Cloudflare Ray ID: 7c0631601a9af2e4 They make the Mexi Standard that I've had since 1998 sound so good I play it as first choice on a lot of gigs now. I was shocked! 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). I have a set of Kent Armstrong's Icon series Strat pickups. JavaScript is disabled. He was jamming on it while I was in the store which is what caught my attention. I had some 7 string pickups from KA. Never worry about fitting a pickup under the strings again! I haven't needed to use him for years but his rewinds were superb. WebReviews Kent Armstrong Vintage Series 6 Shooter PAF Style Humbucker Pickup This pickup design has sweet, soulful tones with a warm bass, punchy mids, and a bright, jangly treble response. That neck pup on its' own with a little treble rolled off on the tone control would give you a warm mellow full sound, especially if you pick at the bottom of the neck. As long as you are talking about KA pickups and bumping the thread, I think of it as no dis-service to the OP. There are millions of jazz basses out there, much fewer SB basses. The magic is in your fingers. 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). I've had several KA PUs. 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. I got the hot-rodded PAFs and they have held up quite well. I've had Kent Armstrong pick-ups in my sheraton for about 15 years. I don't need to read posts like this, Greg! This page was generated at 01:08 AM. And if you do find them, youre going to pay a premium. Mike, thanks for the feedback (no pun intended). At this point, I do not know if Kent Armstrong supplies Epiphone with other OEM pickups in addition to these P90's. 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. do kent armstrong do alnico 2s? The, not so good, PUs may be great to other folks. I contacted Kent Armstrong himself about the pickup thinking maybe I'd just have him make me new one and here was his WebFor Sale First Edition 2003 Ibanez JTK1 JetKing w/ Kent Armstrong PAF Humbuckers in Transparent Black Red Sunburst Finish. Some others seemed to like them though. 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. I like the WD Kent Armstrong pickups very much. Note: This instrument has been modified from it's original condition. They have a nice full tone not thin and bright like most pickups in this output range. Between the warmth and adjustability, you just can't beat this pickup. I've been browsing the wdmusic site and have found a few products with identical descriptions, one is for a ceramic version the other an alnico version, both are the same price and tech specs except for the magnets. son. I love my Eastman 905, but I don't really love the Kent Armstrong floating pickup that came with it. These are the Kent Armstrong pickups in my Soloist: The bridge pickup has a bright fendery tone, for a humbucker it. But the pickups arent the only reason Danelectro guitars sound the way they do. Danelectros had a unique sound that no other guitar could capture. sorry, didnt mean to digress from the original topic. It's just magnets and wire at the end of the day. Hit the internet today, and youll find many companies making lipstick pickup replicas. Indeed, the Kent Armstrong lipstick pickups on Scheff basses sound strong and clear. Using the middle pup with either gives you something inbetween which I didn't like much. All of these modern updates have done nothing to quell demand for lipstick pickups, new and old. Danos usually feature a 3-way toggle switch. Matthew Bellamy of Muse used the "Motherbucker" In his first few custom guitars. Just youtube "Stockholm Sydrome Glastonbury" You'll get the idea, 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. It's funny that this thread just came up, because I discussed this topic with my tech just today. Up until now, I have had no other verification of this claim, until he directed me to the WD Music website (as milospilo has provided the link above). Well, this time he has outdone himself. Always loved his drumming, but how about on guitar too, and singing.,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6IBeJMtpzY Quality-wise they are in between stock Epis and the more expensive Seymours and Gibsons. You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in settings. They're were custom wound and came with the guitar. This pickup is only 3/8 thick but sacrifices nothing in terms of 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. Danos usually feature a 3-way toggle switch. I was happy with it. It sounded pretty good. They were meant to be used straight into a tube amp, although an OD pedal is ok. Then you can dial the middle one to zero. i think ill go for them. Thanks one and all, that's filled in a lot of blanks for me, and hopefully others. Not a new arguement but an interesting take. Upload or insert images from URL. You are using an out of date browser. are actually Asian-produced "Rainbow" pickups by Kent Armstrong. They are built/distributed by WD Music, which is a great company that is very helpful to smaller custom pickup builders with a wide range of pickup parts available for purchase. Were asked everything from what they sound like to Will they fit in my guitar? and more. But during the electric guitar boom in the 1950s, he added the original Danelectro and Silvertone guitar to his lineup, again with the starter-budget guitarist in mind. You must log in or register to reply here. 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? The downside was that you could get close to a Strat sound, and you could get close to a humbucker sound, but you couldn't nail either one. He has standard formulas,as well as winding to your spec.The cost for these is below the bareknuckles and comparable to the Dunkmores.I use Kent's pickups in just about all my guitars with great results.Of course I make sure of the specs of the model to best match it to the particular guitar and it's intended purpose.I also adjust the overall height and individual polepieces (if used). 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. I have a KA 12 pole humbucker packed away somewhere that I had in the bridge position of a Tele I sold, not sure if it's a US, and remember that it sounded really good and was good enough that I made sure to remove it before selling the Tele. They make many, many pickups. To start viewing messages, Kent goes on to describe "It just didn't seem right to me. S, Copyright 2022 - Jazz Guitar Online - All rights reserved - Privacy Policy. Bags of twang and not microphonic like the SD pickup I replaced. JavaScript is disabled. One retailer mentions that Kent Armstrong's pickups with adjustable poles can be adjusted to work with either nickel or bronze strings, a claim that doesn't appear to originate with the manufacturer. I've got them in two guitars of my own. They sound very authentic for P90's and when used in WebKent Armstrong Hand Made Johnny Smith floating Pickup. Today, lipstick pickups and their tone are still synonymous with the Danelectro sound. There seem to be a plethora of newer 100 watt smaller floor based amps these days. Announcing the all new Side mounted Jazz Pickup. I have one of his "hot-rails" type tele bridge pickups in my thinline and that is an amazing sounding pickup, not to mention the nicest made pickup of this type that I have seen from ANYONE (it even has a chrome plated grounding plate on the base), and that is one of his "mass-produced" pickups. 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. 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. Posted March 1, 2021. Alan Mearns - incredible Bach arrangements / playing. Theyre unique pickups, different from a Tele neck pickup, different from a Stratocaster single-coil pickup. Theres a ton of in-depth information on all of our different designs, how-tos, tone demonstrations, and a whole lot more. It will still fit and fasten to any other archtop that is replacing a floater. So what are they? You are using an out of date browser. The later made-in China pickups are not nearly as well put together as the old ones. It really brightened the sound but the guitar needed that. My Epi originals had a passive resistance of about 14.5K Ohms!!!!! IMO, they are the best jazz pickup out there. Based on what I read on this forum there seems to be a lot of variability in the stock Casino P-90's. Webhey guys, i was wondering if any of u have had experience with kent armstrong pickups. Unlike the Duncan SMB4D the Armstrong is very consistent all the way up the neck with thick mids, clear highs and growling lows. I emailed Kent Armstrong himself, and he said they were PAF's. It was strung with Les Paul Signature strings (009). Paste as plain text instead, Sold through big-box retailers like Sears Roebuck, they offered budding players decent amps at bargain prices. This instrument is listed as being in 'very good' condition in accordance with Reverb's definition of the term. When I first got the guitar my standard procedure was to swap things for. Nice wire, nice waxed string cover on the coil, nice box, good screws and springs. Kent is a great guy. 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. It is only available as a side-mount (pickguard mount) due to varying neck sizes from manufacturer to manufacturer. LOL. You must log in or register to reply here. I imagine earlier pre WD Armstrong pickups would hold quite a bit of value. The customer changed his mind and went with a Different Armstrong. Is this Mark Whitfield's new D'Angelico??? When searching for the right single-coils for his guitars, Daniel knew they would have to be easy and inexpensive to manufacture. From the well setup action and the finely-cut nut, to the smooth polyurethane For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. anyhow, i've had 2 or 3 of those on guitars i've owned and they are thin and overly bright. What I did not know was the extent of the Kent Armstrong catalog. All times are GMT-7. The vintage is real nice - sweet and full. They weren't very good. So now I use the Gretsch when I know an amp is going to be needed and my Heritage 575 is too modern soundingah the choices I get to make. Terms & Conditions | Registered Trademarks, There are 2 different types of Kent Armstrongs. We get asked a ton of questions about lipstick single-coil pickups. yes. 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 And while these guitars might be missing the tonal contributions of a plywood Dano, they still bring that beautiful twang to every guitar theyre in. This is the links to the two: http://www.wdmusic.co.uk/product/Rocker_Humbucker_Gold_Cover_HRG-1, http://www.wdmusic.co.uk/product/Rocker_Alnico_Humbucker_Gold_Cover_HRG-1A. So while many ended up collecting dust in basements, others found themselves on the worlds biggest stages and recording timeless rock n roll. It may have just been whatever model I had that I didn't like. IMHO, for a Casino a good set is about 7.5k/8k for the bridge and 6.5k/7k for the neck pickup. The fit and finish of the year 2000 Fender American Standard Strat are excellent. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again. If you go here. Most people consider Kent's jazz Pickups to be the best in the world and who are we to argue? You may have to register The problem with P90s is that they are more than often too hot. I have no experience of his full size humbuckers but have always thought his fender singles were real good and a lot of people speak very highly of his P90s. Thanks again. You are using an out of date browser. I had my LP wired so that 1 volume pot was a master volume, and the other was middle pup only. My main problem is I live in a unit so I can never play anything out loud, I'm looking to re-locate asap. Hi, I don't have a personnal experience with the Armstrong Casino P90s, but I've had other KA pickups (a Firebird mini hum and lipstick pickps) and they were quite good. Middle position, your stock Epi neck pup, 3. The PAF and bridge humbucker in my Jackson Soloist are excellent pickups. When I first got the guitar my standard procedure was to swap things for 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. Happy hunting! 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? Post up some sound files, I'd love to hear them. Copyright 2023 Seymour Duncan. These custom-made covers allow them to be manufactured in many different sizes and fit the most popular pickup routes like Strat pickups. He learned to wind pickups from his father and Bill Lawrence. Well, now he has outdone himself. WebThese pickups are handwound in the USA by Kent Armstrong and retail for $160 new, not the import version. They were OEM pickups pulled from some Jazz guitars. You cannot paste images directly. No more actual lipstick tubes! Maybe more like a Ford fusion, then say a Holdworth type thing. The words Fender, Telecaster, Stratocaster and the associated headstock designs are registered trademarks of the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. 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. 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. This is fairly hot for a jazz guitar. 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. I can tell you for fact that the Stock P-90's in my 2004 Casino were not even close to the Kent Armstrong P-90's I replaced them with. Just an opinion but the early ones are great. Virtually no one knows about the high end products. You may have to register That's the only first hand experience I have with Kent Armstrong pickups. Your previous content has been restored. I played classic / rock / blues at the time and got several compliments on my sound after gigs. before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. This pickup is vertualy brand new. By contrast, the Armstrong (VT-made) PAF 12-pole humbucker has a much fatter, more electric sound. Clear editor. Please check your items carefully and confirm they are correct for color, position, etc. I'm not sure how their other pickups are. There are 2 different types of Kent Armstrongs. While I really like the SBUS, you can count me in that it's bright. I ended up moving on from that guitar but that was pretty cool. 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. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. It may not display this or other websites correctly. Sep 26, 2012 #9 Stephent28 Supporting Member Feb 1, 2005 C470, CO Performance & security by Cloudflare. well ive got a korean made epi which im guessing is about 93 95ish so would and upgrade to kent armstrongs be a good idea? Building A Jazz Language - Bebop focus, for the moment. and start thinking about it and then my bank account will suffer. Talk with your fellow tone freaks on the web's liveliest (and friendliest!) Anyone have any experience with them? custom pickups into a 1994 Gibson Les Paul Standard. Also, the bridge model had slightly increased output to better balance with the neck position pickup. JavaScript is disabled. Even with a dynacomp switched on! www.wdmusic.com is the us distributor. This pickup has the deadly combination of power and tone! 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. The. By They sounded decent. They are some of the cleanest pickups I have played. These are the Kent Armstrong pickups in my Soloist: The bridge pickup has a bright fendery tone, for a humbucker it. I'll have to get around to trying it in a "real" guitar one of these days. I had an old discontinued KA Tele neck pick that sounded great in one guitar, but just so so in another, so I put it back in that one it sounded good in, and sold the guitar. I once had occasion to call Mr Armstrong in Vermont and found him to be absolutely accommodating and quite a delightful person. Some of the add-ons on this site are powered by. This is probably a dumb question to a lot of you but I'm still relatively virginal guitar-wise. They also make a set of Rory Gallagher pickups that were made to replicate the original Rory pickups provided by his estate. Like FilterTrons to Gretsch, PAFs to Gibson, and Strat single-coils to Fender, they essentially define the soul of the brand. Dan and Kent planned to reproduce the pickups that Dan and Bill Lawrence made for the famed see-through acrylic "Dan Armstrong" guitar, sold by Ampeg. Let me continue to believe that my stock Casino pickups are as good as any others because when I read opinions like yours I once again go to this page, http://www.pinupmusicparts.com/Pickups-Kent_Armstrong_P90_Famil.html. Some are excellent, some not so great, but of course that's a matter of taste. They certainly suit me, although YMMV. 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. 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. These new pickups allow you to completely equalize the string balance through height adjustment of individual polepieces. select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. The pickups are hot a great pairing with my Engal Powerball, Mesa Roadking and Carvin V3 all modern high gain amps. I used them exclusively in my tele strat builds for a long time, and those are all nice pups, too. I replaced it with a Dimarzio Tone Zone and have been happy as can be since. Hughes and Kettner, Victory Amps, Black Star, Two Notes, etc. Though arguably, modern improvements have made lipstick pickup design better, some players live and die by the originals. Lipstick wiring is also a contributor. been to his house and talked to him many times. 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. That assembly was then wrapped in cellophane tape, vacuum wax potted, and inserted straight into the trademark lipstick tube coversactual lipstick tubes! Kent Armstrong sells his pickups exclusively through WDmusic. I'd go for that configuration again if I had a 3 humbucker guitar. If you go here' date='. 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. I dropped by my local guitar shop today and the tech had just installed KENT ARMSTRONG (?) Not horrified, but bowled over with mediocrity. Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page. i dont like the idea of a guitar having a battery too toy-ish IMO. Also, dont forget to dig into the rest of the Seymour Duncan blog. Well by looking at the list of players that he's made pickups for, he should be **** good. Inside the pickup, the improvements continue. 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 put a Vermont Armstrong P-90 pickup in my Ampeg AMG-100. Only really good for heavy metal sounds, although if linked to an on/off switch can be good to switch from passive to active for screaming solos. KA's are available in double creme though and come standard with 4 wires if you're into coil tapping and in the UK they're extremely cheap and I think quite a bargain. Mike, Any experience with this one? http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electronics,_pickups/Pickups:_Guitar,_archtop/Kent_Armstrong_Suspended_Jazz_Humbuck Looks like you haven't made a choice yet. i think ill try and persuade my dad to rewire it for me. Specifically designed for use with traditional arch-top electrics. Just youtube "Stockholm Sydrome Glastonbury" You'll get the idea, the idea that the motherbucker is Broootal! Sunny Coalville. Tech experts from Seymour Duncan are regularly on this forum, and are clearly labeled as employees of Seymour Duncan. It may not display this or other websites correctly. The lead "Vintage" pickup was less chunky sounding than a Burstbucker 1 but creamier than an Antiquity. Is there any better bang for the buck in a new guitar than this. More than likely, the pickups are worth way more than the rest of the guitar anyway. Gotta find that pup and find a guitar to install it in soon! Kent Armstrong makes a number of different hand-wound pickups and will do custom work as well. You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked. Very well built pickups, that sound good also. WebKent Armstrong is one of the foremost electric instrument pickup designers in the music industry. I had some double blade Strat pickups in my parts Strat for a while. 1995-2022 Harmony Central, Inc. All rights reserved. I have Has an output of 8.14 k. 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. He had a KA Vintage in the neck and KA Hot Rod (both nickel covered) in the bridge. Indeed, difficult especially without his hand. Click to reveal im looking to a bluesy peter greeny kind of tone. I wasn't a huge fan of the noiseless P90's I briefly hadthere was a big volume imbalance. It is the bridge model of the 4/5 string soapbar. You won't find the distortion on the WD website though. The cheaper type are made in the far-east while the more expensive ones are USA made. the only ones I didn't like were the stacked humbuck hot output.. way too dark for my taste. Privacy Policy | Kent is Dan Armstrongs (of ampeg plexiglass etc. Active pickups are battery-boosted for even more power, usually with an on-board 9v battery. 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. That said, other Korean Kent Armstrong pickups I tried sounded very good as well, so I would not hesitate trying them. He made pickups for many UK builders (not to mention Benedetto (sp?) 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. His current product line is produced to his specs overseas for the "mass" market and as such seems to carry a big "bang for the buck" combined with low cost. 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. The middle pup doesn't do much tone-wise on a 3 pup LP so the stock Epi pup is fine in my view. Sam Sherry, Thanks for your response. If this is your first visit, be sure to It's like an on-board pre-amp boosting and distorting the signal. check out the FAQ by clicking the Assuming they do, it is curious how so many people automatically rip out the stock Epi pickups and replace them with (you guessed it) Kent Armstrongs. Well by looking at the list of players that he's made pickups for, he should be **** good. I bought one of the pickups made by WD music in Kent's name. S. Thank you for the awesome information in this thread to those who have posted. A Smooth Sam pickup will breathe depth and articulation back into your favorite archtop guitar and make you fall in love all over again. the ive noticed that about my guitar that the middle doesnt really do much. I recommend them. Perhaps the most famous use of vintage Danelectro tone is the surprisingly clean-yet-crushing riffs on Led Zeppelins Kashmir. Jimmy Page proved that a Danelectro could punch way above its weight class when paired with a mammoth bass tone. This wiring results in an output boost with a woolier midrange punch than you might expect from lipsticks. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. but the hot p90s are staying in. 500k pots are good with P90's if the pickup resonance is in a good range. I would have been doing all the work and Dan would get as much - actually more for just using his name. The Kent Armstrong's were about 8K Ohms (as they should be). Alnico magnets are the traditional 50s/60s Gibson/Fender standards and generally have a warmer fuller tone than ceramic. Matthew Bellamy of Muse used the "Motherbucker" In his first few custom guitars. 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. Pretty much what the thread title says, anyone know if Kent Armstrong pickups are decent? check out the FAQ by clicking the Don't despare so quickly. Up solos the neck pickup. 2 reviews, 4,340 hits, 0 comments 9.9 Superb HSDO-1 Super Distortion This is a high output, tight, bassy 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. before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. But the in-between setting runs both pickups in series wiring. dude i love that guitar! In fact, modern guitarists such as Phoebe Bridgers still swing Danelectros over their shoulders quite often. They are here to help. Rewiring to 1 master vol plus a specific vol for middle pup should be quite cheap; it doesn't need any new / different components. But then Danelectros are no longer the only place youll find lipsticks. For reference, lets take a look at our (retired) Danelectro Lipstick Tube pickup. This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies. Down solos the bridge pickup. They also split for single coil use better than any other humbucker I've tried. That bridge pup with full treble and plenty of gain on the amp gets you a nice biting tone like Claptons' John Mayall period. Rickstar123 Vermont-wound pickups from Mr. Armstrong and his son are still within easy reach. Someone tell me if this is right, please add corrections? I got the cheap ones (I was only 18 at the time) and was very pleased. Most of the time I played with the middle one set to zero volume. link above. Your link has been automatically embedded.