I'm stuck: I recently acquired a Road Worn Tele in trade for some work I did on a client's amps. I've been really into the whole "relic" thing, even more with the R. Worns since the wear is exactly the same from one to another. But whether it's because the thin finish allowed the wood to dry much faster or the wood they used was, when it comes to the primary tone of this Tele (basically the tone the guitar produces itself: body, neck, fretboard,bridge,. Etc/not due to the electronics) this is hands down one of the best I've heard, and I've worked on hundreds of guitars over the years. So I've decided to route out the neck pickup cavity to fit a humbucker, and I just can't decide what to use. I've never heard or played any of these El Rayos, but I have a Strat with a Blackface/Blonde/Strat Special setup, and I love them. Originally I was planning on putting a Fralin Unbucker in the neck and a Blues special singlecoil in the bridge. I've used the Unbucker in other guitars for other people, and had one in the neck of a 335 I used to have. Then I was thinking of just getting an Imperial low wind with a 7K wind, and put in a partial tap with it, so when I tap it it only removes 30-40% of a coil. Then I kind of changed my mind to go with the Bluesbucker. THEN, a few weeks ago I put a Filtertron/TV Jones type in a customer's Tele and thought it worked great since the humbucker had like a 4k wind. So I went to check out the Lollar versions of them, and saw this El Rayo. I tend to not use what I hear in a UA-cam clip to figure out how it's going to sound, for a number of reasons. There aren't nearly as many videos demoing them in the neck positions of Teles as I thought there'd be, and most of those have them in both positions so I can't hear the difference when they switch between the neck and bridge. Anyone have experience with these compared to any of the other ones I mentioned? I'm strictly inquiring about these and/or the others.. I'm sure there are a lot of people who have them and think they are the best pickups they've ever heard, but that won't help me with what I'm interested in finding out
Lollar rocks, I have an excellent set of Blackfaces. Give us a sound clip of these new humbuggies! And yes, Seattle looks like it's going to rain any minute now., :)
Nice analogies for people like me. You could have easily gone over my head, but you didn't, that's cool. The only pickups I have listened closely to are the standard pickups in my Les Paul. i like to rock with my bridge pickup, but I also like a boosted clean sound with a little bit of bite for playing some blues with my neck pickup. Do you think I would be pleasantly surprised with a different set of pickups?
This was educational and interesting. Do you happen to have a (or know of) a quality sound demo of these pups? I can only find one fellow who has put them in a Les Paul but the sound was not great. Also, how do you think these would work in a lap steel? Is there enough output and clarity?
Maybe the kind folks at Lollar can explain this to me. I took my Grosh Retro classic over to a friend of mine who owns a 1964 Strat. We compared guitars. The 64 sounded louder and clearer than my Grosh which has Blues Specials in it. I would think the Blues specials would have have been louder but no. What would be the reason?
Unfortunately we can't really answer this questions. At least not in a way that will offer you any sort of definitive reason. Because, without having the actual pickups from the two instruments in hand, we can't do much more than speculate the build specs and strength of the magnetic charge in the different pickups' pole pieces. The simple answer (though not likely to satisfy your curiosity) is that different pickups sound different; different instruments sound different; and the differences in these variables can result in different output levels from the various combinations of pickups and instruments.
I've been thinking about how a Jazz Bass pickup had sounded fully wound with PE 41 awg wire, wondering how many turns 41awg PE you can fit on a Jazz Bass bridge bobbin? I want more clarity while maintaining the strength of the output! have you tried it ?
I like the general idea but in the sound clips I've heard they seem a little tight and hard for me, would an A2 swap soften that up a bit and still sound good? I tend to prefer A2 in most my PAF style pickups anyway.
It's not intended to sound like a PAF style pickup. We experimented with different magnets when designing the El Rayo, and landed on the A8 for bridge and A5 in the neck because they delivered the sound we wanted with the design. The wire gauge and coil composition are totally different than a PAF style pickup, so changing the magnets to A2 wouldn't necessarily have the same effect that you're used to. Our Imperial humbuckers are based on the general PAF style design, the Low Wind and standard have A2 in the neck and A5 in the bridge. The High Winds have A2 in both positions.
kckrye, most of our customers understand that the price reflects the cost of top quality parts and living wages for skilled American labor. As the saying goes, “Good work isn't cheap and cheap work isn’t good.”
Got one today, neck position. Unreal
great clip, explains it well, sounds like a wonderful addition to what's out there, unique and musical :)
Really thinking about putting the Humbucker sized P90 in my SG. Ive heared great things about Lollar pickups.
I assume this will play nicely with your Single-coil for Humbucker Pickup. I was wanting the El Rayo for the bridge and the other for the neck.
I'm stuck: I recently acquired a Road Worn Tele in trade for some work I did on a client's amps. I've been really into the whole "relic" thing, even more with the R. Worns since the wear is exactly the same from one to another. But whether it's because the thin finish allowed the wood to dry much faster or the wood they used was, when it comes to the primary tone of this Tele (basically the tone the guitar produces itself: body, neck, fretboard,bridge,. Etc/not due to the electronics) this is hands down one of the best I've heard, and I've worked on hundreds of guitars over the years.
So I've decided to route out the neck pickup cavity to fit a humbucker, and I just can't decide what to use. I've never heard or played any of these El Rayos, but I have a Strat with a Blackface/Blonde/Strat Special setup, and I love them. Originally I was planning on putting a Fralin Unbucker in the neck and a Blues special singlecoil in the bridge. I've used the Unbucker in other guitars for other people, and had one in the neck of a 335 I used to have. Then I was thinking of just getting an Imperial low wind with a 7K wind, and put in a partial tap with it, so when I tap it it only removes 30-40% of a coil. Then I kind of changed my mind to go with the Bluesbucker. THEN, a few weeks ago I put a Filtertron/TV Jones type in a customer's Tele and thought it worked great since the humbucker had like a 4k wind.
So I went to check out the Lollar versions of them, and saw this El Rayo. I tend to not use what I hear in a UA-cam clip to figure out how it's going to sound, for a number of reasons. There aren't nearly as many videos demoing them in the neck positions of Teles as I thought there'd be, and most of those have them in both positions so I can't hear the difference when they switch between the neck and bridge.
Anyone have experience with these compared to any of the other ones I mentioned? I'm strictly inquiring about these and/or the others.. I'm sure there are a lot of people who have them and think they are the best pickups they've ever heard, but that won't help me with what I'm interested in finding out
A8! I had no idea there were so many Alnico formulations!
Lollar rocks, I have an excellent set of Blackfaces. Give us a sound clip of these new humbuggies! And yes, Seattle looks like it's going to rain any minute now., :)
Nice analogies for people like me. You could have easily gone over my head, but you didn't, that's cool.
The only pickups I have listened closely to are the standard pickups in my Les Paul. i like to rock with my bridge pickup, but I also like a boosted clean sound with a little bit of bite for playing some blues with my neck pickup. Do you think I would be pleasantly surprised with a different set of pickups?
This was educational and interesting. Do you happen to have a (or know of) a quality sound demo of these pups? I can only find one fellow who has put them in a Les Paul but the sound was not great.
Also, how do you think these would work in a lap steel? Is there enough output and clarity?
Maybe the kind folks at Lollar can explain this to me. I took my Grosh Retro classic over to a friend of mine who owns a 1964 Strat. We compared guitars. The 64 sounded louder and clearer than my Grosh which has Blues Specials in it. I would think the Blues specials would have have been louder but no. What would be the reason?
Unfortunately we can't really answer this questions. At least not in a way that will offer you any sort of definitive reason.
Because, without having the actual pickups from the two instruments in hand, we can't do much more than speculate the build specs and strength of the magnetic charge in the different pickups' pole pieces.
The simple answer (though not likely to satisfy your curiosity) is that different pickups sound different; different instruments sound different; and the differences in these variables can result in different output levels from the various combinations of pickups and instruments.
Hello. Wire gauge 41 awg or 40 awg?
@LollarGuitars Great thanks! Also, how do you think these would work in a lap steel? Is there enough output and clarity?
I've been thinking about how a Jazz Bass pickup had sounded fully wound with PE 41 awg wire, wondering how many turns 41awg PE you can fit on a Jazz Bass bridge bobbin? I want more clarity while maintaining the strength of the output!
have you tried it ?
I like the general idea but in the sound clips I've heard they seem a little tight and hard for me, would an A2 swap soften that up a bit and still sound good? I tend to prefer A2 in most my PAF style pickups anyway.
It's not intended to sound like a PAF style pickup. We experimented with different magnets when designing the El Rayo, and landed on the A8 for bridge and A5 in the neck because they delivered the sound we wanted with the design. The wire gauge and coil composition are totally different than a PAF style pickup, so changing the magnets to A2 wouldn't necessarily have the same effect that you're used to.
Our Imperial humbuckers are based on the general PAF style design, the Low Wind and standard have A2 in the neck and A5 in the bridge. The High Winds have A2 in both positions.
@@LollarPickups - Wow thank you for the quick reply.
Must be 40 awg wire !
$175 per pup. OUCH!
kckrye, most of our customers understand that the price reflects the cost of top quality parts and living wages for skilled American labor. As the saying goes, “Good work isn't cheap and cheap work isn’t good.”