What kind of humbucker is on Lindsey's guitar?

[stratist3217]

I know that Lindsey plays a Rick Turner Model I, a custom-made, double-octave guitar with a single humbucker. My question is to exactly what kind of humbucker this is, and, if it is not commercially available, which commercially available humbucker produces the most similar tone.

Thanks,
Mike

[Cammie]

Hi Mike...
If someone doesn't tell you on here
you can ask Rick Turner on his own
web site...Rick Turner Guitars.com!!
Maybe he changed his addie but we
talked to him a couple times in 1997!
He told us LB traveled with four Model
I's and how he repairs them and how
they are hard to keep in tune!Bye,Sky

[seteca]

Hi Mike,

The humbucker on the Model One is, like the rest of the guitar, handmade by Rick Turner. It's not commercially available. If you really just want the pickup, you could always try to buy one from Rick Turner, but I would strongly advise against you trying to retrofit a Model One pickup onto any other guitar.

Re: your second question...The problem is that the "Model One tone" is a result of not just the pickup, but also the position of the rotating plate that the pickup is attached to, the semi-parametric EQ settings, the distinctly unique body of the guitar itself, and of course the player. In Lindsey's case his fingerpicking also plays a major part in the tone he achieves, along with the overdrive pedal (SD-1) and amp (Mesa/Boogie) he uses. So when you ask what "commercially available humbucker produces the most similar tone", the question you've got to ask is...what tone in particular do you want? (You obviously can't have the whole palette of the Model One's colours available to you unless you're using a Model One.)

Just as an example, if you're going for that classic raging "Go Your Own Way" tone, a Les Paul (with original pickups) would be the obvious choice (it was afterall the guitar he used for the original recording!). Put it through an SD-1 and into a Mesa/Boogie Tremoverb and after a bit of playing around with the amp's EQ and gain you'll get a similar tone. However, it will always sound more raspy than the Model One's tone, and not as strong/full. A less obvious choice, and the closest I've ever heard a guitar come to that tone, is a Stat fitted with EMG DG-20 active pickups (humbucking bridge pickup). The SPC and EXG controls offer a very broad range of tones, and the SPC mid-booster in conjunction with the bridge humbucker produces a tone very similar indeed to LB's GYOW tone.

I don't know if this will help but here are some parts of the review I wrote for Harmony Central a few months after I received my Model One:

...Active pickup is mounted in black high-impact plexiglas plate. Rotating Turner active humbucker with volume knob, tone knob (push/pull mechanism on this cuts one coil for single coil operation), semi-parametric equaliser consists of 12DB EQ cut/boost, frequency sweep, EQ in/out switch and red LED EQ status light. 18 volt active preamp is made by Highlander Audio.
It comes stringed with the mother of all heavy gauge strings: 11-53 gauge Thomastik-Infeld Heavy Bottom PowerBrights, which in my (and Rick's) opinion are the only strings that would do it true justice. These strings last for AGES...
...1) Master volume. This sounds obvious but it's not. The knob turns almost 360 degrees. Fully off is at say 0 degrees, fully on is at around 320 degrees.....from 0 to to say 280 degrees ("6 o clock" when you're looking down on it from playing position) it acts as you'd expect a normal volume knob to, but then that final 40 degrees or so gives this really noticable "extra kick". (This has nothing to do with the EQ...this "kick" is felt even at totally clean level with no active boost. I guess it's not meant to be an "extra kick", it's just the final stage of volume of a guitar with active electronics, but that's the way it comes across.)
2) Magnetic/Piezo blender: if you have the piezo on full at very low volume on the amp on totally clean settings, you can't really hear the difference in the sound other than the fact the piezo picks up the sound of my nail sweeping down strings during chords, whereas the humbucker is slightly more subtle. However, when i turn the volume on the amp up, to say 5 (still totally clean) it sounds indistinguishable from a real acoustic. If I run it through my acoustic simulator effect, it sounds even better.
3) EQ Frequency Sweeper. This is the most amazing thing on this guitar.....i could go on and on and on. To put it simply, if you boost the absolute low end it sounds like the "beefiest" tone you'll ever hear in your life. It's thicker than anything Lindsey ever uses (the "I'm So Afraid" tone from the Tusk tour comes close). Take the dark, warm, thick tone of a Les Paul, and make it even thicker. Boosting the absolute high end gives the most bitey "Tele." sound, and even more. Boosting the higher mids is my favourite setting: it's basically classic roaring Lindsey tone: thick, dark, warm, slightly more "present" sound than a Les Paul, and it ROARS!!!
4) 12 DB boost / cut: this works in conjunction with the frequency sweeper. It boosts or cuts whichever frequency you select. On high gain amp settings, boost the lower mids by the maximum 12DB and you get the most raging roaring guitar sound ever! It makes a Les Paul sound like a mouse! Boost the trebles / roll off the bass and mids and you get an extreme Tele. sound.
5) The tone knob: does pretty much the same thing as any other tone knob, but like the master volume it has a more "detailed" range, and you can use it to further increase your range of sounds.
6) Push/pull switch on tone knob: pull the tone knob out and it gives single coil action by cutting one of the coils....Strat territory. Using this in conjunction with EQ and tone knobs, I have managed to achieve a perfect Dave Gilmour "Shine On" sound.
One last thing, possibly, the most important....this guitar is LOUD. Even on clean, it's LOUD, it's tough for me to describe what i mean.....the sound is just really THERE.....it's so clear, and "present". At low gain it is the CLEAREST and most peaceful sound I've ever heard. All the chords are perfectly defined from top to bottom. At high gain, it absolutely R O A R S! The sustain is mindblowing.

--

By the way, here's an extreme close-up of the pickup (or rather, the pickup cover!) of my guitar.

Hope at least some of this helped.

[shackin'up]

if I ever start playing guitar, I' will read this post first....

[stratist3217]

4) 12 DB boost / cut: this works in conjunction with the frequency sweeper. It boosts or cuts whichever frequency you select. On high gain amp settings, boost the lower mids by the maximum 12DB and you get the most raging roaring guitar sound ever! It makes a Les Paul sound like a mouse! Boost the trebles / roll off the bass and mids and you get an extreme Tele. sound.

Not the same system as in the Fender Powerhouse Strat?

[seteca]

Originally posted by shackin'up
if I ever start playing guitar, I' will read this post first....

lol!! You might want to read it after you start learning to play!

Originally posted by stratist3217
Not the same system as in the Fender Powerhouse Strat?

Not at all. The Powerhouse Strat is pretty much a standard Strat with a 12 DB midboost control (and with only one tone control). You can't choose which frequencies to actively boost or cut. The Model One has the entire range of (guitar-related) frequencies to choose from, plus so much more. Like I said, it's all its different attributes which together make it (IMO) the most versatile guitar out there. There are very few tones which the Model One can't replicate by combining and making use of its various controls. With the newer Model Ones, even acoustic tones are possible thanks to the piezo pickup.

Just my humble opinion...but I would definitely prefer to retrofit a set of active EMGs onto a standard Strat than to get a Powerhouse Strat. Like I said, the combination of SPC and EXG controls are the closest thing I've seen to the controls of the Model One. It's not as versatile as the M1, (especially when it comes to cutting frequencies), but nevertheless it's very good indeed.

A +12DB to -12DB booster/cutter, highest treble to lowest bass frequency range, a choice of humbucker / single coil action (by cutting one of the coils) / piezo (acoustic) pickup (or a blend of piezo and electric pickups), and rotating pickup position.......I don't want this to begin to sound like an advert for the M1 !!, but these attributes really do combine to make a very unique guitar.

[stratist3217]

Just my humble opinion...but I would definitely prefer to retrofit a set of active EMGs onto a standard Strat than to get a Powerhouse Strat. Like I said, the combination of SPC and EXG controls are the closest thing I've seen to the controls of the Model One.

What exactly are active EMGs? And what are SPC and EXG controls. Please excuse my stupidity (for lack of a better word), but I am a novice at this.

[seteca]

Hey no problem, and don't call it "stupidity", call it (the very best kind of!!) curiosity!!

EMG is the name of a company that specialises in pickups.

"Active" pickups are the opposite of "passive" pickups.

Passive pickups use a magnetic source of energy and relatively large coils of wire to generate their signal.

Active pickups use smaller coils of wire and have a preamp built into the pickup to boost the signal. Their advantage is that the smaller coils make them far less susceptible to outside interference and as a result they are very quiet. Also, with active pickups the output and EQ of the pickup can be changed and shaped by changing the parameters of the preamp. All active pickups operate off of a battery (usually a 9V) to power the preamp.

Some guitarists feel that passive guitar pickups have a more organic tone and a wider dynamic range. They're cheaper and easier to build so most guitars come with passive pickups.

The EMG DG-20 set has pickups with Alnico magnets which give a full round tone with an exceptionally strong midrange.

The EXG "Guitar Expander" circuit increases the bass and treble while reducing the mids (to whatever extent you like)...kinda like a "V-shape" on a digital graphic EQ display. The SPC is used to boost the mids, so for solos you can use the SPC along with the bridge pickup to have one hell of a screaming guitar.

[madformac]

Originally posted by seteca

The EMG DG-20 set has pickups with Alnico magnets which give a full round tone with an exceptionally strong midrange.

The EXG "Guitar Expander" circuit increases the bass and treble while reducing the mids (to whatever extent you like)...kinda like a "V-shape" on a digital graphic EQ display. The SPC is used to boost the mids, so for solos you can use the SPC along with the bridge pickup to have one hell of a screaming guitar.

Seteca, I get the feeling you might be thinking of "Gilmourising" your Strat in the pickup dept. Am I right ???

[seteca]

Originally posted by madformac
Seteca, I get the feeling you might be thinking of "Gilmourising" your Strat in the pickup dept. Am I right ???

who?? me???

[chiliD]

Originally posted by seteca
Hi Mike,

The humbucker on the Model One is...{yadda, yadda, yadda}

Ummm...ditto!

[seteca]

Originally posted by chiliD
Ummm...ditto!

lol..!!

[mylittledemon]

Back in 2001 I bought one of the Turner Model 1 pickups from Rick. I contacted him and at the time I wanted to replace the neck humbucker in a Fat Tele I had just bought. He custom made the pickup without the rotating piece, and suggested that it may sound "strange" on a Tele, but he made if for me nevertheless. I think I paid $175 for it.

[Cammie]

Mike & mylittledemon...
When I said e-mail Rick yourself
that is what I meant!!! He talks
to you about your problem and
told us how many Model 1's LB
used and was very kind!!! Rick
said it is a full time job trying to
keep all his Guitars in tune!Sky