Rig update. :)

[D S]

Congrats - that's a seriously impressive piece of kit but it has 2 more strings than my simple brain could cope with, I'm afraid!  :lol:

[johninblack]

Congrats - that's a seriously impressive piece of kit but it has 2 more strings than my simple brain could cope with, I'm afraid!  :lol:

That's 3 or 4 too many for me!

[Drarok]

Congrats - that's a seriously impressive piece of kit but it has 2 more strings than my simple brain could cope with, I'm afraid!  :lol:

It certainly takes some getting used to, but I already learnt that lesson with the 7-string I've had for a while. :mrgreen:

[Rook]

Oooooohhhhh...

I am supposed to be getting one of those as payment for services rendered. How is it? I heard that it is a great axe but the pickups aren't much chop. Should I be bugetting for new pickups when I get it?

[Drarok]

I suspect I'm not really the right person to ask; I've never once replaced any pickups! I think for the guitar connoisseur, they're "nothing amazing", but they seem to do the job perfectly well for me.

I only ever really use my guitars either through the Boss GT-8 pedal, or via amp sims on my DAW, so I think even crappy pickups would be masked by those.

I've managed to concoct some hideously filthy Djent-style tones on both the pedal and the amp sims so far. Great fun! 8-)

Edit: I think they claim they are "active pickups", but in reality there's an EQ switch (and maybe a pre-amp circuit - take the batteries out and things get really quiet no matter if the EQ is on or not). It only runs on 2x1.5v AA batteries, so it can't be "real" active pickups.

[EvilDragon]

Yeah they are active pickups.

[Brom]

It only runs on 2x1.5v AA batteries, so it can't be "real" active pickups.

Not sure of the logic here, however, as always I'm more than happy to gain more knowledge in this particular area if I'm missing something.

This is my understanding.

Magnetic (i.e. traditional, non piezo) pickups all work in the same way. They are simply a big coil of wire wound around a magnet. Any ferrous object, i.e. a vibrating string, that disturbs the magnetic field of the magnet will induce a current in the coil, amplify that current and you get your noise!! I say "simply", that is the principle, however pickup design depends on lots of things including dimensions, field strength, number of turns of wire, diameter of the wire, etc  and some people, e.g. Mr DiMarzio, have made a lot of money by exploiting these parameters.

Most guitars are passive. The coil of the pickup is directly connected to the amplifier with a volume control and a tone control which do nothing additive to the signal, they only cut amplitude and high frequencies by dumping them to ground. A big disadvantage of this system is that electrical noise can enter the circuit and can add itself to the signal causing hum, and other unwanted cacophony.

Active pickups have a small amplifier built in to the guitar which basically increases the signal before it leaves the guitar. The advantage here is that the amplifier is located right next to the pickup so there is less wire carrying low level signals that noise can add on to. Once amplified, the low level noise is in effect "drowned out" by the higher signals leaving the in-guitar amp. The disadvantage of active systems is that based on the old adage - "you don't get something for nothing", i.e. to amplify the signal you need a battery on board as well. If the battery dies, things suddenly go very quiet! However, having the powered electronics on board means you can use this to lots of stuff, e.g. boost your frequencies, hence the more elaborate EQ controls seen on active axes.

True "active" pickups have less windings and I assume weaker magnets as they don't have to produce so much current to get to the backline amp thanks to the one in the guitar. Reducing the magnetic field means there is less "drag" on the vibrating string by the magnet and hence greater sustain should be achieved. You can of course make any "traditional" pickup active by installing your own preamp into the guitar - lots of modules are available, look them up on the web, or make your own ;-)

Back to Drarok's comment, as long as you have basic soldering skills and can cope with some potential adjustments to the guitar, fiddling around with replacement pickups and wiring, including trying out different combinations can be a lot of fun, and is not too difficult.

Sorry for the ramble, had some spare time this lunch ;-)

[gav]

I must get my Variax to a Luthier sometime.
If tuned perfectly, fretted notes on third string are slightly sharp.
Nut needs filing or something like that.

Shouldn't need any nut filing if the actions fine, just a bridge saddle adjustment to set the intonation...

Five minute job with a screwdriver

[MarkOneMusic]

SM Pro Audio V-Machine (actually I got this way before PC3K8, I use it for running GSi VB3, best Hammond sim ever

I'm really interested in this exact combo to add decent Hammond to my fantom rig. Is the V-machine good? I heard some of the early models struggled with processor speed.

[Pedro]

I must get my Variax to a Luthier sometime.
If tuned perfectly, fretted notes on third string are slightly sharp.
Nut needs filing or something like that.

Shouldn't need any nut filing if the actions fine, just a bridge saddle adjustment to set the intonation...

Five minute job with a screwdriver

I've yet to prove it, but it seems like everything is fine except the distance from the nut to the first fret on the third string.
This makes me think that if I had a similarly adjustable nut, I could make it perfect. Maybe I'm missing the point...

[Drarok]

It only runs on 2x1.5v AA batteries, so it can't be "real" active pickups.

Not sure of the logic here, however, as always I'm more than happy to gain more knowledge in this particular area if I'm missing something.

Well, usually they run on 9V batteries, and I read this:

The Ibanez site says the pickups are active, but that is something I would contest. I have never seen active pickups that use 1.5V AA batteries. The norm is a 9V battery. 1.5V per pickup is just not enough. Also, if you open up the back plate and take a look at the electronics you quickly notice that the battery wire goes directly into the EQ chip set, instead of the pickups. Which makes the pickups passive.

[EvilDragon]

SM Pro Audio V-Machine (actually I got this way before PC3K8, I use it for running GSi VB3, best Hammond sim ever

I'm really interested in this exact combo to add decent Hammond to my fantom rig. Is the V-machine good? I heard some of the early models struggled with processor speed.

ALL models have 1 GHz CPU, so they all struggle. However, it's good at running GSi VB3, which is the best Hammond sim IMHO.


I see this thread has degenerated into guitar talk...

[gav]

I must get my Variax to a Luthier sometime.
If tuned perfectly, fretted notes on third string are slightly sharp.
Nut needs filing or something like that.

Shouldn't need any nut filing if the actions fine, just a bridge saddle adjustment to set the intonation...

Five minute job with a screwdriver

I've yet to prove it, but it seems like everything is fine except the distance from the nut to the first fret on the third string.
This makes me think that if I had a similarly adjustable nut, I could make it perfect. Maybe I'm missing the point...

Hmmm... Sounds a bit odd to me, unless there's a large chunk taken out of the nut around the third string  :?

[Rook]

I see this thread has degenerated into guitar talk...

Well let me bring it back to synth goodness... looks ike I won't be getting the RG8 just yet. I just placed an order for the whopping Komplete 8 Ultimate bundle. Turns out I have an ancient version of Reactor that still qualifies for the crossgrade, which is half price this month, so...

For $400 I couldn't pass that up. I mean, wow. And seeing as how I am traveling and all, a mobile setup is perfect for me now.

/R

(and if Native Instruments want to send me any free swag with my order, like a T-shirt or a Maschine package for this free advertising and product placement, I'm absolutely fine with that )

[Pedro]

I must get my Variax to a Luthier sometime.
If tuned perfectly, fretted notes on third string are slightly sharp.
Nut needs filing or something like that.

Shouldn't need any nut filing if the actions fine, just a bridge saddle adjustment to set the intonation...

Five minute job with a screwdriver

I've yet to prove it, but it seems like everything is fine except the distance from the nut to the first fret on the third string.
This makes me think that if I had a similarly adjustable nut, I could make it perfect. Maybe I'm missing the point...

Hmmm... Sounds a bit odd to me, unless there's a large chunk taken out of the nut around the third string  :?

I wonder if this is what I'm picking up on...

//http://www.earvana.com/