More Improvements

We are starting to make a bigger improvment in the professional guitar reviews, on the official guitar buyers guide. We will be inlisting more help from guitar makers and performers to give these guitars a serious review. This is all starting to grow quite fast and expect the site to become quite the resource.

Stay tuned.

Burstbucker 1 and 2

Burstbucker 1 and 2

One of the most accurate paf tones from gibson, the BurstBucker are wound at an uneven rate and amount using some of the inconsistencies that are credited to original Gibson humbuckers from 1957-’62. Available in three output strengths, BurstBuckers are made with unpolished Alnico II magnets and unpotted coils that are wound to slightly different numbers of turns. While using two mismatched coils depletes a humbucking pickup’s noise-canceling abilities slightly, it also gives the pickup a little more edge—a sound that you could even say comes a little closer to single-coil bite—than can be achieved with perfectly balanced coils.

BurstBucker 1 (IM57A-NH) is slightly underwound, with medium ‘vintage’ output, and works well in both bridge and neck positions.

BurstBucker 2 (IM57B-NH) is wound in the range of Gibson’s ’57 Classic, with slightly hotter ‘vintage’ output than the BurstBucker #1, and works well in the bridge position with a BurstBucker #1 in the neck position.

The BurstBucker 1 is slightly under wound to achieve an output toward the lower-medium end of the PAF range, an output that brings it in just slightly below the ’57 Classic. It is intended for either position, but offers added clarity mixed with vowel-like tone in the neck position, with the added bonus of good volume balance when paired with a BurstBucker 2 in the bridge position. The 2 has a slightly hotter output in the range of the ’57 Classic, for more grind and sustain from the bridge position. Or, pair a BurstBucker 2 in the neck with a BurstBucker 3—the hottest of the trio—in the bridge, for a guitar that offers excellent balance and a vintage voice that is still accurate, but biased toward the hotter end of the PAF scale. All are available with gold-plated or German silver nickel-plated covers.

Review

Pros	Cons
1. Provides a beautiful paf/rock n roll tone and sound. 2. Comes in different designs to customize for a specific guitar. 3. Standard humbucker size interchangeable with other standard humbucker slots	1. Does not offer in the most favorable double white or double cream paf pickup styles. 2. Not easily attainable from guitar dealers and most of the time must be bought second hand out of a Gibson Les Paul. 3. Burstbucker 1 and 2 are not sold new with 4 conductor for coil splitting.

G&L Comanche Electric Guitar

G&L Comanche Electric Guitar

Features:

In Oct. of 2006 I custom ordered this one from G&L and by Feb. 2007 I received it, 3 tone sunburst with natural wood binding over top flamed maple on top of swamp ash, hard rock maple neck with the “c” shape(thicker, more sustain), finished with rubbed gun oil tint, then glossed, fret board is ebony. I personaly contacted G&L because I didn’t want the traditional 3 tone (yellow, red, black) banding. They said they would consult the painter and WOW, did they deliver! The yellow in the center is actually an amber and from there the colors fade and blend to the red then to the black. Looks like a southwestern sunset. Thanks G&L. Hardware and electronics are standard Comanche with a black pick guard. Why they get an 8 is explained below, I eventually couldn’t use the pick ups and as a big part of the features, it suffered a minor loss.

• Figured maple top
• Bird’s-eye maple neck
• Schaller locking tuners
• G&L dual-fulcrum bridge
• MFD (Magnetic Field Design) Z-coil pickups
• 25-1/2″ scale
• 1-5/8″ nut width

Sound:

I had this guitar for 6 months and I really worked with the tone knobs, pick up height, pole piece adjustment and could get some really good tones. One setting I used was one of the pickup combination with the high freq rolled completely off which gave me (I swear) an awesome parked wah) but because of the brightness of ceramic magnets and their tendency to be a little sterile and 2 dimensional, I thought my overall sound was not “stratty” enough and I missed the warmth and complexity of Alnico magnets. Z coils not bad, they are just not for me. I would like to see G&L do a hybrid of Alnico on the high 3 strings and ceramic on the bottom 3. Eventually I had to outsource some Alnico stacked single coil noiseless pick ups from Kinman in Australia (forgive me Leo) but it made all the difference.

Action, Fit, & Finish:

Even though I adjusted the hell out of the pick ups, looking for my sound and a slight string height adjustment. That is personal preference and not the fault of any set up. The set up out of the box was really professional. The guitar was flawless and beautiful and because they gave me what really amounted to a custom paint job at no extra charge, that put it over the top. I still remember opening the case for the first time, WOW. Kinda like getting the bra off your first real girlfriend, you just have to sit there and stare.
OK…I know, TMI. So they get a 10, especially for bringing back fond memories of my first set of boobies.

Reliability/Durability:

It’s been over a year a nothing bad has happened. Replaced button straps with locking ones. Strap came off during a gig (strap was at fault, not guitar) didn’t drop it though, but scared the hell out of me.