ASL From the maker of … Oil City!

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  • MickMick Frets: 98
    Good luck guys.  Looks like a excellent combo, so hope it all goes well for you.  Many a youtube vid to follow no doubt. ;) 
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  • FelineGuitarsFelineGuitars Frets: 11496
    edited August 2014 tFB Trader
    Okay - a quick bit of an update - albeit small
    Ash and I have been pushing a couple of designs back and forth refining what we want to get out of each of them and I confess it's been interesting.
    Experimenting with slightly differing types of copper wire  from different manufacturers, even though the gauge of copper remains the same and noting small changes and altering the winds .

    I have to confess today has been silly grin time as the latest of the two pickups that we have been pushing around (the TOUR 84 and the "Eruption") have both gone into two of my main reference guitars and have certainly ticked most of the boxes as far as my own tone quest goes.
    The TOUR 84 is wonderfully balanced, yet bordering on the slightly rude with a fair amount of top end sizzle making it sound amazing in my 20th Anniversary Lion. Still a 42 gauge wire creation with an Alnico 5 magnet.

    image

    The Eruption seems like a contradiction : overwound and fat sounding yet lots of low end and top end response (like the perfect melding of a PAF and a single coil)...but that is pretty much what the old Brown Sound seemed to be.

    So far I've tried it in an all mahogany guitar which made it seem a bit warmer but it's tonal character shone through.
    Looking forward to trying a few out in alder and ash superstrats

    Finally we have been having some fun with a 3 pickup LP trying for a somewhat 1970s vibe:
    The 1970s were an overlooked era in guitar tones - often not considered classic like the late 50s and throughout the 60s (and certainly both Fender and Gibson lost their way in this decade). However there were an awful lot of great rock bands in the 70s making music that has stood the test of time - many using new instruments rather than having an old 50s LP.
    So we thought we'd explore some of those classic tones too.....
    image

    Experimenting with what we are calling a
    RIOT ACT in the middle position - reflecting that time in the 1970s where alnico 3 was used in Gibson humbuckers (Alnico 3 which had no Cobalt content - as cobalt was in short supply due to it's use in nuclear warheads) 
    These pickups had a clear tone with a less aggressive top end - likely to have been what Randy Rhoads had in his LP Custom.

    The neck pickup is aDYNA_MITE: a version of a Patent number era pickup (after Gibson had it's patent awarded).
    Later veraions of these vbecame known as
    T-Top humbuckers because of the letter T molded into the bobbin platicto show the factory workers the right way up for the coil, and wasn't expected to be seen as a metal cover would be soldered in place.

    The bridge unit was going to be a "TRANSONIC 70" , which is like the early super distortion pickups to come out of New York in the mid 70s. However we also tried out another design that isknown to have frquented a few LP customs with a 43 gauge wind in the 13k region...we tried it with an alnico 4 magnet in this one to give it a more vintage vibe (alnico 5 would have been a bit more aggressive but the guitar's owner thought that the A4 might give him more of a crossover appeal for tunes where an old a4 PAF may have been used on the record). At this stage we're tinkering and having fun bt ideas are definitely coming together.

    Many guitars have a re-sale value. Some you'll never want to sell.
    Stockist of: Earvana & Graphtech nuts, Faber Tonepros & Gotoh hardware, Fatcat bridges. Highwood Saddles.

    Pickups from BKP, Oil City & Monty's pickups.

      Expert guitar repairs and upgrades - fretwork our speciality! www.felineguitars.com.  Facebook too!

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  • Very cool! Sounds like nothing has been left alone!

    Have you done any experiments with ceramics?

    I quite like the sound of a randy rhoads era sound. That's my benchmark for solo tone really, some folk find it a bit middy but I love the raw aggression, yet the top end is always musical, not harsh.
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  • hubobuloushubobulous Frets: 2352
    edited July 2014
    @FelineGuitars and @TheGuitarWeasel

    All sounds like its moving forwards well, so congrats to you both.

    I wonder what a clear bobbin pair would look like in one of your 20th Anniversary models? Especially if it matched the sort of stain that some of them have. The Eruptions for example......
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  • DrBobDrBob Frets: 2998
    Soooo, will the Eruption be available in 'F' spacing and double black bobbin ?
    And I don't suppose it's gonna be available prior to my departure from London mid August is it ?
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  • FelineGuitarsFelineGuitars Frets: 11496
    edited July 2014 tFB Trader
    Yes - I can get you one Bob 
    Gimme a call :D

    Whilst we haven't done a big formal roll out for the different models yet - I don't see any problem with models where we are happy with the R&D

    Many guitars have a re-sale value. Some you'll never want to sell.
    Stockist of: Earvana & Graphtech nuts, Faber Tonepros & Gotoh hardware, Fatcat bridges. Highwood Saddles.

    Pickups from BKP, Oil City & Monty's pickups.

      Expert guitar repairs and upgrades - fretwork our speciality! www.felineguitars.com.  Facebook too!

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  • DrBobDrBob Frets: 2998
    Will do mate !
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  • FelineGuitarsFelineGuitars Frets: 11496
    tFB Trader
    For those Facebookers on here there is an ASL Facebook page too :)

    Many guitars have a re-sale value. Some you'll never want to sell.
    Stockist of: Earvana & Graphtech nuts, Faber Tonepros & Gotoh hardware, Fatcat bridges. Highwood Saddles.

    Pickups from BKP, Oil City & Monty's pickups.

      Expert guitar repairs and upgrades - fretwork our speciality! www.felineguitars.com.  Facebook too!

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  • EdGripEdGrip Frets: 736
    Age/Sex/Location? 

    HIGH FIVE WHO'S WITH ME, 90s KIDS!

    I have heard a couple of these pickups. They are pretty and they've got it goin' on, especially the Eruption model! It's a real corker.

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  • OilCityPickupsOilCityPickups Frets: 9984
    tFB Trader
    As far as I'm concerned it's difficult to pick favorites as they are all my babies ... but the Eruption puts a wicked grin on my face ...
    Professional pickup winder, horse-testpilot and recovering Chocolate Hobnob addict.
    Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups  ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message  

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  • ThorpyFXThorpyFX Frets: 6090
    tFB Trader
    Well I bought a supersonic 70 ASL pickup whilst collecting my feline build yesterday. Fitted it to a yamaha 611hfm guitar and it replaces a seymour Duncan TB-14. The SD was very sterile and boring to my ears. Instantly the supersonic 70 was just more open with more mids, more growl across the frequency spectrum and overall it just has more balls. It's a great pickup, much better than the SD and delivers me a cracking heavy rock tone. Love it.
    Adrian Thorpe MBE | Owner of ThorpyFx Ltd | Email: thorpy@thorpyfx.com | Twitter: @ThorpyFx | Facebook: ThorpyFx Ltd | Website: www.thorpyfx.com
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  • Drew_TNBDDrew_TNBD Frets: 22445
    I have to confess, I had two assumptions about your Oil City stuff that made me never look:

    1. The assumption that they were boutique; ie... high prices. This proves to be idiocy on my part.
    2. The assumption that they were mainly aimed at vintage guitar tones; I see you have a high gain range, so again... idiocy on my part.

    What are the prices going to be like for the ASL ones, and will you have some high gain 'aimed at hard rock and metal' options?

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  • OilCityPickupsOilCityPickups Frets: 9984
    edited July 2014 tFB Trader
    Hi Drew ...
    The main difference with the ASL range is that I will not be selling direct ... so the retail price will be largely fixed by my authorized dealer/dealers. It's early days ... but contacting Jonathan at Feline re ASL is the way to go. My Oil City range are unaffected, and are still available direct from me ... and includes several higher output pickups. My Scrapyard Dog Plus ... Venom and Viper pickups ... and shortly my new Havoc humbucker @Adam_MD has a pre production pair of those if I remember correctly.

    I never have been particularly boutique/cork sniffer oriented ... I've spent too many years as a working muso; and as someone who started in punk and then NWOBM ... high gain is my spiritual home :-)

    Professional pickup winder, horse-testpilot and recovering Chocolate Hobnob addict.
    Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups  ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message  

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  • FelineGuitarsFelineGuitars Frets: 11496
    tFB Trader
    Also my involvement with Blackmachine keeps my eye on the high gain and current trends. Having said that musicality is the most important thing , so high output is cool as long as it keeps a musical capability as opposed to a square wave generator

    Many guitars have a re-sale value. Some you'll never want to sell.
    Stockist of: Earvana & Graphtech nuts, Faber Tonepros & Gotoh hardware, Fatcat bridges. Highwood Saddles.

    Pickups from BKP, Oil City & Monty's pickups.

      Expert guitar repairs and upgrades - fretwork our speciality! www.felineguitars.com.  Facebook too!

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  • Drew_TNBDDrew_TNBD Frets: 22445
    edited July 2014
    Hi Drew ...
    The main difference with the ASL range is that I will not be selling direct ... so the retail price will be largely fixed by my authorized dealer/dealers. It's early days ... but contacting Jonathan at Feline re ASL is the way to go. My Oil City range are unaffected, and are still available direct from me ... and includes several higher output pickups. My Scrapyard Dog Plus ... Venom and Viper pickups ... and shortly my new Havoc humbucker @Adam_MD has a pre production pair of those if I remember correctly.

    I never have been particularly boutique/cork sniffer oriented ... I've spent too many years as a working muso; and as someone who started in punk and then NWOBM ... high gain is my spiritual home :-)

    Further solidifying my utter knobbery!

    If we're talking about hitting "milestones" then you've gotta look at the whole Jonez Tonez bizniz. That'd be what'd pique my interest!





    I believe he uses the Seymour Duncan SH-4 in the bridge position. Fuck knows what the neck is!
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  • OilCityPickupsOilCityPickups Frets: 9984
    tFB Trader
    The SH4 is pretty close to my Oil City Venom V2 ... though people tend to say the Venom has a smoother treble response than the SH4 JB (the scatter winding does tend to pop out more harmonics too)
    Professional pickup winder, horse-testpilot and recovering Chocolate Hobnob addict.
    Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups  ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message  

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  • Drew_TNBDDrew_TNBD Frets: 22445
    Hmmm, I'd be interested to hear it. Scoured youtube, but couldn't find any clips.
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  • OilCityPickupsOilCityPickups Frets: 9984
    tFB Trader
    Been so busy winding I've not really had much time to do clips of anything! PM me and I'll see what I can do for you.
    Professional pickup winder, horse-testpilot and recovering Chocolate Hobnob addict.
    Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups  ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message  

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  • Drew_TNBDDrew_TNBD Frets: 22445
    Cool, will do!
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  • OilCityPickupsOilCityPickups Frets: 9984
    edited July 2014 tFB Trader
    A batch of six pre production ASLs awaiting pole screws, and potting ... all apart from the double cream 'Supersonic' that already has it's hex slugs!
    The bobbin tops are masked with tape to prevent scratching ... this will be removed before their wax bath :-)
    image
    Professional pickup winder, horse-testpilot and recovering Chocolate Hobnob addict.
    Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups  ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message  

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