ICE CREAM IN HELL Tinsley Ellis, Heartfixer Music BMI If Blues is what soothes your soul, gets you through a pandemic or arms you in the daily trenches, then take a little ride down tin pan alley, to a little malt shop called… Ice Cream In Hell. If DNA ancestry tests could be done on the mitochondrial musical soul, then Tinsley Ellis’ results would undoubtedly include markers of family tree contributors, that would include King BB, Clapton, the Roberts ie. Johnson & Cray, Jeff Beck, Stevie Ray (one ride in Tinsley’s guitar stable was indeed, formerly played by SRV). Hundreds of other souls would round out and fill in the genetic pool. Third-cousins-twice-removed might even include Big Mama, Lucinda…it’s possible...
Back in the late 1940s and very early 1950s, Leo Fender created many early versions of what would become today's Telecaster®. While the Telecaster® has evolved in so many ways, especially from that early "snakehead" model, the early pickup that was first used was a mainstay - at least at first. The pickup was wound to about 9.0k in many respects and yielded a much hotter and twangier tone that yielded a mean lead tone when driven with overdrive a sweet hot vintage tube amp. For some, it was too hot. So, Leo compromised sometime in the mid early 1950s and started winding pickups closer to the 5.5-6.0k range. Perhaps, one consistency through it all was the Alnico III magnets...
A well balanced yet very powerful humbucker! Handcrafted to yield tonal perfection to the musician looking for power with a dynamic top end. Wound to yield the highest in tonal fidelity, the Defiance Humbucker is made with a tonal spectrum that is very rich in mid-range for a very full, thick and meaty tone. It's monstrous by definition, yet very articulate in response. The top end is very rich, luscious and comes through the mix extremely well. The bottom end is nice and chunky, perfect for crunch and drop tunings. In addition, because the Defiance Humbucker has an output of 16.75k with a double Allen pole construction, it responds well when used directly with today's modern high gain amplifiers. It's...
What an incredible year 2016 was! The company saw marked growth and major acceptance as one of the premier winding companies in the world today. That growth was not without lessons.
However, looking back on our year. We realized that we could do many more things better including the marketing of the pickups, our incredible artists and fine dealers worldwide. As a result, Nico’s USA has changed its name to Planet Tone!
This bold change is very welcomed. It's a marked step forward to enhance and embolden our share in the pickup marketplace.
So look for a bigger presence in 2017!!
