Alan, I am 25 years old and already absolute worn out by the amount of guitar and pickup demos that are like you say drowned in a sea of overdrive. I can't tell you how grateful I am for people like you that showcase clean tones in a clear and concise manner. Big up yourself!! And nice shirt
@alanday9116
2 жыл бұрын
Thank Adrian. And the shirt was bought at one of the first "Rattle that lock" shows at the Royal Albert hall. Didn't see any Alumitones that night ...
@danielbuhr4260
2 жыл бұрын
I'm 32 and I totally agree. The worst is they say "we're gonna show you the clean tone" and it sounds like they've literally never dialed a clean tone in their life. Darrell Braun does a good job with his demos, but his gear is all really nice
@mihailmilev9909
Жыл бұрын
@@danielbuhr4260 yeah I've seen some of Darrel Braun's videos
@lucaswood7602
4 жыл бұрын
Please do more reviews, the sobriety, clarity, and objectivity is so refreshing.
@jpvvandermerwe87
4 жыл бұрын
- i second this request.
@Patrick-857
3 ай бұрын
Yep. He's a jem. So humble in his presentation, so you almost feel like he's as ignorant and questioning as many of us are, just wanting to learn, but slowly he unfolds things. It's really refreshing. He really put effort into understanding things and trying for himself before opening his mouth.
@aslin81
2 ай бұрын
Sobriety?
@Patrick-857
3 ай бұрын
This is a wonderful review. Very clear, concise, and no nonsense. These pickups are for a very particular niche of guitar players, and for them, these are quite good. They aren't organic. They are a very clean, quiet, and flat blank slate. These are for players using DAWs or modellers to tweak their tone to an extreme degree. It's why these and even more so the Fishman Fluances are popular. Definitely not what you want if you're after something organic, with resonances and a voice of its own that interacts with the player and the amplifier.
@xenospeed7981
4 жыл бұрын
Finally a good clean demo.
@lgrcallum
4 жыл бұрын
I’m so grateful I found a demo that was well structured and edited (enjoyed the camera changes, and graphic overlays a lot) with some to-the-point discussion on the product and a good quality camera and mic setup.
@cheapskate8656
Жыл бұрын
Thank you for doing a clean demo playing the same thing. Seems basic but so few people do it.
@jasperlawson6315
3 жыл бұрын
Thank you. I actually found the overdrive demo to be the most useful part..... The overdrives on those are fairly warm through your rig..... Most overdriven pickup demos are in a power metal sound palette.... As a shoegaze/garage phyche player they don't demonstrate any of the qualities that I look for.
@wraith1117
3 жыл бұрын
I love these bad boys. I have the Deathbucker on the bridge, and Alumitone on the neck of my 6. Same deal with my 8, except they call those Death bars. Razor edge tight and LOUD with the gain up. But like you show, the cleans are awesome as well. So much signal I sometimes have to dial back a touch on the amp, and pedals. Glad you show that all here. It's hard to describe their sound with out actually hearing them.
@TheOptimisticMolt
3 жыл бұрын
This is exactly what I was looking for! I'm looking at a Godin Richmond Dorchester with the Alumitones and couldn't find any clean samples. Thanks so much!
@edt.5118
2 жыл бұрын
The alumatones in humbucker mode sound great jazz clean. The neck and bridge in humbucker mode have an amazing difference. The bridge pickup seems to capture more frequencies than regular pickups.
@alanday9116
Жыл бұрын
Glad they are available if that is the tone you need Ed. Personally I prefer some "dirt" like the overtones generated by imperfections. To that end I often replace pick up magnets with rough sand cast types that "rough up" the magnetic fields.
@fuzzylollipop1429
Жыл бұрын
they actually do if you look at the output on a spectrum analyzer or waveform monitor. they are more "flat response" and have a wider low/high range as well. this is easily provable with measurement equipment.
@fuzzylollipop1429
Жыл бұрын
@@alanday9116 sorry that is just a bunch of voodoo nonsense
@hanovergreen4091
10 ай бұрын
Outstanding and Thank You! Appreciate "sound" demos vs narcissistic noodling drowned out by distortion. Best Regards and Best Wishes!. Subscribed.
@biglutherie
2 жыл бұрын
That is a very good way to demonstrate the capabilities of these pickups in a way that is easy to understand.
@johnnydswing
3 ай бұрын
Thanks for the wonderful clean demo, this pick up’s are clean, even the bridge can be actually used !
@BrianClem
7 ай бұрын
I find that splitting the alumitone humbucker makes such a nice single coil.
@ClownOnVacation
3 жыл бұрын
Great review! Hearing the clean tones was what I was hunting for.
@riniones
Жыл бұрын
great test, informative and with a clear, justified and useful opinion. Thanks!
@commandhtf
4 жыл бұрын
An actual clean tone, on Lace Alumitones no less...
@MartinDrye
Жыл бұрын
All pickup demos should be like this
@Kitsune523
8 ай бұрын
Thank you so much for the clean demo!
@lukealexander3639
4 жыл бұрын
Thanks for posting this. I might use one of these pickups when I build an electric lebanese buzuq styled after a fender mandocaster, since it doesn't have individual pole pieces.
@bipbipletucha
3 жыл бұрын
Excellent idea
@jpvvandermerwe87
4 жыл бұрын
Bloody well done mate ! Lovely demo. I am shocked to find out just how much i like the neck unit in full humbucker mode.
@alanday9116
4 жыл бұрын
Thanks. I still have the As for sale!
@jpvvandermerwe87
4 жыл бұрын
@@alanday9116 - sadly, i live in sunny South Africa :( Shipping cost would kill me . . . i am sad to say.
@chillman2011
2 жыл бұрын
Thank you for this beautifully done demo.
@shaadydog1
3 жыл бұрын
Bravo👏, I was looking for clean Deathbucker sounds as I was looking to do an HSS, or an HSH with the Alumitone as well , on something used or a Pacifica as a donor. Very nicely executed, please if you get around to it, another demo of whatever/anything would be pretty cool.
@PastelComGini
4 жыл бұрын
I know I'm 5 months later, but I must comment: YEAH. Man, everybody demonstrating guitars or pickups... they start playing that beehive from hell thing like they were using a metalzone with all pots on 11. And I'm like... what's the point?
@SchmiddiMusic-qu7cp
2 жыл бұрын
Well in case of the "Deathbuckers" - they are made for higain sounds ... some clean examples are a nice to have, but how they sound with an highgain amp is what really matters :D
@Patrick-857
3 ай бұрын
@SchmiddiMusic-qu7cp very astute metal players know what they want to sound like, it's in their head. The best ones know how to get it. Somebody like this pickup for what they do, and it isn't traditional electric guitar they are doing. Some players want sterile so they can impose their own sounds onto the pickup. Others need that organic behaviour and idiosyncratic responses to playing style of a traditional wound pickup. I don't think either way is wrong. Follow your ears. They will tell you which pickup is right for your playing, and your setup. I want some actives, but love my hot wound P90s with that guttural sound they have, and I enjoy playing my weird improvised metal, in low tunings with them. Cleans matter to me, although I only use them with a crunchy clean tone. I have Lace Sensor pickups in a Strat, and and I've realised they are very sterile. There's not a lot of personality to them. But I was tired of the classic strat sound although I'm really not that comfortable playing anything but a strat, so I tried it. I want to redo things and see where things take me.
@--H--
Жыл бұрын
you manage to answer all my questions! well done and thanks!
@sigmabilly
3 жыл бұрын
Nice work, Alan! I was considering these and yours was the perfect vocabulary to describe what they miss, which is what I want! I was thinking of the sd pearly gates....always the next rung on the tone ladder....
@MrAppejeto
3 жыл бұрын
Thank you for this video, I'm just getting back into playing guitar after a bit of a hiatus. I've always loved acoustics and never really understood electric guitars, part of the issue was that I never had a good electric guitar (started with a 199$ starcaster and amp combo, later got a squire strat with the same cheap amp) and couldn't get the guitar to sound anything more than mediocre. I eventually got a decent amp and the squire sounds way better. However compared to a guitar my brother recently put together (Epiphone Les Paul Studio LT with obsidian wire 60's spec no solder harness and musiclily vintage spec humbuckers ) my old squire sounds pretty bad. I was thinking about giving the strat the piece by piece upgrade, buying a Mexican made fender, or I noticed that lace was selling a "Cybercaster" with dual Alumitone pickups. The name intrigued me and I've been doing research for a few days, this is the first review I've found with a quality review of the pickups.
@alanday9116
2 жыл бұрын
Thanks Alec. I too have been struggling with this very Ibanez - it looks SO good but I have been unable to get a good sound from it. I still have the Alumitones in their box and have recently been toying with the idea of putting them on my Harley Benton (the yellow one in the video) to see if they sound better there. The Ibanez now has a DiMarzio in the neck and the original pickups in the bridge and middle - however I did add a tap to the the bridge and used a "superswitch" so I can get all the single coil splits but also the bridge and neck humbuckers together in position "3" instead of the single coil.
@rickmarcotte2386
3 жыл бұрын
Nice concise review with summary statements. = Refreshing! Thanks!
@droksbeel
3 жыл бұрын
These sound great, i love the demo.
@j.dietrich
4 жыл бұрын
Nice one Alan! It mystifies me that so many guitar demos don't actually demonstrate the sound of the guitar.
@erickleefeld4883
3 жыл бұрын
They are so hi-fi, and with such an even response curve, they lose the imperfections and frequency bumps that we’ve learned to prefer over so many decades.
@TheGhostGuitars
3 жыл бұрын
Aloha, just pointing out that Ibanez, a Japanese brand, so the name is pronounced Aibanez (Both the I and the A are short vowels, with the I as sound-alike to "eye"). BUT ye did an *EXCELLENT* job of doing an announced demo of these pups in chorded and single cleans/dirty. I agree, they do fantastic job of the clean sounds, but are somewhat lacking in the full richness for chorded dirty sound. Mind ye, for "chugga chugga" they're passable. I suspect I'd use them for passages that emphasise cleans, but yes, for the price, they're best ONLY if weight, split vs HB level equity AND noiseless operation are the paramount considerations. Still, I _do_ like the cleans, so think I'd put a set into a Les Paul type. Noise is a problem where I live n play AND with a LP type, durned thing's already a heavy chap. 😖
@danielbuhr4260
2 жыл бұрын
New subscriber, I loved your demo and tone. Gonna put one of these in my Gibson SG. It's a cheap model and the guitar store offered me 200 dollars so don't think I'm ruining anything lol.
@mamoobots
3 жыл бұрын
Thank you! Wonderful video!… may I know what pot value you used and what capacitor? Thanks!
@petermcateer1354
4 жыл бұрын
This is a nice clear demo, presenting the pickups and not an attempted clinic on shredding. Is it possible to wire them with a conventional humbucker, ie a lace at the neck and a PAF at the neck?
@joshchristian8598
3 жыл бұрын
I have a set and when you split them there's a huge vol drop and sort of a constant buzz
@georgerobartes5989
2 жыл бұрын
I make these single bar pickups from a piece of brass strip , any sort of magnet ( Lace use sticky back fridge magnet strip ) to produce the inductor and a 240v to 6v wall wart transformer that cost nothing in reverse . The inductor output goes on the 6v end and the output is amplified 40 times by the transformer . Unless I use a 50 x 6 x 3 neodymium magnets and hide them in the neck the cost is zero ,anyone that can use wire cutters and a soldering iron can make them . Just bend some 3mm copper wire to the shape of a U around the magnet you are using and solder each end to the 6v terminals of the transformer to give a 56 mm wide pickup .The principal is not unlike ribbon microphones where a strip of corrugated aluminum foil acts as both the string and inductor vibrating between magnets from vocal sound waves and is amplified by a transformer which is why the Alumitones sound sterile . A Sure mic has a 10 Ohm winding on the diaphragm and a transformer to amplify the output to suit the preamp. Their is a relationship between magnet and material used and copper and brass are better than aluminum and give a focused warmer Tele sound as being solidly fixed to the guitar the sound of the wood is also in the mix , after all isn't that what using various hardwoods to make the body , neck etc ., all about? Absolutely great in bass guitars and my combination is a single bar hidden in the end of the fret board and a piezo under the bridge ( yes you can glue a round piezo on a Strat type whammy string block or under the bridge plate or recessed under a fixed bridge/stop bar) with one blend knob controlling the piezo buffer and neck pup to deliver the sound you want . I like the look of solid body guitars without pickups . Alumitones are overpriced for the cheapest way of making a pickup from a stamped aluminum frame , fridge magnet strip and small transformers and only made like this to replace existing pickups which are not very attractive and detract from the lovely wood grain a book matched top , or air brushed personal design or blown up Picasso print glued to the top and lacquered , can display. I like DiMarzios too and rebuilt an early SD1 for my Gary Moore tribute Gibson Melody Maker . They also make great sounding P90s . With this type of pickup the world is your lobster . You could machine down a strip of aluminium heatsink and cut a U for the magnet drill and tap 2 small holes for wiring and have a pair of unique looking pickups . Being only a few mm high thay will fit under the strings with no routing with just a couple of screws and a small hole for the wire . This is not a new idea and actually avoids infringing an 1920s patent and has been used in radio and other circuits since they were invented .
@temporarypeace
4 жыл бұрын
Thank you for the video sir. I wish you made a simile video with the stock electronics as I’m looking to buy this model
@scrubbingmonkeys2488
2 жыл бұрын
Thanks for the honestly
@HaraldEngels
9 ай бұрын
If you are looking for flexible and unproblematic pickups go with Alumitones. From clean Jazz to brutal Heavy Metal (where Lace pickups are very popular), these pickups deliver always a high quality tone. I disagree with the "distortion" statement in the video. Metal guys like these pickups because distorted sound do not turn into mushy noise. It requires a bit of adjustment in the guitar setup (electronics) to make them working for Blues - but that pays off.
@Patrick-857
3 ай бұрын
Exactly. They are designed to be a blank slate. Some players demand that flexibility and consistency. Others are very tuned into the organic side with a pickup that has it's own personality that fits with other gear with a personality through trial and error, passed onto us by great players. I like both paths. I love and respect the old school players, but am impressed by the high tech new school players like Buster Odeholm, who is a capable player, but not a virtuoso. He I'd however very good at the production side.
@jarrydroland4965
2 жыл бұрын
Thanks for a great demo; in singlecoil split mode, are the alumitones still noiseless?
@alanday9116
2 жыл бұрын
Yes they are. Thanks for the feedback
@donbazarov
2 жыл бұрын
Hello and thanks for this demo! I had a concern that combining Alumitone with traditional pickups (in say HSS guitar) might not work in 2nd position due to a big difference in their resistance. But looking at your video it seams that they work just fine in series with middle single coil without any loss of output volume. Did you use 250k pots? Any additional capacitors? Thank you!
@alanday9116
2 жыл бұрын
I used 250 k pots
@yamahargxtt
4 жыл бұрын
Nice video
@rikkufan009
2 жыл бұрын
I think those cleaned sounded ok to me but then again haven't heard the clean tones from your other guitars with pickups you prefer
@yamansitar
5 ай бұрын
hi, thanks for this , ,I'm thinking of getting one of these pickups for a sitar. , iv a few questions , 1, can the transformer be moved from under the pickup plate to the side ,as I need the space under the pickup for the sympathetic strings to pass under the pickup , 2, do you need to and a volume pot as I don't need to change volume just need it full all the time and it would save me from drilling into the sitar to add one ,3 if I did need a pot just a volume pot what size should it be 500 or 250 ,,, iv tried to email the company a few times but they haven't got back to me , thanks
@alanday9116
5 ай бұрын
1. I can't tell you about moving the transformer as I sold the pickups. You don't need a pot but if you did it would be a 250k log (Audio taper A250k)
@yamansitar
5 ай бұрын
@@alanday9116 ahhh thanks for this. Yes a idont need a pot as my volum would be set with my softwear as I plug into a sound card. Just have to work out how to wire it up. , thanks.
@yamansitar
5 ай бұрын
@@alanday9116 hi , with the wireing , and I didn’t use a volume pot where would I put the ground wire as I don’t want any hum. ,thanks again
@alanday9116
5 ай бұрын
@@yamansitar As you would expect, all you need to know is on the Lace Alumitone web page. Try this: cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0026/5469/9593/files/ALUMA-SPLIT_Wiring.pdf?9983894355982704781
@yamansitar
5 ай бұрын
Hi , thanks for your help , iv final got one and iam new to soldering , when wiring without a volume pot and just soldering to guitar input can you tell me ,, the orange goes to the guitar input ,, where would I put the green and the white/black strip ground wires too , thanks again. Sorry I’m new to wiring and soldering.
@stelladavis1798
4 жыл бұрын
So in single coil mode, is it actually the bit in the middle like in the diagram? I know in most humbuckers that can split, you can isolate either one of the coils. So for example if you wired it a certain way you would be able to use either the north or south coil by itself (or the one close to the neck vs the one closer to the bridge, I don't know electronics that well). Can you do that with the lace, or does it only do a single coil mode directly in the middle? I know with normal ones you can't do that because there's no "middle" coil in a humbucker, but with the lace the whole thing is kind of the coil. Follow up question, you might not know the answer to this but you seem to know how to do electric stuff pretty well. This doesn't really apply unless you are able to isolate the two coils, but can you wire it in parallel?
@telequacker-9529
4 жыл бұрын
What I understand is that the Alumitone "coil splitting" doesn't actually do anything with the coils, but rather switches modes on an electrical transformer inside the pickup. I've been told it changes the voltage... but I've never had one
@stelladavis1798
4 жыл бұрын
Telequacker thank you!
@ChrisRash
4 жыл бұрын
Stella Davis there is a recent video from Dylan Talks Tone about these pickups
@alanday9116
3 жыл бұрын
No conventional coils here, that is whey the weigh so little. Think of "single coil mode" as revoicing rather. They are not at all like traditional pups and cant be wired as such
@samizdat113
Жыл бұрын
Do you like that band from Texas called Zed Zed Top?
@EcoCentrist
2 жыл бұрын
clean =/= sterile, I have some Lace custom shops and they are amazing for every style of music - especially with the right pedals. sounds nice and thick with a BD-2 or other blues breaker
@mrdeer5585
4 жыл бұрын
Thank you!!!!!!
@BeesWaxMinder
2 жыл бұрын
These the Lace X-bar 2.4 guitar pickups?
@alanday9116
2 жыл бұрын
I don't believe so, there is a shot of the box showing "Alumitone Humbucker 3.4K Splittable". There is what looks like a part number on the edge of the box that says "BLACK 21057-09"
@jonathandowney7000
3 жыл бұрын
My only complaint was the comment with overdrive it doesn't matter they all sound the same? Are you serious? I've yet to hear two pickups sound the same gain or without. I do agree your opinion was same as mine the Lace sounded dead they just don't have anything that makes them beyond lifeless and again for the price leaves me wondering what went wrong in the design I've always been a fan of Lace Sensor pickups but the Lumitones sound dead to me
@alanday9116
2 жыл бұрын
Jonathan, thanks for the feedback. I knew I'd get in trouble for that LOL! But I was quick to say "nuance" - meaning that subtle stuff gets buried. Of course one pickup is going to have a different response to another and they will sound different but both will be hard to asses when looking for nuance under distortion. I don't do metal either, but then there are plenty of those LOL. I agree, I had Lace Sensor golds on a Strat and they were really nice.
@normancash-alivelycadaver7479
4 жыл бұрын
Jeff Beck uses them
@FelipeSouzaMusic
3 жыл бұрын
Finally
@NotOrdinaryInGames
2 жыл бұрын
What a very strange sound.
@mrdeer5585
4 жыл бұрын
By the way, do you have a link where you bought them?
@alanday9116
3 жыл бұрын
I still have them in my cupboard !
@stoutlager6325
4 жыл бұрын
thanks for no chugga chugga
@iridios6127
3 жыл бұрын
Actually, theise pups has no single-coil mode, you just cut out half of output signal.
@alanday9116
3 жыл бұрын
Not quite. The so called single coil is voiced differently. Cutting half the output signal implies a drop in volume. That does not happen
@iridios6127
3 жыл бұрын
@@alanday9116 Have you done any measurements? Or is that just hearing? In my experience, any normal humbucker loses half the volume in single mode. Also, the humm should appear in single mode, like any other humbucker -- this pickup does not it.
@alanday9116
3 жыл бұрын
These pups don't hum at all ... in any mode. And it's from listening not measurements. Alumitones don't have regular coils like conventional pickups.
@iridios6127
3 жыл бұрын
@@alanday9116 Measurements need for compare volume output, not for humm. )) Because i`am perfectly know how they designed, I noticed that they don’t have the traditional single mode, just imitation. ))) Some people consider the humm a necessary color in the sound of the single.
@leesbassment6393
3 жыл бұрын
Correct. The pickup itself is always humbucking. What it's doing with the switch is using all or half of the output transformer. It's an actual coil tap, which is often incorrectly used to mean coil split. There's a tap halfway in the windings on the output side of the transformer.
@sc0or
Жыл бұрын
Alumitone humbucker on a neck is a disaster. Even on a clean sound. They do not understand. They are technicians. A single coil alumitone theoretically can be used on a clean/crunch at a neck position, but this is a maximum.
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