Hot Rails from Duncan

New from ace pickup man Seymour Duncan is the 'Hot Rails' side-by-side humbucking pickup which drops straight into a Strat's normal single coil slot 'without modification', say distributors Labtek International.

The pickup uses two blades with 'powerful coil windings' which, Labtek claim, deliver an output comparable with the hottest conventional humbuckers.

Two versions of the Duncan Hot Rails are available, one specially calibrated for replacement of Strat bridge position pickups, the other suiting neck and middle positions. Both types have four conductor shielded cables, enabling users to wire for split coil, in or out of phase, series or parallel and with or without humbucking effect. They are also fully 'wax potted' to prevent microphonic feedback.

The Seymour Duncan Hot Rails pickup has an RRP of £72.50, and IT readers can get more info from Labtek International at (Contact Details).

Premier Head For 2009

Latest from British percussion stars Premier is the new 2009 Super Power Snare, developed, the makers say, to give 'the perfect snare sound whether recording in the studio or performing on stage'.

The new 2009 boasts several new developments, including a secondary sound chamber with a new 'exclusive' floating snare 'buzz control'. To aid miking-up, the Premier 2009 also features soft cushioning grommets plus an external tone control. With fitted stress rings top and bottom for accurate tuning, a range of finishes is offered with the 2009, which has already been picked up by Simple Minds' Mel Gaynor who says that he gets his 'best sound ever' from it. Incidentally, due to demand from Rock drummers, Premier have recently added an 8" deep snare to their range. Called the 2010, it's been an immediate success, and the Leicester-based manufacturers have been forced to increase their production to keep pace with demand.

More details from Premier Percussion, (Contact Details).

Wave Hello to Turnkey Wednesdays

Following the success of public demos at the British Music Fair, the remarkable PPG Wave system is scheduled to feature in a 'meet the public' series of hands-on demonstrations at Turnkey's London store throughout October. Normally sophisticated synthesis equipment of this type is only available for demo by appointment, but the Turnkey Shop's 'Walk-in Wednesdays' are designed to give wider access to players wanting to see and try the newly expanded PPG system.

Upgrades and expansions to the Wave include MIDI retrofits, 2.2 and 2.3 updates, an expanded sound library, event speeding-up through a cursor function software, and more.

The new PPG system offers 16 bit resolution, 42kHz sampling rate (at 21k bandwidth), auto looping and merging plus levelling, sustain and decay along with up to 13 secs, sampling time.

If you fancy trying the Wave system, just turn up at the Turnkey Shop, any Wednesday during October between 9.00am and 5.30pm. The address is (Contact Details).

Echoplex from Cornish

Electronics maestro Pete Cornish has been appointed sole distributor for the complete range of spares for long-standing favourites Echoplex. According to Pete, he has spares and tapes for all Echoplex models in stock at his workshop, and can also offer a full servicing facility.

Peter Cornish can be contacted at (Contact Details).

FRANKENSTEINBERGERS

Fancy building a headless bass? Want to convert your conventional four stringer to a bridge tuning system? Now's your chance, because those inimitable folks at Part and Parcel have just announced a complete kit of main bridge/tailpiece units, complete with four spindle tuners, clamp nut string retainer and alien key - all for just £99.

The bridge section, say Part and Parcel, allows for intonation and height adjustment, and all parts are finished in 'a resilient black chrome'.

The new tuning kit joins the massive range of parts and spares available from this enterprising outfit, who have also told us that they can now supply all spares for Rickenbackers, in addition to their search-out service to locate rare spares for vintage guitars.

Spares catalogues and more info direct from Dory Oakes at (Contact Details). Alternatively, just add their name to the 'Other' section of IN TUNE's free info box.