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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 15664
Location: SoCal | Just got the Preacher Deluxe 12 string that I bought on ebay -- Wow. I've played 12 string for about 6 1/2 years (Big Blue) but this is a whole new animal.
I've got a couple of questions regarding this guitar that I thought I'd throw out for answers.
First of all, I was surprised to find that the bridge appears to be non adjustible for intonation, just for height. How do you adjust the saddles forward and back?
According to a webpage devoted to the Breadwinner (same electronics), the rear position of the pickup selector switch gives you but pickups, but out of phase. I am electronically challenged (can I apply for a government grant on that?). What does out of pahse mean?
Lastly (for now anyway), there is a second switch that is a notch filter. What does it do?
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Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | Paul, the Deacon 12/P deluxe 12 bridges have the intonation preset. We can cope with this on an acoustic so why not on an electric?. I use a 12-52 set on my Deacon 12 & the intonation isn't perfect but it's good enough. The factory (or Bill) may know what gauges work best with that particular bridge.
Put simply, out of phase refers to the electrical relationship of the positve & negative wires of the pickups. When any two signals are out of phase frequency cancellation occurs. A pickup can only be out of phase in relation to another pickup. (You could in theory reverse the phase of one coil of a humbucking pair, but they're so close together it doesn't make a whole lot of difference.) Due to the frequency cancellation You will find that the out of phase setting produces less bass, the mids sound a little hollow and the treble can be on the thin side. Used carefully it can be a useful tone. On a six-string it's good for funk-stlye rhythm. Peter Green accidentally wired his Les Paul (the one now owned by Gary Moore) out of phase & cut a bunch of classic Fleetwood Mac stuff using that tone. The Phase relationship of the pickups is adjustable with a trimpot on the PCB, I'll email you an old Deacon manual which explains how to do this.
The notch filter reduces the midrange by a few dB at 600Hz. This kinda makes the humbuckers sound more like single-coils, or possibly a little like an electro-acoustic sound.
The tone control on these guitars takes a little getting used to. It's centre off with a bass boost in one direction & a treble boost in the other. Works very similar to the stacked vol/tone controls used on the acoustics in the late 70's early 80's.
Paul
[ November 06, 2002: Message edited by: Paul Templeman ] |
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Posts: 15664
Location: SoCal | Thanks Paul.
This guitar has a lot of sound in it. You are right about the fixed saddle being like an acoustic. And playing with it, the intonation is not perfect at the 12th fret, but it's close enough.
I don't know which setting is which on the notch switch, but I'm finding a full sound using the rear pickup and the notch switch flipped forward. I've got the tone control more towards treble. In the middle position or towards the bass side, this guitar has a huge amount of bass.
I'll look forward to seeing the manuel.
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Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | The guitar should sound fuller with the notch off, and a little thinner with it on.
Paul |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 15664
Location: SoCal | Then off is forward and on is the rear position.
What happens if there are no batteries in the guitar? Is the notch filter the only thing affected? Would the pickups work as normal pickups?
You realize that other people are reading this and learning. That's why I didn't email you directly even tho' I knew you'd be the answer man.
[ November 06, 2002: Message edited by: moody, p.i. ] |
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Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | Paul, the guitar will not work at all without batteries, also once the combined voltage of the 2 batteries drops below about 10-12 volts the guitar disorts ( and not in a good way)
When the notch switch is pointing towards the neck it's on.
Paul |
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Joined:
September 2002
Posts: 12
Location: Bloomfield Ct | Later in production there was Schaller bridge used that had intonation adjustments for each pair of strings. The bridges are interchangable with new posts installed.The boys in service may have a couple left over they could part with if you wanted.
Not really that big of an improvement with the newer bridge.
The out phase adjustment pot is a usefull thing to know about. Adjust the pot for less out of phase effect and the 3rd position gets a lot phatter, and more usefull. The notch switch will give you enough mid cut to simulate humbucker/single coil effect. |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 15664
Location: SoCal | I don't think that I want to change out the bridge. It's pretty good the way it is. The only thing to fix on this guitar is the saddle that the octive bass E strings is on. The groove for the string doesn't hold it in place so the placement is just slightly wide. I might file the groove just a little when I change the strings, just to hold that string in it's proper location. |
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Preacher Deluxe 12
