SMark Live - Hot Gold Lace Sensor Duallys - Strat Demo

[rodrigodallas]

Good shit man. Great tone and execution.

[Fere13]

First of all. you really nail that guitar and tone.

second. I am very interested in the hot gold dually series and I wanted to know if your is the hot gold dually or the hot bridge and if it's not the hot bridge, have you listened it? i'm having a hard time looking for demos

[bebenavole]

whats with all the people talking?

[marksmitchell]

@bebenavole It was a party and they had numerous other things all going on at the same time. For quite of few people there I'm sure I was nothing more than noise in the background.

[coochiebluz]

great playing. I have a US STrat Ultra with lace sensor PUPs - blue (neck), gold (middle) and dually red at bridge. I have never liked the sound of the dually red so I am considering changing for either dually gold or dually hot gold. your dually Hot Gold sounds great. what effects are you using??

[marksmitchell]

@coochiebluz Thanx. I'm not using much of anything for effects other than the amp reverb. The Fender box that my amp sits on is a Fender SFX Satellite, and while it is set for a slapback echo, I didn't have a mic on it so you really can't hear it in this recording. My guitar is straight into my amp. These Duallys really do sound amazing through my amp.

[hamsta246]

@coochiebluz i am curious to know about the red duelly pick up.... hot hot does it get??

[coochiebluz1]

@hamsta246 sorry what is the question?? the dually reds sounded very nasally to me, the dually hot gold sound much better.

[marksmitchell]

@hamsta246 Yeah, for my set-up the Red/Red Dually is over-the-top. It's almost a distortion class pickup. If you need to drive your amp hard, it's really good for that. The Hot Golds are more focused, and I really like that about them.

[dandslash]

Incredible dude, Incredible playing!! You got some gary moore stuff in you man :)

[marksmitchell]

@dandslash Thanx, much appreciated. I still can't believe Gary is gone. Not too surprising I guess that you can hear his influence in my playing. I will be forever playing his tunes...

[dandslash]

@marksmitchell No problem dude :) I was thinking of buying Lace Sensors in all positions but was a bit confused because there are the Fender Lace Sensors, and i found brandless lace sensors on ebay and didnt really know which are the best, I wanted to ask you if those are Fender Lace Pickups in your strat? They sound incredible man!

[marksmitchell]

@dandslash These say "Lace Sensor Hot Gold" on each one. Fender has (or had) a contract with Lace Music Products to make certain Lace Sensors for Fender guitars. So you will see some Red, Blue, Silver, and Gold Lace Sensors with the Fender name on them. But Lace themselves sell those plus a lot of other Lace Sensors as well without the Fender name on them. These here that I am using are not available through Fender, so you get them from Lace or from any Lace Dealer. Hot Golds are fantastic...

[MALAM777]

Very nice playing!

[bulenterdem1977]

a strat with mahogany body sounds really fatter than an alder body, and with humbuckers it sounds close to a les paul, do you agree?

is it african mahogany or honduras mahogany?

i also have a warmoth project in my mind with mahogany body, maple neck, rosewood fingerboard, two humbuckers and a fixed bridge.

[marksmitchell]

@bulenterdem1977 I have no idea what kind of mahogany it is. I only know that the body came from an Asian Strat copy that was stripped of its original finish. I just gave it a few coats of tung oil and left it like that. I do have another mahogany Strat body that was made by Warmoth and I loaded it with humbuckers as well. It's not totally over into the LP camp but the tone moves it in that direction. I like mahogany for a Strat body.

[bulenterdem1977]

@marksmitchell natural finishes always look and sound better to me. i would like to hear your warmoth too, if you have uploaded a demo.

[marksmitchell]

@bulenterdem1977 Just go to my YouTube Channel page and the video that loads automatically is my Gary Moore Dedication video, and the Strat I use for that tune is the one with my mahogany Warmoth Strat body.

[blackmorejimi]

I can hear that they are hot but do they got that vintage texture?

[marksmitchell]

Hot Gold Duallys have their own magic working for them. They give you more top-end than vintage humbuckers, but it never gets brittle. And the midrange texture is a little further up the frequency curve as well compared to vintage. So they really do have their very own tone footprint. And I'm digging it...

[Cargath]

wow, awesome playing!

I really like the sound of these pickups, they got a nice... sparkle you rarely get with humbuckers. I wonder how they would sound in a Les Paul. Seems like no one ever tried this (and lived to tell stories about it ^^), but somehow i think that razor sharp cutting tone might balance nicely with that of a fat and bassy LP. Any thoughts?

[marksmitchell]

Yeah, I actually have done that. I had a Les Paul Custom a few years ago that I loaded with Hot Gold Duallys. Though I did use the fatter 26k Dually for the bridge pickup. They gave that LP more cut than I've ever had in a LP. I traded it away unfortunately because I was only playing my Strats and it just sat around looking pretty on its stand. But I really liked the tone with the Hot Golds. These Duallys are amazing pickups and really helped me zero-in on the tones I wanted to hear.

Thanx!

[Crowtch]

Fender Amps plus lace sensor is awesome..

[Asteroidsking]

damm! you look like your one of those bankers that crashed our economy that everybody hates but you ROCK!!!

[georgesorosisgay1]

@Asteroidsking lol

[RaNDoMx160]

Are the lace sensor humbuckers F spaced?

I have a HSS strat, will they fit in the bridge without any body modifications?

[marksmitchell]

Yes to both questions. Lace Sensors have a design that functions almost like a blade design with no dead spots across a wide sensor area. I have also installed Lace Sensor Duallys into many HSS Strat bodies with good results every time.

[UncleTito72]

I love it how the camera vibrates along with what you are playing. Even the camera is feeling it!

[marksmitchell]

Yeah, I'm not really sure what I was thinking when I mounted that camera on top of my monitor...

[UncleTito72]

@marksmitchell Nah man, I think it's the coolest thing! Plus the playing it's top notch, too. I've been to your website numerous times, not making the connection that this is you, the Bender Scallopcaster guy. Some really nice instruments.

[marksmitchell]

Thanx. Yeah, I probably should do a website update and link to more of my videos here. It's kind of hard to see my "Bender Scallopcaster" headstock decal on the video.

[blackmorejimi]

are you using the HotGold Dually neck(6k) for both positions?  I believe the Hot Gold Dually for bridge position has 13k

awesomw playing

Keep playing with serious face and you can be called Marks Blackmore

ehehehehe

[marksmitchell]

LOL. Ritchie is probably about as hardcore as they come...

Yeah, this Strat uses two 6k Duallys. I do have another Strat that has a 13k bridge Dually, 6k middle single, and 6k neck Dually. You can see it on my website. Go to my YouTube channel page and there will be a link to my website listed in my profile. When you get there, click on "Bender Scallopcaster #1" to see all the details. Those particular Hot Gold Lace Sensors loaded in that Strat are the original Lace prototypes from 2001.

[FendCore]

Awesome playing, bravo !

[MrFenderkev]

I've been reading a lot of your posts on the Fender forum. First rate demo by the way. I'm a big Lace fan myself although 3 Gold singles are my favourite. Do you post on Strat Talk at all. I'm a member there. Great playing on this video too, and I agree about the noisy audience, but as long as you got paid....lol.

[marksmitchell]

@MrFenderkev

Thanx. I've only recently heard of the Strat-Talk forum. I'll check it out.

[adagio170]

You look like a tax attorney but dang that's great playing. You need a better audience.

[marksmitchell]

Actually, I'm a retired accountant. I'm not so sure I could get away with growing my hair long again...

[TORONTOVETZ]

A great guy with excellent skills and soulfull guitar! A great pleasure to watch!!!

Agree with previous comments, you'd deserve some cheering from audience.

Would like to know your amp setup though if you don't mind. I have Laces on mine American 89 and even with Egnater amp I hate its sound... Surprised to hear decend sound from Laces. Really!

[marksmitchell]

Thanx for the kind words. You can see my amp behind me there. It's a 1982 Fender Concert with the Dan Torres mods. I also changed the speaker to a 12" alnico Weber California. I've also played this Strat through an Egnater at a jam and it sounded great. I'm pretty sure videos of that jam are still posted on YouTube...

[phoenixybr]

Very beautifull playing with alot of feeling behind it. Bravo!!

[azkeyz]

Swank it pop.

[donottawaguitar]

awsome vibrato my finger would snap so i use the lazy mans bar

[eyeheartkate]

what the hell is this? Where are you at that people are tying to chat with you while you play and what the fuck is going on that after some playing like that there is no applause or verbal indication of gratuity? WTF?!?

[marksmitchell]

This was a private party, and there were other activities going on while I was playing. Overall they treated very well.

[adil2552]

Love that strat!

I think building my own is the only option I have, I'm extremely fussy:-P

[marksmitchell]

Yeah, exactly. I want to pick and choose every detail on my Strats now. Companies like Warmoth make it very easy for fussy dudes like us...

[adil2552]

@marksmitchell

I absolutely love that color, is it just the natural mahogany with a clear finish?

Also, how to you find the mahogany body compared to traditional alder Strats?

[marksmitchell]

Yep. I don't know what the original finish was, but the previous owner stripped it and sanded it, then used it raw. When I got it (via eBay) I sanded it a bit more to clean it off and then put 6 or so coats of Formby's Tung Oil Finsh on it. It looks good, feels good, and sounds great. The tone is very smooth and not a lot different from alder really. My alder bodies tend to have a bit more bite in their tone. Mahogany sounds good with a Strat. I'll do it again if I can...

[adil2552]

Again, thanks for the helpful advice. You've inspired me to order a custom Warmoth! I'm looking forward to choosing all the components, and assembling it of course:-)

[abergreg]

buy a protone squier and get someone to install the gilmore mod for you. $250 all up and a world beater.

[alxgvr]

Do you use TBX tone control?

[marksmitchell]

Not in this particular Strat, but I do use the TBX with some of my other Lace Sensor pickguard assemblies.

[alxgvr]

amazing!

are there 250k pots?

[marksmitchell]

I have a 500k volume pot and a 250k tone pot in this Strat.

[SPFANSOMA]

Quite talented playing! i'm thinking of investing in a set of these

[marksmitchell]

Thanx. I got my first set of these back in February 2002, and since then I have installed 5 different sets of them into my Strats. I have more Hot Golds than any other pickup. They sound fantastic in every guitar I put them in. Get yourself a set and enjoy the tone...

[prodigy179]

Thats an amazing tone. Your playing is awesome. Great Job.

[billvilla]

Great playing. I like the agressiveness on the attack. Some parts remind me of Roben Ford. Loved it.

[dekedude]

Superb guitar playing.. I love it..

[NCondo]

Wow -hear what the Hot Golds can do! Great to see what the famous SMark looks like too. Thanks

[marksmitchell]

I hope you weren't expecting to see a lot of long hair too...

:o)

[fredericiscool]

Hey can I ask how you keep your Strat in tune when bending and using the whammy bar?

Do you set up your Bridge ina particular way?

Thanks. :)

[marksmitchell]

Nothing really special. I do tend to prefer locking tuners & have them on nearly all my Strats. If I can avoid string trees I will. If not, then I typically use graphite trees. The nuts I use are either Tusq or LSR Roller Nuts. I do float the bridge, so really, most of keeping the guitar in tune comes down to listening & technique. I don't often dive bomb, so most of my tuning problems are with the G-string going sharp. I just make sure I quickly bend it back in tune. But I do go out of tune...

[zenradio]

Wow man, nice playing. but what a lame unappreciative crowd...

[marksmitchell]

Thanx. It was just a small private party and they had a few activities going on in the background. For the most part they were pretty good to me. I expect I'll be back for next year's party.

[chymist66]

Great playing and great tone!

Is this a custom Fender with the mahogany body?

[marksmitchell]

Thanx. This is, by all definitions, a Partscaster. The body came from some sort of Asian made super-Strat. It had a side jack that was plugged and the Strat jack cup was added. I also had to do some major fitting mods at the neck pocket to fit the neck. But the mahogany has a nice smooth tone. The neck itself is a scalloped maple/rosewood Warmoth Pro. The only thing Fender is the bridge. The pickguard assembly is from Lace, though I did replace the Hot 13k/13k bridge Dually with a 6k/6k Dually.

[turtleboyattacks]

i have a mim fat strat and i wana swap 69' reissues into the neck and mid(for a good bluesy tone) but im looking for a complementary humbucker for the bridge, do these hot golds do the"little wing" blues tone well? they have an excellent jazzy sound, also why did you replace the 13k and what kind of sound did it excell at. ps thanks for posting this video this is really helpful to anyone looking into these

[marksmitchell]

The 6k Hot Gold can be dialed-in to sound much like a vintage blues pickup tone. Lace recently introduced the Emerald Lace Sensor which is actually a slighty better blues pickup. I do like the 13k Dually and have one installed in another Strat, but the 6k Dually is just an amazing bridge pickup in its own right. It has a perfect balance of highs, mids and lows and can really sing. The 13k Dually has some monster mids. Check out my website linked on my YT channel page for pics and mp3 recordings