McNelly V2 Stagger Swaggers: The Greatest All-Round Pickups?!

Описание: As is my way, I love rolling the dice with pickups in my guitars - and I recently came across a set that really piqued my interest whilst browsing the James' Home Of Tone website. He just so happened to have a set of McNelly Stagger Swagger V2's in stock, and in gold...perfect for my Les Paul Custom.

Finding out exactly what the Stagger Swaggers are is a bit tricky, because everybody seems to have a different take on how they work. But, they were initially reviewed when they first launched by Guitar.com - and their piece revealed the secrets.

Read that article here: https://guitar.com/reviews/mcnelly-pi...

Essentially, they are humbucking pickups with two hum-cancelling coils, though whilst they look like shrunken down Wide Range Humbuckers, they differ in only having six active pole pieces - one per string. Usually, WR Humbuckers have 12 pole pieces (only 6 are visible through the cover in the iconic stagger pattern) but by only having six (3 on each coil), the Staggers are actually much more similar to single coil pickups.

So, we have 'true' single coil pickups, with a beefier sound due to the double coils, and hum-cancelling properties. Cool, eh? On paper, they're like a greatest hits of everything we love about vintage pickups....and in the room, boy do they sound good! The clarity, dynamic range and top-end sizzle is pure single coil; but with a load of power behind them; and very little noise. One reviewer said they sound more similar to Gretsch Dynasonic pickups...and I'd be tempted to agree.

Today, I'll be putting them through their paces - through the usual variety of amplifiers and pedals - to see what tones I can coax out of them.

What do you think? Outstanding pickups? Or not for you? Comment below!

Amps:
Dr Z Z-Master
Vajra JTM45
Dr Z Z-Wreck
Orange Retro 50 Custom Shop
Morris Perplex'd (Modded)

Amps running into a Zilla Studio Pro 2x12 cabinet loaded with Celestion Gold & Fane A30 AlNiCo speakers. Recorded with Aston Spirit Condenser, '70s Sennheiser MD441 and sE RNR1 ribbon mics, with a Schoeps CMC6 room mic.

0:00 Intro Playing
1:16 Intro
3:44 Playing
12:02 Outro

[email protected]

Vector images by freepik.com