Could you hear shared qualities between the guitars? My other Irongear pickups vidoes: Tesla Shark vs Rolling Mill: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-4DqQQvTwiBc.html Dirty Torque vs Hot Slag: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-GWj2-VmhRHM.html Blues Engine vs Overwound Rolling Mill: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-WEHbeQdd9t4.html Blues Engine vs Hot Slag: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-igFYSMbNcZs.html
Perhaps the difference could be accounted for by the difference in proximity to the bridge, which would accentuate different overtones. The first guitar looks like walnut, quite dense and "bright sounding", like maple. The second guitar has an uncommon top wood (oak) which is actually less dense, and will thus absorb a bit more of the higher frequencies. Still, a nice tone. If the Angelica is like the Kent SG (MIJ), scraping the finish in the pickup cavity will reveal if it is solid wood. My Kent was laminated wood, which many used to complain would suck the brightness out of a pickup. I think that's debatable, but I won't argue. They are nice, round sounding pickups, to my ears.
Thank you so much for the info about the guitars :) I'll definitely do some research about walnut to try and identify it! That's exciting! I thought it was mahogany. It would be interesting to do more digging around in the SG, but unless it's an amazing veneer job I do think it's hard wood... I might do another video just on this guitar in the future so I'll let you know in that video what I discover :) I completely agree about the pickup location. I do wish I routed out the bridge pickup cavity a bit closer to the bridge on guitar 2 (oak). Thank you so much for watching and commenting
Hi mate, yes I've kept the blues engine in the SG after this video. Really great sounding pickup and in combo with that guitar sounds great. Blues Engines are a great choice, I'd say!
Very good video. I really was only interested in the clean sound comparison as any overdrive or effects are so variable and given to personal preference. You can just about make anything sound the way you want with the right outboard gear and ability to set up and hear what you want. Overall I thought all three were very clean and crisp sounding which is good for a bridge pick up. Seemed like the typical PAF sound. Other than on a hollow body I wouldn't expect a lot of difference on the solid body guitars. On this test is there any difference in pot values or capacitor values? String gauge? Types of strings? All of those things would make the differences more than the guitar since they were so similar. Either way it was a good demo of a very good pickup. I put a Blues engine and a Dirty torque on a guitar many years ago, long enough where I don't remember when, but I liked them right away and I am planning a rebuild soon with the Blues Engine set. Good pickups and other than shipping to the U.S. they are very reasonably priced.
Hi James thank you so much. The pot values were all the same, 500k pots. They were all string with Harley Benton Strings gauge 10. I tried to keep the pickup height similar too. As others have mentioned the position of the pickup would account for a lot of the tone too. Good luck with your build! Can't go wrong with a set off blues engines haha
Hi Alexis guitar no 3 sounds the best on all the demos. Great to see a viable demo thanks to just using clean settings. If it has distortion on there is no way you can tell if a pickup is any good or not. I installed Pig iron pickups on my MIM Strat and they are excellent. One of the best demos on You tube well done.
Thank you so much Paul, I really appreciate the feedback :) I try to make these as helpful as possible, so it's great to hear that people enjoy the videos. It's also great to hear guitar 3 getting some love! I'm yet to try out any of their single coils. That'll be the next series of videos at some stage in the future!
The first guitar sounds brighter than the second because it has the pickup closer to the bridge. They would sound identical if the distance was equal. As for the SG, the scale length is different which will always affect the tone.
Very interesting. I need to find two different guitars with equal pickup spacing to see if it would he identical. This video was to see whether similar characteristics could be heard with the same pickup in different guitars
Number 3 the SG style guitar gets my vote. Great to hear a decent test of Iron gear pups, I'm going to pull the trigger on the blues engines for my Les Paul.
Thanks Ian! Yes I think the blues engine will be staying in my SG. I'll need a matching neck pickup now! Good choice for your les Paul! Let me know what you think when you install them in :)
@@AlexisGuitars I got the blues engines.....and accidentally installed them in my Korean 335 copy. They're perfect, like BK mules without the mortgage. I'll be trying a set in my Lester next!
@@ianchristopher6165 That's great! Thank you for keeping me posted :) I've got a few guitar build projects coming up and I'm thinking of just sticking some blues engines in all of them haha
They all sounded great but i absolutely loved the big, full high gain tone on guitar number 2. Is there any chance you will ever compare Iron Engine to a more medium priced PAF style pickup like Duncan '59 or DiMarzio PAF Master?
Awesome! I don't know what it is about guitar 2 that brings out that big tone, but it definitely had the most low end of the three! There's absolutely a chance I will do those style comparisons in the future, but not any time soon unfortunately. If I can get my hands on bigger brand pickups then I'll be able to do some :)
I know you've got 500k pots in all the guitars, but have you actually measured them? The better quality CTS pots have a ±10% tolerance, which could mean that one pot is approaching 450k, and another almost 550k. In my experience they are a lot closer to 500k than that, but it's still worth a check, especially if you are doing a comparison like this, where extra brightness or darkness could simply be down to the pot value. If they are, say 489k, 504k and 510k, then that's probably close enough to be down to the guitar construction. I'm a big Blues Engine fan. I've tried the Tesla Sharks which I found a bit thin sounding and not that dynamic, and the Rolling Mills (which replaced the Sharks in an SG) which I liked a lot better than the Sharks. But to me, the Blues Engines still sound the best all round pickup of those three, with power, clarity, depth and dynamics. I've also got some Metal Machines in an Explorer. Amazing through the right amp for crisp high-energy distorted tones, but not my first choice for clean, blues or classic rock tones. I like these comparisons. For a comparison idea, it could be interesting to see how the same guitar/pickup sounds through different amps. I've got several amps available, and it's amazing how some pickups can sound so much better through one amp than another.
That's a really interesting point about the actual value of the pots. I've not measured but next time I'm doing some wiring or swapping things out I'll try and find out! Would be interesting to see :) I love the idea of different amps! Of course that means I need more amps haha. I have an Orange TH30 which needs repairing, an old (and I mean old) Randall solid state and my trusty orange terror stamp. Something a bit more in the style of fender or marshall might be interesting! The metal machine seems to be another fan-favourite. I've never tried it but think I need to :) I'm not a metal player but I'm curious. Thanks for watching and for the feedback!
Pickup position could account for the most difference I think, you could see the darker sounds the pup was further from the pup. As for the tuning remove the bigsby and fit a fixed string holder lol
Yes I completely agree. Luckily I also have a humbucker routing template and want to adjust the routing in the pickup cavities. Maybe I can get another mm or two closer to the bridge in guitar 2!
@@AlexisGuitars nah leave it, gives you variety and you can stick a brighter pup in some or try coil taps or that. I think it's better to have a variety of options rather than trying to make them all sound the same.
The SG had the most character, for testing pickups, as well as rock tones, see how they sound in a large room without reverb, clean, and also at the other end, with a lot of reverb and chorus, do they shimmer? Are you still using these pups and in what Guitar?
The SG copy is a really cool guitar. I still have the blues engine in there but don't play it much due to tuning stability issues and it needing a re-fret. Interesting idea about using effects in these videos. I thought the dry tones would give the most accurate impression but perhaps I'll dabble with some reverb in future! Thanks for watching
@@AlexisGuitars just hard tail the Trem, leave it on, for show, but block it from moving, refret probably cost more than the Guitar is worth, unless you do it yourself.
Yes I've got a video planned on doing the diy work to the SG. I'll be doing the re-fret myself. The nut also needs replacing. Considering brass or graphtech. Might be a while before the video is made, but it'll be on the channel at some point.
They all sound very good. I was surprised to see that you can play rock from these pickups @ 8:20, very nice, Rock and Blues, ZZ Top, Stones etc. . I'm convince and will buy the Blues Engine. If I get this pickup which other pickup in the guitar would be good. I have a HH guitar two humbuckers or do they comes in pairs. I was thinking of the Tesla.
Hi mate, yes these pickups handle bluesy and classic rock tones really well. There is a blues engine neck pickup too. I have tried it and remember really liking it, but that was a few years back now! Thanks for watching :)
Very intéressant test. I see that these blues engine are able to make a difference between the 3 guitars and I think that's a very good point for them 😊 ! In crunch and over drive I like the 3 but the 2 is more balanced on clean sound. So, I have a question : In bridge pickup do you prefer the Blues engine to the Rolling mill ? My target is to have a bright sound BUT to keep a real perfume of PAF vintage sound... thanks in advance.(a french musician)
Thank you very much Eric! I personally prefer the blues engine over the rolling mill. The rolling mill in my experience has fuller sound which on cleans sounds great but with gain I prefer to have less low end as it gets a bit thick and in another guitar of mine sometimes dull (depends on EQ). The blues engine is brighter and I think is my favourite of their vintage output humbuckers. Great pickup!
Thanks a lot for the replay. So, I'll get two Blues Engine for my next DIY guitar. It's kind of what I thought but it's great to have confirmation from someone who has actually tried both. Good continuation for your good web-channel 😉🎸
@@AlexisGuitars I have already made a copy of LP (Chinese DIY) and the result was interesting ! However, I have very good instruments (Gibson, Fender, Gretsh...) to compare. So .... I'm going for something more upscale to play it with my band (covers). . I bought a ready-made handle. I make the body with my own design (in the spirit of an SG, but different) in mahogany. Pickups, electronics, bridge etc ... come from Axetec (like the IronGear).
Awesome! Axetec have great options for hardware. I used to buy from them all the time when I lived in the UK. DIY guitar builds are so much fun. Most of my guitars are DIY projects haha but I'm only now building my first guitar neck.
Hi mate, no Tele in this video, but I assume you mean guitar 1? That's a guitar body which I made and the bigsby-style bar used to be in use, but I prefer a hard tail. Problem is it is covering a hole from where the original ground-wire went so I just left the unit in to hide the hole.
