'99 CS X150

[matsickma]

For a little less bright output a DeA 2k PUP would also do nicely on that CS X150 and would mount directly to the mounting holes.

M

 

[billydlight]

I think a real old school actual DeArmond (preferrably with a white top) would be the way to go. They sound great for strumming when you lower the polepiece's


IMHO

 

[micmac]

For a little less bright output a DeA 2k PUP would also do nicely on that CS X150 and would mount directly to the mounting holes.

Thanks for your participation matsickma !

As the DeA 2K is a P90 design PUp, does it mean that you think that a P90 will fit my need ?

Walter thought that " the slight midrange bump those pickups have wouldn't be that great for strummy playing styles "
As far I'm experienced with P90's, I agree a standard P90 is too "midrangy" for strumming (except the entry level "weaky" P90s I have on my Korean Casino)
But for a less boomy and midrangy output, Lollar 50's seems to be the best choice.

In fact, I'm in discussion with Jason Lollar since few days, and it seems we've found a trick to install his 50's dogear P90 without modifying the X-150 ( without drilling new holes ). I will check this tomorrow at the Lollar dealer shop here in Paris.

 

[micmac]

I think a real old school actual DeArmond (preferrably with a white top) would be the way to go. They sound great for strumming when you lower the polepiece's
IMHO

Thanks for your participation billydlight !
Does " white top " are different than the black one, or it's just a cosmetic issue ?

I lower the polepiece's of my Dynasonic RI ( step by steps, pole by pole ) and didn't notice any improvement.
A guy who own a Gretsch mounted with old DeArmond 200 Rowe, told to me that the only right way to strum with these type of pups is when mixing the neck with bridge Pup... :?
What are your experience all you guys who play on these old DeA 200 Rowe: are you choosing the same middle position for strumming ?

He also advised me to NOT "downgrade" from the Dynasonic RI to DeA 2000. According to him, the DeA 2000 lacks flavor and presence: a entry level "flat" pickup which is quite good but can not compete with other Dynas in any way ( even with modern Dynasonic RI ).
What are you thinking all you guys who play on DeA 2000 : are you strumming with the neck position, or do you prefer to mix it with the neck ?

 

[Walter Broes]

He also advised me to NOT "downgrade" from the Dynasonic RI to DeA 2000. According to him, the DeA 2000 lacks flavor, presence: a entry level "flat" pickup which can not compete with other Dynas, even modern Dynasonic RI.

If you're getting too much output, bass, and treble from your Dyna reissue pickup, less "flavor, presence, etc..." is a good thing for you, no? There's no "best, better", etc..., there's "best/better for your needs..."

Given a choice of any type of DeArmond pickup, I'd go for a vintage one too, for my own needs, but I think my idea of heaven with those pickups might very well be your idea of hell.... :wink:

 

[micmac]

Hey Walter
I 'm more than agree with you: it's generally hard to get flavor, character in one hand AND versatility in the same hand.
But I guess you don't want to incite me to structurally modify this - maybe- unique X-150 and I'm convinced you're right. But - If needed - there are some solutions to install P90 , or even a bridge pickup without routing any new holes.
That's not mean I don't want to give a try to Fender DeArmond 2000 or K . That's just mean I don't want to reduce my choice to Dyna's mounting design.
IMO,

 

[Walter Broes]

But I guess you don't want to incite me to structurally modify this - maybe- unique X-150 and I'm convinced you're right. But - If needed - there are some solutions to install P90 , or even a bridge pickup without routing any new holes.

Actually, no, what I really mean is that I have fairly extensive experience with every pickup that's been mentioned in this thread, and I'm giving you advice based on the type of things you want to do with your guitar, and as it happens it would also be the easiest and cheapest solution.

If your guitar were mine, I'd get out the router and drill, put two vintage white topped DeArmond pickups on it, a switch and two extra knobs, and a Bigsby - but I wouldn't use it for strumming - Guild made plenty of excellent flattops that work great for that... :mrgreen:

 

[micmac]

Guild made plenty of excellent flattops that work great for that... :mrgreen:

Actually, I'm mostly giging with a Guild D55 . For more for than half of the songs we 're playing in my 60's cover band , flattop is the guitar I used . So, i'm - one more time - more than agree with you Walter. :wink:
Problems happen for the other songs : switching from the D55 to my telecaster is very boring for me... I'm always feeling very incomfortable because it's a totally different ergonomy. That's why I was looking for an another electric guitar which better match the ergonomy of the D55. I know some musicians are switching between different ergonomies of guitar without any problems, but I'm unfortunally not in this category...
SO I bought this X-150 in part because she's perfectly matching the ergonomy of the D55.Unplugged, there is nothing I play with D55 that I can't play with X-150 with the same pleasure. Difficulties happen at the time I plug the X-150 in my amps. In one hand I absolutly like the flavor of the sound I get out this Dyna RI , but in another hand, I must admit this pup is too boomy. I dunno what part of the magical comes from this Pup, but more I play it and more I love it. But there is a problem with the 6th E string which is overbumping in the very low range. Since, the strings are acoustically perfectly balanced it's obvious for me that this Pup should be improved in the way to tame this enormous E string response.
At the first times, as I believed I have the original DeA 2000, I thought that an upgrade to a more " real " Dyna would fix this problem. But after reading a lot about this Dyna's family, I understand that a lot of player don't like these Dynas PRECISELY because they're are too bassy ( and that could be the reason why Chet Atkins urged Gretsch to develop and new design of pickup, and Eddy Cochran put a P90 in bridge position.... ).
Then I began to consider that Dynas are maybe too specialized pups for my needs and I was looking for more infos about Franzes which are the other historical Guild archtop pup.
I've found a thread here where you, Walter, was explaining you prefered Franz over Dynas because their versality.
IN fact, I was so very surprised that you adviced me to stay with Dyna's family .
In the same time, I noticed you discourage me " to cut into that beautiful guitar".

I'm not against customising guitars, but I'd leave that one alone - as it's probably the only guitar out there with exactly that configuration!

At this time, I was understanding that preserve the integrety of the guitar was very essential for you....

Actually, no, what I really mean is that I have fairly extensive experience with every pickup that's been mentioned in this thread, and I'm giving you advice based on the type of things you want to do with your guitar, and as it happens it would also be the easiest and cheapest solution.
If your guitar were mine, I'd get out the router and drill, put two vintage white topped DeArmond pickups on it, a switch and two extra knobs

OK : now it's 100% clear for me that your advise to put back a DeA2000 is not a compromise because of the modification aspect. :mrgreen:

 

[billydlight]

walter said: If your guitar were mine, I'd get out the router and drill, put two vintage white topped DeArmond pickups on it, a switch and two extra knobs, and a Bigsby

Here! here! I would do that in a second too!

Regarding the strumming you could always lower the volume a bit on the guitar, that helps with strumming too!

 

[micmac]

walter said: If your guitar were mine, I'd get out the router and drill, put two vintage white topped DeArmond pickups on it, a switch and two extra knobs, and a Bigsby

Here! here! I would do that in a second too!

It seems the way to Rockab's heaven is easier to find than mine :wink:

Regarding the strumming you could always lower the volume a bit on the guitar, that helps with strumming too!

That's help to tame the boomy E a little bit , but in the same time, that tames the trebles more and high midranges more and more. So when I lower the Volume enough to tame ALL the boomy basses , the sound turns " empty ": loss of body, loss of overtones....
At the beginning, I thought about inserting a kind of Varitone to cut the low range at 2 frequencies. It could be a little a 3 pos switch (like the one on Jaguar or Jazzmaster) to install in the pickguard. But I fear that cutting the low range will not fix the problem because it will not help to produce midranges that does not exist.
Actually, I think this pup is simply overscooped.
The lack of midranges is not a problem when you want to cut through the mix : big bottom and bright trebles kick me in front of the mix in a way - WOW :shock:- ... i didn't experimented with any other guitars . Problems begin as soon I need to return IN the mix: no way to dial a sound that's work in a not so extended range : if I cut the very deep lows and very high trebles, I lose all the goodness of the sound.

Do you think, guys , that vintage DeArmond pickups are less scooped than this Dyna RI ?

 

[billydlight]

You could put a treble bleed on the Volume pot.

http://www.bothner.co.za/articles/volumepot2.shtml

Also you could try the stellar tone tonestyler tone pot replacement

http://www.stellartone.com/

 

[micmac]

thanks for the tips, Billy
I have this treble bleed Mods on my Tele and I plane to have it on the X-150's volume pot.
I wasn't aware about stellartone's tone pot which is 16 ( or 8 ) positions Varitone optimized to cut trebles without loosing midranges. Actually, I'm looking for something a bit different : cutting extreme lows without loosing mids and trebles.
It seems that most of Dyna's players often use both pickups at the same time because it makes the bass brighter. Then I fear that I would not fix my problem staying with a neck pickup alone.
It seems that the wood bridge is a strategic piece too : a luthier adviced me to swap for a metal bridge if I want to tame basses and get an overall brighter tone. Even a bigsby seems to slightly affect the tone in the way to help trebles.
To summarize, it looks like a "traditionnal rockab'" configuration will better mach my needs: 2 dynas pickups, 4 pots ( to balance the right amount of bright in the middle position ), a alu bridge and maybe a bigsby.
Unfortunnaly, It looks like DeA 2000 pickups are not easier to find than I thought.
Since there is currently a set of old white Dynas ( taken from an '61 SF III) to sell on ' bay, I'd like to have your advice about it:
Do you think theses 4 tiems will fit my '99 CS X-150:
http://cgi.ebay.fr/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie ... 720wt_1167
http://cgi.ebay.fr/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie ... 720wt_1167
http://cgi.ebay.fr/DeARMOND-PICKUP-1961 ... 720wt_1167
http://cgi.ebay.fr/DeARMOND-PICKUP-1961 ... 720wt_1167
Thanks in advance

 

[billydlight]

Yes. I would go for all of these things. They will fit on your guitar no problem. The White DeArmonds will be awsome on that guitar.
-B

 

[micmac]

Thanks Billy

So I will try to go step by step, and it appears that the first thing to test is to swap the woodbridge for a metal. But since Hans has mention to me that the bottom of alu basebridge should be accomodate to fit the radius of my topboard, I have a more closer look of mine : I've noticed that bottom of the Basebridge of the CS X-150 was precisily sand to accomodate the topboard. So precisely sanded that I cannot be mistaken : if a swap the side to put it on , it simply doesn't fit the board!.
Since I suppose it 's very important ( for tonal transmision ) that the form of the bottom is precisely matching the top, I guess it's better to keep my original basebridge and find a metal bridge that will match with it.
Now the question is : which metal bridge ?