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Dear fellow players,
one of my guitars is a gorgeous and beautifully sounding vintage Gibson L-50 from 1948. I bought her with a DeArmond FHC pickup mounted of the same age. She produces a beautiful sound, but is prone to vicious feedback, so the volume knob needs to be managed rigorously to keep the volume down. But this is not what drove me to want to convert her.
I was initially considering converting her with a Charlie Christian pickup, to end up with something like an ES-150. This would of course require permanent modification surgery, with no way back. I don't know if I am ready to cut into a 75 year old lady. Would you consider doing it or is there someone you know who did it?
This made me focus on a search for non-invasive alternatives, which led me to these pickups, hand wound in the usa, that are attached externally to your guitar top, are specifically made for archtops and are really high quality. Enter Krivo micro stealth PAF and Krivo mini humbucker. KRIVO PICKUPS - Home
There is a dealer for Europe in France, so that is handy.
Krivo micro stealth PAF avec jack interne - Boutique - Le Niglo
Krivo mini HumBucker Black Gold - Boutique - Le NigloDoes anyone have experience with these or know of any alternatives? Which of the 2 would be best for my guitar?
Many thanks,
Jazz on
Last edited by outaspaceman; 07-17-2023 at 10:18 AM.
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07-16-202306:48 AM
I'm not sure another floating pickup is going to do anything to tame feedback. Depending on how you define "vicious feedback", a hard-mounted pickup might not be much better. I'd look into eq, and the guitar's position with relation to the amp. The problem you're trying to solve is what drove Les & Leo to do what they did.
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Hi Customxke, thanks for your reply. My feedback remark was more for information than anything else. It is not an issue that I need to tackle or get rid of. I am ideally looking for someone who has experience with or ideas regarding a conversion and/or the Krivo pickups I mentioned.
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1937 Gibson ES-150 Tribute Guitar
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Might not be much help, but…
I have a 1952 L-5C that recently had a Pete Biltoft replica CC pickup installed on it. It’s a floater, mounted off the pick guard.
I was hesitant to have a hole
cut in the top. I did that once before to a 1967 L-5C for a single HB.Tom
Last edited by TAA; 07-17-2023 at 11:20 PM.
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You can delete them, if you want ....
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"Delete them"? What do you mean? I don't understand, sorry.
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Thank you ICR for the link to that thread. Most enlightening and an amazing job on that conversion.
I did something similar a few years ago with a cheapie (75 euro) 1950s Egmond model 36 that had a collapsed top and needed a brace repaired. I took advantage of that issue to install a mini humbucker with tone and volume controls. It is a fun diminutive jazz box now. I was very happy with the outcome, but it is nothing compared to your level of attention to detail.
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For #7
In my fumbling to add the L-5 photo, a few more non-guitar photos came along for the ride.
So I posted an “apology” for the mess-up and #6 said I could delete them.I finally found a way, in the editing area, to remove the unwanted photos, which I did.
Hope this makes sense!
Tom
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Hi Tom, Now I get it!
Nice pic of that L5 that did make it. Thanks for sharing. I can imagine the guitar sounds really nice and warm with that pup.Reply With Quote
I learned on an L50 with that exact pickup. And mine fed back viciously too.
My first thought would be to try to get a thinner pickup that could slide further towards the fingerboard. Might sound better, but won't help feedback.
As I understand it, controlling feedback may require damping the vibration of the top of the guitar, or not overstimulating it in the first place. So, for example, amp positioning can help. But, after that, it's damping. Covering the F holes is the typical approach, and can be done without modifying the guitar. I have read, but not tried, that blowing up ordinary party balloons inside the guitar can work. Cheap, barely any weight, completely reversible. Appealing solution - if it works.
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I have a DBX Feedback Suppressor on my buy list.
However I just use a different guitar when I want/need to push volume.
It looks like the feedback suppression has become a bit more sophisticated over the last number of years.
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