58/15 to 85/15 pickup comparison?

[watelessness]

Has anyone had a chance to compare the new 58/15 pickups to the 85/15's?

 

[Dusty Chalk]

Not in the same guitar. They're both pretty close. But if you watched the Periscope two iterations ago, Paul himself says, "if you've ever taken the covers off a pickup, you know that it gets a little louder, a little brighter, and a little more in the bass" -- thus explaining -- albeit indirectly -- why my 30th anniversary Custom 24 is uncovered -- it just makes more sense to have it uncovered -- and the P245 (S-H) is

 

[László]

I have both. As you may have heard via interviews with Paul Smith, they are the very same pickup, except one has covers and the other doesn't. They both sound very good split, better than any other traditional humbucker I've tried, and they're both very clear and open at the high end, without a lot of "wool" in the low end.

The addition of the covers to the 58/15s makes them a little warmer, and a little less hot in their output level. I have a few tracks recorded with each, but they sound very different because of the way I used them in the tracks, nonetheless, they'll give you an idea, at least a little bit:

58/15 neck pickup "edge of clean" via DG30, no pedals, distant miking technique with ribbon mic:

https://soundcloud.com/lschefman/mic-test-medium-distant-placement-on-guitar

58/15 bridge pickup "edge of clean to grit" via Mesa Lone Star, lead guitar pushed a bit by a Suhr Boost pedal:

https://soundcloud.com/lschefman/americana-l

85/15 bridge pickup via DG30 all tracks, solos done with a Fulltone Plimsoul added as an almost clean boost:

https://soundcloud.com/lschefman/fc-instrumental

I don't have a recording of the 85/15 neck pickup.

 

[Leathan]

Hey, that last one demoing the 85/15 is really nice. Nice string arrangement. Real drummer?

 

[László]

Hey, that last one demoing the 85/15 is really nice. Nice string arrangement. Real drummer?

Nope. I programmed those drums. Client didn't have a real drummer or orchestra budget, unfortunately. Of course, you can tell the orchestra is programmed.

There have been times clients have had the budget for orchestral sessions, and I love those, but...budgets are shrinking for most ads, and a day with an orchestra is about 60 grand, so...

I'd have arranged it a little differently if I'd had my choice, but there was stuff happening onscreen that I had to accommodate, and the clients wanted a rather bombastic thing. It's a little over the top at the end, IMHO.

 

[watelessness]

thanks, guys. i've played a couple of Cu24's with te 85/15's and am really digging them but i can't play regular or thin-carve necks. I was hoping the rest of the core line for 2016 would have the 85/15's. Perhaps i won't notice the subtleties of the covers

 

[Whitecat]

thanks, guys. i've played a couple of Cu24's with te 85/15's and am really digging them but i can't play regular or thin-carve necks. I was hoping the rest of the core line for 2016 would have the 85/15's. Perhaps i won't notice the subtleties of the covers

Just pop the covers off!

 

[László]

thanks, guys. i've played a couple of Cu24's with te 85/15's and am really digging them but i can't play regular or thin-carve necks. I was hoping the rest of the core line for 2016 would have the 85/15's. Perhaps i won't notice the subtleties of the covers

The difference is indeed subtle. If you just turn the treble of your amp up a tiny bit, and adjust the gain a small amount, I doubt you'd even notice much difference.

I don't know how much of a neck pickup player you are, but I prefer the 58/15s on the neck. The bridge, for me, is a tossup, both are great!

All of my electrics have a Pattern neck profile except my CU24 30th, but for some reason, I can switch back and forth without issues. While it's nice to have both pickups, I could live with only one or the other without feeling like I was missing something.