DiMarzio Chopper / Pro Track / Celestion Gold / Splawn

[ArkAngelHFB]

man listen to that baby cry... nice playing dude and a great over all sound.

thanks for the demo think you just sold me on a chopper... I'll tell dimarzio to send you a check. XD

[zombielolocaust]

@ArkAngelHFB I'll take Larry's '59... Enjoy the Chopper, it's a fun pickup.

[ArkAngelHFB]

@zombielolocaust I'll have a Area 58 in the neck and the chopper in the middle with a push/push volume pot to switch between the two. XD

Also a three way toggle to get a mix of them and my Bare Knuckle Aftermath which is going in the bridge. XD

[nandip77]

what a f...in fat sound!!! i love it!

[GuitarAtoZ1]

Great Demo! I've heard that the Chopper can be very "Classic Strat" on cleans, yet it can really pack a punch when you turn up the gain. Did you find this was the case? Cheers. Nice playing too btw

[heinricks26]

..........um...........

[incompetentandfsmous]

@davidriggs1955

Done.

[incompetentandfsmous]

@davidriggs1955

It all began with a remark in the video regarding "olg guys with no gain" and how their videos were useless.

It was that, plus his reply to dickdog's comment that threw me over the edge.

I stand by my comment, that I learned little from this demo. Oh, and it IS possible to feel that way WITHOUT having any envy.

[ugforthewin]

Also,great playing and demo

[ugforthewin]

How do you think a chopper would go in the middle with a air norton S in the neck and a super distortion humbucker in the bridge?

[fanofthemusic1090]

You will all face judgment during the LOLOCAUST!

[GuardianOfFate12]

Hey, two questions. First, you tried swapping the positions (Pro Track in the neck, Chopper in the bridge)? Second, which do you think would give me more versatility as the middle pickup in between a Tone Zone and Evo neck?

Thanks

[zombielolocaust]

@GuardianOfFate12 Yeah, I started with the pickups swapped actually. The PT was extremely bassy/jazzy in the neck, overpowering; they sound much better this way round. The Chopper sounds terrific in both positions and is generally the more exciting pickup — I'd choose that for your middle.

[geoff1121]

Hey im thinking of fitting a pro track or chopper into my strat bridge position, which would you recommend? not into metal/shred, just wana beef up the bridge sound

[zombielolocaust]

@geoff1121 The Pro Track is very even and vanilla in the bridge, no weird tone curve, just a big, clear bridge sound like a sharpened PAF, and is probably best for what you're seeking. The Chopper brings a zany notched sound that is all its own, a very distinct flavor, sounds great to me but might not be what you need. PT is my vote.

[geoff1121]

@zombielolocaust thanks for the suggestion mate, ill try out the pro track

[CheezeFox]

@zombielolocaust In terms of sound, would you say the Pro Track is essentially a humbucker made to retrofit to a Strat, or does still retain that nice bright Single Coil tone?

[zombielolocaust]

@CheezeFox Afraid it doesn't have that single coil bite. Closer to a humbucker in both tone and output, though it is a *little* more edgy, probably due to its form and ceramic mag. Thanks for watching.

[10Plaguesofficial]

It feels like he's starring into my soul when he looks at the camera O.o

[GroovyGuitar02]

does the chopper retains some of the single coil clarity ?

[Bluplirst]

great vid, pretty much sold me on the Pro Track for my EBMM Silhouette.

[stoob1969]

i love the cutaways :o) Nice demo, I´m going for the Fast Track 2 for my bridge but sending chopper back to have original pups for the strat tone on the neck and bridge

[emwavemhz]

Thank you for the good demo. I have been told that the Eminence Alnico Red Coat Red Fang sounds like a vintage Celestion Gold. I was wondering if you or any one else had any opinions, input or experience with it? Thanks.

[gypsysunerainbow]

In my personal taste, I dislike very high gain. But god bless diversity.

[Lexothphia]

higher gain is subjective. I think his gain amount is about spot on .The output is a 260 chopper stacked bucker in the neck, one of the most articulate stacked buckers out there. Remember its a splawn not a engl ;) in gain. I prefer this tone to neo classical players like joe stump a mile off :)

[dickdog1]

Well this "old guy with no gain" has a Jackson Soloist with a high output.

Duncan Humbucker in the bridge that will eat your Chopper for breakfast.

I actually have a mahogany Strat loaded with a set of three Choppers too, but I use it for old guy stuff with no gain. I do wish I could shred like that but it aint my style.

[zombielolocaust]

I have offended you, sir. This was not my intention. Old guys with no gain are fine. They should not have their homes toilet papered or be shoved in line at the post office. I just can't tell much from their gear demos. Similarly, young guys with PODs.

[incompetentandfsmous]

@zombielolocaust

I also get nothing from demos of speed freaks who use the opportunity to show off rather than doing a proper demo. It's important to hear how notes release and decay, and how they blend in chords. Not to worry, you're still young and will only get wiser with age...

[zombielolocaust]

@incompetentandfsmous Sorry to offend. I think even we reprehensible sorts who enjoy the popsicle-in-the-spokes texture of each note rapidly following the last should be allowed to have gear demos on here though, no? It's not about showing off when one click will transport you to someone 100 times more accomplished. I just play what I like to hear. Don't get mad, just move on to the next demo.

[incompetentandfsmous]

@zombielolocaust

Your passive agressiveness is showing...

I was responding to your comment about old people with no gain and kids with PODS giving meaningless demos. I stand by my comment that bizillion notes per second demos are equally as meaningless. Forgive me for offending you, I forgot that criticism was soley your domain.

[zombielolocaust]

@incompetentandfsmous It's not meaningless to people who play my type of music. That's the point. I saw that gap and addressed it. So we've both identified what kinds of demos we don't like. What would you like to happen next?

[awesomejohnnet]

@incompetentandfsmous

I am 56 years old and I play speed hard rock and just loved this demo..

I respectfully disagree with what you are saying. I know what your saying about letting notes ring and open chords like the wonderful Greg V demos, but this is something different and appeals to a different audience.

Speed playing during a demo is a good way to show other speed players what the amp and pickups sound like at high speed. Even though I hear what your saying , but nothing wrong with chops.

[incompetentandfsmous]

@awesomejohnnet

I completely agree with you.

My comment was more in repsonse to the video owner, who said that old guys with no distortion give useless demos. That put me on the defense. He also has a condescending tone towards his comments that rubbed me the wrong way.

I'm glad you got something good from this demo, and I'm sure many others have as well.

[awesomejohnnet]

@incompetentandfsmous

And I completely agree with you too, the MTV jackass "yo dude" undertone of cynical jeer is rather annoying to us older guys, but now we know how our parents felt when we said "hey man". Its a different communication frequency thats sound offensive to us older guys. But dont get offended because its obvious that this young lad here has brain damage from the high volume so I wouldn't take it personally. :) But he does have some beautiful hand skills God bless em.

[Semach4444]

Vibrato is very Yngwie which is probably a compliment.

Nice

[Anborn1990]

u need a more warm tone and a little bit more dist.

[avalon1919]

o m g you ,like John Kusack...:)....good job man

[lsdman14]

nice dude, im not very intelligent about speakers and all. I have a crate vc50, 50 watts, 12 inch speaker. Would i be able to put in this speaker and what does ohm do? by the way my amp sounds good when its cranked up but it gets way too loud, how could i quiet that down with a different speaker

[CenturyStanding681]

Great video. The tone and playing is awesome.

What actual cabinet do you have the speakers loaded in? Is it open-back? It sounds really open and airy. Might just be from the room though.

[cornstar70]

I have an HSS jackson. Would you recommend choppers for middle and neck? Also, what dimarzio bridge humbucker would you recommend to compliment the 2 choppers (mid and neck). Maybe a super distortion or tone zone? I gotta get rid of these crappy "duncan design" pickups and make it a real shredder.

[zombielolocaust]

In the neck, definitely. I'd leave the middle stock, but I rarely use it. The ToneZone/Chopper combination works well for Ron Thal. I'd probably use something less shouty in the bridge though, a PAF Pro or Duncan '59. I bet a Rio Grande BBQ would be a good choice too.

[cornstar70]

thanks

[awesomejohnnet]

@cornstar70

Some of those Duncan design pickups sound great. See this video.

/watch?v=YExMI_gcolU

If you still what to change pups then go for 2 choppers in the neck and middle and the bridge try a Duncan JB1. "Good all around tone pickup" the tone zone is too big and mushy. Depending on the type of music you gravitate towards many bridge options out there. The bare knuckles Steve Stevens model bridge is a fantastic pick up as well...

[Jesuswins777]

How is the Pro Track compared to the HS3?

[zombielolocaust]

It's a great crunchy pickup, like a PAF with a harder (ceramic) edge. Lots louder than the HS3 though, LOTS, so I don't think it would balance too well in your Strat.

[Jesuswins777]

Thanks!

[peachy901]

Hey i live in England and i cnt find a splawn amp anywhere :s where did u get urs?

[zombielolocaust]

Well I live in America, that is a good first step. :P Splawn ships all over the world though, just be prepared to suck up that FedEx fee with some nice import duty on top for the queen. If you want to try one first, I hear Sounds Great Music in Manchester is beginning to stock a couple of Splawns.

[peachy901]

oh! soz the accent threw me :P

awesome! ill check them out :D

and btw ur Malmsteen signature strat, whats it like?

I love gibsons, have and engl amp, so would it suit me d u thnk?

[21fretsalute]

are you a scotsman?

[zombielolocaust]

Aye lad.

[21fretsalute]

cool

[yjmfan101]

sounds very smooth.

[cincyrocked]

Nice, nice chops bro

[Riffermann]

your clip here is why I'll be buying/trying a 1x12 Gold with my Hughes&Kettner 1x12 that has the G12H...thanks for posting this...hard to find Golds in a high gain setup

[zombielolocaust]

I'm glad this helped you out, that's what it's here for. Those two speakers really do mix well.

[Rambo29]

You've got some sick chops man

[GuitarCrazyManiac]

How does the Pro Track do with high gain/artificial harmonic stuff? Thanks!

[colab4life]

Man u just practially sold this pick-up 2me!! Thanks!!

[trex257]

Is that Strat a project guitar (like from Warmoth) with a reverse neck/headstock or an actual Fender strat with a new neck/headstock? Either way, it sounds great. I love the whole line of Dimarzio rail pickups. They really bring out the sweatness of single coil tone without the 60Hz noise and with a lot of balls.

[zombielolocaust]

Fender US body, Warmoth neck. Stainless steel frets. :)

Thanks for coming by.

[zyxwfish]

all sounds, great nice guitar.

[carlosdlguerra]

are the celestion gold really the BEST OF THE BEST speakers to ELETRIC GUITAR AMPS or are just the more published.

i would like to know your opinion and the opinion of someone that knows about this kind of things cause i just cant decid about what speakers should choose(and i dont understand about this at all:P)

[zombielolocaust]

Well there is no "best", we all have different taste. Someone might like a $60 WGS more than the Gold, it's all just preference! I'd read a lot of reviews and listen to clips, Carlos.

[xXPatriotVirusXx]

very nice video, you have excellent tone.

[EvoJackson]

Nice tone! I need to check out a splawn one of these days. Sounds really good.

[My1Legacy]

What pots are you playing those pickups on...250...500?

[zombielolocaust]

Just a single 500. The tone pot is not connected.

[JuicyOverdrive]

DO I SPY A BOOGIE BEHIND THAT CHAIR! You dirty devil!

[zombielolocaust]

As if! That's my previous amp, a made-in-Japan modeling combo with motorized knobs. It is now: a table.

[DSTaylor69]

Rock On Splawn Brother... Check my Vids...

[nakedlungfish]

Any problems with the Hella Tone and higher volumes? I was thinking of putting mine back in my 2x12. Great playing by the way!

[zombielolocaust]

I don't get to play very loud, but jeez, it's a G12H30 under the sticker, they used to handle Jimi's Marshalls at 10 just fine!

[DonaldDemon]

fucking tone! I love your vids dude. Splawn rocks!

[zombielolocaust]

Hey Don, thanks, nice to see you here. Splawn on bro! :D

[Danmerv2004]

Dude - Great playing - GREAT tone

I have this combination in my Strat.

I have the Chopper in the neck and it sounds really good. Although the Pro Track in the bridge sounds rather thin, and "tinny". I have a 500k pot in the volume control. It no way sounds as good as yours. Bare in mind I'm not near as good as a player as you - but I don't suck either. I am playing through a Mesa B Studio preamp in one set up. Another is my Soldano pre with the same results.

[zombielolocaust]

That is just plain strange. Have you checked the wiring on that? The reason my Pro Track ended up in the bridge is it was just too fat/tubby/warm/bassy in the neck, I hoped the bridge position would even it out, and it did. I can't see how it would ever sound thin/tinny! I guess check it's not wired parallel... or even out of phase? It should sound warm and crunchy. This guitar has a 500k vol like yours; the tone is disconnected.

[edovinus]

Great video! Cool sound/playing. One question though... I saw this in another one of your clips as well. What's it that you do when you place your picking hand on the fingerboard, behind your fretting hand? Aiding the bend? Adding vibrato? Just curious :)

[zombielolocaust]

I have poor right hand muting, and gradually fell into this habit of reaching over to stop the unplayed strings ringing out on sustained notes/big bends. Lately I've been working on proper muting (and trying to unlearn economy picking, which has been much harder.)

Thanks for watching, and the kind words. :)

[cincyrocked]

Tone to the bone

[samdubusc]

(shred shred shred) "Um..." (shred shred shred shred) lol

[rrguitar1]

NICE !! great tone there. I always wanted the QR but after hearing that the gain stage was exactly like the QR's but with no clean, I have decided on the Comp. Real nice tone you have there. Would you say the protrack is quivalent to a not double humbucker?> Cause I think a les paul would sound really nice through this !! you are one lucky guy to have this tone !!!

[Jesuswins777]

I just bought a Quick Rod and it is an amazing amp.

[rrguitar1]

lucky bastard lol !! thats really great to hear !! have fun with it, mine is comming soon.

[Jesuswins777]

You are going to love it. I previously owned a Mesa Dual Rectifier and a Marshall Jubilee head. They both sound like toys in comparison to the Splawn.

[someguy6481]

nice guitar, nice pickups (I use a Chopper in the neck as well, along with a Duncan Invader in the bridge) and awesome playing.

[PatL1001]

Great demo man and great playing. I've been considering those pickups for my strat but couldn't find any high gain demos so thanks alot.

[funkymonkz13]

how nice are the cleans on the competition

[zombielolocaust]

It has no clean channel. :D

If you roll your volume back on the guitar though, it cleans up surprisingly well, I guess because it's not over saturated.

[Jesuswins777]

Thanks for your videos, they have convinced me to buy a Splawn. Are you using the full power setting in this video? Splawn should send you a monthly check.

[zombielolocaust]

Ha! Well, that'd be nice wouldn't it? A few people have said I've helped them decide to go Splawn. That's thanks enough.

Full power mode in this video. You can hear the articulation. Come join the forum when you get your head!

[Jesuswins777]

Thanks again for your help and your videos. I will probably be too busy playing my new Splawn at first to type a word, but I am sure that I will join the Splawn forum eventually.

[PJBlandford]

Since I were a wee lad, well at least since I were 32, I've use the Choppers and love 'em. I don't use much gain though, I like Powertube distortion/saturation, else I'd be widdly widdly all over the shop like like a bad conversation. Thanks for the vid and the larf mate!!

-Paul

[zombielolocaust]

I'm sorry about the low gain thing, I am. It's more about my frustration finding clips that help me make informed decisions than disdain for low gainers. If I don't have gain none of my shit works. :'(

[PJBlandford]

zombielolocaust, I was just pullin' your chain. I know exactly what you mean. But for me it's a case of whether someone has balls or not, and some attitude in their playing... almost like they mean it... Great vid by the way...

-Paul

[094808064]

how do they sound clean?

[TheDistortionist]

That's a really good neoclassical setup. A little harsh at some points, but great nonetheless.

[JewDirte]

Firstly, thanks for taking the time to make a good demo vid. That's all too rare. I just bought a pro track for the neck of my Ibanez SA series. I was torn between that and the chopper, but the pro seemed to have a ballsier SRV kind of tone, and I was getting it for blues and classic rock. Just curious, but why did u set yours up the way you did? I would've thought you'd put the chopper at the bridge and the pro track at the neck.

[zombielolocaust]

That's exactly what I did - for the first week! I was expecting that open stratty tone like the DiMarzio web site sound clips, but the Pro Track in the neck was just way too fat and bassy. I mean a world of fat! It was huge. Probably works great for your application, but I needed something more tubular sounding and so swapped them over to the positions seen in the video hoping for the best. Worked out better for my style. Thanks for watching - let me know if you post a video of yours!

[JewDirte]

Lol, I may end up doing that. I'm sure I won't be satisfied til' I try it both ways, naturally. I'm new to the modding thing, so maybe u could give me a pointer. I really want my guitar to be as diverse as possible, so I got an Evo 2 for the bridge. Like i said, i was gonna put the pro in the neck for blues, and a chopper in the middle for a classic sort of ac/dc sound. Do you think the pro in the middle pup position could get a good classic rock sound like that?

[zombielolocaust]

Hey don't listen to me just because I wave a soldering iron around! AC/DC I don't know a lot about, but I've only ever seen Angus Young play an SG. I can't imagine you'll get a good approximation of a guitar that has no middle pickup by using a middle pickup yourself. I'd guess you'd want a vintage output PAF style humbucker, in the bridge position, for that territory.

[KataVideo]

nice playing, especially nice tone..

but seriously, "old guys with no gain"? with experience and taste, you don't always need 40 lbs of gain.. ;P

[zombielolocaust]

I wondered when you guys would get here. Is The Gear Page down? :-P

Seriously, I didn't mean low gain has no place, but rather that it's sometimes hard to find demos of certain products in a high gain setting, which happens to be where my passion lies. Quite frustrating.

No offense meant to aging lawyers playing dowdy-dowdy licks at the weekends on investment guitars. Oops.

[KataVideo]

"No offense meant to aging lawyers playing dowdy-dowdy licks at the weekends on investment guitars. "

hell, they NEED to be offended.

great tone.. celestion gold + hellatone

[JewDirte]

ended up throwing the pro track in the middle and put a sd hotrails bridge pickup in the neck. I'm still experimenting with it, but so far I've got some pretty interesting sounds from it, tho i definitely was on the wrong track when i was thinking ac/dc, like you said.

[LtEggman5]

No anonymity, no sale.

[zombielolocaust]

Egg, I haven't been anonymous for years, bruh. The magazines have my mugshot and they use it! That time you love, that golden era you're still trying to live in, it's over, man. That's bad news for you, but great new for me, because I'm beautiful. Now go fix me a sandwich.

[LtEggman5]

I was born too late! I didn't get my fill! Speaking of fill, what do you want?

[zombielolocaust]

Tuna salad, American cheese, red onion. Cheers pet.

[waylay00]

Nice video as usual! Awesome tone.

What software do you use to edit your videos and what codec do you use?

[zombielolocaust]

Thanks waylay - although you're making all us oldies look bad with your 9-year-old virtuosity. Stop that.

For the videos I just use iMovie HD to edit, encoding with H.264, teeny bit of sharpening. To get YouTube to offer the HQ version of this vid I uploaded it at 640x480, the others were all smaller.

[Riffermann]

Great demo, man. I seriously love the tone you are getting. It seems alot of kids are going for that dry, heavy, fat Slayer-like sound in a dropped Cb tuning with really too much gain..he,hee. I call what I sort of have and what you DO now have is that sweetly compressed midrange tone. Sort of like Reb Beach with a Splawn. I'm gonna look into these amps alot more after seeing this video...

[zombielolocaust]

It probably makes me sound old to rag on these folks, but to me it seems if you tune down to hell and suck all the tone out of the middle you're left with just texture. These kids are essentially playing percussion! It's certainly not about notes.

*retires to pipe and rocking chair*

[Riffermann]

Man, I'm right there with ya. Still love your midrange presence that soars with a crying-like sustain :) Btw, your accent is fantastic...Irish, Scottish maybe??  I'm 38 so I really am the old bastard here. Ever heard of Vito Bratta from White Lion? Such great solos and writing.

[redcustard]

Great demo and very very funny, makes me want a crunchy!