Very few demos of these pickups, hs2, 3 and 4. Got an interest in the hs4 at the moment, but it's hard to find proper demos. You did the HS2 neck some justice with this one.
Thanks! Yeah I'd love to get my hands on the 3 or 4. I've never played one. Have you seen Kenny's video? What a great player: th-cam.com/video/grESkEK9RI4/w-d-xo.html
I've found my happy place with HS-2's with a 38k. controlled split, it's very important that red is hot to get the topcoil sound when splitting, the bottom coil is not a sound you want!! The controlled split passes more highs, raises the volume a bit and still keeps noise under control. I've been using HS-2s since they came out. Only rival to me is Bill Lawrence L280s. FWIW
Are you using the 38k resistor for the tone control, or inline with the hot wire? (Or something else?) Yeah I believe the other coil probably doesn't sound great on its own. I've never played any other BL pickup besides the L500 (L & XL). I bet they're all great. I used to play with a killer lap steel player who swore by those.
HS-2s are on the top of my noiseless list, especially with drive. I'm thinking of adding a TPDT switch on one of my Strats to get both single and humbucking on all 3 pickups by the flick of a switch... ;-)
Yeah that's not a bad move. My old Tom Anderson SA (I think?) Pick-ups had that. I left mine split 99% of the time, but the silent mode was useful for recording and this crazy noisy venue I used to play at. That will be cool. Enjoy!
@@BenBreard If the magnetic polarity is the same it won't cancel hum. To me it seems odd they did that, if you were clear about what you asked for. Other makers produce RW / RP pickups which means its "reverse wound" and also has "reverse polarity" magnet. In that case, the pickup ends up being connected in the same phase, because RW and RP is reversing the phase twice.
Ok I checked the email thread and paper work and I got it wrong in the video. They said it was reverse polarity and standard wiring. I agree with your assessment and that's how standard single coils work. Funny thing is I just checked the polarity on this pickup and it's not north up like it's supposed to be. .....back to emailing support.
Have you tried HS-1 (top coil only) in the neck position? It's cool! I currently have HS-1 neck (top coil only), HS-2 middle (top coil only) which is lowered away from strings a bit, and Duncan SSL-1 bridge. Seems to all pair up really rather well, but it would be nice to get a RW/RP HS-1 so as to hum cancel with the middle HS-2. Ps. Did you ever work out the wiring for hum cancelling on your HS-2's ?
Yeah DiMarzio was great to work with on ordering a HS-2 with the different wiring to hum cancel. I can't remember if I had that working in the video or not, but it works now and rules! I've never played the HS-1 or the 3. Honestly I'd probably enjoy them as most things from DiMarzio are great. I'm a fan. You know I do something similar with my tele where the middle pickup is hotter and lower in the guitar. It really sounds great to me. It sounds like you have a great setup. IMO the RWRP thing is cool, but also on the nice to have list. It's worth the money to get right if ordering new pickups, but I don't know if it's a big enough thing to spend the $$ on if you want to stick with what you have. That's my $0.02. cheers!
I've thought about it! I'm super happy with the area in the middle. DiMarzio fixed the polarity and now it properly hum-cancels with the N+B. I need to make another video.
Very few demos of these pickups, hs2, 3 and 4. Got an interest in the hs4 at the moment, but it's hard to find proper demos. You did the HS2 neck some justice with this one.
Thanks! Yeah I'd love to get my hands on the 3 or 4. I've never played one. Have you seen Kenny's video? What a great player: th-cam.com/video/grESkEK9RI4/w-d-xo.html
There are a lot of hs 3 and hs 4 pickups demos, all neoclasical guitarrists
I've found my happy place with HS-2's with a 38k. controlled split, it's very important that red is hot to get the topcoil sound when splitting, the bottom coil is not a sound you want!! The controlled split passes more highs, raises the volume a bit and still keeps noise under control. I've been using HS-2s since they came out. Only rival to me is Bill Lawrence L280s. FWIW
Are you using the 38k resistor for the tone control, or inline with the hot wire? (Or something else?) Yeah I believe the other coil probably doesn't sound great on its own. I've never played any other BL pickup besides the L500 (L & XL). I bet they're all great. I used to play with a killer lap steel player who swore by those.
Sounds great!!! Did you wire each of the HS-2 pickups as a single coil or use wire in the full hum cancel for each??
Thanks! Each one is wired single. I never even tried them as hum canceling. They are too good this way to change anything. :)
It’s underrated but it’s a great pickup though. Almost no one made a video about it. Thanks for sharing, will probably buy it in the future
Sounds good! Tasty playing too...
Thanks for your video demos! Do you know what value pots you used?
Thanks. All 250k CTS pots
Tone sounds mega... what a great strat sound
Thanks!
HS-2s are on the top of my noiseless list, especially with drive. I'm thinking of adding a TPDT switch on one of my Strats to get both single and humbucking on all 3 pickups by the flick of a switch... ;-)
Yeah that's not a bad move. My old Tom Anderson SA (I think?) Pick-ups had that. I left mine split 99% of the time, but the silent mode was useful for recording and this crazy noisy venue I used to play at. That will be cool. Enjoy!
@@BenBreard I just did it, it's fabulous, such a great option, man the HS-2s shine in singlecoil mode!!
@@boddumblues congrats and glad you're enjoying it. This is such an overlooked pickup. It's crazy IMO. :)
Thanks for the demo of the HS-2 neck pickup. Do you know if they used opposite polarity magnets in the reverse pickup?
They said it was just reverse wound. I also confirmed with them that the black and red wires need to be flipped to him cancel with my "normal" hs-2.
@@BenBreard If the magnetic polarity is the same it won't cancel hum. To me it seems odd they did that, if you were clear about what you asked for. Other makers produce RW / RP pickups which means its "reverse wound" and also has "reverse polarity" magnet. In that case, the pickup ends up being connected in the same phase, because RW and RP is reversing the phase twice.
Ok I checked the email thread and paper work and I got it wrong in the video. They said it was reverse polarity and standard wiring. I agree with your assessment and that's how standard single coils work. Funny thing is I just checked the polarity on this pickup and it's not north up like it's supposed to be. .....back to emailing support.
@@BenBreard I hope they can sort it out.
Have you tried HS-1 (top coil only) in the neck position?
It's cool!
I currently have HS-1 neck (top coil only), HS-2 middle (top coil only) which is lowered away from strings a bit, and Duncan SSL-1 bridge.
Seems to all pair up really rather well, but it would be nice to get a RW/RP HS-1 so as to hum cancel with the middle HS-2.
Ps. Did you ever work out the wiring for hum cancelling on your HS-2's ?
Yeah DiMarzio was great to work with on ordering a HS-2 with the different wiring to hum cancel. I can't remember if I had that working in the video or not, but it works now and rules! I've never played the HS-1 or the 3. Honestly I'd probably enjoy them as most things from DiMarzio are great. I'm a fan. You know I do something similar with my tele where the middle pickup is hotter and lower in the guitar. It really sounds great to me. It sounds like you have a great setup. IMO the RWRP thing is cool, but also on the nice to have list. It's worth the money to get right if ordering new pickups, but I don't know if it's a big enough thing to spend the $$ on if you want to stick with what you have. That's my $0.02. cheers!
Nice tone!....put another HS in the middle.
I've thought about it! I'm super happy with the area in the middle. DiMarzio fixed the polarity and now it properly hum-cancels with the N+B. I need to make another video.