Thursday 28 January 2021

Ep#5 MrGlyn Meets Your Maker

 Just posted Ep#5 of “MrGlyn Meets Your Maker” on Youtube. In this one I talk with Russ from Mattsen Guitars about his handmade Resonator guitars. If you have any interest in Resonators, Slide guitar or guitar construction this one is for you.

Please Subscribe and/or Share.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6ahdH-iEo4&t=15s&pbjreload=101

Tuesday 12 January 2021

Ep#4 MrGlyn Meets Your Maker

 Just posted Ep#4 of MrGlyn Meets Your Maker. It would be great if you could help support Kiwi made musical gear by subscribing or sharing.


Stephan Gilberg makes a huge range of guitar pedals from his workshop in Nelson NZ. 

In this episode he talks about pedal design, the inspiration behind his creations and what drives him.

If you’re at all interested in unique guitar sounds, expanding on the traditional palette  or just want something funky on the floor then this episode is for you.


https://www.facebook.com/BigNoise-Amplification-310448832757786


https://www.mrglynspickups.com


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTHj8fFCzm0


https://bignoiseamplification.com/

Saturday 2 January 2021

MrGlyn Meets Your Maker Ep#3

In Episode #3 of ‘MrGlyn Meets Your Maker’ I talk to David Benavides of Benavides Guitars in Ahipara. I first played one of his handmade guitars about 5 years ago and immediately gave him a call I was so impressed. If you are an aspiring guitar maker, have an interest in guitar construction or are in the market for “the” acoustic guitar it’s well worth listening to what Dave has to say.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdAWWe71-y4

Thursday 24 December 2020

Merry Christmas

 


Merry Christmas to all our customers, thanks for your support this year.

www.mrglynspickups.com

Tuesday 22 December 2020

MrGlyn Meets Your Maker episode #2

 In Eposode #2 of “MrGlyn Meets Your Maker” I talk to Waylon from McPherson Stompboxes in his workshop in Papamoa. 

I wanted to know how he designs and builds his pedals, his philosophy and how he makes his World class Kiwi made gear. 

These pedals are works of art both inside and out - seems a shame to step on them.


https://mcphersonmusic.site/


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WPr4qt9uBg

Thursday 17 December 2020

MrGlyn Meets Your Maker

 Hi all, 

some of you will know how keen I am on NZ made musical gear. We have world class makers here in Aotearoa and the World needs to know about them.


Rather than just having a good moan I’ve been trying to think of ways I can help.

After many conversations with other small manufacturers I’ve come up with an idea.


 I’m starting a series of YouTube videos where I chat with NZ makers so we can all get to know them a little better. 

I figure that seeing and hearing the person behind the product, hearing their story, their philosophy, will help promote what they do beyond just their website. Some of these makers you may not even have heard of.


It’s a very simple format, just recording a Skype conversation. There is some editing mainly cutting out my own waffle but I do try and keep edits to a minimum.

I am not a professional presenter I’m just an ordinary bloke working with what I’ve got and this is way out of my comfort zone but I hope you’ll find the content interesting.


I’ve called the series “MrGlyn Meets Your Maker”. 


In episode #1 I’m talking with Aiden from Archetype Guitars in Palmerston North who very graciously agreed to go first.

If these videos go any way towards you considering buying NZ made then I’ve succeeded. 

Please share, link to, subscribe and spread the word, that’s how you can help.

 Thanks, 

Glyn.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mIeamJ8eT0&t=14s

Thursday 3 December 2020

MrGlyn’s ‘Cruel Mistress’ demo

 A big thanks to Brett Kingman for this fantastic demo of my ‘Cruel Mistress’ Telecaster Pickups.



There is nothing like the high end snarl of a good Tele bridge pickup. However, Tele Pickups are complicated. It’s a sound that needs to be just right – too much treble and it can sound grating and obnoxious, too little and it just isn’t a Tele. The treble needs warmth while still cutting through a mix like a zombie banjo.

With the “Cruel Mistress” -hot Tele wanted to make a pickup with a bit more power to drive an amp harder while keeping the Tele character. My biggest concern was not losing what a Tele is all about. In my repair work I come across quite a few replacement Tele pickups that just don’t sound like Teles. Bridge pickups need grit and the neck a chimey clarity and together they should be full and open and matched well enough to create almost a reverb sound with the switch in the middle position.

The “Cruel Mistress” -hot Tele uses AlnicoV magnets to help with the attack and AWG43 wire to help with the snarl.

The neck pickup on a Tele needs to be smooth and warm and have a great balance with the bridge pickup so that the middle position rings with an almost reverb-like tone. The difficulty with Telecaster neck pickups is there just isn’t much space under that cover. As a result it can be a hard pickup to get right and there were a lot of experiments and disappointments on the way. Eventually I came on a design that has enough bottom end to sound full but not so much to sound boomy. And the final pickup was a great match to the bridge.

I had help from the ears of a couple of my regular customers who were generous enough to let me load their guitars with prototypes. The whole process takes time and only after many road tests and versions did I fix on a design. As a result, each of my designs have been developed over many years of subtle changes and road tests. Having help like this means my pickups are trialed through many different amps and playing styles. The neck/bridge balance as well as dynamics/compression need to be tested in as many situations as possible to find a pickup that will work for most players.

So if you need some grit and aggression from your Tele this is the set for you.


https://mrglynspickups.com/2020/03/29/cruel-mistress-hot-tele-pickups/


www.mrglynspickups.com