Posted By Hiroshi on April 8, 2012

So, maybe you have been hearing people talk about “active pickups” and are wondering what they are talking about?

Well, worry no more, today we are going on a journey to active pickup land, and hopefully I can help you with your pickup quandary.

To start, you need to know what a regular non active or passive pickups is.  A passive pickup is a pickup that through a magnetic coil or some other means creates an electric signal from the vibrations of the strings and transmits it to an amplifier so the volume can be increased and/or recorded.  This pickup works on its own without any further assistance.

The “active” part of an active pickup has a thing called a pre-amplifier which is located either on the pickup or in the control cavity of the guitar.  What it does is alter the signal, eq and output before the signal goes to the amplifier.  What this means for you is that (depending on the model) aside from your normal volume and tone control, you could possibly have low, mid, and high control as well.

There are draw backs though with active pickups.  They require a power source.  Also, if the system runs on a 9 volt, the way the system saves power is that when the instrument is unplugged, the circuit is disconnected.  So if you leave the cable in the instrument while not playing it, the battery will drain faster than normal.

Another pro/con, depending on who you talk to, active pickups change the sound of the instrument.  This also goes for any pickup change, but it is worth stating.  The hard part is that the sound change is extremely subjective so the best thing to do if you can is to try it out for your self and form your own opinion.  Secondly active pickups cut out a lot of background noise associated with passive pickups so if you are in a magnetically “noisy” area they might help.

Hopefully this article has educated and informed you about active pickups, and helped guide you in the direction you desire.  If you still want to try out a guitar with active pickups we usually have one at our stores so give us a call or come on down and check us out.

Category: Hey it's Hiroshi, News
Tags: accesories, active, bass, emg, guitar, info, puckups

Posted By Hiroshi on March 11, 2012

Hello good people,

I think every one at some point has thought.

“what are frets made of?”

and to answer your question, frets have been made of almost everything.  From string, wood, various metals, even quartz…yes quartz the mineral.  Today though we are going to focus on the most common fret material used, nickel silver frets.

 

Nickel silver also known as German silver has been used as far back as the 1700′s  for silverware, jewlery, brass instruments, and counterfeit coins.  The “silver” in the name is descriptive of the color not the actual makeup of the alloy.  The alloy is a mix of copper, nickel, and zinc.  It has been popular because of it durability and workability, which is probably the same reason why it became popular for use on guitars.

Things that different manufacturers change are the content of nickel in the alloy which changes the hardness and the size of the frets.  Sizes can range from super small vintage size to gigantic ( at one point I saw some frets that were almost 1/4th of an inch tall!!).  These changes can alter tone and playability.

 

Anatomy of a fret

Well I hope you learned something new from this article and I am looking to make more like them so keep an eye open for them.  Until then though, if you have any questions, please give us a call at 808-591-0999.  Don’t FRET, more articles like this to come.

Category: Hey it's Hiroshi, News
Tags: acoustic, frets, guitar

Posted By Hiroshi on February 6, 2012

Hi everyone Just wanted to let you know that I am going to be Easy Music Centers new guitar tech.

Some of you might of have known me as the electric guitar guy at the king street location.

I was chosen to become the new guitar tech after the position became open.  Previously before I became the tech I always enjoyed working on my own guitars and experimenting with repairs and modifications.

The school I went to was the Mountain view Luthier school and Guitar works which is located north of Bellingham Washington by the Canadian border .  There they went over things like basic setup, fret dressing, fret replacement, nut and saddle fabrication, and introduced me to more advanced concepts of repair like fixing broken necks and cracked sound boards on acoustics.

The Instructors workbench

The student work area

Doing some fret dressing

One of the steps to removing a guitar neck

    So now I am here to help you with your guitar problems.

 

I can do

-setups

-restrings

-tuner installation

- Electric guitar pickup replacement

-electronics work

-some fret work

-Strap button installs

If you have any questions feel free to give us a call at 808-591-0999

 

Category: Hey it's Hiroshi
Tags: guitar, guitar tech, repair, setup

Posted By Hiroshi on September 17, 2011

Are the printed instructions mystifying you?  Or, did you throw the instructions away and now have no idea how to put it together?  Fear not for I have taken this burden upon myself to guide you on to Rock and Roller Multi- cart enlightenment  so watch this here talking picture and be edified .

Category: Featured Products, Hey it's Hiroshi, How To, Product Videos
Tags: accessories, accessorries, accessory, acessories, how to, multi cart, rock, rock n roller, roller

Posted By Hiroshi on August 26, 2011

Hey everyone! Have you been looking for a new guitar but you don’t want to go too far out of your comfort zone?  Well then check this guitar out!

This guitar is a different take on a very well known guitar model but with some really cool features that set it apart.

In this video we will go over the features of this guitar like its contoured heel, Seymour Duncan pickups, Wilkinson bridge, and bone nut. along with demoing the pickups in different positions in both an overdrive and clean setting.

Category: Hey it's Hiroshi, Product Videos
Tags: electric guitar, esp, guitars, LTD, seymour duncan, strat, vintage plus

Posted By Hiroshi on July 6, 2011

(Pictured Above)   A Pickup crafted by a wizard’s magic and dragons Breath

Hey everyone so if you were ever wondering about the basic parts and function of a pickup then check out this video.

Category: Hey it's Hiroshi, How To
Tags: pickups, single coil, tech

Posted By Hiroshi on December 5, 2010

So if you are wondering how you can add a new dimension to your over all sound or you just want to make some obnoxious noises grab you dd3 pull up a chair and unleash the weird!

Category: Hey it's Hiroshi, Product Videos
Tags: boss, dd-3, dd3, delay, roland

Posted By Hiroshi on April 28, 2010

Aquila strings! They chop down the rare Italian nylon tree and hew its bark then stew it in a slurry of acrid chemicals…not really. Enjoy!

Category: Hey it's Hiroshi
Tags: accessory, aquila strings, nylgut