While the body/neck/and wood selection is the heart, soul, and tone of the instrument, the electronics are the brain and voice. How the pickups generate the signal, and how much signal they generate, and how the controls alter or shape the signal generated is equally as important as the wood, neck and body to the overall sound. You can easily spend a small fortune on the wood, neck, body, and hardware, only to mess it up by using the wrong (or worse, cheap, low quality) electronics package.
Here at AxCalibur, we recognize that no one electronics package will work equally well for all the different styles of music that our clientele will be playing. In that line of thinking, we offer up a smorgasbord of pickup manufacturers, switching options, and so on.
While EMG active pickup systems are standard equipment on every AxCalibur Industries guitar and bass,(see Why EMG) you are by no means limited to these systems. In addition to active EMG systems, EMG also offers passive systems, or, you can opt for something other than EMG entirely.
We offer the following lines of pickups as options for you to select from. Once again, only the highest quality manufacturers are offered.
Di Marzio
Seymour Duncan
Fender
Lace Sensor
Tom Anderson
Lollar
Benedeto
Gibson
TV Jones
Golden Age
In addition to these fine products, we also offer piezo pickup systems from Fishman, L.R. Baggs, and GraphTech for those who want to add an acoustic tone to their solidbodies.
As for switching and control systems, all EMG active systems come complete with the appropriate and corresponding pre amp systems that include volume, as well as expander and presence tone controls.
Non active systems of whatever manufacturer you choose will be impedance matched and wired with the highest quality 250k, 500k, and in some instances, 1000k ohm pots. Switches used include Super Switch, Megaswitch, Fender S1, Gibson, and Switchcraft. Only the highest quality miniatures (lab or spec grade) are used where applicable.
Standard equipment output jacks are Planet Waves and are gold plated for the best conductance. Switchcraft jacks are available as an option if you so choose at no additional charge.
Another AxCalibur Industries bench mark involves not only using only top quality parts such as capacitors (Bumblebee whenever available!!), but also the testing of each and every individual cap used prior to installation to make sure they fall within factory specs. This testing also extends to each and every potentiometer and switch prior to installation. If the factory says a cap is .022 microfarads +/- 10%, but it tests out at .030, it goes in the trash, period. If the factory says a pot is 250k ohms, but it tests out at 195, or 287, it too is trashed. All switches are tested across all poles to ensure proper operation. Any switch that fails is trashed.
Where pickups have adjustable pole pieces, these are adjusted to match the fretboard/string saddle/string radius for even signal generation.
Due to the virtually unlimited combination of pickup configurations, switching, coil splitting, etc., it is impossible to list each option here. Contact us so we can work out what is best for you. If you do not specify how you want your controls set up, they will be set up to industry standard configurations the same as the Les Paul, Fender Strat or Tele, etc. Just remember that these are the standard "default" configurations, and yes, you do have options to change these to your liking. Just give us a call, we will be glad to work with you.
Another option we offer with passive pickup systems is the addition of a "Black Ice" capacitance circuit. I works like a built in overdrive and is a really juicy option. Contact us for more information about this option.
It is extremely important that you take a little time and really think about these options. We cannot stress this enough. Different pickups have different dynamic and tonal properties and characteristics depending on factors that include number of coils, types of magnet materials, size of wire, number of windings, polarity, and much more. As a result, they yield different sounds in the end run. For example, if you are trying to get the Stevie Ray sound with a Les Paul style guitar loaded with a Zack Wylde pickup set bieng run through a Marshall stack, give it up, it won't happen. Conversely, if you are trying to get the Zack sound by playing a Strat on the neck pickup through a Deluxe Reverb, that ain't gonna happen either!!
Think about your main musical style, type of instrument, as well as your amp and effects chain. All of these must work in harmony to make the tone you seek. Where a Burstbucker may be just the ticket for a blues or blues/rock player, it would probably be too much for a smooth jazz player, and vice versa. As with all things, too much of a good thing isn't always a good thing. Be smart, be selective.
We are also now proud to say that we here at AxCalibur Industries are a Graphtech Authorized Dealer and Installation Center. This gives us more electronics options for both guitar and bass. With Graphtech's ground breaking Piezo bridge saddles and their Ghost Acoustiphonic Pre-amp and Hexaphonic MIDIPre-amp systems, there is no limit to the guitars versatilty. The Ghost system can be installed in just about every style of guitar, and works in conjunction with both active pickup systems such as the EMG, or passive systems such as Fender, Gibson, etc. The Ghost system can also be used as a stand alone system, or can be set up to play simultaneously with your other pickups. It can be used in either Stereo or Mono configurations. Unleash your instrument, and expand your repitoire' by adding the Ghost System.
