Stephens Design PAF Replica 8 and 9 gauge strings

[@musicplaylists59]

i have a tip for tendonitis: get 2 containers of water (both big enough to fit your hands in) make one as cold as possible and the other one nice and hot (as hot as is comfortable) first submerge your hands in the hot one for 2 or 3 minutes then take them out and immediately submerge them in the very cold water for 2 or 3 minutes. repeat this process a few times in a row. It's called hot cold therapy and is good for recovery of your tissues but especially tendons, the problem with healing tendons is they have very low amount of blood flow compared with other tissues, one thing with the hot cold therapy is it increases the blood flow to that region vastly, so it's particularly good for tendonitis.

[@SDPickups]

Thanks!!! That makes total sense. Will give it a try.

[@SDPickups]

Tried it and wow it sure numbs any pains fast and lasted a long time too.

[@musicplaylists59]

@@SDPickups That's great, glad it helped. It's helped me with tendonitis too. Another thing i do is right after playing guitar i run cold water over my hands, it flushes the lactic acid out and decreases inflammation (i got the idea from what people do for recovery from sports training).

[@SDPickups]

@@musicplaylists59 Thats really good to know. Might be a problem though when summer comes along and the tap water isn't super cold anymore.

[@musicplaylists59]

@@SDPickups for some reason youtube only just showed me this reply. hope your tendonitis has improved now, it's been a while. Thats true about the tap water, i live in northern Europe so luckily the water stays pretty cold here in the summer too so i hadn't thought of that, i guess could make ice cubes in the freezer to put in the water if you find it helps enough to be worth it.

[@geschickt]

Man, some people just truly _get_ Les Paul tones, and not only does all your content reflect that, it also illustrates great depth of understanding how _all_ the elements come together to bring out the best of what these guitars are all about! I’d bet even money that if you bring the same wholistic acumen you apply to LP components, to what you're experiencing physically, you will find some relief! Godspeed sir.

[@SDPickups]

Very nice of you to say that. Yes, I do a lot of research to find out what causes tendonitis, but there's no definitive answer yet. I have all kinds of supplements and devices I'm trying, but nothing definitive yet. Some comments have suggested things that do help, but bottom line, I'm just getting OLD, LOL.

[@arfboucher3855]

Wow Dave, the new bridge pickup sounds unbelievable, you should call it the time machine, took me back to the sixties when the burst really came to fame. Can't stop replaying this video, could've made a 3 hour demo and i would've played it twice. That's crazy.

[@SDPickups]

Thank you! I have sold ONE set of those for an old order and asked if he would like to try them with the other sets he ordered. He liked the new prototype BEST. I need to do a full video demo and have not made the neck version yet for myself, so will do the video in coming weeks. I like it too, its old school magnet wire but modern stock, very impressed with it myself. I'm having to raise my prices, and I put the prices for the new set at the end of the video. Its steep, but last year my income was lower than someone at any of the corporate burger joints. Check the prices. I might come down a little on the basic set without the aging and harnesses, but we'll see.

[@arfboucher3855]

@@SDPickups I'll tell you Dave, if I had that kind of money, I'd snap them up in a second, I watched that video 5 times in a row yesterday, but I'm also having a rough year, I had to sell all my vintage guitars and I'm down to one left, my 73 strat. But I'll also say those pickups sound worth every penny, I've heard nothing that comes even close, I played my les Paul after watching your video and it sounded woefully lacking by comparison even though it's probably the best sounding one I've ever owned. Absolutely stoked to get the next video and feel sad playing my Les Paul after !

[@SDPickups]

@@arfboucher3855 There are many things you can do to make your guitar sound great. The Gibson Classic in this video is a guitar I've hated for years. Lifeless little bitch. Sounded like playing a rock. I did all the things that I can show you in this four part documentary I did a few years back and it did improve it alot. These aren't expensive to do. Gibson just cheats people by using what probably are offshore junk low bidder crap, if you do a little work you can make your guitar KILL. Here is the video series: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bmasiJ-hhcmCbqMsi=1paVL7H09LfIpiW_ Replacing their harness is a good idea. I did a two part video on how to do that, though I don't use those tone caps anymore. My email is at the end of the newest video I did on 8 and 9 gauge strings, you can email me and I'll tell you what I use now for harness parts. It really does help along with upgrading the hardware: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nGiUlqqpebGpZposi=h2Pygzrmkofx0MXn

[@arfboucher3855]

@@SDPickups That sounds great Dave, I would like to upgrade the harness and hardware over time as I can with whatever money I can scrape up allows. I'll email you and get some details especially as my guitar is acoustically sound, in that it is acoustically louder than any I've had but hasn't reached it's potential plugged in.

[@SDPickups]

@@arfboucher3855 Email sent.

[@guitarsofold100]

Dave, sounds sensational! Good luck stay safe!

[@SDPickups]

Thanks man, appreciate the comment.

[@tejeguitar]

Dave, despite the cause of trying out 8's on the Les Paul (which I hope you can find relief somehow), I think that -at least in this clip- the 8's sound just click a bit more with my classic rock memory department. I'll be trying them on a pair of Yamaha japanese revstars next week, and have some high hopes for them. Just wanted to let you know that your tone is still terrific. All the best, Dave!

[@SDPickups]

I ordered a couple other sets, one Ernie Ball 8's that have pure nickel wraps, and a Billy Gibbons 8 set. Not a fan of his and he screwed some friends of mine in a really heartless way. Worth a try anyway.

[@daviddelossantos6075]

I’m glad I came across this video. I’m 36 and I’ve played guitar for years. Recently I noticed my fretting hand will be pretty sore after a long session of playing. I guess I need to appreciate that I can play long sessions right now at my age and try to keep these hands as healthy as can be.

[@SDPickups]

I'm more than twice your age, so you. have many years ahead of you. I wonder if there's some kind of "warm up" thing you can do. Just don't ever quit playing, that would be a mistake. Maybe using lighter strings might help you. I remember BB King told someone why they were playing heavy strings, why make it hard on themself.

[@jcsk8]

Nice tones, sir. Happy weekend.

[@SDPickups]

Thanks, you too!

[@9th_note]

im 48 and I'm starting to experience the same thing. I switched to custom gauges roughly 3 years ago 0.85 0.12 0.16 0.24 0.34 0.48 from standard 0.95/0.44 sets and it definitely helped. I had to adjust how firm I was gripping the neck and that took a little bit but back on track and everything is better now. i'm not having problems holding the pick yet but I am having some issues with my elbow and my shoulder especially with thicker acoustic guitars. I have noticed that doing some stretches with my hands and arms helps a little bit. I am mostly blind and so I basically play at home and record at home so I have just been taking breaks in between songs and getting up and stretching out and also doing stretches before playing. also anti-inflammatory creams help because if I'm not mistaken most of that is from inflammation anyways. I definitely want to look further into this because I would like to be able to make it to 70 and still be able to play.

[@SDPickups]

My left elbow hurts alot when I play sometimes. I'll be 75 in a few weeks. I had Dupuytrens and it permanently bent my pinky on fretting hand so I can no longer do full big barre chords, so I have to use short 3 or 4 strings chords. I think diet may have something to do with it all. If I go Vegan, tendonitis shows its ugly head and nobody knows why. Lighter strings help. Some 8 gauge strings are just awful. The Bill Gibbons 8 gauge and 7 gauge are truly complete garbage. Shoulda known better than buy signature strings he probably doesn't even use.

[@9th_note]

@@SDPickups yeah I would be willing to bet that diet is probably at least 65 or 70% of the problem but figuring out what to eat is the difficult part. i'm diabetic so I'm sure some of it is from neuropathy. I have been using string Joy strings as they seem to be pretty decent strings and they offer custom gauges at no extra charge. They have a string tension calculator on their website that I use to balance out my gauges. I was going to go ahead and order a set of 7s next time just to try them out. I may have to learn how to play even lighter but I'm up for the challenge. I like the control over my vibrato with lighter strings, with heavier strings it feels like you kind of get what you get with control over the instrument and with lighter strings you can have complete control but you also have to learn how to hold back from ripping the neck off the guitar lol. also I have noticed that the tension between brands of strings is different, D'adario also has a string tension calculator on their website and depending on the set that you get from them as far as which model the tension can be completely different even with the exact same gauges. unfortunately not every manufacturer offers attention calculator for their exact strings so you just have to spend your money and try them out but so far the string joy has been a winner for me and sometimes I use d'adario depending on the guitar that they're going on. it's weird man, some guitars don't like some strings and just play better with different strings on them. I have several Ibanez rg models that are for all intent and purpose the exact same guitar and my prestige plays great with the string Joy 0.85s but those exact same strings on another rg with basically the same neck and the same frets feels stiff even with the string joys. most signature sets from just about any brand that I have tried haven't really been that great in my opinion, there's always a gauge of some string in there that's either too heavy or too light for my taste. I definitely think strings are overlooked by a lot of people and that many people use way too heavy of a gauge and I didn't start learning this until later in life but it's the user interface in which you create music and so the importance of them is definitely there. after reading many articles I have come to discover that most of the really good expressive players are using light strings which made a lot of sense to me, even when I was in my 20s 10s just seemed ridiculous to bend for me. I do not have weak hands but just seem like it was a little bit over the top. I feel like everyone is convinced that thicker strings equals tone and they spend most of their life fighting their guitar instead of playing it and I was one of those people for a long time. Maybe that is part of what contributed to the arthritis, not sure but I'm definitely enjoying playing lighter gauges now.

[@SDPickups]

One youtube channel did a test to see what gauge strings sound the best in a recording studio. 8 gauge strings won against all the other gauges.

[@hopej4963]

I'm glad to buy your Noswire Benden set. I'm waiting in Korea

[@SDPickups]

I will be finishing your set this coming week. Won't be long now!

[@hopej4963]

@@SDPickups I ordered it a week ago, but already?

[@Joe-pb3lx]

sounds good man wicked good

[@SDPickups]

Wicked is GOOD :-)

[@mattchurchill]

Wonderful tone as always Dave. Id love to try a set of your Puckups one day. Can you tell me what amp you're playing through? (Sorry if I've missed it somewhere)

[@SDPickups]

Thats a Garnet "stencil" amplifier under the name MANN. Two 6L6's, hand wired, no bells and whistles, just reverb and vibrato. Its about 35 watts. No pedals. I'm using Celestion Chinese Greenbacks (the British ones aren't as good). Treble on full, bass pretty much off, mids on 10. Some reverb. The secret is that the circuits are very simple, Gar was a genius at that. There are many different brands he built for, you have to look them up, but MANN is one. I have two of them, both were only $450.

[@kuitaristi3003]

Yeah it's good to use that size strings what feels good and not force fingers to bigger just because it sounds different. Amps usually has bass, middle and treble for reason so that's how you can compensate the tone. For many i say forget the tone talking for strings and use what ever feels right for your fingers. That's my opinion. I bet you Dave know this just saying for those who don't get it.

[@SDPickups]

Well there's a video on KZbin that proved that 8 gauge strings RECORD better than all the other gauges. Don't forget Page used them and most all of us back then used them too, because there were no other small gauges available. Black Diamonds were all that existed in the USA and nobody over here thought to use banjo strings like some did in the UK. I'm going to try some other brands in 8 gauge, probably won't do a video on that, but its really worth trying these strings out. I did a video on Page a long time ago so bought some 8's to try to get his tone. Surprisingly that set lasted a full year and never broke a string. Some guys like Kossoff and Bloomfield stuck with the Black Diamond gauges of 13-14 gauges. I just remember how freaking hard it was to BEND those strings, they bowed the neck on my cheap Japanese guitar really bad, I don't know how I did it except I was 15, 1965

[@kuitaristi3003]

@@SDPickups Nice. Yeah 13 and 14 are pretty heavy stuff😅

[@MezzMcGillicuddy1]

Sounds great! You’re a dynamite player!

[@SDPickups]

Well, I try. I don't think I'm very good honestly, but I do know how to highlight what I make in the simplest most honest way possible. Thanks for the comment.

[@FrankJmClarke]

Great sound there! I sometimes find the top E bridge saddle isn't cut right for a lower gauge, and it doesn't sit just right.

[@SDPickups]

I'm using our now vanished Four Uncles Bridge, so I notched them the way Stew Mac shows, that Gibson uses on the high unwound strings. They position the string on unnotched saddle then hit the string on the saddle and it makes a dent in the saddle that keeps the string from sliding around. Works very well and had no problems with the 8's.

[@markpicton2183]

I use the 8 gauge 8-38 and have so since about 2004 , there’s some getting used to bending to correct pitch but I found very little loss in tone . When I went from 10 down to 9 gauge I found the bass got tighter noticeably. EB does make a pure nickel wrap like the DR strings ….not quite as bright as the nickel wound at the start of playing a set . I normally use the green label Pyramids …pricy and I have to mail order them . I use the hot and cold on my hands and if there’s a particular spot I use that cream you suggested . Everything sounds great Dave ! Keep it up !!

[@SDPickups]

@@markpicton2183 Thanks, I ordered some of the EB pure nickels with 8's, Probably will like them alot. Yeah you know I have Dupuytrens and that cream keeps my hands working, couldn't play without that stuff.

[@FrankJmClarke]

That otta work!@@SDPickups

[@hopej4963]

Every time I see your video, I'll pick you up I want to get it! Zz

[@SDPickups]

your set starts building next week.

[@hopej4963]

@@SDPickups It takes about 8 weeks from the start of production, right, Daven?

[@scottbee501]

I have tendinitis at the base of both thumbs. Aches all the time more than likely due to the fact I don't rest my hands. I play all the time. I carefully stretch the thumbs and massage them.

[@SDPickups]

I always had this problem every time I tried to go Vegan. Nobody really knows it happens, am back eating chicken, eggs and cheese, so far thats not working.

[@scottbee501]

@@SDPickups I am 71 but I can’t quit playing. I’ve tried topical oils but nothing seems to work. I may try the hot-cold method.

[@JimmyDevere]

Dr Berg did a video on the dangers of vegetable/seed oils. All are cheap corporate junk that’s in practically everything, so vegan means buying most of bread, tortillas etc and that stuff is loaded. Beef tallow helps to counter that. It can take a year to clear out the seed oils. m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/hHupgHmVi6qqfNU

[@JimmyDevere]

If you change your mind about taking new orders then let me know. I sent you an email earlier today before I read some comments here about not taking orders. The email has a link to a nice LP custom through a Supro. Sounds pretty nice.

[@okavipra]

Is there any chance i contact you :( , i sent an e mail but don't know if its correct . Would like to order one of your PAFs

[@SDPickups]

If I answered, I don't take orders now, am just selling the NOS vintage wire sets. I have too many old orders to dig through, probably be a year or more before I can finish them all. My sets are very very slow to make because I make my own parts instead of relying on Asian offshore stuff like most do, LOL.

[@ricecrispyglover6812]

Sounds great even with eights! I hear a little bit of a Jimmy Page influence in your playing. Love those bends!!

[@SDPickups]

Thanks. I pick up stuff from Page, Peter Green, early Clapton. Mainly Peter Green I think, and he got most of his from BB King :-)

[@ricecrispyglover6812]

@@SDPickups love Peter Green. I've got a Les Paul copy with the out of phase backwards pick up!

[@ViPertceff]

Wonderful tone! Can you please tell me how close your pickups are to the strings?

[@SDPickups]

About 1/8" above the bridge pickup and a little more than that over the neck. People shouldn't be concerned about measurements like that. Sit down and play your guitar. Put the strings close to each pickup and play. Now raise the strings some and listen again. There's no other way you'll get to your sweet spot. If you're too close to the pickup the tone will be too loud and you may get some string pull warble that will mess up the frequencies. Raise it up more and you'll get more pure tones. The treble sounds will change depending on height and how your pole screws are adjusted. My PAF replica magnets are only charged to the same power that vintage alnico bar magnets had, so my height adjustments will be different than what factory or amateur "winders" are. I'll be offering this set pretty soon. Am raising my prices as the amount of time to machine all the parts I make can push 15 hours, I don't use commercial parts because no one uses the right materials and physical design of real PAFs.

[@ViPertceff]

@@SDPickups Thanks a lot! Good health to you.

[@ViPertceff]

@@SDPickups Another important question: Once you find the right pickup height, do you adjust the pole pieces? Thanks in advance if you take the time to respond.

[@peterdoiron6435]

Dave, you have the best noodles.

[@SDPickups]

HA HA HA! I try. Can't stand to listen to myself sometimes tho....Maybe I need some salsa on top...

[@hopej4963]

I have the original pio 0.22 bumblebee and I'm using your Veldenwire pickup. Is it best to use the harness you gave me?

[@SDPickups]

If you are not using my harness, you are missing almost half of the TONE. My harness is part of the sound. The Gibson harnesses are not very good. If you have a vintage harness, that would be good, but otherwise, half of my work is lost.

[@mikeshaw4951]

Quick question.... The DR's are nickel on a round core and the EB's have a hex(?) core. Did you find that the DR's felt a little looser than the EB's or was it too close to call? Did you prefer the tone of one over he other. Thanks!

[@SDPickups]

Well the DR are 9 gauge and the EB's are 8 gauge, so of course the 8 gauge are much easier to play and don't seem to give me the pain that the 9's do.

[@mikeshaw4951]

@@SDPickups Whoops!! II mistaken thought that both sets were the same gauge. Don't forget that there are 7 sets now in case the 8's don't get it completely done. Good luck!!

[@SDPickups]

@@mikeshaw4951 I'll be trying some 7's pretty soon. I just got some Billy Gibbon 8's to try. But they are just Dunlop strings so probably nothing special.

[@mikeshaw4951]

@@SDPickups Cool! If you can try to compare them to the more 'common' s .8 strings like EB, D'Addario, Fender etc. You gotta wonder how different they can possibly be?

[@SDPickups]

@@mikeshaw4951 Well the 8's WERE Ernie Ball. But I just ordered 8's Ernie Ball but with PURE nickel wrap. Worth a try.

[@garypannone7755]

I think I like the sound of the 8's better.

[@dannywoody5497]

Any chance to get an old 51 no caster set any telecaster parts laying around?

[@SDPickups]

Nothing laying around. I only build to order, I don't build anything thats not paid for.

[@mathiasdionisio5777]

I bought one of these gentleman's pickups used. Biggest financial mistake of my life. I installed it on one of my guitars and now all of the other guitars I have sound like toys. I am not kidding, I wish I was. Long story long: My guitar sensei bought a strange HSS partscaster Strat like five or six years ago. In theory it belonged to Dan Spitz of Anthrax (couldn't find any pics of it online though). Its body was made of some weird wood and I swear it was the best sounding super strat I've ever heard. Its sound was rich, full, sweet, crisp, and all those good adjetives at the same time. Sensei is always trading guitars so eventually he put this strat for sell but I didn't have any money at the time (still don't). All my guitars were 'entry level' back then so I decided to buy my first 'good guitar' and got a Godin Session LTD. It came with a Seymour Duncan SH11 on the bridge and I put other two Seymour Duncan's in middle and neck position. It sounds nice, but nothing extraordinary. Then I got an Ibanez RG370 just because. I have upgraded the bridge pickup (SD Alternative 8 and then SD 59') and SD Full Shred for the neck. It's a good sounding guitar too but nothing special. A couple years later I got a Fender Mustang, another nice guitar. It's a little bit different of what I am used to but it definetely sounds and feels better. Then one day I went into the store to get a Kramer SM 1 but it was so poorly set up that I couldn't even play it. I was disappointed but I already wanted to buy a new guitar.. so I thought 'I might need a Les Paul'. I was looking at the nice and shiny Epiphones but decided to try the cheapest Gibson (always hated Gibson for some reason, probably because I am broke) and the clerk handed me a 2022 LP Tribute. Sat down, played unplugged for like 30 secs and I knew it was the one. Best neck I've ever felt and it sounds good enough for me. That guitar has been the one since then until today :) Why until today? Well, it turns out that my guitar sensei kept the humbucker that came with the Dan Spit'z strat. He said it was too good to let it go. He had put that humbucker on a tele, sounded fantastic. Then put it on an extremely cheap strat, sounded awesome. I couldn't believe that a $100 strat sounded better than my LP.. Last week he told me he was going to do some mods to the cheap strat and that I could buy the humbucker if I wanted to. I absolutely did it. It's supposed to be a Stephen Design humbucker, it says Dan Spitz on the back, also says 'neck' (so it's a neck pup) and some other stuff I don't understand (it has a signature aswell). I wanted to try it on my LP but it has a circuit board and the pickups connect to the board with a quick connect adapter but I don't have any of those connectors so I decided to put the humbucker somewhere else. 3 hours ago I put it in the bridge of my Ibanez and man... It's almost as if I bought a new guitar. I know I don't have fancy stuff but I can tell when something has that special mojo. My cheap RG now suddendly sounds boutique and all the other guitars, including the LP, sound like there's something missing. I truly cannot believe the difference it made. BTW I am using a Marshall Origin 20 (combo with speaker swapped, 10 inch greenback), and pedals are TS 808, Blues Driver Waza and Suhr Riot for the heavier stuff. I can easily tell the difference even with my little amp. I am wondering how it will sound once I upgrade it. And the biggest issue, now I want to change all my pickups for Stephen Designs :) And as I don't live in the US, that might be a little bit difficult because of custom's restrictions. Well that's about it, thank you for making the world a better place. PD: Killer sound on this vid.. and I hope you find a solution for tendinitis. It sucks.

[@SDPickups]

I first started reading your comment and it sounded like you hated my work, but read further and found the opposite. Dan Spitz is a really cool guy and is big into the vintage Les Paul thing, so my PAF replicas were perfect for him, plus he's a great player. We did trades for pickups and I got a prototype Wah and an interesting fuzz that only half worked and a few other things. If you search my channel using the magnifying glass search function I have a demo he did for me if I remember right. He can sound like Clapton on Beano, very talented musician. I'm not taking orders for now, I have too many old orders and am caught between the old orders and trying to sell my NOS vintage wire sets to keep us alive, pretty stressful times for me, but am managing to hang on here at 74 years old. I hope I can slowly get out of this jam so I can get back to making the less expensive sets so guys like you can get them. I'm just one man, I dont have any help, and the sets I make take up around 15 hours to manufacture my own parts necessary to get the tones I get from following true reverse engineering work I did for more than 20 years. There are no commercial parts that will match the old PAF's, or even the single coils, all of it is offshore materials and parts that just give bland sound I can't stand. The tendonitis is still here, was Vegan and every time I do that I get bad tendonitis, I researched everything I could find and nobody seems to know what nutritional deficiency can cause it. Anyway, thanks for the comments.

[@mathiasdionisio5777]

@@SDPickups sad to hear about the tendinitis. Hopefully somebody will know how to fix it.. But I wish I could jam like you at your age! You are blessed. In regards to the Dan Spitz video, I found it and it's great, killer tone and playing! Those NOS you are selling are the Belden ones? Out of curiosity, how much do they go for? Just to know if there's anything I could sell to buy a set. If you can't post prices here I totally understand. Cheers and keep on rocking! Hope you feel better man.

[@dannywoody5497]

Turmeric root is great for tendinitis and arthritis..

[@SDPickups]

Good stuff, the Oregon Harvest is the best brand out there, use it alot.

[@dannywoody5497]

Turmeric is great for tendinitis and arthritis

[@SDPickups]

I know, I use Oregon Harvest Tumeric, the best in the world.