All the ruthless charm of the original Broadcaster with some serious attitude
Kinman Broadcaster Tele Set
Whenever I walk into a MacDonalds, I always think to myself that the people behind the counter are never quite as chipper as the actors in the commercials. The burgers I get in my crumpled-up paper bag never look or taste as perky as the ones on the commercial. My lettuce is never so crisp and vibrant, it’s usually a little brown around the edges. Conversely, whenever I throw my Kinman Broadcaster set into one of my Telecasters, I always think to myself… “Dammmm, these pickups really do sound as great as he describes on his website…” A rare treat.
Several years ago, I used a Tele with my Kinmans for a rock-trio project. Unfortunately, the recordings never saw the light of day. But I still have MP3 copies on my home computer. Every now and then, I fire up a few cuts with the headphones on, and then I ram the volume slider up to “11″. This is always a treat. Not so much about me having played anything so great, but the tone is so friggin’ “Big”… just like he says on his web site. The bridge pickup is very cool in that it has enough air in it that when you need to chicken pick, it just works. But at the same time, when you cram it through the lead channel of your amp, you can get a very aggressive sound that somehow still has a rude “twang” to it.
The middle position tone is god-like. More mighty than you might imagine. There is a hollowness that really stands out. The neck pickup is also a winner. Plenty of brown eyed soul, growl, syrup, molasses and tobacco… all mixed up like a teen age rebel without a cause.
I’ve tried swappin’ ‘em out a few times in some mix-and-match sessions with other noiseless Tele pickups, but the Kinmans always sound best together. I think the reason for this is that they are so well balanced, you just keep on going back and forth between the bridge, neck, middle, bridge, neck, middle, bridge, neck, middle…. I always go nuts on one sound for a half our and then suddenly remember: “Oh yeah, the next position sound totally rad too!…”
Better than the commercial.
