to hear an Electrical in person but, goddamn, they are certainly beautiful guitars.

And I've really never been into "guitar porn" but this thread has really changed that. Now where's my "fret-ease"...

Pure L wrote:And I've really never been into "guitar porn" but this thread has really changed that. Now where's my "fret-ease"...

Right neck to your Shredneck.

Electricals have been made with a shitload of different kinds of pickups. Kevin makes pickups that are "copies" of the TB pickups, yes. But from what I understand (and I may be totally wrong) the TB pickups were sort of like "copies" of a telecaster-type pickup. Kevin's also produced 4-conductor humbuckers (which TB didn't do) and wound them to different DC resistances; in the case of my Electrical pickup, he wound it to match the resistance of the gold foil pickups I use, so they'd balance well. The difference in tone between the Electrical pickup and gold foil pickups in my baritone is very minor, with the Electrical having just slightly more bite. While the pickups are part of the sound, the aluminum fretboard is probably more, and the neck-through aspect is probably more. As aluminum is non-magnetic, I don't think the pickups being mounted directly to the neck is as big a deal as some people assert it to be. And it's normal in any neck-through instrument for the pickups to be mounted directly into the neck assembly, so that's not a TB innovation in the first place.

Kevin would be the one who could best answer this question though.

scott wrote:I would hazard the guess that Kevin's TB-style guitars are no more copies of TB guitars than the first few hundred Gibson guitars were largely copies of other guitars that had come before, and the first couple hundred Fenders were copies of preceeding instruments, etc. I think a manufacturer who starts out making something that already exists (i.e. a guitar) would be a moron to not at least *study* the ones that were made before.

I found it fascinating to learn how much Leo Fender adapted from other people. His partner for the first year of business in 1946 was Doc Kaufman, who was also a founder at Rickenbacher in 1932. The Rickenbacher Spanish B of 1935 was the first commercially manufactured solidbody electric guitar (and may I add that I own one and it sounds bizarrely a lot like a Bean or EGC!), and it pretty much introduced the world to the concept of the bolt-on neck and the vibrola (whammy bar).... in fact, Kaufman himself invented that whammy bar. And Fender's amp circuits were taken out of a Western Electric manual from the 1940s, right? He didn't steal anything, he just took the best parts from a few different areas and combined them to make something even better.

benadrian wrote:

Pure L wrote:Forgive me if these are stupid questions....

What kind of pickups are in the Electricals?

Has Kevin designed his own?

Just curious...

He makes his own. He can answer the design aspect.

Ben

design lifted from bean as i recall.

BadComrade wrote:Steel base plate, alnico V magnets, and some wire wrapped around the magnets. Some potted in epoxy, some potted in wax.

Not really something you can "rip off", since it's all so basic.

size, shape, output, location, method of attachment? i prefer the term "lifted" over rip off, though. doesn't sound as seedy.

The steel base plates are what make EGC, Travis Bean, Fender Telecaster, etc pickups have such a high output. Pickups with brass base plates are weaker.

ric too, correct?

neat, never knew that. cool looking guitar.

The pickups consist of Alnico 3 and 5 with steel components. This is what Bean did as well as Fender. I use 43awg on all coils. Pretty standard pickup parts.

When all this started I wanted to capture everything about my favorite metal guitars and then create some sort of variation. The neck and body was fairly easy, it was the pickups that were the missing link. I played Beans for years and adored them and could never get the sound I wanted out of anything else so I had to to try and replicate that sound. I didnt know if the bass pickups sounded that way due to the little cups the bobbins are in or if the humbuckers and single coils were potted in silicone for any reason. Now that its been sorted due to the help of many many people Ive been able to do variation on things that I think improve the sound and quality.

I look at the 500 based guitars and the pickups, much like when I see a company that makes a Strat variation, Fralin making hot rodded after market pickups or even Leo Fender making his G and L instruments, they are all based on previous proven designs and the modified to help evolve the idea and in the end hopefully making a better instrument. I dont claim anything that Ive made to be a Travis Bean, but everything Ive done is to try and push the ideas he, Veleno, Messenger, Louis Francis etc etc, had forward as i think they are far too important to be left dead in the water.

As for size, location, output, method of attachment, Louis Francis had the hardmount pickups well before Bean..I believe 1967. Also look at a traditional humbucker, did Seth Lover get ripped off by everyone? No, just a very ingenius way to mount a hum cancelling coil in a very compact slick cover, much like Francis and then Bean. Beans were also direct copies in size and shape, and for the first batch of guitars, gutted and recovered Fender dynamic range humbuckers. Again a variation and damn good one on a great idea. I dont think rip off at all.

In the end, i just want to make the best sounding and looking guitar i can pulling from everything I love about all the guitars I have.

so what about the body styles then?

See previous post.