Hello everybody
I'm planning to upgrade my LP style guitar mainly the electronics and the pickups.
Can you recommend a set of Humbuckers for a Peter Green sound?...naming a DiMarzio or Seymour Duncan set would be appreciated.
Another issue is how to achieve the out of phase tone with the configuration I have in my mind. Peter had vintage pickups with one main lead cable (ground and hot wire), but a Humbucker with one lead cable doesn't work for coil split which is what I want in addition to that famous-nasal tone. It means I need a modern Humbucker with 4 wires. My guitar has 1 volume, 1 tone, and 3 toggle switch. I found a diagram on Seymour Duncan website for 1 push/pull volume (coil split), and 1 push/pull tone (phase) with 3 toggle switch. Do you think it would achieve the result that I want?...or you recommend a vintage set with the traditional 3 toggle switching?
Thanks
Comments
The Peter/Gary/Kirk sound is the result of a bodged pickup repair. The repairer inadvertently replaced the bar magnet in the neck/Rhythm position pickup in the wrong orientation, reversing its magnetic polarity compared to the unmolested bridge/Treble pickup.
Remounting the pickup the wrong way around (pole screws nearer the bridge) was Peter's attempt to correct the problem. (It was never going to work.)
If you want the "honk" to be switchable, one of your humbuckers needs to have output cable in a format that permits electrical phase reversal.
Your idea will get all of the switching permutations that you specified. What it will not achieve is the exact sound of Peter Green. Even the man himself struggled to get close to it after he was spiked.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Bandcamp
It's a tough choice between flexibility or Blues heritage.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
I could hear the same woody tone in Gary's playing, and I personally like Gary as much as I like Peter.
From what I heard and watched on the net it looks like the Bare Knuckle's PG Blues are among the closest to the real sound. Thanks for your info.
I think if you fit the Bareknuckle set and use 50s wiring, backing off the volume slightly can give you almost a single coil-type tone without needing to split the coils. You can get even closer with a treble-pass cap, but that interferes with the blending of the volumes for the out-of-phase sound so probably won't work for this.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
https://www.manchesterguitartech.co.uk/2011/05/07/upgrade-to-vintage-lemon-drop/
Also (if you can find one) you can pick up a Vintage V100 Lemon Drop second hand for about the same as a pair of new Bare Knuckle PG Blues.
The Wilkinson standard pickups are surprisingly good and can get you very close to the Peter Green tone.