That meant that the bobbins and custom-machined pole pieces Fender and Gibson used were out. I had that configuration on an Epi LP and it worked great. It may have just been whatever model I had that I didn't like. The Kent Armstrong Humbucker on the Eastman AR371ce measured about 8.7K Ohms at the output jack. ive noticed that about my guitar that the middle doesnt really do much. Danelectros had a unique sound that no other guitar could capture. I'm actually thinking of up grading. I've had Kent Armstrong pick-ups in my sheraton for about 15 years. Pickups like our Lipstick Tube Strat pickup drop comfortably into most Fender-style pickup routes. Theres a guy selling the following KA pickups around here for a reasonable price Are they any good? And Danelectro continues to build the reissue Danelectros around the lipstick pickup platform. You must log in or register to reply here. 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. Jangly, chiming, clear, and detailed are often used to describe their singular voice. tone forum. JavaScript is disabled. I tell every one of my customers to give them a try if they are looking for high gain, and let them all know I will gladly replace them with something of their choosing and not one have come back looking for replacements in over 14 years. Not horrified, but bowled over with mediocrity. Don't know for sure. I really like my Ibanez AM205-AV Prestige. I had some 7 string pickups from KA. You must log in or register to reply here. I may be wrong, but i think that is one of the overseas "licensed" pickups, not handmade in Vermont. This pickup has the deadly combination of power and tone! I just fitted a tele bridge pickup and it's great. The problem with P90s is that they are more than often too hot. This is fairly hot for a jazz guitar. I'm really shocked at reading this thread as I have bought 2 guitars that have had KA pups (mini hum and hums) and in both cases these guitars were totally liberated by replacing themI replaced the KA mini humbucker with a Duncan SM-3 mini and the humbuckers with a Duncan JB and a Bare knuckle Stormy Monday. the upgrade turned both guitars from potential ebay items into favourites.go figure!? Even with a dynacomp switched on! Again, it took me by surprise about the sheer number of pickups they produce. link above. Improving my guitars tone. Part 2: A different pickup He made pickups for many UK builders (not to mention Benedetto (sp?) Bridge position a hotter KA like : http://www.wdmusic.co.uk/product/Rocker_Alnico_Humbucker_Chrome_Cover_HRC-1A. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. Display as a link instead, http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electronics,_pickups/Pickups:_Guitar,_archtop/Kent_Armstrong_Suspended_Jazz_Humbucker.html. Kent Armstrong If you have any other questions about lipstick pickups, lipstick pickup construction, or lipstick wiring, dont hesitate to get in touch! All I know is WD sells Kent Armstrong pups at higher end pricing with no sound clips or specs. At this point, I do not know if Kent Armstrong supplies Epiphone with other OEM pickups in addition to these P90's. Inside the pickup, the improvements continue. 1995-2022 Harmony Central, Inc. All rights reserved. You cannot paste images directly. kent armstrong - Epiphone Electrics - Gibson Brands Forums Are all of his current pickups made over seas? Some are excellent, some not so great, but of course that's a matter of taste. Some of the add-ons on this site are powered by. Indeed, difficult especially without his hand. 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. I have the Tele bridge pickup and it's OK, but not great. I have Kent Armstrong 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. Most people consider Kent's jazz Pickups to be the best in the world and who are we to argue? it does not have that upper mid spike and is much more PAFish? 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. Does anybody really play bebop these days? 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. Copyright 2021 Gibson Brands, Inc. All rights reserved. Clear editor. Specifically designed for use with traditional arch-top electrics. Tech experts from Seymour Duncan are regularly on this forum, and are clearly labeled as employees of Seymour Duncan. Among its other design factors, Danelectros magic can be traced straight to the highly unique pickups that Nathan Daniel designed. Well by looking at the list of players that he's made pickups for, he should be **** good. WebKent Armstrong is one of the foremost electric instrument pickup designers in the music industry. are actually Asian-produced "Rainbow" pickups by Kent Armstrong. It was definitely an improvement over the stock pickup, which itself was not a bad pickup. VPB Hot Rod Series Hot Twins Split Pickup For Fender Precision Bass And not only did these metal tubes give his pickups a unique look, but the metal cover helps shield the electronics and mellowed the otherwise ice-picky sound of his design. 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. I put a set of noisless Kent Armstrong P90's in a PRS SE Soapbar 2 - I also wired them Series or Parallel. Posted March 1, 2021. What's the opinion from those around here who's tried some of his work? 1995-2022 Harmony Central, Inc. All rights reserved. He learned to wind pickups from his father and Bill Lawrence. I had my LP wired so that 1 volume pot was a master volume, and the other was middle pup only. Don't despare so quickly. My gut feeling is that they are one of the better import options out there but maybe not the same level as US aftermarket. 04-16-2008, 05:17 PM Well by looking at the list of players that he's made pickups for, he should be **** good. L5 CES started in '53, had p90s, soon got staple pickups, then Carvin or Kiesel Alan Holdsworth HH2 I've got them in two guitars of my own. Sources for Aria Pro II pickups But part of that is the guitar. Was not knocked out by the tele set I had. Maybe more like a Ford fusion, then say a Holdworth type thing. I'd like to try one. Post up some sound files, I'd love to hear them. Alnico 3 with Formvar wire. That is not a knock on Eastman, they Most of the time I played with the middle one set to zero volume. Great price. I like the WD Kent Armstrong pickups very much. he is quite the crackuphe was full of quips and one liners - it was an entertaining conversation. I just purchased an El Rey4 and I find the original pickup kind of listless. If this is your first visit, be sure to This explains why I wasnt as concerned with the Epiphones tone. select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. 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. 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). sorry, didnt mean to digress from the original topic. before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. i think ill go for them. They offer authentic PAF tone, sounding open and warm while retaining excellent string to string articulation. Performance & security by Cloudflare. Gotta find that pup and find a guitar to install it in soon! These modern designs are much more reliable and standardized than vintage lipsticks while retaining most quirks that make old ones special. They're were custom wound and came with the guitar. All are welcome, from seasoned pros to absolute beginners. 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. While scores of guitarists got started on these plywood powerhouses, most would move on to something more reliable as their playing progressed. also with respect, I could not agree less. 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. To answer that question, well have to dig into their history, lipstick pickup construction, and their relationship to Danelectro guitars. KENT ARMSTRONG Pickups?? I LIKE! | The Les Paul Forum I wanted to have some time with the guitar before I went with the swap but at the next string change, I'll change out the pickup. In the 1940s, Nathan Daniel found success with his budget line of electric instrument amplifiers, Silvertone and Danelectro. Maybe a medium output but with nice growl. I have spoken to him many times on the phone. Using the middle pup with either gives you something inbetween which I didn't like much. The PAF is OK but the Distortion kicks but. the only ones I didn't like were the stacked humbuck hot output.. way too dark for my taste. But not everyone. Also, the bridge model had slightly increased output to better balance with the neck position pickup. Your link has been automatically embedded. WebWPU90H Hot Rod Series Hot Soap P-90 This beefed up version of Kent Armstrong's already muscular WPU90 pickup utilizes the sweetness of a pure alnico magnet. There was a Kent Armstrong humbucker of some sort in the bridge position of my US Masters when I got it. I thought it sounded terrible. Really thin These pickups still deliver the same tone but are much more reliable and easier to manufacture. I heard the hot rod vintage is better than a JB? They allow me to play the most aggressive styles of music out there like no other, they really complete my tone. Great pickups for jazz and classic rock tones, these pickups are the real deal. Judging by their use on low-end guitars I assume they're cheaper to make. I got the cheap ones (I was only 18 at the time) and was very pleased. The copper wire coil is now wound around a custom-sized plastic bobbin that features an Alnico bar magnet right down the center. Kent Armstrong Pickups | The Gear Page Their relatively hollow, plywood-composite construction also plays a significant role. But the pickups arent the only reason Danelectro guitars sound the way they do. By contrast, the Armstrong (VT-made) PAF 12-pole humbucker has a much fatter, more electric sound. WebFor Sale First Edition 2003 Ibanez JTK1 JetKing w/ Kent Armstrong PAF Humbuckers in Transparent Black Red Sunburst Finish. I played classic / rock / blues at the time and got several compliments on my sound after gigs. kent arnstrong hot lips For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. At this point, I do not know if Kent Armstrong supplies Epiphone with other OEM pickups in addition to these P90's. WD Music's Kent Armstrong Humbuckers- Are these any I would have been doing all the work and Dan would get as much - actually more for just using his name. Kent goes on to describe "It just didn't seem right to me. I'll have to get around to trying it in a "real" guitar one of these days. They also split for single coil use better than any other humbucker I've tried. 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. 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). link above. Matthew Bellamy of Muse used the "Motherbucker" In his first few custom guitars. Just youtube "Stockholm Sydrome Glastonbury" You'll get the idea, The extended cover allows for use with traditional 7 string arch-top electrics. You can post now and register later. Has an output of 8.14 k. Sep 26, 2012 #9 Stephent28 Supporting Member Feb 1, 2005 C470, CO The lead "Vintage" pickup was less chunky sounding than a Burstbucker 1 but creamier than an Antiquity. WebKent Armstrong Hand Made Johnny Smith floating Pickup. I have another Tele with an SD AlNiCo II pickup that I prefer over the Kent Armstrong. He had a KA Vintage in the neck and KA Hot Rod (both nickel covered) in the bridge. Rewiring to 1 master vol plus a specific vol for middle pup should be quite cheap; it doesn't need any new / different components. Middle position, your stock Epi neck pup, 3. Sunny Coalville. Armstrong or Rautia pickups are a much better way to go. 2 reviews, 4,340 hits, 0 comments 9.9 Superb HSDO-1 Super Distortion This is a high output, tight, bassy (HJGN-2 for neck mount version) Made in the tradition of the Johnny Smith endorsed Gibson instruments introduced in the early '60s. I was shocked! before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. dude i love that guitar! 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? This page was generated at 01:08 AM. Does anyone know if the Kent Armstrong pickups that "W D Music" sells are the real deal or - are they the Licensed pickups? A Smooth Sam pickup will breathe depth and articulation back into your favorite archtop guitar and make you fall in love all over again. Danos usually feature a 3-way toggle switch. That said, other Korean Kent Armstrong pickups I tried sounded very good as well, so I would not hesitate trying them. It is the bridge model of the 4/5 string soapbar. As long as you are talking about KA pickups and bumping the thread, I think of it as no dis-service to the OP. The vintage is real nice - sweet and full. And.they sounded way different too. One common upgrade is the pickup covers. Super Block United States. Top 3: The Best Jazz Pickups by Seymour Duncan Happy hunting! EMGs or something else but they were so good I've kept them. Building A Jazz Language - Bebop focus, for the moment. I contacted Kent Armstrong himself about the pickup thinking maybe I'd just have him make me new one and here was his 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. 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. I've had several pups in my sheri. Powered by Invision Community. We are not able to accommodate order changes or cancellations once you have completed the check out process. Really thin and very harsh. I have mentioned in previous posts that my tech had claimed that the stock P90 pups in my '56 Gold Top Les Paul and Zephyr Blues Deluxe (see my sig.) Epoxy casting inside the cover allows for added coil to give a sweet mini-humbucker tone. I've had a number of Kent Armstrong pickups over the years, and been pleased with them all. That assembly was then wrapped in cellophane tape, vacuum wax potted, and inserted straight into the trademark lipstick tube coversactual lipstick tubes! I dropped by my local guitar shop today and the tech had just installed KENT ARMSTRONG (?) 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. 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). The pickups are priced nicely as well. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again. The tone is bright and detailed with a single coil type twang that also provides great crunch on 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. My main problem is I live in a unit so I can never play anything out loud, I'm looking to re-locate asap. I replaced it with a Dimarzio Tone Zone and have been happy as can be since. But then Danelectros are no longer the only place youll find lipsticks. Danos usually feature a 3-way toggle switch. 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. Announcing the all new jazz pickup line! Always loved his drumming, but how about on guitar too, and singing.,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6IBeJMtpzY Finally, modern lipstick single-coil pickups offer a variety of wiring improvements. They cost around 40 give-or-take here (Seymour Duncan and Perhaps Ryan Burke of the 60-cycle Hum Podcast described it best, saying, they basically sound the way they look: Despite their penchant for clean sounds, theyre also a ton of fun with a cranked amp exuding a snarly breakup and a loose low end. i was looking at the seymour duncan ones but i think there a bit expensive because ill need 3 of them. No more actual lipstick tubes! It is only available as a side-mount (pickguard mount) due to varying neck sizes from manufacturer to manufacturer. Up solos the neck pickup. 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. I imagine earlier pre WD Armstrong pickups would hold quite a bit of value. Wasn't so keen on the bridge which is hot @ 15k. Hughes and Kettner, Victory Amps, Black Star, Two Notes, etc. 67 AB165 BF Bassman "restoration" complete. IMHO, for a Casino a good set is about 7.5k/8k for the bridge and 6.5k/7k for the neck pickup. 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. 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. We understand the questions. That's the only first hand experience I have with Kent Armstrong pickups. 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. Mike, thanks for the feedback (no pun intended). Alan Mearns - incredible Bach arrangements / playing. 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. 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. All rights reserved. I'll hafta get some of Telenators PT-90's. Though arguably, modern improvements have made lipstick pickup design better, some players live and die by the originals. The action you just performed triggered the security solution. Sky/kent Armstrong Pickups This wiring results in an output boost with a woolier midrange punch than you might expect from lipsticks. Opinions on KENT ARMSTRONG pickups - Seymour Great depth of tone, and not real screamers. If you go here. Ceramic tend to have a "thinner" sound, but powerful ceramics give good metal tones when over-driven. Bags of twang and not microphonic like the SD pickup I replaced. I was happy with it. He has a Classic 57 mounted as a floating humbucker That could be a great solution! 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 The magic is in your fingers. So what are they? 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. the lp studio has the vintage 12 pole humbuck at the bridge, and that's a keeper, too. Specifically the tele bridge and the neck mini humbucker pickups. They make many, many pickups. Kent Armstrong Pickups Was put on a customers guitar and modified to fit a D'Aquisto see offset bracket in picture. It may not display this or other websites correctly. 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. Is this Mark Whitfield's new D'Angelico??? Santa Barbara, California. We all do. They were meant to be used straight into a tube amp, although an OD pedal is ok. The PAF and bridge humbucker in my Jackson Soloist are excellent pickups. The words Fender, Telecaster, Stratocaster and the associated headstock designs are registered trademarks of the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. On 28/02/2021 at 14:34, Tvrtastic said: Kent Armstrong has posted a little clip about his life. 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. It had a nice tone, good When I first got the guitar my standard procedure was to swap things for. 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. Kent Armstrong Review | Pickups | Reviews @ Ultimate-Guitar.Com Fender has even offered several lipstick-equipped Strats right from the factory floor. You are using an out of date browser. What would you guys recommend fro the bridge of a Les Paul if I want deep bass, solid mids, and sweet(smooth) highs. Sold through big-box retailers like Sears Roebuck, they offered budding players decent amps at bargain prices. Kent Armstrong I've fitted their humbuckers and P94s to several guitars in recent years. I recommend them. He was jamming on it while I was in the store which is what caught my attention. All of these modern updates have done nothing to quell demand for lipstick pickups, new and old. anyhow, i've had 2 or 3 of those on guitars i've owned and they are thin and overly bright. www.wdmusic.com is the us distributor. From the well setup action and the finely-cut nut, to the smooth polyurethane Players love how they teeter between tone and chaos. 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. More than likely, the pickups are worth way more than the rest of the guitar anyway. these prices are pretty reasonable i think. There is a chance that you might have gotten a "good" set of P90's as stock equipment on your Epi. 62.133.128.109 Tech experts from Seymour Duncan are regularly on this forum, and are clearly labeled as employees of Seymour Duncan. 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 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. 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. Never worry about fitting a pickup under the strings again! We get asked a ton of questions about lipstick single-coil pickups. 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. tone forum. Well, now he has outdone himself. I've never had any experience of KA humbuckers but the single coil pickups that japasul is considering are great and for the price of KA's I don't think that you can go too far wrong. the pickups in my bree/blue fretless are kent armstrong hand-wounds very nice. Copyright 2023 Seymour Duncan. Since I wrote that post I did some trawling and found some good references, also got on the humbucker page at GFS and copy/paste all the specs on the ones I'll get next windfall.