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Thread started 11/11/18 12:00am

williamb610

Prince Estate needs to put out Prince pickups for guitars

Prince had the coolest sounds on guitar. I think the Prince estate needs to brand their own set of Prince pickups like Slash and Eddie Van Halen.

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Reply #1 posted 11/11/18 12:16am

PurpleDorothy

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williamb610 said:

Prince had the coolest sounds on guitar. I think the Prince estate needs to brand their own set of Prince pickups like Slash and Eddie Van Halen.





Do you mean effects pedals? The pickups pick up the sound to be amplified. Pedals such as reverb or distortion change the sound altogether. Still none of these gadgets are going to make anyone play like Prince. yoda lol
[Edited 11/11/18 0:25am]
"As long as I can hear you smilin' baby
You won't hear my tears."
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Reply #2 posted 11/11/18 1:06am

Kares

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williamb610 said:

Prince had the coolest sounds on guitar. I think the Prince estate needs to brand their own set of Prince pickups like Slash and Eddie Van Halen.

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No, the estate needs to concentrate on releasing the music, continuing Prince's philantropy and spreading the word about the incredible depths of his legacy – not on sticking his name on even more crap to sell.
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Prince has consistently rejected the idea of endorsing any gear throughout his life and it's the last thing the estate should start doing. The sound is "in the fingers" anyway, and I doubt you can tell from a Prince recording of him playing his favourite Mad Cat whether the guitar had the original Keiyo, or the Kinmans or the Fender pickups installed at the time of recording.

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Besides, there's a difference between developing an instrument or piece of gear together with an artist – and simply rebranding a standard production model just because someone famous has been using it. Prince has used many different pickups in his guitars throughout his career.
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[Edited 11/11/18 1:29am]

Friends don't let friends clap on 1 and 3.

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Reply #3 posted 11/11/18 9:08am

PurpleDorothy

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Kares said:



williamb610 said:


Prince had the coolest sounds on guitar. I think the Prince estate needs to brand their own set of Prince pickups like Slash and Eddie Van Halen.





.
No, the estate needs to concentrate on releasing the music, continuing Prince's philantropy and spreading the word about the incredible depths of his legacy – not on sticking his name on even more crap to sell.
.
Prince has consistently rejected the idea of endorsing any gear throughout his life and it's the last thing the estate should start doing. The sound is "in the fingers" anyway, and I doubt you can tell from a Prince recording of him playing his favourite Mad Cat whether the guitar had the original Keiyo, or the Kinmans or the Fender pickups installed at the time of recording.


.


Besides, there's a difference between developing an instrument or piece of gear together with an artist – and simply rebranding a standard production model just because someone famous has been using it. Prince has used many different pickups in his guitars throughout his career.
.

[Edited 11/11/18 1:29am]



I agree with you on all points. Especially the distribution of the music and preservation of his legacy. Just put the music out quickly. I'm 40 and I don't know if I will live to hear much of the unheard catalog, if they keep operating at this rate. Other fans are much older. We aren't going to live forever, so they are losing a good chunk of their market the longer they wait. I know Prince has some younger fans but I feel like there are far more in the youtube/digital generation that missed out on his music. If they don't promote and preserve his legacy they won't have a continuous market to sell all of the type of crap that they are currently branding with his logos.
In my previous post what I was getting at in not so many words, was that gear doesn't replace skill. I have been playing since I was 14 and will never sound like Prince, but that's okay. Everyone should have their own sound ( but if you can't play and choose to do so in public maybe you should be unplugged or have your pickups disconnected😉). I was also just pointing out the difference between what a pickup and a pedal does. It sure would be nice if they sold matching straps for the yellow, peach, and blue clouds though.
"As long as I can hear you smilin' baby
You won't hear my tears."
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Reply #4 posted 11/12/18 10:22am

PURPLEIZED3121

A perfect replica of the HS Anderson / Hohner MadCat would be better!

http://www.madcatguitars.com/

Vintage re-issue Mad Cat (version 1, discontinued)

Released in 2012, the original Mad Cat finally returned.
We tried our best to stay as close as possible to the original specifications. An original ‘70s Mad Cat was used as a reference model, and after extensive testing we finally settled to what we believe is a worthy successor, which even surpasses the original in some regards.
Subtle upgrades were performed :
Tuners were upgraded to Gotoh SG360 with a higher gear ratio
The original Keiyo pickups were upgraded to Bill Lawrence USA vintage S1/S3
The output jack is more sturdy, so no more signal drop-outs
All other specifications are equal to the ‘70s Mad Cats, we designed these guitars with the highest respect to the sound and feel of this legendary guitar.
Each one is hand built in the original Morris factory by Japanese craftsmen, and comes with a certificate of authenticity.

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Reply #5 posted 11/12/18 6:49pm

Musician9

Not being snarky, but your fingers and skills make your tone, not pickups. He played his distorted tone with far too little volume for my taste, although I liked his clean tone better, too many pedals going on as well, just my opinion that will be attacked soon with unnecessary vitriol. Seymour Duncan will never let you down though...
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Reply #6 posted 11/12/18 7:39pm

williamb610

Musician9 said:

Not being snarky, but your fingers and skills make your tone, not pickups. He played his distorted tone with far too little volume for my taste, although I liked his clean tone better, too many pedals going on as well, just my opinion that will be attacked soon with unnecessary vitriol. Seymour Duncan will never let you down though...


Thanks friend! I already decided to get the Seymour Duncan Slash Alnicos. Great minds think alike!
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Reply #7 posted 11/12/18 11:59pm

MoBettaBliss

Musician9 said:

Not being snarky, but your fingers and skills make your tone, not pickups.



they're not mutually exclusive

pickups have a SIGNIFICANT influence on your tone... to say otherwise is ignorant

i've changed pickups in guitars and the results have been well worth the time and investment to do so

i'm not saying it's not about fingers and skill... but if you don't think changing pickups can change your tone.... you're mistaken

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Reply #8 posted 11/13/18 5:03am

PURPLEIZED3121

MoBettaBliss said:

Musician9 said:

Not being snarky, but your fingers and skills make your tone, not pickups.



they're not mutually exclusive

pickups have a SIGNIFICANT influence on your tone... to say otherwise is ignorant

i've changed pickups in guitars and the results have been well worth the time and investment to do so

i'm not saying it's not about fingers and skill... but if you don't think changing pickups can change your tone.... you're mistaken

True...i am on PRS & the pick ups give it a beautiful, warm tone vs say a typical Fender strat which I find horribly twangy!

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Reply #9 posted 11/13/18 8:19pm

coldasice

Get every Boss pedal turn them all on 10 and you got his 94-95 tone.
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Reply #10 posted 11/13/18 11:51pm

SanDiegoFunkDa
ddy

Prince wasn't really a techie. He used EMG's bought off the shelf

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Reply #11 posted 11/14/18 5:17am

Kares

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SanDiegoFunkDaddy said:

Prince wasn't really a techie. He used EMG's bought off the shelf

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He has used many different pickups in his guitars. The Clouds and his custom Strats both had EMGs I believe, but his Hohner-branded Mad Cat originally came with Keiyo pickups, and then later those were replaced with Kinmans and eventually with Fender Strat Noiseless ones. The Vox he played in later years probably had the original Vox pickups it came with.
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So I really don't get which of these pickups are supposed to be rebranded with his name, and more importantly: why. But as I said it before, no, the estate absolutely should not step into this territory.
.

Friends don't let friends clap on 1 and 3.

The Paisley Park Vault spreadsheet: https://goo.gl/zzWHrU
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Reply #12 posted 11/14/18 11:05am

williamb610

Thanks for the input Kares, FunkDaddy, and PurpleIZE.

I've got more options to consider.

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Reply #13 posted 11/14/18 1:18pm

steakfinger

Prince used EMG pickups for his custom guitars and Fender Noiseless Strat pickups in his Hohner teles. Those are "Prince" pickups.

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Reply #14 posted 11/14/18 8:17pm

williamb610

steakfinger said:

Prince used EMG pickups for his custom guitars and Fender Noiseless Strat pickups in his Hohner teles. Those are "Prince" pickups.



Thanks, Steakfinger!
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Reply #15 posted 11/15/18 8:44am

Musician9

coldasice said:

Get every Boss pedal turn them all on 10 and you got his 94-95 tone.

You nailed it. It's hilarious he used those crap pedals till his death when there are myriad pedals far superior. I used BOSS when I was a beginner, then you discover they're not the only show in town. He was definitely not agearhead and I don't think he knew that much about guitars and technical aspects, that's why he went thrugh guitar techs like underwear, real players keep the same guy for decades. If he had issues and couldn't figure something out he fired you, like a little brat, same with his firing numerous sound engineers during a single tour that lasts less than 30 shows. P truly didn't know what he was doing a lot of the time...

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Reply #16 posted 11/16/18 9:50am

PURPLEIZED3121

Musician9 said:

coldasice said:

Get every Boss pedal turn them all on 10 and you got his 94-95 tone.

You nailed it. It's hilarious he used those crap pedals till his death when there are myriad pedals far superior. I used BOSS when I was a beginner, then you discover they're not the only show in town. He was definitely not agearhead and I don't think he knew that much about guitars and technical aspects, that's why he went thrugh guitar techs like underwear, real players keep the same guy for decades. If he had issues and couldn't figure something out he fired you, like a little brat, same with his firing numerous sound engineers during a single tour that lasts less than 30 shows. P truly didn't know what he was doing a lot of the time...

eek eek eek

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