Put toasters on my 620?

octagon · Post by **octagon** » Sun Oct 16, 2005 6:53 am

I have an 1983 620 with Higains that sound great,very full and rich.The only thing is,to my ears,I can't get that classic glassy jangle from these pickups.I have been thinking about changing these pickups for a pair of the new toasters.What do you think?Good idea,bad idea?

tony_carey · Post by **tony_carey** » Sun Oct 16, 2005 8:04 am

"I have an 1983 620 with Higains that sound great,very full and rich"

I think you've answered your own question Mitch!

octagon · Post by **octagon** » Sun Oct 16, 2005 9:50 am

Only thing is,full and rich is not the sound that I want with this guitar.I want a more trebley jangley sound.

octagon · Post by **octagon** » Tue Oct 18, 2005 8:13 am

Does anyone want to buy my 80's Higains if I put toasters on my 620?

sloop_john_b · Post by **sloop_john_b** » Tue Oct 18, 2005 9:32 am

Mitch, there was a thread about this (jangle) recently.

Jangle has a lot to do with your amp/amp settings. What are you using? Also, compression tends to help too.

octagon · Post by **octagon** » Tue Oct 18, 2005 10:46 am

Thanks for your post John,I have a Vox AD30VT which has a built in compression effect.Maybe this is not the best but I get more Jangle from my MIK Casino than either my 620 or 330/12(also has Higains)using the same settings.

doctorwho · Post by **doctorwho** » Tue Oct 18, 2005 2:23 pm

Mitch, have you tried picking the strings close to the bridge? I have found that where one hits the strings can make a big difference in the resulting sound. When I play the lead to Day Tripper on my 1981 460 BG with high-gains, I use the bridge pickup and hit the strings very close to the bridge; the result is a pretty good mimic of the original sound.

octagon · Post by **octagon** » Tue Oct 18, 2005 3:58 pm

Thanks for your post Gary.Let me ask you this,is there any reason why I shouldn't swap pickups on my guitar?Does the 620 sound better with HiGains than Toasters?

beefandbones · Post by **beefandbones** » Thu Oct 20, 2005 11:00 am

I'd try some flatwounds too. I find that flats bring out the jangle and they're cheaper than $200 for toasters. Flats will sacrifice some treble, ironically, but it'll give you a nice 'ping'-y retro sound that you can't get with rounds.

But the pickup spacing is 'right' for toasters, so that's always an option, too.

octagon · Post by **octagon** » Thu Oct 20, 2005 11:21 am

Thanks for the post Ethan!Actually I already have a pair of toasters so I have decided i'm going to put them on my 620.If I don't like the way they sound I can put the HiGains back.May be I should get a set of flatwounds also but I have to wait until I wear out the Rickenbacker strings I just put on.

kcole4001 · Post by **kcole4001** » Thu Oct 20, 2005 11:44 am

What's you're opinion of the Vox amp? I'm looking for a tube amp & the amp modeling feature seems like a good bid for versatility. It does need to jangle, though. I was looking at the AD50VT & AD100VT. they seem reasonably priced.

octagon · Post by **octagon** » Thu Oct 20, 2005 12:20 pm

I have an Vox AD30VT and I love it.It can jangle or growl and it's great bedroom amp too as it has a power pot on the back so you can get that nice distortion with out disturbing your neighbors.

kcole4001 · Post by **kcole4001** » Thu Oct 20, 2005 12:44 pm

Thanks Mitch, I think the 50 & 100 are just basically the same amp with more power, that's why I was curious. That power cut in either switch or pot is great feature, particularly in a more powerful amp. You don't always want/need 50 or 100 watts on stage. Your hearing never grows back!

octagon · Post by **octagon** » Mon Oct 24, 2005 2:52 pm

Your welcome Kevin!Hey check it out,I put toasters on my 620:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/fuzztone65/toast5_edited.jpg