Whitestrat
New member
I have vintage tones captured on my Chambered Gibson USA Les Paul Standard courtesy of a Skatterbrane Waterbrane set, and those honestly made my R7BB stock sound bad in comparison (seriously). So bad to the extent that I shelved my R7 for days until the electronics came, and I had to swap them. But I still needed something in the R7 to redeem it.
So I began the hunt for a nice set of pups. I considered quite a few options. Lollars, Sheptones, WCRs and even thinking of getting a USA Tom Holmes set, since the Japan set was utterly obliterated by the Skatterbranes. But I didn't want a standard set of vintage tones again, and was looking for something a little different.
One day I got in touch with Rod Kinkade of Skatterbrane Pickups again, to see if he could recommend something. We spoke about magnets and winds. After much discussion, Rod simply gave up talking to me, and said: "Why not you just leave it to me. I'll shoot for the tone you're after, but leave it to me."
So I did.
My exact description to Rod was:
Honestly, I have no friggin' clue what Rod has made for me. I only know they are double black bobbins, with gold screws and gold pole pieces just in case I want to remove the gold covers one day. I've asked him a few times now, and he still refuses to tell me what he did. Only after I've installed them, and if I like them would he tell me what he did.
So I got these a few weeks back from Rod. They are custom wound for me, with A4 magnets, and specifically meant to be installed in my R7BB custom.
I finally found out: The neck is a Earthbrane wind with the JPII wire and A4 magnets. The bridge is a JPII wind with JPII wire and A4 magnets.
What surprised me is how much "wah" like tone the bridge has. It's pretty awesome, and very organic. The neck was what I asked for, to capture some old Santana tones in there, but I didn't really get to demonstrate that much. What I did get to demonstrate, I think, is how colourful these pickups really are. They seem to have so much life, and are actually a bit uncontrollable at times. They sometimes have a mind of their own, and tend to run away with their own tones.
The guitar you are hearing is my R7BB with RS Guitarworks Modern kit, and the Skatterbrane Custom set. (wound for a custom... Sorry... Couldn't resist!!!!)
Here's the pickups by themselves alone:
SoundClick artist: Demioblue - page with MP3 music downloads
Here's the previous set of Skatterbrane Waterbranes I had in my other Les Paul:
SoundClick artist: Demioblue - page with MP3 music downloads
And here's the tones I was so proud of: the JPII/Earthbrane in a mix:
SoundClick artist: Demioblue - page with MP3 music downloads
(excuse the sloppy playing. I had left my aircon in the room on for too long, and I was sort of freezing my fingers off.)
Here's the waterbranes in a mix:SoundClick artist: Demioblue - page with MP3 music downloads
Overall, they're both 2 different sets of pups. I really like them both. Rod winds a great product indeed!!! He NAILED the tones I was after for the custom set. They really gave the R7BB life!
So I began the hunt for a nice set of pups. I considered quite a few options. Lollars, Sheptones, WCRs and even thinking of getting a USA Tom Holmes set, since the Japan set was utterly obliterated by the Skatterbranes. But I didn't want a standard set of vintage tones again, and was looking for something a little different.
One day I got in touch with Rod Kinkade of Skatterbrane Pickups again, to see if he could recommend something. We spoke about magnets and winds. After much discussion, Rod simply gave up talking to me, and said: "Why not you just leave it to me. I'll shoot for the tone you're after, but leave it to me."
So I did.
My exact description to Rod was:
Honestly, I have no friggin' clue what Rod has made for me. I only know they are double black bobbins, with gold screws and gold pole pieces just in case I want to remove the gold covers one day. I've asked him a few times now, and he still refuses to tell me what he did. Only after I've installed them, and if I like them would he tell me what he did.
So I got these a few weeks back from Rod. They are custom wound for me, with A4 magnets, and specifically meant to be installed in my R7BB custom.
I finally found out: The neck is a Earthbrane wind with the JPII wire and A4 magnets. The bridge is a JPII wind with JPII wire and A4 magnets.
What surprised me is how much "wah" like tone the bridge has. It's pretty awesome, and very organic. The neck was what I asked for, to capture some old Santana tones in there, but I didn't really get to demonstrate that much. What I did get to demonstrate, I think, is how colourful these pickups really are. They seem to have so much life, and are actually a bit uncontrollable at times. They sometimes have a mind of their own, and tend to run away with their own tones.
The guitar you are hearing is my R7BB with RS Guitarworks Modern kit, and the Skatterbrane Custom set. (wound for a custom... Sorry... Couldn't resist!!!!)
Here's the pickups by themselves alone:
SoundClick artist: Demioblue - page with MP3 music downloads
Here's the previous set of Skatterbrane Waterbranes I had in my other Les Paul:
SoundClick artist: Demioblue - page with MP3 music downloads
And here's the tones I was so proud of: the JPII/Earthbrane in a mix:
SoundClick artist: Demioblue - page with MP3 music downloads
(excuse the sloppy playing. I had left my aircon in the room on for too long, and I was sort of freezing my fingers off.)
Here's the waterbranes in a mix:SoundClick artist: Demioblue - page with MP3 music downloads
Overall, they're both 2 different sets of pups. I really like them both. Rod winds a great product indeed!!! He NAILED the tones I was after for the custom set. They really gave the R7BB life!
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