I have decided to dive into the world of magentic gypsy jazz pickups and have chosen the Gabojo Kleio 47 and Kleio 51 for this purpose. Which of these two I keep is still pending. For better judgement I have recorded the very first impressions of playing them both for the first time with my phone.
The amp is a Peavey Classic 30 with Weber Blue Dog speaker in the dirty channel with low gain and moderate volume. The amp settings are exactly the same for both Pickups, except that I stupidly had turned up a little spring reverb with the Kleio 47 and not with the 51. So as said, it's rather about a first impression and not an absolutely fair and neutral comparison. If I find the time, I'll make an more even direct comparison. I thought maybe it is nevertheless interesting for one or two in here and share the video with you:
P.S.: Sorry for the rancid rehearsal room, it's not easy to find anything at all in this city...
Comments
While watching some of the earlier comparation videos, 47 had more of a classic amplified Django vibe while 51 is more of a versatile pickup and gives more archtop vibe. Even in your video 47 has a lot more bite and 51 is a team player. Still impressive vibrato.
@Buco: Yes, I felt very similarly. The Kleio 47 is more aggressive with more gritty overdrive, very midrangey. For rhythm chords I liked the 51 better because it sounds much more "acoustic". But overall the 47 has more "character" and together with an EQ I don't know if I would sign that the 51 is more versatile. It has more of a scooped sound with less high mids and treble, but way more bass foundation, but I think with the help of an EQ it's easier with the 47 to get in the direction of the 51 than the other way around. I will test this in the coming days. Was planning to keep only one, but on the other hand they are different enough to have both in the toolbox and I bought the 51 for a bargain price used...
P.S.: thank you again for the compliment! I tried to analyse what I am doing exactly when I use that one/two finger fast Django style vibrato, I will make a little video about my observations.
I think you're right about being able to nudge the 47 into 51 territory with some EQ but it'll be much harder to get the 51 to sound anything like 47. It's always good to have a backup at a gig so if you got it cheap then just keep it. 47 really nails the electric Django sound. Peavey helps too but should be able to get similar tone with any decent tube amp.
I'd love to see that video 👍