Scott Henderson Discussion

[barik01]

Hi Scott,

saw you playing in the middle of nowhere in Germany last Sunday, and the new tunes are really cool. Maybe I got this wrong, but did you switch to 10s tuned to E with your trio as well?

Another question about noiseless pickups...the backplate thing is expensive as hell in Germany since it isn't sold here so importing is the only option, which would be some serious cash. I'm kinda torn between spending the money and just going for some noiseless Dimarzio Areas, which are supposed to be a bit better than the older Virtual Vintage ones.
How big is the difference you're hearing between your current setup and the VV you've played on the live record, and is it something that even mediocre players like myself could notice in a mix/live setting? In general, I feel like if guys like you or Landau are hearing tone differences, I probably wouldn't hear shit. Was the sound you were getting with VVs just different, or plain worse than using Suhrs?

[Scott Henderson]

Thanks, glad you liked the new tunes! Yes I'm using 10's tuned to E on all my gigs now - it works better for high gain, but it's a bit thinner for blues.

I think you'd hear the difference between Dimarzio and Suhr pickups, especially when playing loud. The Virtual Vintage pickups (mine were 2.2's) were a little harsher on the top end. I've never heard the Areas, so they could've improved on that. Also, the backplate doesn't get rid of all the hum like the coil inside the guitar does, so if it's really expensive, I'm not sure it's worth it. I think the tone on my live album is pretty good, so if Steve at Dimarzio has improved those pickups, I think I'd try them first. If you were in LA and could get the backplate for 200 bucks, I'd go with that.

[randope]

Interesting. So what's the trade off between high gauge strings and low gauge strings? Besides playability of course. What makes 10s work better with high gain?

[Scott Henderson]

Playability isn't an issue - 10's in E feel about the same as 11's in Eb. I switch between them all the time and it doesn't bother me.

My guitars have either ML pickups or V60LP's. I've found that with ML's, 11's don't work very well with high gain. The sound is woofy - the string doesn't speak unless I turn the tone knob on the guitar up way more than I like to. V60's work better with 11's, probably because they're more scooped.

I like 11's better for cleaner tones, and 10's for high gain. I'm recording my new album soon and I decided to keep all the tunes in concert key. I use 10's tuned to E live, and when I hear the songs a half step lower, it sounds weird to me. I don't have perfect pitch but it still bugs me. If I need to overdub a bigger string sound, I can always use an 11's guitar and just play the part up a half step.

Another issue is the bass player. Travis doesn't like tuning down a half step because his strings get too loose, and the next gauge up makes it harder to play - bass string sizes change in bigger increments than guitar strings.