Lollar Imperial owners

[EXP]

i have a bday next week and i think im going to get some Imperials. after much research and homework on PAF's, the ones i liked best were the Lollars,Voodoos,and Antiquities. im set on the Lollars though.was wondering what everybody's preference is, clean or dirt.i play a BF Super Reverb and a hotrodded marshall 50w. also does anybody notice any squeel when using high gain?

 

[joek86]

I have had the Imperial's in my Hamer Monaco Elite now for around a month. I like them allot, they put me right where I want to be! Also, no squeeling.
Here's some of my impressions of the Lollar Imperials ........
I have them in a Hamer Monaco Elite (LP Style), and I have a Carr Mercury and play Classic Rock and Blues Rock. I must add that I am not the biggest HB fan, I like P90's and even Strat single coils. I have a Clark Gainster, a Xotic RC Booster, and a BB Preamp. Took out Duncan Custom in neck and Custom/Custom in the bridge.

OD-Bridge-- very alive not spikey, but more air and upper harmonics. More bloom than the Duncans. Overall balance is better, less hard and sterile, not as dark overall. Bass is defined and focused, no mud...... ..

Bridge/Neck OD-- way cooler, no mud on lower chords and notes, just clear tone!

Clean bridge and and neck combo-- snappy, 3D, allot of bloom. This is where less output is helping me! Guitar tone, not PUP, not amp, string and wood, very much like I get from a P90. Again, great overall tone balance. The Duncans were sterile and hard sounding in comparison.

The balance on the two PUP's is right on. The duncans were way more neck balanced. In a comdo setting the neck was muddy and boomy unless turned down to half of the bridge volume level.

I havent found a downside yet, R&R tones are superb,I even checked out some of Jazz sounds that I do and again found a very adaptable tone!
I don't doubt that WCR Crossroads are good, but I definitely made a great decision to go with the Lollars, and would recommend them for almost any type of music.

 

[EXP]

anybody else care to share?

 

[mainsale]

I've got my first Imperial coming on a Keef Tele I'm having made. I'll chime in what I have some experience.

 

[EXP]

i know a few TGP'rs have Imperials, because ive read your reviews. but nobody wants to speak up?

 

[Sebastian]

I haven't noticed any squeal, but I rarely play high gain. I've got the Imperials in a Les Paul Standard. At first I thought they were bright, but now I just think they're clear. They are not as mid-heavy as other humbuckers I've tried. I have no desire to swap them out for something else. I play mostly clean on a 6L6 amp, or edge of grind on an EL84, and for both they work.

 

[Jim Soloway]

We've use a handful of different pickups We have used Imperials in several of our guitars and we continue to use them in some of our top instruments. As a player, I like them a lot (although my own playing ranges from clean to cleaner). Our customers, whose playing is usually at least a little less antiseptic than mine also heartily approve. Equally important, Jason and Stephanie Lollar are really decent people and their customer service is second to none. All else being equal, their service alone should give them the extra points to tip it in their direction.

 

[NWOBHM]

I traded my wcr darkburst for a lollar and glad I did. bright airy top end but, doesn't hurt your ears tight warm bottom sweet full mids that get you close to the page/allman tones.. I emailed jason about the pup and he told me his buddy that was opening for the stones played all night but couldn't hear him till, he picked up his guitar with one of the imperials in it. he wanted to make a pup that would would cut through and be heard and this was in a stadium! I think these are some of the best vintage voiced pups I've ever heard. best thing is he doesn't cash in on the PAF hype, flavor of the week craze.

 

[Jack Briggs]

Originally posted by NWOBHM
best thing is he doesn't cash in on the PAF hype, flavor of the week craze.

Well, the only thing you'll notice is that he does offer 'aged' nickel covers for the Imperials!! And for a reasonable upcharge, I might add.

 

[grinder965]

Just had a set of slightly used Lollar Imperials put into an LP Classic yesterday. In fact they previously belonged to joeK86 (see his post above). I believe Joe decided to sell them because he made a decision to sell the Hamer and he could recoup more of his original purchase prices paid by removing the pickups and selling them and the guitar seperately.

Got to play with them at home last night for several hours through a Maven Peal Ganesha using a Tone Bone Classic for OD/Distortion. Just so you know, I'm no Tone guru and I'm relatively inexperienced ( been playing seriously for a little more than one year) but I do dig many of the old classic guitar tones of the 60's & 70's and with my current rig I'm able to get some great sounds and tone. I couldn't even begin to opine whether or not these P/U's come close to the holy grail PAF tone that many pursue but I think I can reasonably compare them to the 496R/500T combo that Gibson put in their the classics (I have two - one now has the Lollars in it) and Burstbucker 2 & 3's (LP Class 5) and Burstbucker Pros (LP Standard).

My initial impression when first playing them was "gosh these are really bright" but the more I played them and tweaked with the amp and guitar eq the more I liked them. They are bright and articulate but in a really good way....lots of clarity on tap with these pups......probably really super for the giging musician who wants to make sure he's heard in the mix.

A couple things that really jumped out at me relative to the other pup's I mentioned. Playing chords (especially in od/distortion mode) are very smooth (very little oscilation in volume) with great note articulation. Playing lead runs (again primarily in od/distortion mode) the clarity of each individual note is really pronounced....for example when your playing a fast run and you use one finger to play two notes almost simultaneously, each note can clearly be heard.....the other pickups will most times almost blend the two. Playing clean (particularly rhythm) and alternating with muted fingering) I was getting some great rhytmic sounds that I never gotten from any of the other pickups I previously mentioned.

Anyhoo that's it for now....I'll update later as I get to play these pups for a couple weeks. So far though.......BIG THUMBS UP!

 

[joek86]

Glad to hear that the PUP's worked out for you, and thanks for donating to my KOLL fund! Enjoy.............

 

[AJ Love]

I've been using a Lollar Imperial in the neck position of my #1 guitar, a Fender American Ash Telecaster, for many months now... It is an incredibly beautiful pickup and I get alot of compliments on the tone... there are a wide variety of tones you can get out of the Imperial, it has a very full articulate tone that is incredibly responsive to various pick attacks

I recently did a studio gig for someone who wanted the tone of a Duncan '59 humbucker so I changed out the Lollar for the Duncan... the Duncan '59 is also very nice but more of a one trick pony than the Lollar and less articulate (imho)... the Lollar will be going back in this weekend

 

[rclemmer]

Anyone compared the Lollars to the Fralins?

 

[rh]

Originally posted by AJ Love
I've been using a Lollar Imperial in the neck position of my #1 guitar, a Fender American Ash Telecaster, for many months now... It is an incredibly beautiful pickup and I get alot of compliments on the tone... there are a wide variety of tones you can get out of the Imperial, it has a very full articulate tone that is incredibly responsive to various pick attacks

What do you match it with in the bridge position?

 

[AJ Love]

Originally posted by rh
What do you match it with in the bridge position?

a Lollar Special T bridge pickup