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**PowerTube** · 02-27-2003, 08:03 AM

Re: Pickups that must be heard to be beleived

Here's the only Web info I can find:

It's in a foreign language, so you'll need to translate

**Inazone** · 02-27-2003, 10:49 AM

Re: Pickups that must be heard to be beleived

I saw some APC pickups in a JB Player guitar at a Music Go Round store recently. Some sort of archtop super-Strat shape, dark brown trans finish, actually pretty nice.

**holycross1** · 02-27-2003, 11:56 AM

Re: Pickups that must be heard to be beleived

J.B. Player put them in their guitars for a while, They had a reveiw in one of the guitar magazines a few years back and got great reveiws on the tone. J.B. Player has always struggled to get any share of the market. I think we can all probably remember when they made a soloist copy with a nady wirless installed on the guitar.
I think it was 88" or 89'.
Any ways APC had a big ass logo that covered the pickup then. Now its in the lower left hand corner, opposite of an EMG.
That website is german I think. But that is the only one out there.
The european market has always embrased new stuff like these pickups.
I found an old article in the whammy bar section of guitar world back in the early 90's that said APC was taking fender to court for their patent on lace sencors. It seems that Don Lace sold half of his brothers design as his own. "Mel" who owns APC got a hold of the sencor and took it apart to see how his brother did it, and surprise.
I kind of thought sencers were just short of being the perfect pickup, and to damn expensive.
So what does the whole design do? I thought.
When I tried them I had a Les Paul with EMG's in it, and a couple of dinky reverses with tone zone in the bridges and fred's in the neck.
I imeediatly switched out my second best dinky and compared them.
Its true that EMG's have a flat frequency respnce to an extent but the preamps alter the curve for tone.
I started by playing my guitar unplugged so I could listen to the guitars natural acoustic dynamics. And then I did the same with my other dinky and Les Paul. I do this to get a good idea of what the pickup is actually picking up, and what its adding of its own.
When I plugged in the dimarzio loaded dinky I pretty much already knew the guitar but I didn't here a whole lot of the guitars dynamics. The Tone zone was punchy and big "I thought". The only draw back was the magnet was so strong and focused on the bottom of the string it killed the sustain of this guitar. Thats the science of vibration and magnets.
I played my Les Paul and it had so much more of the guitars dynamics but that sterile sound just did'nt work for any thing but Zakk and Metallica.
But I still jammed on this guitar alot then.
Then I plugged in my APC loaded Dinky and had to catch my breath. This guitar made the Paul sound like it was made of ply wood. The bridge pickup was the persuader Lead in the bridge and a sphirinx in the neck. Holy toledo.
It was amazing just how tru to the dynamics of the guitar it was. Its not that the output was that sensitive its that the pickup was reading the whole string all the way around. Plus somehow the magnet doesn't have to be as strong to get the output, so all my sustain was back with reinforcments.
I played through a Marshall Half stack " the only choice for a Jackson guitar" and all the Mudd that Every pickup I had played untill then was gone. It was like I had added a sonic maximizer and high class compressor to the amp, but I didn,t use that stuff then.
It had been as if Jesus himself said in this pickup am well pleased.
I know I am gushing, but these things have changed my entire concept of guitar tone.
Zakk could improve with these!!!!!!
Any ways I have sold guitars since then and have used them in all but two guitar's since then. and I am just waiting on tax money right now to by a load more. I am greatfull to APC and just wanted to turn you guys on to a great thing.
EMG's are OK and all but things have improved in the technowlegies since they discovered low impedence. And APC's don't use batteries.
If you should try to add a Persuader lead DRX to the bridge of your afterburner equiped DKMG or DKMGT, your amp had better be able to handle the input load or you will need to have your afterburner taken out. This is the highest output pickup on the market.
I'm apologize for taking up so much space but this is just to awsome to keep to myself anymore. <font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">And with these hells and our heavens so few inches apart we must be awfully small and not as strong as we think we are

**toejam** · 02-27-2003, 12:24 PM

Re: Pickups that must be heard to be beleived

The DiMarzio X2N kicks the EMG 81's ass anyway! Though, I love my EMGs and think the 85 rules!! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

BTW, the Adder Plus Corp. has been around for awhile and used to advertise in guitar magazines, that's how I heard of them and their pickups. Don't know if they still advertise or not.

[ February 27, 2003, 11:29 AM: Message edited by: toejam ]

**Ozz666** · 02-27-2003, 03:00 PM

Re: Pickups that must be heard to be beleived

You've got my attention now! I'm a loyal EMG guy...Des Plaines is only about a half hour from me...I think I'm gonna have to give APC a call and see if I can stop over there and take some of these pups for a test drive.

- Joel

**Sunbane** · 02-27-2003, 03:27 PM

Re: Pickups that must be heard to be beleived

I'll have to try those. They aren't very expensive either - about 1/2 the price of EMG's.

BTW, the website is in Swedish, which is my native language. The descriptions are kinda corny though.

'bane

[ February 27, 2003, 02:35 PM: Message edited by: Sunbane ]

**Ozz666** · 02-27-2003, 03:33 PM

Re: Pickups that must be heard to be beleived

I just got off the phone with Mel at APC...what a nice guy. He recommended the Persuader Lead for the neck and the Persuader Lead Custom for the Bridge for the type of music I play (metal). From everything he said I'm really excited. He said the Lead is $85 and the Lead Custom is $90...not bad.

- Joel

**Sunbane** · 02-27-2003, 03:41 PM

Re: Pickups that must be heard to be beleived

A question for those of you who have used APC's:

How well do they respond to artificial harmonics, compared to the EMG 81/85? One of the things I really like about the EMG's is the ease of producing powerful "squeals".

'bane

**Genebaby** · 02-27-2003, 05:26 PM

Re: Pickups that must be heard to be beleived

Holycross1, did you post about the Adder pickups on the old JCF Ezboard? I remember a post like this and I got all excited. Thru diligant hunting I found an email address for those guys and asked about their pickups and info on them so I could purchase some, as I was very interested in them (still am). Well, it took months before a reply came and I replied with my address for into to be sent but have heard nothing since. I had forgotten about them until today. Maybe they should do some advertising? They should at least have a web page in English.

That being said I still like the sound of the pickups. If I was in the US, I'd call the toll free number.

**Ozz666** · 02-27-2003, 05:58 PM

Re: Pickups that must be heard to be beleived

Hey Vic,
Mel at APC said they've got some description sheets...I'll scan whatever I get in and email it over to ya. I'd like to pickup a pair of these Persuaders! Mel says if you're not happy with them then send them back (just don't cut the leads)...he says that only 1 time they ever had someone send them back...and it was a guy who tried to put them in a Jackson because this Jackson had a hum cavity that was routed too small to fit the pups...even the pickup bezels were too small to fit the pups. Wacky...but these sound really appetizing!

- Joel

**Genebaby** · 02-27-2003, 06:21 PM

Re: Pickups that must be heard to be beleived

Cool, thanx Joel! [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Descriptions of the model range would be great! I just hope they're not so good I wanna put em in all my guitars!! Do you know if any have 4 wire leads for splitting functions?

**Ozz666** · 02-27-2003, 06:48 PM

Re: Pickups that must be heard to be beleived

Hey no problemo bud. Actually Mel did indeed say they were 5 wire leads I believe....so they can be split...lots of possibilities. I'm hoping the same thing....I don't have enough cahs to equip all the axes with them [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

- Joel

**holycross1** · 02-27-2003, 08:13 PM

Re: Pickups that must be heard to be beleived

Hey I,m back.
Harmonics bloom where you didn't know you had them. and that Zakk trick is all to easy on the persuader lead DRX. As for the size I had to step route my Ibanez RG750. Now I just got a first generation fusion Xl with the inlayed logo and ebony fingerboard. And I may have to rout the cavity a bit deeper. I didn't have to with my dinkies when I had them. But they were step routed already for direct mounting. I guess it depends on the guitar.

**holycross1** · 02-27-2003, 08:20 PM

Re: Pickups that must be heard to be beleived

I posted back in early "02" and then my gig went sour in Branson Missouri and the cashola went south. I was forced to sale things and move to my wifes home of Dothan Alabama.
I have just got my stuff back up where I can play again.
Mel is a great guy, and can talk real frank.

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