First the vintage wound alnico III and IV pickups in this vid below.
Secondly these 4seasons hand wound alnico V and iV humbuckers
After receiving my 4seasons pickups from Bob at www.4seasonspickups.com and decided I was going put the two pickups into the bridges of two guitars but changed my mind and paired them ..hmm which guitar gets the new pups? , Ibanez stock pickups are pretty lame so Ibanez it is.
These pickups have a bucketload of character , response , variation and versatile for all genres of music styles.
I'll be brutally honest I would never have considered any pickup other that what I know , Dimarzio's and Duncans, but after watching both Milan Polak and Joop Wolters I decided I'd go E.U instead of U.S and what a good move that was .
So after testing the more powerfull of the two alnico Vin the bridge of my rg1570 with stock V7 V8 I was pleased to say this;
The 4season kicks the butt of any pickup I own for 1 variable tone via volume and tone pot adjustment and fat beefy tones , my dimarzio evolution which is great a cuts through anything is very 1 dimensional , the 4s will do that and also do what the Fred will do ( satches design) with just 1 pickup....not bad hey?
Tone
I used 1 amp setting flat response , enough gain to saturate it fully and left it there , I used the tone knob to change the character of my bridge 4s IV
and it did mellow , jazzy , to surfing with the alien all with volume and tone .
This RG has no high pass capacitor on it and the 4s kept its high with the volume rolled off and did get warmer as I rolled the tone off .
From warm fat LP blues and even strat-esq single coil split -to cutting metal was all just a tone roll away (see the vid , its all 1 amp setting)
VALUE
These pickups are hand wound and for the same price as a machine made dimarzio but don't forget for this they can be custom tailored to your specs.
If you want a split or phase or just tons of output, If you want a single coil double wound and all wax sealed so no squealing .
These are professional custom shop pickups often by your own specs so quite unique for exactly the same as a manufactured clone pickups that everyone else has- thus the same sounding guitars .
Resurrection
My RG was a backup axe ...backing up a JEM7VW it was not going to be really up to par but better that trying to change a string quick ....however now the RG is not only plenty good enough but has become a "go to" tone in its own right .
I was nearly was going to sell it , but it's been resurrected now as will the next guitar the VIII goes in.
I recommend this pickup for your project of to beef up a thin sounding bridge, if I change amp settings there is nothing this pickup can't do.
BUY ONE !! (or two even)
Contact Bob Gariel by visiting www.4seasonspickups.com
or [email protected]
These pickups have a bucketload of character , response , variation and versatile for all genres of music styles.
I'll be brutally honest I would never have considered any pickup other that what I know , Dimarzio's and Duncans, but after watching both Milan Polak and Joop Wolters I decided I'd go E.U instead of U.S and what a good move that was .
So after testing the more powerfull of the two alnico Vin the bridge of my rg1570 with stock V7 V8 I was pleased to say this;
The 4season kicks the butt of any pickup I own for 1 variable tone via volume and tone pot adjustment and fat beefy tones , my dimarzio evolution which is great a cuts through anything is very 1 dimensional , the 4s will do that and also do what the Fred will do ( satches design) with just 1 pickup....not bad hey?
Tone
I used 1 amp setting flat response , enough gain to saturate it fully and left it there , I used the tone knob to change the character of my bridge 4s IV
and it did mellow , jazzy , to surfing with the alien all with volume and tone .
This RG has no high pass capacitor on it and the 4s kept its high with the volume rolled off and did get warmer as I rolled the tone off .
From warm fat LP blues and even strat-esq single coil split -to cutting metal was all just a tone roll away (see the vid , its all 1 amp setting)
VALUE
These pickups are hand wound and for the same price as a machine made dimarzio but don't forget for this they can be custom tailored to your specs.
If you want a split or phase or just tons of output, If you want a single coil double wound and all wax sealed so no squealing .
These are professional custom shop pickups often by your own specs so quite unique for exactly the same as a manufactured clone pickups that everyone else has- thus the same sounding guitars .
Resurrection
My RG was a backup axe ...backing up a JEM7VW it was not going to be really up to par but better that trying to change a string quick ....however now the RG is not only plenty good enough but has become a "go to" tone in its own right .
I was nearly was going to sell it , but it's been resurrected now as will the next guitar the VIII goes in.
I recommend this pickup for your project of to beef up a thin sounding bridge, if I change amp settings there is nothing this pickup can't do.
BUY ONE !! (or two even)
Contact Bob Gariel by visiting www.4seasonspickups.com
or [email protected]
THE PAIR REVIEW
This is a review of the two pickups Alinco IV and IV as a pair
You may have seen the review of the Bridge Pickup , that was on the Alnico V from 4seasons .
Well I had planned to use them in two guitars but was so very impressed with the quality that I had to pair them up in the same guitar.
THE GUITAR
The guitar is an Ibanez 2006 prestige rg1570 and was (and I do highight WAS) a backup for an Ibanez Jem7vw . This guitar wasn't my favourite and had a passable tone from the stock V7V8 pickups.
Now it has been given a new lease of life and the fat sound of the alnico IV which is slightly less powerful yet fuller that the V model and the "Joop Wolters" Signature set , I shudder to think what they have under the hood IV and III models, which is this review topic , are just superb.
Now I will give you a rough sound demo vids of the guitar straight into a low watt valve amp . no compression just pure guitar.
The first is from the first review and the second vid the pair and more metal-ish , this has the new front pickup and I switch from both with a little wah in there .
THE VERDICT Guilty of very good tone !!! 4season alnico iV is a superb match pairing with the V , its got more mids and warmer its just as powerful , and I would imagine makes a great (beck trem-bucker vibe bridge pup too with more grunt)
The IV has no volume drop as the guitar did when I had the stock pickups , the bridge because quite thin and lower in volume.
Switching to the bridge now give me a cutting through sound which thins out NOT at all , in fact has just as much fat .
I can't put into words how amazing it is to have a set of pickups hand wound for me , you hear of many artists who have hand wound pickups and from their tests we have pickups thats are on the shelves.
For a hand wound custom pickup a hundred euro's is peanuts , try to get prs to hand wind you a pup for that price !!
Bob Gabriel at 4seasons.com has a vast experience from his father as an army electrical engineer , passed down to him when his guitar broke including pickups , they fixed it and he's been making guitar pickups ever since
4S vrs Dimarzio
No contest - they kill my evolutions but its a matter of taste
4s vrs Duncans
on an Ibanez Ive got a fat les paul with duncan 59's
and the 4s rocks fatter in an basswood body and floyd ...they just do
4s vrs Emg's
Well the 4s does not do what the actives do ....but they do, do more than the 81 85's . Emgs are great and I love them , but they are what they are and its pretty all or nothing with those things.
The 4seasons have a whole different character and many sweet spots around tone and volume changes . Like the Emg's and DM DC , they keep the highs at low levels but warm up with tone rolled off rather than mush up , they can go from clean to crunch to fully saturated at the turn of the volume, and there tons on tap.
These are by far the best pickups Ive owned and I've owned alot .
The pickups are the same price as a factory pickup that everyone else has , the 4s is a beast of a tone that makes valves and effects units sing with creamy lush leads and growling barking rhythm, with a ton of variables and great flexibility.
"have no dought people will ask whats in my ibanez when they hear it"
You may have seen the review of the Bridge Pickup , that was on the Alnico V from 4seasons .
Well I had planned to use them in two guitars but was so very impressed with the quality that I had to pair them up in the same guitar.
THE GUITAR
The guitar is an Ibanez 2006 prestige rg1570 and was (and I do highight WAS) a backup for an Ibanez Jem7vw . This guitar wasn't my favourite and had a passable tone from the stock V7V8 pickups.
Now it has been given a new lease of life and the fat sound of the alnico IV which is slightly less powerful yet fuller that the V model and the "Joop Wolters" Signature set , I shudder to think what they have under the hood IV and III models, which is this review topic , are just superb.
Now I will give you a rough sound demo vids of the guitar straight into a low watt valve amp . no compression just pure guitar.
The first is from the first review and the second vid the pair and more metal-ish , this has the new front pickup and I switch from both with a little wah in there .
THE VERDICT Guilty of very good tone !!! 4season alnico iV is a superb match pairing with the V , its got more mids and warmer its just as powerful , and I would imagine makes a great (beck trem-bucker vibe bridge pup too with more grunt)
The IV has no volume drop as the guitar did when I had the stock pickups , the bridge because quite thin and lower in volume.
Switching to the bridge now give me a cutting through sound which thins out NOT at all , in fact has just as much fat .
I can't put into words how amazing it is to have a set of pickups hand wound for me , you hear of many artists who have hand wound pickups and from their tests we have pickups thats are on the shelves.
For a hand wound custom pickup a hundred euro's is peanuts , try to get prs to hand wind you a pup for that price !!
Bob Gabriel at 4seasons.com has a vast experience from his father as an army electrical engineer , passed down to him when his guitar broke including pickups , they fixed it and he's been making guitar pickups ever since
4S vrs Dimarzio
No contest - they kill my evolutions but its a matter of taste
4s vrs Duncans
on an Ibanez Ive got a fat les paul with duncan 59's
and the 4s rocks fatter in an basswood body and floyd ...they just do
4s vrs Emg's
Well the 4s does not do what the actives do ....but they do, do more than the 81 85's . Emgs are great and I love them , but they are what they are and its pretty all or nothing with those things.
The 4seasons have a whole different character and many sweet spots around tone and volume changes . Like the Emg's and DM DC , they keep the highs at low levels but warm up with tone rolled off rather than mush up , they can go from clean to crunch to fully saturated at the turn of the volume, and there tons on tap.
These are by far the best pickups Ive owned and I've owned alot .
The pickups are the same price as a factory pickup that everyone else has , the 4s is a beast of a tone that makes valves and effects units sing with creamy lush leads and growling barking rhythm, with a ton of variables and great flexibility.
"have no dought people will ask whats in my ibanez when they hear it"