APH-1 vs '78

[ninemiles]

Hey all, I was the happy recipient of a 1991 LP Studio recently, as a birthday gift. The old gibby p/u in it has gone microphonic, so I'm going to replace them. I've been obsessing over it for a while now, its really bringing out my OCD. My other LP is a classic with the 500T, so I've got the metal ground covered, what I want out of the studio is a classic rock machine, with enough oomph to play a little hard rock too, and a nice clean tone (which the 500T lacks!). I've listened to the clips, studied the tone chart, and listened to as many you tube videos as I could find, and I've settled on an APH-1 set. The thing that keeps haunting me is, what about the '78? Info on the
'78 is a little harder to come by, its not on the tone chart, there are no soundclips. Any input on the '78, EQ, compare/contrast with APH-1 will be greatly appreciated!

[9unslin9er]

The Alnico II Pro has always been a staple of classic rock tones. Through an old plexi or JCM 800 the pickup absolutely rips.

For some extra mid range, you could pony up the extra bills for a Slash set. The regular ones sound just as good though with the benefit of coil-tapping so should you choose.

*I recently installed a neck model with a DiMarzio Air Norton in the bridge. It's an excellent combo if you want that hard rock versatility.

[jeremy]

welcome to the forum!

the '78 is a more aggressive pup with a chewier texture!

[ninemiles]

Hi slinger, that's pretty much what I was thinking. I play a DSL, but keeping the pre down and the post up gives me what I like. I feel like I haven't given the dimarzio's due consideration, but its much harder to get a feel for them because the sound clips are produced songs rather than clips, and there is no tone chart ala SD. how would you characterize the air norton?

Jeremy, I'm not sure how to imagine a "chewy" sound, although I see it used to describe tones often. My impression is that the '78 would have more mids, a similar bottom, and a bit more clarity overall than the APH-1...am I far off?

[9unslin9er]

I have an Air Norton paired with the AII Pro, and a Norton paired with a '59.

Airbuckers are pretty much DiMarzio's answer to degausing or the use of Alnico II. They have less string pull so they have kinda that vintage quality to them.

The Norton has quite a good deal of mids and chunk so airbuckering it for the bridge is a good pairing for AII's like the Seths/Pearly Gates. It's wound around 12k so it's still classified as medium output, but it just sounds dynamite in a singlecut guitar through a Marshall.

*If you'd like I can throw a few samples up of some AC/DC, Zep, Free, etc. to give you an idea.

[jeremy]

when i use chewy im talking about the texture of the mids.

the mids arent hard or dense but there is a good amount

[ninemiles]

I have an Air Norton paired with the AII Pro, and a Norton paired with a '59.

Airbuckers are pretty much DiMarzio's answer to degausing or the use of Alnico II. They have less string pull so they have kinda that vintage quality to them.

The Norton has quite a good deal of mids and chunk so airbuckering it for the bridge is a good pairing for AII's like the Seths/Pearly Gates. It's wound around 12k so it's still classified as medium output, but it just sounds dynamite in a singlecut guitar through a Marshall.

*If you'd like I can throw a few samples up of some AC/DC, Zep, Free, etc. to give you an idea.

that would be very cool

[gibson175]

"chewy" is a funny word to describe how a pickup sounds, but it makes sense when you experience it! Its something like "spongy" but with more edge. lol

[9unslin9er]

Here you go man.
This was recorded on my Vox Valvetronix...which isn't quite a half stack...but it gets the job done I think.

[GuitarDoc]

Nice playing there Slinger. Am I right to suppose that the A2P is in the neck?

[9unslin9er]

You are correct sir.

Thanks for the kind words. One of best neck pickups ever!

[Luke Duke]

I've had both in LPs and for my style, classic rock-to hard rock maybe old school metal)
The 78 is HARD to beat. I've got a 78 TB in my CU24 even. They fill the gap between
The APH and CC, but it sounds more aggressive than either.

Luke

[ninemiles]

Here you go man.
This was recorded on my Vox Valvetronix...which isn't quite a half stack...but it gets the job done I think.

Thanks man, sounds great! Reading another post almost had me convinced I ought to put a pearly gates in the neck, but I think your A2P sounds great.

[ninemiles]

I went with the A2Ps.

[Push to Shuv]

Let us know how you like them!

[ninemiles]

I put the multimeter on these last night, and got 7.56 on the neck pup, and 8.12 on the bridge...which is a little hot for an A2pro, isn't it?

[9unslin9er]

They're usually wound within a certain range.

The number you see on the tone chart is an average of a bunch of pickups.

Personally, I dig this as you know you're getting a handwound item. Better to be overwound in the bridge than under I say.

[orpheo]

handwound? only CS/antiquity Singlecoils are handwound, the a2pro absolutely not. It's just machine wound. You have to take into account that ambient temperature influences the measurement considerably.

I, for one, don't like the '78 (or the brobucker, for that matters). not open enough, not enough cut, I'd say. hard to describe. I'm more fan of the george lynch V or the RTM.

[9unslin9er]

^^^Ok I don't mean somebody is throwing those winds on coil by coil.

What I should have said is rather than this mechanical arm doing all the lifting, somebody (hopefully MJ) is actually sitting at the winder throwing the bobbins and magnets on.

For Christ's sake, everyone is like the fracking technical police on these Forums.

[orpheo]

and even if MJ would throw it on, do you think that her finger grease and sweat will make something different? It's called Seymour Duncan, not Hogwarts