Original Stimer, Dupont stimer, Pêche à la mouche... Pick up blind test !

Fredo

End of the blind test:
Micro 1 is the "pêche à la mouche"
Micro 2 and 3 are the Stimers, the numbre 2 is the Dupont Stimer and the number 3 is the original Stimer.
Micro 4 is the Kent Armstrong.

Hi, I propose a blind test:
You can ear an original stimer, a Dupont stimer, pêche à la mouche and a Kent Armstrong pick up.


On the videos, the order is not the same:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRRH6pKtdmY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ks3beshkUa0

I record with a Compact 60 AER and a two Cyril Gaffiero guitars.



You can vote for the one you prefer here:
http://guitarejazzmanouche.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=29749

I will reveal wich pick up is the "micro 1", "micro 2" ... later.

Buco

Maybe set up a poll here too?
I went to the other site but can't find my way around it, gotta study French before.
I'd dismiss the first video for any comparison, since they're on different parts of the song and different strings so it kida unfair to compare.
I liked #4 in both, and it's different enough from the rest which makes me think it's the Kent A pickup. What I liked about it is it had the most tube like sound, that tube sag.
Though I wouldn't be disappointed with any of those.
In the second video #2 is also nice; warm, dark and it had a lot of sustain. #1 and 3 were similar. That makes me think 1 and 3 are different versions of Stimer and 2 is the Pêche.

Let us know when you reveal what's what.

Buco

flaco

Great experiment! Thanks for doing this. I'm excited to learn the identities. I agree with Buco that #4 sounds totally different than the others so it's probably the Kent Armstrong. One thing I noticed is over the Cm when you play up on the skinny E string numbers 1, 2, and 3 all get a lot quieter. This seems to happen worse to numbers 2 and 3 and less so to #1. That makes me wonder if #1 is the Peche, being a more modern design with potentially better string to string balance. On the lower strings I actually prefer the sound of #3 the best.

wim

Nice idea. I will check this out again with great interest when I have a quiet moment. I wish you had a guzz pickup in the mix too ...

MichaelHorowitz

@Buco I added a poll here as well.

Fredo

Michael, thanks for the poll...

wim

I like #1 and #3, then #2. I don't like #4.

I would rather hear them through a hot tube amp though. I don't dig the 'clean' electric sound in jazz manouche, when I have the pickup sound I want it to be dirty and overdriven.

Joli Gadjo

Yep, I agree with Buco. If the reproduction of the Stimers is well done, then 1 and 3 should be close enough to be both the Stimers. 2 is super warm like the Peche. Left would be #4 for the Kent...
What do I win?

Steveareno

I reckon 1-3 all sound very similar. Nice and smooth. I voted for No.3 (Stimer RI?).. No.4 seems to have less gain (probably the Kent Armstrong). I agree with wim: The AER amp is a little too clean for these IMHO. I'd like to hear them thru a Princeton, Champ, or similar small, tube amp. That's a nice looking sunburst D hole guitar!
Swang on,

Fredo

Steveareno wrote: »

The AER amp is a little too clean for these IMHO. I'd like to hear them thru a Princeton, Champ, or similar small, tube amp.

At the begining, I wanted to play with my Fender Blues Junior III Tweed, but I have a problem with tubes and I can't use it. So I take the AER, sorry! I'm agree with you about it!

Steveareno wrote: »

That's a nice looking sunburst D hole guitar!

It's one of the first Cyril Gaffiero guitar (www.cyrilgaffiero.fr). Very nice, warm and powerful sound. I love this guitar!

Buco

C'mon Fredo, fix those tubes and give us another video, people are hungry.