Hi all,
I finally decided to get off my lazy * and become a member. I own an Excalibur Indus w/ maple fretboard and I just got a phenomenal tone with it through my Voodoo Amps modified ADA MP-1 (more on that later, probably in the amp gear forum area).
In the Vigier guitar catalog, the Indus is described as having the "hottest" sound of the Excalibur range. I'm a bit confused about this. There are other guitars (like the Ultra) with really hot active pickups, EMG-81/85... the PAF Classics in the Indus are not that high output either. What exactly do you mean by hottest sound?
The reason I'm asking is I was thinking of getting another Indus (or another Excalibur) with "hotter" pickups... Clearly, I don't know much about guitar-building or the components of a good tone, but I'd have thought, all else being equal, pickups with higher output would make the sound "heavier"/"hotter"?
Also, the maple neck+fretboard seems to have a more "in your face" sound than a rosewood fretboard. Perhaps this is a factor too?
Thanks!
ps: Patrice, thanks for building awesome guitars. I was so tired of truss rod adjustments and heavy guitars... my back thanks you and now I can spend more time playing than tuning.
Excalibur Indus tone
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1Patrice Vigier
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- Joined: 01 Jan 1970 00:00
Thank you for your nice comments and tell around you how our guitars are good :=)For the sound we meant in the catalog, "the warmer sound", I'm not sure in English hottest means the same, can anybody confirm that?
When people say "hotter" about pickups, it means louder, so warm does not mean the same thing. We also use hot as a slang term for when you're working with electricity and the circuit is on. "Careful with that wire, it's hot." People who are into snakes also call venomous snakes hot.Lesson on English slang done :)
Thank you! That makes sense. It definitely is a warm sound. I am surprised by the bite the PAF Classics have, though. I'm not complaining! :)I'm always torn between maple and rosewood fretboards, too. I like the clarity and projection of maple but I also love the complex harmonics from rosewood. Maybe I will get myself an Excalibur Ultra or Special with a rosewood fretboard and then mix and match (I'm assuming that's possible, i.e., all Excalibur necks are the same).
Ah, to me all French women are "chaud"! :)Thank you for your explanation of maple vs rosewood fingerboard choices. Perhaps it is true that on stage, it doesn't make much of a difference but I've noticed a big difference at bedroom volumes... I can definitely hear the clarity and twang of the maple, vs the more les paul-ish sound of the rosewood. In fact, it gets even more les paul-ish if you use a mahogany neck. I find it interesting that most "Rock Gods" seem to use rosewood fingerboards (Satriani, Petrucci, Vai, Bumblefoot, Lane), though there are notable exceptions (Van Halen, Paul Gilbert, Christophe Godin, Ron Jarzombek, Jeff Loomis).The choice of direct mounted pickups (as in the ultra) as compared to floating pickups on the Indus and Custom - mounted on the pickguard - probably also affects tone. The direct mounted pickups seem to be borrowed from the Les Paul world while the floating pickups are borrowed from the Strat world and respectively affect the tone in those ways.Why am I obsessing over this so much?! I guess I'm looking for my dream guitar and I am not fortunate enough to live close to a Vigier dealer so I can go down and check them out. Uwe Salwender, we need a dealer in the Bay Area!