They allow me to play the most aggressive styles of music out there like no other, they really complete my tone. They weren't very good. If you have any other questions about lipstick pickups, lipstick pickup construction, or lipstick wiring, dont hesitate to get in touch! I dropped by my local guitar shop today and the tech had just installed KENT ARMSTRONG (?) hi im thinking about buying new pickups for my black beauty and i came across kent armstrong pickups on ebay are they any good compared to standard epiphone ones? While scores of guitarists got started on these plywood powerhouses, most would move on to something more reliable as their playing progressed. He made pickups for many UK builders (not to mention Benedetto (sp?) For the past 25ish years he was THE top pickup rewind guy in the UK and only recently relocated back to the states (his pickup rewind business here continues to operate in his absence). You must log in or register to reply here. Performance & security by Cloudflare. WebKent Armstrong - Any Good? tone forum. SBUK His pickups are really, really nice. Seymour Duncan Strat Sized Lipstick Pickup, Seymour Duncan Danelectro Lipstick Pickup, Seymour W. Duncan Biography: The Man Behind It All, Mark Holcomb Scarlet & Scourge Signature Humbuckers, The Wes Hauch Jupiter Rails Humbucker Pickup Set, The Present and Future of Lipstick Pickups. it does not have that upper mid spike and is much more PAFish? Please check your items carefully and confirm they are correct for color, position, etc. Kent Armstrong has long been the best jazz pickup designer in the industry. humbuck size p90s.. and the vintage 12 pole humbuck. ive heard both good and bad bout kent armstrong, but the overwhelming majority says good. Talk with your fellow tone freaks on the web's liveliest (and friendliest!) EDIT: forgot to mention, I'm especially interested coz I have a G-400 Custom which has 3 buckers also, and I have an active picup git, an Ultra-II with NanoMag, it can make some half decent tones. I have the Tele bridge pickup and it's OK, but not great. I have another Tele with an SD AlNiCo II pickup that I prefer over the Kent Armstrong. Danos usually feature a 3-way toggle switch. The Epiphone pickups measured 7.7K (neck) and 8.2K (bridge). I like the WD Kent Armstrong pickups very much. I've been using Kent's m214 - m215 pair of humbuckers as well as the wpu10 - wpu11 for over 14 years now in nearly every custom that I have built because they blow away Seymour Duncan's Mayhem set and you can't beat the price nearly half as much. They certainly suit me, although YMMV. This wiring results in an output boost with a woolier midrange punch than you might expect from lipsticks. The lipstick pickup construction not only achieved Daniels goal of being easy and cheap to make, but it also delivered a unique tone. I had a licensed Armstrong Floater installed in my Korean Gretsch Synchromatic(laminate) and I have to say it turned an unusable acoustic jazz guitar into an excellent electric jazz guitar for trad jazz/swing style rhythm playing and leads. Well, now he has outdone himself. WebDescription Reviews (0) Description This is a low output humbucker that is reminiscent of the early Gretsch FilterTron pickups which are used for rock, country and rockabilly. custom pickups into a 1994 Gibson Les Paul Standard. But the in-between It is only available as a side-mount (pickguard mount) due to varying neck sizes from manufacturer to manufacturer. They are here to help. At this point, I do not know if Kent Armstrong supplies Epiphone with other OEM pickups in addition to these P90's. They are some of the cleanest pickups I have played. I'll hafta get some of Telenators PT-90's. I have a Bendetto floater on my Guild Benedetto AA and I love it. The middle pup doesn't do much tone-wise on a 3 pup LP so the stock Epi pup is fine in my view. But not everyone. Instead, jazz players often focus on tonal purity 67 AB165 BF Bassman "restoration" complete. I have Don't know for sure. I emailed Kent Armstrong himself, and he said they were PAF's. I recommend them. I haven't needed to use him for years but his rewinds were superb. If I was having another Sei or similar built I'd have KAs in it. Various humbucker models including PAF style and higher output ceramic humbuckers, standard Tele & Strat pickups, lipstick tubes, high gain metal pickups, Jazz, P90's, Firebird, LP Deluxe you name it. All are welcome, from seasoned pros to absolute beginners. Mike, Any experience with this one? http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electronics,_pickups/Pickups:_Guitar,_archtop/Kent_Armstrong_Suspended_Jazz_Humbuck After I wax potted them they weren't too bad. S, Copyright 2022 - Jazz Guitar Online - All rights reserved - Privacy Policy. Danos usually feature a 3-way toggle switch. When I first got the guitar my standard procedure was to swap things for. Well by looking at the list of players that he's made pickups for, he should be **** good. WebEmail: sales@kentarmstrong.com Phone: (239) 543-3625 Fax: (239) 543-5874 WD Music Products, Inc. 17570 N. Tamiami Trail Suite 1 North Fort Myers, FL 33903 Thanks to their popularity, finding vintage, original lipstick pickups is next to impossible. All rights reserved. I've had a number of Kent Armstrong pickups over the years, and been pleased with them all. I can't remember what the model on it was, but I do remember trying to find it and it was discontinued. That assembly was then wrapped in cellophane tape, vacuum wax potted, and inserted straight into the trademark lipstick tube coversactual lipstick tubes! Daniel found he could source lipstick tubes from wholesalers for much less than standard pickup covers. Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings. Fender has even offered several lipstick-equipped Strats right from the factory floor. thanks for your help. I want to do it unobtrusively and I don't like piezo pickups, so I'm planning on getting a floating pickup and making a new pickguard to mount it. My main problem is I live in a unit so I can never play anything out loud, I'm looking to re-locate asap. The, not so good, PUs may be great to other folks. What I did not know was the extent of the Kent Armstrong catalog. Most people consider Kent's jazz Pickups to be the best in the world and who are we to argue? Maybe I got a bad set but they were the muddiest most life-less pickups I have ever tried. And Strat Players like SRV retrofitted lipsticks into their Fenders years ago. This pickup is only 3/8 thick but sacrifices nothing in terms of Unlike the Duncan SMB4D the Armstrong is very consistent all the way up the neck with thick mids, clear highs and growling lows. Even with a dynacomp switched on! I have the Tele bridge pickup and it's OK, but not great. I have another Tele with an SD AlNiCo II pickup that I prefer over the Kent Armstrong. Wa I once had occasion to call Mr Armstrong in Vermont and found him to be absolutely accommodating and quite a delightful person. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account. He also has a line of Korean-made pickups that are very good for the price, but they're not in the same league as his hand-wound stuff. My Epi originals had a passive resistance of about 14.5K Ohms!!!!! Looks like you haven't made a choice yet. If this is your first visit, be sure to I have some KA's in a Benedetto Benny. Kent goes on to describe "It just didn't seem right to me. Very nice guy. I don't have one but I use the capacitor in my ToneBlock 202, and I do have the treble up higher than I used to. Rickstar123 I love the look of 3 humbuckers, but the extra one does little sonically. Some are excellent, some not so great, but of course that's a matter of taste. I just ordered some Burstbuckers (#2, #3) on the strength of recommendations on this forum. When searching for the right single-coils for his guitars, Daniel knew they would have to be easy and inexpensive to manufacture. All I know is WD sells Kent Armstrong pups at higher end pricing with no sound clips or specs. Bridge position a hotter KA like : http://www.wdmusic.co.uk/product/Rocker_Alnico_Humbucker_Chrome_Cover_HRC-1A. Alnico 3 with Formvar wire. Down solos the bridge pickup. I'd like to try one. I always wanted to get a third pickup (the Armstrong Rock Treble, or something like that) for the guitar, but haven't done so yet. I mixed and matched and put his 54 neck and 57 middle with a 62 in the bridge to slightly increase output and fatten up tone. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful. JavaScript is disabled. I would have been doing all the work and Dan would get as much - actually more for just using his name. Terms & Conditions | Registered Trademarks, There are 2 different types of Kent Armstrongs. has body but the upper frequency contour is really interesting. Kent Armstrong makes a number of different hand-wound pickups and will do custom work as well. I think it could do the whole fusion thing, but I have not really ran it like that. EMGs or something else but they were so good I've kept them. They seem very open with a good output; they don't seem to colour the sound of the instrument as much as the Barts (which appears to be the general consensus)and somehow seem more balanced sonically. thanks. Hit the internet today, and youll find many companies making lipstick pickup replicas. do kent armstrong do alnico 2s? I don't think they're anywhere near the Rolphs but I can't be arsed to swap them between guitars to do a real comparo. They also split for single coil use better than any other humbucker I've tried. Well, this time he has outdone himself. Also what is the difference between active and passive pickups? I have spoken to him many times on the phone. I'm actually thinking of up grading. i dont know anything about those models mentioned, but just a word of props for Kent Armstrong, he is a super nice guy and makes a quality product. Learning Jazz Improvisation - "Imitate, Assimilate, Innovate". All are welcome, from seasoned pros to absolute beginners. Click to reveal A good friend of mine (Roy) had a guitar built for him, to his own personal design and specification, by his good friend the one and only Sid Poole (who made the most finely built electric guitars on the planet before his recent death - even Paul Reed Smith himself is agreed on this, and even here we all accept the quality of PRS constructions and finishes). I wasn't a huge fan of the noiseless P90's I briefly hadthere was a big volume imbalance. I'd go for that configuration again if I had a 3 humbucker guitar. That said, other Korean Kent Armstrong pickups I tried sounded very good as well, so I would not hesitate trying them. Not horrified, but bowled over with mediocrity. I wandered over to the Kent Armstrong website earlier. I think the laminate top really inhibited the projection and the volume of the guitar in a pure acoustic settingmy Gitane D500 is so much LOUDER than any acoustic I've ever used. Just youtube "Stockholm Sydrome Glastonbury" You'll get the idea, the idea that the motherbucker is Broootal! People still mistakenly use 0.022uF/22nF/22000pF or 47nF caps on anything, but even a 22nF is really too dark on mid level inductance pickups for fundamental note definition up the entire neck. i think ill go for them. link above. They make many, many pickups. This pickup is only 3/8 thick but sacrifices nothing in terms of the full rich sound that players have come to expect from him. A Smooth Sam pickup will breathe depth and articulation back into your favorite archtop guitar and make you fall in love all over again. I tried the humbucker sized P90s. It would be hard to describe in words just how bad they were. Maybe I got a bad set but they were the muddiest mo Posted March 1, 2021. The extended cover allows for use with traditional 7 string arch-top electrics. but ebay prices will beat them.. handy for descriptions though. Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible. These new pickups allow you to completely equalize the string balance through height adjustment of individual polepieces. That's the only first hand experience I have with Kent Armstrong pickups. 1995-2022 Harmony Central, Inc. All rights reserved. Along with Dire Straits Mark Knopfler, Page also found his Dano perfect for electrified blues slide. Here's a link to a great semi-technical explanation: http://www.guitartechcraig.com/techpckp/pickups.htm. check out the FAQ by clicking the Ceramic tend to have a "thinner" sound, but powerful ceramics give good metal tones when over-driven. Lipstick wiring is also a contributor. Theyre unique pickups, different from a Tele neck pickup, different from a Stratocaster single-coil pickup. One common upgrade is the pickup covers. I replaced it with a Dimarzio Tone Zone and have been happy as can be since. This pickup has the deadly combination of power and tone! regardless, jazz pickups don't sound anything like MB pickups. You won't find the distortion on the WD website though. Very warm sound. Below are pictures of this model of pup as well as the Casino, as listed on the WD website: A site named "Dan Armstrong - A Man and His Guitars" outlines the history of Dan and his son, Kent, and their manufacture of guitars and pickups. There was a set in a D'Angelico I just traded. Does anybody really play bebop these days? Most people consider Kent's jazz Pickups to be the best in the world and who are we to argue? I like a pickup that is able to produce the true "natural" acoustic tone when it's fully on, but can go completely dark and everywhere in between. And.they sounded way different too. He learned to wind pickups from his father and Bill Lawrence. I was talking with my luthier the other day abound building an archtop and he was also saying he could put a BK Stormy Monday as a floating pickup even being a regular-sized humbucker. It would be hard to describe in words just how bad they were. i dont know anything about those models mentioned, but just a word of props for Kent Armstrong, he is a super nice guy and makes a quality product. Today, lipstick pickups and their tone are still synonymous with the Danelectro sound. So if you are in the market for these old-school models, we recommend finding a broken-down Dano from the 50s or 60s and pulling the pickups out yourself. This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. (HJGN-2 for neck mount version) Made in the tradition of the Johnny Smith endorsed Gibson instruments introduced in the early '60s. No more actual lipstick tubes! I changed out the stock p.ups because they were pretty crappy (apparently they have improved a lot over the years). It was strung with Les Paul Signature strings (009). You may have to register It sounded pretty good. They can be a little bit of figuring to roll off and clean up but once you find the sweet spot your good to go and you can't expect pristine creamy cleans from pickups of this output. I have to admit I have only seen and heard the import stuff from Kent Armstrong. Great pickups for jazz and classic rock tones, these pickups are the real deal. The fit and finish of the year 2000 Fender American Standard Strat are excellent. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. This page was generated at 01:08 AM. I have a set of his humbuckers in my neckthrough semihollow. also with respect, I could not agree less. Not a new arguement but an interesting take. The PAF is OK but the Distortion kicks but. There are 2 different types of Kent Armstrongs. If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. By contrast, the Armstrong (VT-made) PAF 12-pole humbucker has a much fatter, more electric sound. Gotta find that pup and find a guitar to install it in soon! VPB Hot Rod Series Hot Twins Split Pickup For Fender Precision Bass I put Kent Armstrongs in my much-reviled epiphone LP about a year ago and found them to be a good pickup and much improved over the stockers (obviously). Really thin and very harsh. Upload or insert images from URL. This pickup is vertualy brand new. Your link has been automatically embedded. This pickup is only 3/8 thick but sacrifices nothing in terms of the full rich sound that players have come to expect from him. We all do. Instead, they used a relatively crude Alnico V bar magnet with the copper wire wrapped directly around it. Great depth of tone, and not real screamers. I have another Tele with an SD AlNiCo II pickup that I prefer over the Kent Armstrong. I played classic / rock / blues at the time and got several compliments on my sound after gigs. It may not display this or other websites correctly. I had a 12 polepiece nickel covered Kent Armstrong in the neck position of a double humbucker Tele for a while, and it was a very sweet sounding humbucker. I can cast beige ones but adding the colour decreases my working time. Hot is darker After listening to Mark Whitfield's videos I thought his playing was excellent, however the Soho's tone was very bright and plinkyto me. Looking for the ultimate Jazz/Fusion Allrounder Guitar, The "capacitor trick" on a Superblock US: 3 values compared (with audio), Looking for some Wisdom on Mini Humbuckers. The. etc.) I've had those pick ups in my MIM Tele for the last 5+ years and I think they're great, infact I kept them when I recently sold the guitar. The pickups are hot a great pairing with my Engal Powerball, Mesa Roadking and Carvin V3 all modern high gain amps. Any users out there? From the well setup action and the finely-cut nut, to the smooth polyurethane To start viewing messages, These new pickups allow you to completely equalize the string balance through height adjustment of individual polepieces. the lp studio has the vintage 12 pole humbuck at the bridge, and that's a keeper, too. the pickups in my bree/blue fretless are kent armstrong hand-wounds very nice. Inside the pickup, the improvements continue. Though arguably, modern improvements have made lipstick pickup design better, some players live and die by the originals. If yours sound like P-90's should sound OR you are happy with them, then don't even think about replacing them. I have the Tele bridge pickup and it's OK, but not great. Just an opinion but the early ones are great. The tone is bright and detailed with a single coil type twang that also provides great crunch on There is a chance that you might have gotten a "good" set of P90's as stock equipment on your Epi. i wanted to have it rewired so it worked like a normal les paul but i could use the middle pickup on a push pull but i got told it would cost quite alot to do it. Not a good comparison as the Kent Armstrongs you mention are his factory wound models.To pit them against a Bare knuckle that is a hand wound at 3 times the price.Have you tried any of Kent's hand wound models? This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again. Never worry about fitting a pickup under the strings again! and start thinking about it and then my bank account will suffer. And Danelectro continues to build the reissue Danelectros around the lipstick pickup platform. We understand the questions. From years of modifying and designing special recipes for his customers, Kent depends on the sound you want of course - they ARE at least as good as the Gibson Johnny Smith mini humbuckers that came on some of the older Gibbies and Heritage archtops, but well Also, the lack of adjustable poles is a turn off for me, YMMV, but I will say the best "smooth top" floating jazz pickup I've owned is the Bartolini 5J pickup, which is an excellent choice for that thinner, more acoustic sound. FWIW, the markings on the bottom of the original P-90's say Epiphone (engraved in the bottom plate) with a sticker on each that says either neck BHK or Bridge BHK for the respective pickup. I just purchased an El Rey4 and I find the original pickup kind of listless. I love my Eastman 905, but I don't really love the Kent Armstrong floating pickup that came with it. Using the middle pup with either gives you something inbetween which I didn't like much. Theres a ton of in-depth information on all of our different designs, how-tos, tone demonstrations, and a whole lot more. Amazing humility saying built and repaired pickups for 50 years when he is the guy personally hand making the pickups for the amazing Ken Smith basses. Kiesel Guitars: Allan Holdsworth Signature. WebFor Sale First Edition 2003 Ibanez JTK1 JetKing w/ Kent Armstrong PAF Humbuckers in Transparent Black Red Sunburst Finish. That is not a knock on Eastman, they The "Hot Rod" bridge pickup was a fattened up PAF sound, similar to a Burstbucker but with warm thick mid's and highs without being harsh. Well, this time he has outdone himself. I've known that these two types of pick-up magnets existed for a while now, what is the difference between them and what are the tonal characteristics of each? again, i cannot help with what you are really asking, but after reading some disparaging other comments, i thought i should at least share my experience with his handmade jazz pickups, which are superb. I really like my Ibanez AM205-AV Prestige. All times are GMT-7. Up solos the neck pickup. I've fitted their humbuckers and P94s to several guitars in recent years. It's got the M213K PAF at the neck and a M214K Distortion at the bridge. However, there are some people who want even more flexibility in this style of pickup, so Kent has brewed up something new and even more versatile. JavaScript is disabled. Clear editor. I was happy with it. P90's are normally ~8H -- nearly double the inductance of an average PAF. Indeed, difficult especially without his hand. This explains why I wasnt as concerned with the Epiphones tone. What's the opinion from those Especially the humbuckers and P90 humbucker retrofit and P90s Im very easy to satisfy; just give me a '58 Les Paul, a '52 Fender Tele w/ Bigsby, a '63 Gibson ES-335, a '62 Marshall JTM45, a '59 Fender Bassman, and a dozen or so assorted vintage Fender blackfaces and tweeds to play through and Ill be just fine. JavaScript is disabled. More than likely, the pickups are worth way more than the rest of the guitar anyway. What would you guys recommend fro the bridge of a Les Paul if I want deep bass, solid mids, and sweet(smooth) highs. I didn't like the Duncan I had in the bridge though and opted for a GFS Vintage Alnico Tele and was actually super impressed by it. Copyright 2023 Seymour Duncan. At this point, I do not know if Kent Armstrong supplies Epiphone with other OEM pickups in addition to these P90's. However, Dan and Kent had a major falling-out, as the story explains: "The proposal was for Kent to manufacture and distribute the pickups, and for using his fathers name they would split the proceeds. I prefer passive pickups for their character and subtle nuances. Matthew Bellamy of Muse used the "Motherbucker" In his first few custom guitars. Just youtube "Stockholm Sydrome Glastonbury" You'll get the idea, The Kent Armstrong Humbucker on the Eastman AR371ce measured about 8.7K Ohms at the output jack. Kent then went on to make his own pickups using the name 'Rainbow Pickups' and once his name was more established, he changed it to Kent Armstrong Pickups. They are very dull and lifeless None of that typical P-90 sound. Maybe a medium output but with nice growl. It had a nice tone, good They were very impresive. We get asked a ton of questions about lipstick single-coil pickups. Nice wire, nice waxed string cover on the coil, nice box, good screws and springs. they have the full range and a brief description of each one. 6.6k. Im saving up for a burst les paul standard aswell would you recomend the same pickups for a peter green kind of sound? I had a KA Hot 60s Tele Neck pup in a project that I did few years ago, sounded awesome. In the 1940s, Nathan Daniel found success with his budget line of electric instrument amplifiers, Silvertone and Danelectro. It's just magnets and wire at the end of the day. You must log in or register to reply here. I know for a while you could still get domestic KA pickups built custom direct by him and/or his sons - not sure if that is possible still today or if it is all via WD Music. Players love how they teeter between tone and chaos. Danelectros had a unique sound that no other guitar could capture. They're were custom wound and came with the guitar. i dont know anything about those models mentioned, but just a word of props for Kent Armstrong, he is a super nice guy and makes a quality product. ive noticed that about my guitar that the middle doesnt really do much. Neck postion, this KA pup : http://www.wdmusic.co.uk/product/PAF_Style_Chrome_Cover_HPAC-1, 2. sorry, didnt mean to digress from the original topic. The Gear Page is the leading online community and marketplace for guitars, amps, pedals, effects and associated gear.
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