Tokai P90 pickups

[Bluefinger]

Yes, that's right. There are many factors in a guitar causal for the Tone. Maybe the connecting cable to the amp was "too good". But i remember the Fralins also as lot fatter and crunchy. I think, the distance of height to the strings was not the best one for the Fralins. Bluefinger should search for the sweet spot again.

Of course the Tokais are not necessarely the better pickups, they just fit my personal needs better. And I don't know which exact types of Fralins and stock pickups you compared. Fralins come in all different types of ohm readings, windings and even magnet types, depending on how you order them and I don't know how constant the stockers are. I can only speak for the two sets I compared. Propper height adjustment is always a part of the routine when I install pickups. You can look at it anyway you like, the tokais I have are fatter and puchier, the Fralins are clearer and brighter. This is simply my impartial observation. I am sure Lindy could wind them big fat and punchy as well. Since these were a gift I was not able to have them wound my way.

 

[Bluefinger]

By the way, a curious fact about Junior Watson is his unique arch-top-cheapo-through-reverb-tank style.... :wink:

Arch-top cheapo? I'm sure he was playing a 50s LP Goldtop last time I saw him, & they weren't cheap last time I checked!

FWIW ... Junior's goldtop is an all gold (back as well) Tokai with 50s Gibson P90s. The headstock veneer was changed to a Gibson veneer since he thought it looked "wrong" on the guitar.

He did play archtops as well but I have only seen him play nice vintage pieces (ES-5, Epiphones, ...). The cheapest guitars I have ever seen him play are probably his Tokai Goldtop and hist old Harmony Stratotone.

 

[Anonymous]

Really? Wow, it was convincing! I saw him play that in 1993 when he toured with Kim Wilson, & it looked like an old one. Rusty Zinn also had a P90 GT - don't tell me that was a Tokai as well?

Have any of you guys tried out of phase wiring? It's more usable with humbuckers, but with P90s you can still get the sort of tone Junior gets with that Danelectro type thing I saw him play on YouTube.

 

[Bluefinger]

Really? Wow, it was convincing! I saw him play that in 1993 when he toured with Kim Wilson, & it looked like an old one. Rusty Zinn also had a P90 GT - don't tell me that was a Tokai as well?

Have any of you guys tried out of phase wiring? It's more usable with humbuckers, but with P90s you can still get the sort of tone Junior gets with that Danelectro type thing I saw him play on YouTube.

AFAIK Rusty plays a real 50s goldtop.

I have all my p90 guitars and some humbucker ones wired out of phase.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHDWzLXmHvg&feature=channel_page

Juniors Goldtop is as well as you can clearly tell by this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btXjDXkdWvA&feature=PlayList&p=B5EF2D8F916555CC&index=54

IMHO P90 are THE pickups for OOP. IMHO they work better than humbuckers.

 

[Anonymous]

Yes I was watching a couple of your YouTube videos yesterday. OK, great, looks like I'm on the right lines now.

I just find P90s out of phase a bit thinner than humbuckers out of phase, but I guess it's just a question of getting used to using the sound.

Do you know which model Tokai Junior has?

 

[Bluefinger]

Yes I was watching a couple of your YouTube videos yesterday. OK, great, looks like I'm on the right lines now.

I just find P90s out of phase a bit thinner than humbuckers out of phase, but I guess it's just a question of getting used to using the sound.

Do you know which model Tokai Junior has?

I have no clue what model/year Junior is playing. I read that stuff in an interview quite a while ago and that's about it, sorry.

In my experience the P90s work better but it's a matter of tast of course. To my ear the humbuckers sound too nasal in a strange way. I tried it with Classic 57s, Duncan 59s and Burstbuckers I and II so far but was not able to get a result I liked. I never was a big fan of the Peter Green tone as well tho (I dig his playing but prefer his non out of phase tone). IMHO the key is not to dial in both pickups at the same volume level because they cancel out too many frequencies leaving only a thin squeaky tone. I prefer to set the neck pickup at the level I like, dialing in the bridge only to a degree before the volume drop sets in ... or the other way around. It works for me at least ...

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the tip, I'll try that. I have found that backing both tone controls off to about 5 helps to take some of the thinness out of the tone.

 

[Bluefinger]

Thanks for the tip, I'll try that. I have found that backing both tone controls off to about 5 helps to take some of the thinness out of the tone.

That was most likely due to the fact that you did not back them off 100% equally. It's easy to try: Strum a chord with both pickups selected, neck volume on 8, bridge on 2 or so. While the chord is ringing slowly bring up the bridge volume. You'll notice the out of phase tone getting more noticeable. Then, somewhere around 8 the volume will suddenly drop dramatically and the tone will get thin. Above 8 the volume will come back. The sweet spot probably is somewhere near the volume drop.

 

[jprr773]

Thanks for the tip, I'll try that. I have found that backing both tone controls off to about 5 helps to take some of the thinness out of the tone.

That was most likely due to the fact that you did not back them off 100% equally. It's easy to try: Strum a chord with both pickups selected, neck volume on 8, bridge on 2 or so. While the chord is ringing slowly bring up the bridge volume. You'll notice the out of phase tone getting more noticeable. Then, somewhere around 8 the volume will suddenly drop dramatically and the tone will get thin. Above 8 the volume will come back. The sweet spot probably is somewhere near the volume drop.

thanks for the tip!

BTW, out of topic, just to let you know that Junior Watson will
perform live , May 2nd, in Wendelstein, Germany. Not very far from Wien

details here:
http://www.festival-wendelstein.de/

 

[Bluefinger]

thanks for the tip!

BTW, out of topic, just to let you know that Junior Watson will
perform live , May 2nd, in Wendelstein, Germany. Not very far from Wien

details here:
http://www.festival-wendelstein.de/

Sounds great. I haven't seen him since 1990 or so when he played with Canned Heat on their Reheated tour. Thanks for that!

 

[Anonymous]

BTW, out of topic, just to let you know that Junior Watson will
perform live , May 2nd, in Wendelstein, Germany. Not very far from Wien

Yet again a leading US player skips the UK after flying across the pond. Alex Schultz regularly plays in mainland Europe, yet I don't think he's been here since he was with The Mighty Flyers.

It's not fair...

 

[Bluefinger]

Alex Schultz regularly plays in mainland Europe, yet I don't think he's been here since he was with The Mighty Flyers.

It's not fair...

I don't mean to pour salt into your wounds but I will see Alex tomorrow with Tad Robinson (what a singer). I will probably have my Tweed Super signed by him as well. Can I do anything else to make you feel bad?

 

[JohnA]

I think Stratman is about to pack his guitars and move to Austria!!

 

[Anonymous]

I had decided that you were quite a cool chap, Bluefinger. Unfortunately, I now hate you.

:evil:

If you get a chance to have a word with Alex, could you ask him what us Brits have done to offend him so badly? One of the few players I actually prefer to Junior......

Life ain't fair!

 

[Bluefinger]

I had decided that you were quite a cool chap, Bluefinger. Unfortunately, I now hate you.

:evil:

If you get a chance to have a word with Alex, could you ask him what us Brits have done to offend him so badly? One of the few players I actually prefer to Junior......

Life ain't fair!

He's one of my heroes as well.

Last year he played at the same club with Sax Gordon and we had a drink or two after the gig because I know the organ player he played with. The funny thing is that we did not talk about guitars or music at all ... all we talked about were Gordon's new windows he installed in his house reicently :lol:

The good thing is that a guy like me can meet his heroes (Alex, Rusty Zinn, Duke Robillard ...) personally and talk to them or even jam with them if you are in the right place at the right time. If you admire Clapton, Page or Billy Gibbons like 99% of the guitar players you will probably never ever exchange a single word with them.

 

[marcusnieman]

The good thing is that a guy like me can meet his heroes (Alex, Rusty Zinn, Duke Robillard ...) personally and talk to them or even jam with them if you are in the right place at the right time. If you admire Clapton, Page or Billy Gibbons like 99% of the guitar players you will probably never ever exchange a single word with them.

Amen to that. I had the good fortune of Duke Robillard teaching me how to play the guitar when he joined up with the T Birds after Jimmie left and we were both living in Austin.

 

[Anonymous]

Does this mean I have to hate you as well, Marcus?

 

[marcusnieman]

Does this mean I have to hate you as well, Marcus?

You will after I tell you this. I had no clue who Duke Robillard was - just answered an ad for guitar lessons he was running in the Austin Observer. Figured he had a cool name and he must know how to play.

So when I met him in his live in hotel room at the Lexington Suites for my first lesson, he said "What do you want to learn" and I said how to play like Jimmie Vaughan.

 

[Anonymous]

he said "What do you want to learn" and I said how to play like Jimmie Vaughan.

So that means that he hated you!

 

[marcusnieman]

he said "What do you want to learn" and I said how to play like Jimmie Vaughan.

So that means that he hated you!

He still laughs about that. We've kept in touch all of these years and he told me that Jimmie wants to play like him....LOL. By the way, Duke said he has a new instructional DVD coming up. If you don't have his others below, buy them - they're great:

http://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Signature-Licks-T-Bone-Walker/dp/B00008G83V

http://www.totalvid.com/Guitar-Videos/Duke-Robillard-Uptown-Blues-Jazz-Rock-and-Swing-Guitar/