Sorry for the delay in reply, I wanted to be sure that the project was already underway before I let the cat out of the bag... We're working on a more comprehensive humbucker comparison video in the style of the ones that we've recently done for our various P-90, Strat and Tele models. The video will feature all of our standard humbucker-sized pickups, including the obvious Imperial as well as the Lollartron HB-sized option. So, you'll be able to make comparisons between the two, in addition to all of our other PAF-sized humbucker pickups. We've been planning this one for about a year now, but with so many different models to cover, it had to be pushed to the back burner to accommodate making other videos in the meantime. Now we've finally begun the pre-production, so it should be released in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!
In the photos the dBs look pretty far from the strings compared to others. Do you also recommend 1/8” with the dBs? Looks like closer to 1/4” in the photos. I have two on order, making their way from Tacoma as we speak!
For our humbuckers, the general rule that we actually suggest is that you start with the pickup as close to the strings as possible (without interfering with the strings' vibration) and adjust to personal preference. Every player will like it a little different and it will change, from one pickup to another, as they all have different output, as well as frequency and dynamic response. My guess is that, when Jeff was setting the pickup heights, he just adjusted the dB differently due to its hotter output and based on his own personal opinion of what sounded best to his ears with those pickups in that particular guitar. I wish I had a "set in stone" rule, but the best judge of what sounds best in your guitar will always be your own ears. Hope this is helpful.
I wonder if the 1meg pot would clear up the clean tone. I am not sure, but I would bet this is with a 500 pot. I think the 1 meg maybe be the solution to get more range out of the clean tone. Great pickups
You're correct, this was done with a 500k pot and, yes, a 1M pot definitely clears up the clean sound and makes it more touch-sensitive and articulate. The top end is brighter, cleaner, and less compressed with a 1M pot. 500k pots are good on dB pickups for players who want a nice, warm, round, and thick tone -- more inline with heavier genres like doom, sludge, or stoner metal. For faster styles where more note separation and attack are required, the 1M goes a long way to add air and dynamics to the sound.
We didn't shoot this video, it was made by our friend Jeff over at Jeff Senn Guitars. So, unfortunately, we can't say for sure what value he used. For reference, the dB pickups will work just fine with either 500k or 1M. 1M pots will offer a bit more clarity and depth/dimension to the sound with wider frequency and dynamic responses. This makes it more flexible and thus more versatile. This is good for many different styles and covers more bases than when used with 500k. This is why we suggest 1M -- not necessarily becoause it's "better", but because it's most likely to be good for the broadest of uses. 500k pots will reduce some of the top end overtones and harmonic frequencies, making it sound more mid-forward. This makes them sound thicker and darker, overall, just a bit fatter, more compressed tone. This is good for styles that require less articulation and not as much individual note separation, such as doom, sludge, stoner rock/metal, and even some jazz styles. If one is trying to zero in on this sort of sound, the 500k is probably actually a bit better for their needs. I've got a pair of dBs in a Les Paul with 500k pots and I've never really felt like it was lacking much at all. But I know they'd offer more in the way of articulation and dynamics if I switched to 1m. I hope this helps.
this saturday that passed i got the lollar imperial pickup( neck) with a gibson 57 + classic (bridge) from a friend for free i don’t know anything about the lollar imperial pickups i know of them they sound good so far i’m goin to put them in my prs se custom 24 thank you for the awesome video
All sounds great & would make for a very tough choice. BUT,,, on both of them the bridge pick ups sounds absolutely wonderful in the clean mode. Very similar & Far warmer than most bridge P.U.'s. I almost always feel a need to back the treble off a bit on the bridge. Not the case here.
Not sure about. Staff etc , but I got the lollar hot vintage singles and they are ridiculous. But I paid 225 for the US strat with loaded dollars , lov'em
It's not a direct replacement, as these are all standard humbucker sized pickups, so they're a bit smaller. But they will fit; you just need to get a replacement pickguard with a standard size humbucker rout.
Thanks! Here's what JeffSennGuitars had to say (Jeff made this video for us): "The same Les Paul was used for all sound clips, through a Quilter 101 Mini Head using a WGS G12C speaker captured to Protools, No added EQ using a Nady RSM-5 Ribbon Microphone. Overdrive is from the amplifier"
Kirk Mulder I was thinking the same thing!I have only bought Benson’s or Tone Garden (Neil Smith’s custom wounds) “New” Fralins or Lollars I find used.
A comparison between the three Imperials would be..Imperial!
They all sound delightful, if I could pick only one, DB just had a presence that had my ears intoxicated with sparkling joy
(Clean) Imperial- 0:19
(Dirty) Imperial- 5:05
(Clean) El Rayo- 1:45
(Dirty) El Rayo- 6:40
(Clean) DB- 3:26
(Dirty) DB- 8:17
This is useful to people like me who can't regconize their pickups by the look! thankg you!!!
El Rayo bridge & Imperial neck were the 2 most pleasing sounds.
INTERESTING... Glad that I'm not the ONLY ONE that recognized that!
Ugh they all sound incredible
Lollartron vs Imperials next.
Great Video btw.
Sorry for the delay in reply, I wanted to be sure that the project was already underway before I let the cat out of the bag...
We're working on a more comprehensive humbucker comparison video in the style of the ones that we've recently done for our various P-90, Strat and Tele models. The video will feature all of our standard humbucker-sized pickups, including the obvious Imperial as well as the Lollartron HB-sized option. So, you'll be able to make comparisons between the two, in addition to all of our other PAF-sized humbucker pickups.
We've been planning this one for about a year now, but with so many different models to cover, it had to be pushed to the back burner to accommodate making other videos in the meantime. Now we've finally begun the pre-production, so it should be released in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!
Lollar you truly rock..
Thanks!
In the photos the dBs look pretty far from the strings compared to others. Do you also recommend 1/8” with the dBs? Looks like closer to 1/4” in the photos. I have two on order, making their way from Tacoma as we speak!
For our humbuckers, the general rule that we actually suggest is that you start with the pickup as close to the strings as possible (without interfering with the strings' vibration) and adjust to personal preference. Every player will like it a little different and it will change, from one pickup to another, as they all have different output, as well as frequency and dynamic response. My guess is that, when Jeff was setting the pickup heights, he just adjusted the dB differently due to its hotter output and based on his own personal opinion of what sounded best to his ears with those pickups in that particular guitar. I wish I had a "set in stone" rule, but the best judge of what sounds best in your guitar will always be your own ears. Hope this is helpful.
The DB's sound the thickest with OD, I am not a fan of their clean tone. The other two are similar to each other, totally different than the DB's
I wonder if the 1meg pot would clear up the clean tone. I am not sure, but I would bet this is with a 500 pot. I think the 1 meg maybe be the solution to get more range out of the clean tone. Great pickups
You're correct, this was done with a 500k pot and, yes, a 1M pot definitely clears up the clean sound and makes it more touch-sensitive and articulate. The top end is brighter, cleaner, and less compressed with a 1M pot. 500k pots are good on dB pickups for players who want a nice, warm, round, and thick tone -- more inline with heavier genres like doom, sludge, or stoner metal. For faster styles where more note separation and attack are required, the 1M goes a long way to add air and dynamics to the sound.
Your website suggests 1 Meg pots for the db. Did you use them in this demo, or leave the 500k pots that were already in the guitar?
We didn't shoot this video, it was made by our friend Jeff over at Jeff Senn Guitars. So, unfortunately, we can't say for sure what value he used.
For reference, the dB pickups will work just fine with either 500k or 1M. 1M pots will offer a bit more clarity and depth/dimension to the sound with wider frequency and dynamic responses. This makes it more flexible and thus more versatile. This is good for many different styles and covers more bases than when used with 500k. This is why we suggest 1M -- not necessarily becoause it's "better", but because it's most likely to be good for the broadest of uses.
500k pots will reduce some of the top end overtones and harmonic frequencies, making it sound more mid-forward. This makes them sound thicker and darker, overall, just a bit fatter, more compressed tone. This is good for styles that require less articulation and not as much individual note separation, such as doom, sludge, stoner rock/metal, and even some jazz styles. If one is trying to zero in on this sort of sound, the 500k is probably actually a bit better for their needs.
I've got a pair of dBs in a Les Paul with 500k pots and I've never really felt like it was lacking much at all. But I know they'd offer more in the way of articulation and dynamics if I switched to 1m. I hope this helps.
Amen as I am simply trying to decide among Lollar Imperial options! Hello!
What tone cap value was in the guitar? Thanks in advance.
decent vintage tone, but I think dB really needs some high-gain metal stuff to shine.
this saturday that passed i got the lollar imperial pickup( neck) with a gibson 57 + classic (bridge) from a friend for free i don’t know anything about the lollar imperial pickups i know of them they sound good so far i’m goin to put them in my prs se custom 24 thank you for the awesome video
And thank you for your kind words! We hope you love our pickups in everything that you put them in.
@@LollarPickups I’ll be looking for the bridge pickup to match the neck pickup thank you very much again
Imperial neck, DB bridge for me
All sounds great & would make for a very tough choice. BUT,,, on both of them the bridge pick ups sounds absolutely wonderful in the clean mode. Very similar & Far warmer than most bridge P.U.'s. I almost always feel a need to back the treble off a bit on the bridge. Not the case here.
the tone of the DB's wins for me
The DBs sound like a perfect hard rock/metal pickup.
Witch Imperials are those, LW, HW?
The Imperials used in this are our standard ones, not High- or Low Winds.
Not sure about. Staff etc , but I got the lollar hot vintage singles and they are ridiculous. But I paid 225 for the US strat with loaded dollars , lov'em
I though Fralins were the best but to my ears Lollars are!
i have a question re: your pickups...
Best way to get them answered is to shoot an email to our Customer Service team. info (@) LollarGuitars.com
Will these fit into a Telecaster Deluxe?
It's not a direct replacement, as these are all standard humbucker sized pickups, so they're a bit smaller. But they will fit; you just need to get a replacement pickguard with a standard size humbucker rout.
Beautiful sound.
sounds great Lollar,how were you getting the dirty sounds?
Thanks! Here's what JeffSennGuitars had to say (Jeff made this video for us):
"The same Les Paul was used for all sound clips, through a Quilter 101 Mini Head using a WGS G12C speaker captured to Protools, No added EQ using a Nady RSM-5 Ribbon Microphone.
Overdrive is from the amplifier"
@@LollarPickups❤
El Rayo sound's better to me
Rayos almost sound stratty!
Would you say Rayos are the lollar humbuckers that sound the most like a single coil?
I have a pair in my Chapman and they’re a perfect balance between humbuckers and coils- full range but with airy highs.
@@louierubioI would say so. Here’s my demo: Lollar Pickups El Rayo Humbuckers - Gibson SG Humbucker Hunt
ua-cam.com/video/RoC8PYLQI6c/v-deo.html
Not knowing the amp used and it's knob settings and not knowing knob positions on the guitar is fairly useless in determining a pickups' sound.
My thoughts exactly 👍
Sound is moslty no different for me.. If any different it just slightly not much... Like an generic china pickup like GnB, Dragonfire ect...
Bring your ears next time you watch a pickup video. It really helps
Actualy you already fucked up with marketing issue.. Just try GNB pickup and you will know is there any major different
Way too expensive.
You get what you pay for bro. How much is your tone worth?
Kirk Mulder I was thinking the same thing!I have only bought Benson’s or Tone Garden (Neil Smith’s custom wounds) “New” Fralins or Lollars I find used.