Junior Jr III Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 Is there a big difference between probuckers and alnico classics? I'm looking at an LP standard or an LP custom. Both guitars are TV Silver editions and I'd like to know if the Custom is really worth more for the cosmetic differences and these pickups. I can see the headstock and fancier binding but don't know about the different pickups. Is one 'hotter' than the other? I've read that LP himself liked lower impedance pickups. Does that mean 'less hot'? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elias Graves Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 Not even close. Did I say they're not even close? Because they're not even close. The old Alnico classics are perhaps my least favorite of any humbucker I've ever played. The Probuckers are among the 10 best. They're pretty badass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junior Jr III Posted August 4, 2015 Author Share Posted August 4, 2015 How are they different? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elias Graves Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 Impedance has nothing to do with how hot it is. It's a whole different thing that never really caught on with electric guitars. Microphones, acoustic preamps and such are low impedance devices. Magnetic pickups are high impedance. Â The probucker bridge pickup is hotter than the neck pickup. Back on the day, humbuckers were humbuckers and they were all more or less the same. With even powered pickups, you get more volume from the neck pickup because it's reading a wider string arc. By making the bridge pickup more powerful, it helps to balance the output between the two. This way, if all the volume knobs are wide open, it should be a fairly consistent loudness from each pickup. Different tones but equal dB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elias Graves Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 How are they different? The specs and the build. The sound a pickup makes is affected by each component it is made from. For example, in 1963, I think, Gibson switched the wire they wound the coils with. Before, they used an enamel coated wire but switched to a poly coated wire in 63. From an electrical standpoint, the poly coated wire was an improvement. The poly coating was more durable and didn't get as brittle and susceptible to cracking the way the enamel did. The problem is, the poly coating changed the way the pickup sounds. It's the same with every component in a pickup. From the alloy the base plate is made from to how strongly the magnet is charged to dozens of other parameters. They all have an effect to one degree or another. The Probuckers are built mostly to the same specs as an original Gibson humbucker. Nickel silver baseplate, nickel silver covers, enamel coated wire, etc. The Alnico Classic uses brass base plate and cover. These darken the sound considerably, contributing to missiles. By following the recipe more faithfully, the Probucker sounds like a humbucker should. Alnico Classics sound like the tone knob is always stuck on 3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junior Jr III Posted August 4, 2015 Author Share Posted August 4, 2015 Thanks. I've got a standard with the alnicos but I'll try out the probuckers and see what they do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elias Graves Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 Contributing to missiles? Lol. Contributing to mudiness. Dark tones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junior Jr III Posted August 4, 2015 Author Share Posted August 4, 2015 I was wondering about 'missiles'. That sounded intriguing. Ha! Will check them out. Thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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