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Artisan Deluxe # 016 "Southpaw" |
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| So I've had #016
for a few years now have been very happy with the guitar. Admittedly, I am partial to
humbuckers at the bridge and usually drop Duncan Hotrails in all my Strats. I originally ordered #016 with 3 P90s. This was an experiment for me as I have never been a P90 player. Well, as it turns out, the experiment was a success and these Rio P90 pickups sound great (except for that standard P90 hum). However, lately I have been wondering what #016 would be like if had a “flamethrower” at the bridge. I wanted to try humbuckers in this one while I wait for #143 & #161. I had heard a little about the old Bill Lawrence pickups and how some high gain players like to use them. Well, I found an "original" L-500 pickup set for a good deal and snagged them. So last night I decided to break out the soldering iron and wire cutters and go for it. I was nervous because I have never messed with #016 but, no guts no glory. We’ll I cracked open the control cavity and saw how neatly Ron soldered and tie wrapped everything together. Crap, I’m never going to be able to do that good of a job. So, I ran to Radio Shack and got some tie wraps, decent wire strippers and a new temperature controllable iron and went to work last night. I find that 40/60 solder begins to flow pretty well at about 460-470 F. However, to unsolder a heavy joint such as braided wire on the back of a pot, I had to crank it up more. When I took the old P90 out, I was pleasantly surprised. The pickup mounting screws for the P90 were held to the pickup with locknuts. Good idea. In addition, the body had threaded brass inserts for these screws to thread into. And, for an added bonus, Ron had installed two more threaded brass inserts with mini humbucker spacing ! . . . Just in case  I was just grinning
when I saw that because I was worried I might have to drill something. Well now the job
just got easier, and I dropped the Lawrence-bucker in and screwed it into place. I managed
to resurrect my soldering skills enough to get the pickup wired in place too. Shined her
up with polish, oiled the board and put some shiny new D’Addarios back on and tuned
her up. This pickup sounds great and to my eyes, did not change to look of the guitar dramatically (which is what I was after). I spent some time noodling away through my Reinhardt 18 with pinch harmonics and crunch galore. Nice. I must admit, these pickups sound a little thinner than P90s and regular humbuckers, but with the increased output, I think they will work well for now. Check out the photo. I also added straplocks since I was just recently taught a harsh lesson about straps slipping off of strap buttons with another one of my guitars  Sometimes it’s the, hidden details like the little brass inserts under the pickup that really make these guitars a cut above . . . in addition to all the beautiful woods, inlays, etc. Thanks Ron. Just thought I’d share. Cheers -Dave |
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