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Topic: Taming Highs On A Pre Rp Mullen |
Dave Morrison
From:
Whbg Ohio Usa
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Posted 12 Dec 2016 4:56 am |
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| Just curious what pickups some of you have tried and what your experience has been. Dave |
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Carl Kilmer
From:
East Central, Illinois
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Posted 12 Dec 2016 7:34 am
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I have a 705 on mine as do many others. Very nice sound.
_________________
aka "Lucky Kay"--Custom built Rittenberry SD10 3X5, Walker S/S, NV-112, and Hilton Pedal |
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Dave Morrison
From:
Whbg Ohio Usa
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Posted 12 Dec 2016 7:40 am
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| Hey Carl;Thanks for the input.I,ve got 705's on mine now but I really think I liked it better when I had GL PF2 pickups in it.Also I'm gonna go back to a stereo steel I think.I'm beginning to think my problem is not with my equipment IT'S THE PLAYER!!! haha. |
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Lane Gray
From:
Topeka, KS
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Posted 12 Dec 2016 8:45 am
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I'd played for almost thirty years before my right hand stopped being too shrill.
_________________
2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects |
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Carl Kilmer
From:
East Central, Illinois
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Posted 12 Dec 2016 9:24 am
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Lane, wait till you get as old as I am, you'll know what a shrill hand is. 
_________________
aka "Lucky Kay"--Custom built Rittenberry SD10 3X5, Walker S/S, NV-112, and Hilton Pedal |
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Roger Crawford
From:
Griffin, GA USA
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Posted 12 Dec 2016 10:16 am
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| I've known a lot of Mullen players use George L 10-1 on both pre and Royal Precision. |
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Clinton Zimmerman
From:
Memphis,Mo
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Posted 12 Dec 2016 11:18 am
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| Hi Dave I have a 10-1 for sale if your interested. I put a single coil in my mullen and love it. Thanks Clint |
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Georg Sørtun
From:
Mandal, Agder, Norway
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Posted 12 Dec 2016 11:35 am
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| For taming highs, or increasing highs - whatever is the goal, I usually start by modifying the resistive load on the PU. Doesn't solve all problems for all PUs, but usually brings the produced sound characteristics close enough for comfort. Only when that fails do I go for a change of PU. |
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Bud Angelotti
From:
Larryville, NJ, USA
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Posted 12 Dec 2016 4:42 pm
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Would you elaborate please Georg?
The knowledge that gets passed around here is awesome.
Thanks!
Bud
_________________
Just 'cause I look stupid, don't mean I'm not. |
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Georg Sørtun
From:
Mandal, Agder, Norway
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Posted 12 Dec 2016 5:02 pm
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| Bud Angelotti wrote: |
Would you elaborate please Georg?
The knowledge that gets passed around here is awesome.
Thanks!
Bud |
Think of the vary-Z control on a Black Box, or a 250K pot VP directly following the PU. Both will load the PU harder than the "recommended" 500Kohm, and will tame those highs.
My method is to put a 2.2Mohm pot in parallel over the PU jack - between signal and GND, and a 220Kohm pot in series with the signal-wire after the parallel-pot, followed by a buffer-amp w/500K to 1Mohm input impedance, and then tune these two pots until I had the sound I wanted. Then I replace the pots with fixed resistors of the values I ended up with on the pots, before the buffer.
The series-pot let me start a little on the high side, and the parallel pot adds load to tame those same highs. As it is a purely resistive load it loads the PU the same over the entire frequency range and affects its entire characteristics. Most effect on those highs though. |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 12 Dec 2016 5:49 pm
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Easy tip for taming highs:
Don't use George-L cables!  |
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Bud Angelotti
From:
Larryville, NJ, USA
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Posted 13 Dec 2016 6:00 am
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Right. I just follow you Georg. I figured it was a resistor. I see how you arrive at the "proper" resistor. Isn't that essentially what a "tone knob" does? Or does a tone control not actually load/unload the pickup.
And yes Donny, those good GL cables let almost everything thru the chain. Even freqs we might not want to hear.
Thanks!
_________________
Just 'cause I look stupid, don't mean I'm not. |
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Ford Cole
From:
Texas
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Posted 13 Dec 2016 7:28 am
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| A Sarno Black Box could be the way to go. Sure love those Mullens! |
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Dale Rottacker
From:
Walla Walla Washington, USA
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Dave Morrison
From:
Whbg Ohio Usa
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Posted 13 Dec 2016 8:16 am
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| Thanks to everyone for your input.What I forgot to mention was I notice it worse when going direct for recording.I've got an old LTD with the FOX mod that I use live and it sounds good[however I have to keep the mids and treble no higher than 3].I just got a REV preamp that I've been trying to dial in so we will see where it goes.Dale since you have a REV what is the best way to hook up headphones for practice? It was easy on my Stereo Steel it had a headphone out jack. |
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Georg Sørtun
From:
Mandal, Agder, Norway
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Posted 13 Dec 2016 8:22 am
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| Bud Angelotti wrote: |
| Right. I just follow you Georg. I figured it was a resistor. I see how you arrive at the "proper" resistor. Isn't that essentially what a "tone knob" does? Or does a tone control not actually load/unload the pickup. |
A tone control - as used on 6-strings and some older steels - uses a capacitor to filter (leak / choke off) high frequencies to GND, thus does not put an even load on the PU over the entire frequency range.
A pure resistive load OTOH affects the entire frequency range, and thereby changes the characteristics of the (passive) PU.
While many players seems to continuously try to find the right PU for their steel and sound-chain, my method aims at optimize and "lock" the load on whatever PU I happen to have, to make the PU fit my sound-chain and my ears.
As my method always includes a decent buffer-amp before VP and whatever else I have in my sound-chain, it also eliminates most, if not all, worries about cable-quality and other "passive-filter factors" down the passive part of the sound-chain.
| Ford Cole wrote: |
| A Sarno Black Box could be the way to go. |
Yes, a BB with vary-Z would most likely do the job, and also add a little "flavor" that the OP might like. |
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Dale Rottacker
From:
Walla Walla Washington, USA
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Morton Kellas
From:
Chazy, NY, USA 1
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Posted 13 Dec 2016 10:34 am
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| Try a Sarno Freeloader, they can take the edge off the high's. Give Brad a shout for the info. |
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Bill Miller
From:
Gaspe, Quebec, Canada
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Posted 13 Dec 2016 3:22 pm
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| As far as taming the highs I'm pretty sure Dave will find he has everything he needs with the Revelation Preamp. The Black box is integrated in the Vari-Z control. Dialing that back will take the edge off any pickup. And in addition to that and the normal bass/treble/mid controls there's the color control and the bright/dark toggle switch. It's extremely flexible and throwing a whole lot of other stuff in the signal chain would be redundant at best and harmful to tone at worst. I know whereof I speak since I owned this unit for nine years. |
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Morton Kellas
From:
Chazy, NY, USA 1
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Posted 14 Dec 2016 7:00 am
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| You are right Bill, I did not notice the posting which indicated Dave just acquired a Revelation, which is great. The Freeloader is an inexpensive alternative which does work well at taming the high's, for those of us who don't have a Rev or cannot afford one. |
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