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Peche La Mouche pickup - live set up
Hi All
I know this topic has been done to death but just curious. I have been using the Peche la mouche pickup for the last while and its hard to fault , durable , volume control and never any feedback issues. I'm running it through an ARE compact 60.
Ive always been happy with it ..............until recently :).....The last two gigs I've done I've noticed it can be hard to hear the lower strings \ notes when soloing. It's very off putting as i feel i have to "dig in" way more when going down to those strings and region of the neck and then consequently you start making silly mistakes.
Am i mounting the pickup wrong all of a sudden???................I'm contemplating buying an eq pedal for the extra boost but just wanted too see if anyone else has had any similar experiences?
Cheers
Stephen
Comments
Did you change the string brand by any chance? As I unterstand typical gypsy strings are way less magnetic on the wound strings and it also can vary depending on the materials used. I know Gabojo say they finetuned the Kleio pickups for Savarez Argentines. So maybe some experimentation with different strings could be sufficent? Does the problem exist when the strings are new and is the same when they are older?
Regarding the pedal, I guess a bass cut with a EQ pedal could make it a bit better but I doubt it will solve the problem completly. Maybe a compressor pedal would be more suited.
Depending on the specific guitar, the neck angle can place the pickup further away from the strings. I believe peche comes with different thickness plastic "feet". You can try to raise the bass side of the pickup so it's slightly angled closer to the bass strings (as long as it doesn't exceed the height of the fingerboard/frets).
Now that i think of it i did actually ....................switched over to using Galli Strings. Wow , hard to believe it would make that much of a difference but you might be on to something there. Thank you !!
I'll check this out later also , could very well be this in combination with the Galli Strings !
Thanks !
So Argentines are *not* optimal for the Peche La Mouche pickup? Please jump in to clarify & perhaps give a recommendation of strings for this pickup? Thanks in advance to gitane007.
Since we're kinda on the topic... does anyone have any experience using the traditional stomp effect boxes (a la Boss or Strymon or whatever) with a "gypsy jazz" string set and/or a Peche pickup setup? What works well in terms of sound output? what doesn't? Apologies in advance for not being a gear guy -- always prefer being miked + EQ. Just curious about the general gear guidelines of using those things with 'gypsy jazz' set up.
@djazzy: At the moment this is only a theory, I am curious what @gitane007 will report. As I understand it, he had only recently put Galli strings on it, and after that it was worse. Possibly the Galli silk & steel? I can well imagine that it is rather the type of string than the brand - that is, perhaps the "normal" silver plated non silk Galli strings are already a solution?
Regarding using standard guitar stomp boxes they will work just fine, the Stimer style pickups like the Peche la Mouche are technically just singlecoils similar to what you have got in old school electric guitars. I think a "transparent" overdrive like f.e. a tc electronics Mojo Mojo or a Nobels ODR-1 into a clean amp would be cool if you want to have that dirty overdriven sound only from time to time. Also a old school single repeat slapback delay could be tasteful - there is a video of Tchan Tchou Vidal using a sound like that on Youtube or like on this recording:
Or maybe a spring reverb. There really are no limits except maybe feedback if the distortion gets to heavy haha
You are indeed correct @TchangoVidal , i switched to Galli strings and started noticing this issue. I am just waiting to snap a few strings so i can change the set to Argentines and try out the peche through the amp. The more i think about it the more i think this could be the issue alright. Changed over to Galli strings during lockdowns so never really played plugged in. Ill make sure to update yous when i get it tested. !!!
A bit late to this but @everett is most on-point for how to fix your sound with raising the height of the pickup.
While the magnetism of strings does affect output slightly, it's more about pickup height and location. Essentially, as soon as you change your sound from acoustic to electric in any way - the electronics affect you more than the acoustic elements.
There's been a few wonderful videos Jim Lill basically debunking decades of electric guitar myths. Here's one about Electric Guitar Tone that I think you might find interesting. He has more about strings, speaker cabs, and others.
While i'm a fan of his videos I think one should take them with a grain of salt though. They are first class entertainment and the dedication that he puts into them is just insane and he definately has lots of valid points and some real "busted myths", but the results of his experiments are just that - results of experiments which are not representative and should not be taken as scientific fact.
His product at the end of the day are videos with those mind blowing myth destruction results but if you are deeper into a subject that he "debunks" you know that reality is way more nuanced than those "it doesn't matter which type of tube you put into your amplifier they all sound the same the industry has fooled you" black and white debunkings without any shade of gray. I guess the truth may be somehwere between the tone mojo voodoo industry bs and his test results, although I find it very refreshing that there is this "non marketing" perspective.
Regarding the strings - "magnetism of strings does affect output slightly": Do you have a source for this? I don't have any deeper knowledge in this field, but they are magentic pickups after all. While of course pickup height and location do have a fundamental influence on tone and output I find it hard to believe that the magnetic properties of the strings have such a small effect.
Here is an interview with AJ from AJL guitars where he explains that he matched the wounds of the pickup to the bass strings on this guitar for Oli Soikkeli as they are steel strings instead of bronze strings to balance the sound (around 4:24):
And I think if the type of metal has such an impact I can only imagine what difference it makes if the core of the string isn't even made of a magnetic material like silk.
@djazzy: Out of curiosity I took my Dupont together with a Kleio 51 to my electric guitar rig and send the signal through various (electric) guitar pedals including compressor, overdrives, distortion, fuzz, tremolo, tape style delay and an outboard spring reverb into a Peavey Classic 30. i hope the purists have some strong nerves and sorry for the noodling haha.
@TchangoVidal thanks for thinking of me. 😊
So the stomp-box rig essentially works! That delay/reverbey combination thing you got sounds real cool. I can't play thin solid body electric guitars because my right hand (and arm) technique just won't have it. I've also had zero interest in stomp boxes over the years but... I'm reconsidering if only to amuse myself.