Dave Eichenberger Seymour Duncan pickup demo: Alnico Pro II

[RickyRoro777]

Do these pickups take super low notes well? Or does it get muddy?

[Mincer]

@RickyRoro777 For lower tunings below Eb, you might want something with a little higher end. I always play in standard, so they work great for me.

[ROckFnRollDude]

Thank you for not playing Night Train by GNR.

[peteq1972]

Slash pickups. Rock n' Roll \m/

[SteveAlysis]

@Mincer ahhh! everything I want in a bridge pickup. How'd you go about doing it?

[Mincer]

@SteveAlysis You have to carefully disassemble the pickup, and have a replacement magnet handy. I used this guide to do it: Just google 'pickup magnet swap' and there are a few tutorials out there.

[SteveAlysis]

Thanks for the vid man... very similar style of music to myself, it nails that ambient and jazzy tone perfectly. You just helped me decide on an alnico ii pro. How's it pair up with the jb?

[Mincer]

@SteveAlysis Actually, I never really liked a stock JB, but I changed the magnet in the JB to an Alnico Pro II and I like it a lot better. It doesn't have the spikey highs, or the sound associated with 80s hair metal anymore...more round and middy, more like Allan Holdsworth.

[TVRobot1]

I suppose it'd be very unlikely that I could get a similar tone out of some Bare Knuckle P90s correct? This is probably a really stupid question but whatever.

[Mincer]

@TVRobot1 Actually I am not sure- never tried them.

[TVRobot1]

@Mincer

Alright then. Thanks anyway; most people will just ignore noobish questions like that. I appreciate the response.

[americanidiotkid08]

nice video i was wondering if these would work if i where to put them in a epiphone les paul custom any thoughts?

[Mincer]

@americanidiotkid08 I only have experience with the Alnico Pro II neck pickup. But listen to Slash if you want to hear how this sounds in a Les Paul. More smooth, creamy, and delicious than a stock Epi neck pickup. However, not something to use if you need lots of aggression, distortion, or crunch.

[americanidiotkid08]

@Mincer thanks for the help i play jazz to metal so they dont seem like what i need thanks again

[MegaRiff77]

Nice. So did you order it that was or did you swap out the magnets?

[Mincer]

@MegaRiff77 Swapped em out myself. Makes the JB usable for me. 

[MegaRiff77]

Man.....I love it. Would you mind telling me which pickup you have in the bridge?

[Mincer]

@MegaRiff77 In the bridge (which I don't use in this video) is a Duncan JB with an Alinco 2 magnet. I don't like the harshness of a regular JB, and was going for more of a reedy/middy bridge sound.

[livio1396]

hey man.. i have a 59 pickup on the neck of my guitar now, but i've been thinking of changing it for this one, based on the descriptions of seymour duncan's website, my guitar is an ibanez prestige rg1550, maple neck and on the bridge i have a duncan custom.. i'm basically looking for something tha will give like singing warm lead tones, as well as cool clean tones.. i play like EVERYTHING from blues to thrash metal lol.. so what do you think??

[Mincer]

@livio1396 The APHII is certainly warmer, but lower output than pickups used for things like thrash...as for a singing lead tone- yeah, it absolutely is the right pickup for that. It is a lot warmer for clean sounds too- but if you are playing heavy music you'd want to use the bridge pickup anyway. For styles that are dynamic, and to translate every little nuance of your playing though, the Alnico Pro II is probably the best in the SD line.

[livio1396]

@Mincer thank you very much for the response :D ... well yeah that's exactly what i was hoping to hear, and by watching your video and stuff, i was kind of thinking that same thing so i guess all left to do is go buy it haha thank you again man

[zundap100]

Awesome Mincer, awesome.

Thanks.

[JLa638]

Would this pick-up work well with very saturated distortion?

[Mincer]

@JLa638 Probably not. You don't get the articulate 'chunk' that would with, say, EMG pickups and a ton of distortion, like you'd get from a Triple Rectifier. The bass would probably be a bit flubby sounding.

[kingofkings1009]

thanks so much! i went on to youtube and looked up the tone of the custom and its exactly what im looking for im defiently getting the custom in the bridge for my metallica and the alnico2 pro in the neck for my guns roses thanks!

[kingofkings1009]

i play a lot of metallica but the blackouts are like death metal and i woulg get emgs but those have shitty clean tone. i also play guns n roses and hard rock so do u think judgeing by what i play is the alnico pro 2 pickups good for me?

[Mincer]

I agree with your opinion on EMGs. I thing what you might be looking for is an Alnico Pro II in the neck, and a Custom in the bridge.

[ferzurdo3guitar]

is there any difference between the alnico II pro and the alnico II pro 4 phase?

[Mincer]

nope...every AP2 currently made uses 4 conductor wiring.

[sherman614]

But is Alnico good for metal?

[Mincer]

My guess is it isn't as good as other choices out there. You might check into Duncan's Blackouts for better metal tone.

[homersimps1]

Awesome job. Great demo.

[TheMrKlaratu]

sounds ominous.

[kenan19]

nice sound

[Mincer]

The looper is a Oberheim Digital Echoplex Pro, and the guitar goes into a Boss GT-Pro (rack) first, then to a mixer. The aux send of the mixer goes to the Echoplex, then back to the mixer to mix with the original signal. It then all goes out to a full-range powered speaker (a JBL EON). Amp sims were used from the GT-Pro. Thanks for the kind words.

[Arktik83]

Lovely composition there man, along with the detailed commentary that explains exactly what you're doing and your impressions it's a great vid.

Just a few Q's:

What loop pedal are you using or are you using a computer software package?

Also what's your general setup, is it all computer based or do you have an amp and a rack?

Thanks!

[gixxer6000]

it sounds like in zelda ocarina of time in the Zora land :)

[checobmx]

is it the same pickup the one u use in the neck and the bridge?... i want to get slash pickups but it says he uses alnico pro 2 so is he using the same pickup for both places?

[Mincer]

I am not sure what Slash normally uses in the bridge. My bridge pickup is a JB, although I changed the magnet in the pickup to an Alnico II magnet.

[gixxer6000]

no therea are 2 variatons of this pickup one for NEck and one for Bridge

[Mincer]

Yes, I believe there is a neck and bridge version. I have never tried the bridge version, but Slash seems to do pretty well with it.

[guitarmen66]

this are the same pickups that slash use ?

nice playing btw

[Mincer]

yes, at least the neck pickup is, which is what you mostly hear. although I don't sound anything like him, that warm sound is still there.

[Mincer]

you can split them, or run them in parallel, but if you want them to have a coil tap, you have to custom order them that way.

[LordEricHobo]

can u coil tap these pickups

[mattstank]

SOUNDS FUCKING AMAZING!

[Mercury6]

I have a Brian Moore with the AP2 int he neck. Best neck pickup I have heard.

Whats the bridge pickup in your guitar?

[Mincer]

It is a Duncan JB that I swapped the magnet out of. I put an Alnico 2 magnet in it, which makes it sound a lot smoother.

[Mincer]

No amp at all. The magnetic pickups are plugged directly into the GT-Pro, which goes to a Mackie mixer, and then directly to the camera...so the sound you are hearing is the modeling preamp (GT-Pro) and the pickup.

[JLa638]

NICE!!!

Beautiful tone! WHAT AMP ARE YOU PLAYING THROUGH?

[JLa638]

HI! :)

Very,very elegant sound you have there! I realize that the tone comes from Alnico Pro 2, but what amp are yoy using. It sounds so...clear! Not muddy at all! Or is that how refined the pickups sound is?

[kvltaholic]

very beautiful man. sort of like sir robert fripp.

[xGeminiQx]

Incredible, I love that jazz sound. I had no idea you could do this with Alnico Pro II.

[ruffles272]

thats what slash uses

[Mincer]

Set the mix of the reverb to 100% on the GT-Pro, and set the 'direct mix' to 0%...thanks!

[hideyourface]

How'd you remove the direct signal?

Sounds great, btw.

[Jaytee1o4]

outstanding

[DrivenMind]

Sounds awesome man.

[Mincer]

Yes, but as you can hear, it doesn't sound much like Slash when I use it. I think it tends to translate a lot of the 'player' into the sound, moreso than higher output pickups which tend to sound similar no matter who is playing.

[guitarguy219]

isn't this the pickup that slash uses in his lps?

[nickwellings]

Gorgeous playing, very ambient, and very beautiful! The pickup sounds great, as you commented. When you started playing lead, I was blown away!

[antigravityxl]

sounds like satriani

[GilbertusesanIbanez]

I think its sounds more like Jason Becker then it does Satch but thats just my opinion.

[mecca421]

so tell us how you process the signal, write me and tell me

[Mincer]

The guitar goes into the Boss GT-Pro, and I have lots of custom patches I created. There is always a lot of delay, and sometimes a long reverb with no dry signal. These go into a Mackie mixer, and gets looped by an Echoplex Digital Pro. I can change the sound with a midi pedal as well. But all of the processing comes from the Boss GT-Pro.

[nicholasbang]

whats pickups for?Can i still play a guitar without neck and mid pickup?

[Mincer]

This is a demo for the neck pickup. You can use a guitar with just a bridge pickup, but you won't get this sound. :)

[gtrjoe68]

You make me sick. I have to go home and practice now. great vid.