Seymour Bro we need to talk ...

[braintheory]

Ahhh okay.. I'm not really sure about PAF vs JB specifically because I've never done an A/B comparison. I can only speak in general for ultimately similar pickups that are based off each other or having almost the same exact sounds.. it seems whenever you ask professional musicians (at least in country, worship and blues genres) or hear what they have to say in interview, they seem to say the same thing, that these nuances are even more distinguishable in live full band settings. Even moreso than playing alone in a bedroom. Nuances are never lost unless the mix is bad or you're using pedals that can kill your tone.

I'm of course talking about artists like Kingfish, Eric Gales, Josh Smith, Joe Bonamassa, Brad Paisley, etc. Maybe it depends on the experience and ears of the musicians. They are picky about the nuances in their pickups because they know the audience and sound engineers can tell the subtle differences. And like I said before, the metal genre may be completely different because they are cranked high gain ultra-compressed amps.. I'm no metal guitarist though.

I agree with this. Outside of metal and hard rock guys seem to be pickier about nuances, but some metal/hard rock guys still are too and I think we should be. I never would’ve been a gearhead or joined any forums if I didn’t care about that. Whether it’s the pickups, other gear, actually playing guitar or musical ideas composed, the differences between good and great are often a fine line separated by nuances

One could argue also why try to bother playing better when it also gets masked by the mix/other instruments (not that I agree with this at all). Most of the audience also won’t be able to distinguish a good player from a great player the same way they may not appreciate the improvements in sound by better gear, but this isn’t to me a valid excuse to cut corners

 

[braintheory]

The bill Lawrence stuff imo is not a copy of anything, it sounds like a bill Lawrence

It's certainly hot output wise, but much more balanced and less extreme in the EQ

Yeah from what I could tell it seems his pickups were something new at the time and have a distinctive flavor to me, particularly with this very pronounced midrange that I still like. My favorites are the L100 and L90. I also prefer BL’s to Mighty Mite’s, but still love MM’s, especially the 1400 and don’t at all like the Super Distortion. I haven’t tried any recent made MM’s though

Bill Lawrence also designed some of the ‘60’s Hofner and Framus pickups made in Germany that also can sound killer as well as lots of ‘70’s Gibson pickups

 

[SteveGlitch]

I agree with this. Outside of metal and hard rock guys seem to be pickier about nuances, but some metal/hard rock guys still are too and I think we should be. I never would’ve been a gearhead or joined any forums if I didn’t care about that. Whether it’s the pickups, other gear, actually playing guitar or musical ideas composed, the differences between good and great are often a fine line separated by nuances

Amen. Yeah, I mean, this thread is the first time I see someone saying that nuances disappear or have less impact in a live band setting, most professional guitarists claim the opposite.

And we need to stop pretending that people in the crowds don't notice these things lol They do notice! When they love a band, they listen to the music constantly and will easily notice if a different guitar, amp or pedals are being used. They may not be able to know specifically what's off or different with the tone, but they will notice that SOMETHING is different.

 

[braintheory]

Amen. Yeah, I mean, this thread is the first time I see someone saying that nuances disappear or have less impact in a live band setting, most professional guitarists claim the opposite.

And we need to stop pretending that people in the crowds don't notice these things lol They do notice! When they love a band, they listen to the music constantly and will easily notice if a different guitar, amp or pedals are being used. They may not be able to know specifically what's off or different with the tone, but they will notice that SOMETHING is different.

Yeah it’s only really been lately on this forum I hear things like in a mix or recorded in a clip these nuances don’t matter. I don’t have enough experience in some of those areas to say, but if I can hear it playing it isolated that’s more than enough reason for me

Yes with the crowd too. I think the only real difference with the crowd vs us is we can better articulate or understand what we’re hearing, but they’re still hearing it and being affected by it. There are many examples of this, but the strongest for me is the one time I tried a real Dumble and a few non-musicians/non-guitarists there at the time were still blown away by its sound

Really through the most important people to please are ourselves. If we hear a difference why ignore it just because someone else doesn’t hear it. I would think many legendary guitarists probably would’ve had a similar approach. Especially some guys like Eric Johnson from what I’ve heard would make almost anyone here seem like we just don’t care about details lol. I wish I saw more guys like him with that approach to learn from