New GSR T-500

Kslam

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Walter Broes said:
Kslam said:
Zelja said:
I wonder if they are standard P90s or if they have been Franzified?

I hope they haven't been too Franzified. I've played a few Franz equipped old Guilds recently and was disappointed.

Franz pickups can be a little thin into the wrong amp, and if the setup isn't all there. Well set up, into the right Fender amp, with some reverb, they're heavenly!

I've only played a few guitars with Franz pickups, but from that small sample size, I tend to agree with Hans's assessment in his book that their quality was inconsistent.

hansonfranz.jpg
 

walrus

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That's why I asked, SF - I agree it looks sort to be of an "in between" width...

I'm sure the specs will be coming soon.

walrus
 

Zelja

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Walter Broes said:
Well, the way to set up a guitar like that, IMO, is to start out with the bridge pickup, get that as close to the strings as sounds good, then lower the bridge pickup until it balances with the bridge pickup, volume wise. It takes a while before you get it right there at that sweet spot, but it's worth it.

I have three Franz equipped hollobody Guilds, all three had the neck pickup too close to the strings to get any kind of balance when I got them.
Yep, fair call Walter. I will do some experimenting once I put on a different bridge & some nickel strings.
 

Brad Little

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Gee, I wonder if they rejected any due to minor finish flaws :wink:
Brad
 

SFIV1967

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For the original Guild T-500 see Hans' book page 167, as well as pages 77 and 83.
"Similar to the top-of-the-line X-500 but with a thinner, 2-inch thick body".
Ralf
 

billydlight

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Walter Broes said:
Zelja said:
I find on my CE-100D that the neck is fine but the bridge can do with some more grunt. Being modern "Duncan Franz P90 pickups" makes me think they will have more output than a vintage Franz but not quite that of a modern P90. I bet the bridge & neck will be different specs too.
Well, the way to set up a guitar like that, IMO, is to start out with the bridge pickup, get that as close to the strings as sounds good, then lower the bridge pickup until it balances with the bridge pickup, volume wise. It takes a while before you get it right there at that sweet spot, but it's worth it.

I have three Franz equipped hollobody Guilds, all three had the neck pickup too close to the strings to get any kind of balance when I got them.


Agreed Same here for my experience. Which is A LOT
 

billydlight

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BTW No Offense to Hans but my experience with Franz Coils is EXTENSIVE. I disagree with this. I have yet to hear one that wasn't really great sounding when adjusted properly

hansonfranz.jpg
 

hansmoust

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billydlight said:
BTW No Offense to Hans but my experience with Franz Coils is EXTENSIVE. I disagree with this. I have yet to hear one that wasn't really great sounding when adjusted properly

No offence taken but as a repairman with a bit of experience with Guild/Franz pickups (and a rather large Guild collection) my experience is that they vary a lot in specs and consequently in sound. I didn't say that you couldn't get them to sound good, but if one has to put in a lot of work to adjust each individual pickup properly, it's not unfair to call them 'inconsistent'. I was merely comparing them to Gibson P-90s from the same period, which were put together with a lot more care and with much more consistent results.

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
http://www.guitarsgalore.nl
 

matsickma

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Anyone considering picking up one of these GSR T-500 and swapping in a set of origional Frantz pups? I certaintly gave this some thought about an upgrade to a DE400.

M
 

GAD

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That guitar make me feel funny. Oh! That's drool.

DAYUM!
 

Walter Broes

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matsickma said:
Anyone considering picking up one of these GSR T-500 and swapping in a set of origional Frantz pups? I certaintly gave this some thought about an upgrade to a DE400.
That would be a pretty expensive experiment, wouldn't it?

If I could even afford that guitar, I wouldn't take a drill and a dremel to it to make a set of old pickups fit.

And, contradicting myself a little here, I don't think there's thàt much voodoo at work with those old pickup I admit I dearly love. The ones I have (all early 60's) are built just like a P90, only a little cruder and sloppier, and either they have larger wire, either just less winds on the coil, but they read a good three Kohms lower on a meter than a typical Gibson P90. Physically much the same pickup, with lower resistance.

And the result is very predictable : they're twangier, have less bass and midrange and more highs, and the "midrange snarl" a typical P90 has is there, but it sits in a slightly higher midrange frequency. Still plenty of output or percieved output, even if just because there's two honkin' alnico bar magnets under the coil (a Gibson PAF has one)

And for a player like Billy or me, who love twang/rockabilly/Honky Tonk/etc...., that's wonderful because you get all that clarity and twang and treble - but I'm sure there are plenty of people who'd hate these pickups - they're definitely not what you want if your idea of heaven is fat Gibson crunch and power chords - much too wiry and thin and twangy for that. The opposite of a sunburst Les Paul, so to speak.

But the point I was going to make is - I'm pretty sure that if you drastically underwind a normal P90 (my franz pickups are between 5 and 6K resistance) you'd end up very close to the sound of a Franz pickup. Seymour Duncan knows pickups, so I'm sure they did something like that for the pickups in this new guitar, if they describe them as "Franz P90's".
 

Christopher Cozad

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hansmoust said:
...but why on earth did I spell offense as 'offence'?...
Hans,

You were simply responding in British English. :D

offence is a correct (alternate) spelling of offense.

Christopher
 

Jahn

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the guild geek in me likes what they did with the pickup selector switch ring - just like the really old Guilds!

4 grand tho, man. i have to say, a hollow thinline is probably the last type of guitar i'd be hunting for, and save for a real Duane Eddy, this one would make for a great modern alternative.
 
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