The Model Name: As the first guitar model that we used this pickup on was our Vector, we gave the pickup the V designation for the model name. The 2 stands for second generation, that is, this is now the second generation of this pickup's design. The first generation was made to our spec by Bill Lawrence. These can be identified by their black fiber base plate (the plate that the pickup components are mounted to). The current generation is made to our specifications by Kent Armstrong. It is essentially the same pickup as the original, but with a few upgrades.

The Advantages of a Symmetrical & Balanced Design:
You'll notice two rows of adjustable pole-pieces rather than the traditional design of one adjustable row and one row of non-adjustable slugs. Both coils are identical except that they are precisely wound in opposite directions and are loaded with magnets of opposite polarity so they are as perfectly humbucking as can be. But, because both coils are loaded with identical polepieces and magnets, they both produce the same level of output and sound.

Here's the big advantage: you can adjust the polepieces for each coil on each individual string to not only increase or decrease the volume of each string with respect to the others, but also to change the response of each string individually from a humbucking to a single coil tonality. For instance, the E, A and D strings can have a single coil voicing, more like a strat, with one of the two polepieces set much higher than the other, while the 3 high strings can have a thicker sound with both the polepieces of both coils set to the same height. Even though you're getting more of a single coil voicing the pickup remains perfectly humbucking. You can also adjust the string balance to be different when using the humbucker in a tapped, single coil mode versus using it in the humbucking mode.

Because both coils provide a full response, either coil can be used as a single coil, allowing for more flexibility in coil-tapped wiring schemes such as combining outside coils of a neck and bridge humbucker in one position, but inside coils in another. We're also able to use other, more complex coil combining schemes in our various pickup wiring harnesses because we have two fully usable coils in each pickup.

Also, our V2 humbuckers have virtually the same sound and operate the same in all wiring schemes whether they are open-coil (exposed coils) or have pickup covers. This symmetrical design can also provide a little higher output because the polepieces can be placed closer to the string than if one coil has slugs.

Construction:
The coils are wound with wire which has an insulation which does not powder when it is wound onto the former or bobbin, nor does it crack. The advantage? No internal shorting of windings (yes, this is a big problem in many pickups and accounts for the large variation in tone from one pickup to the next while supposedly being the same pickup). It also means we can provide a consistently high level of performance from one pickup to the next and one guitar to the next. It also means there are fewer stray resonant peaks with the pickup operating more as a pure (or ideal) inductor which allows us to design more functional tone circuits and provide a much higher quality of sound.
The plastic we use is a high temperature plastic, much higher than that used by popular name brands. This allows use to use a higher temperature wax and to soak the coils longer to get penetration of the wax to the core of the windings to reduce mechanically induced noise and feedback - that is, microphonics. This is especially important when playing at high volumes and/or with high gain. It also means that you won't wear down the exposed coils from the pick striking them as we have seen happen over time with other exposed coil pickups.

With pickups, the devil is in the details. And marketing, fancy ads or vintage reproduction doesn't make for a sound that is going to make your guitar sing in the 21st century. High quality materials are absolutely important, but their proper use and application as well as the right design truly set our V2 humbuckers apart from the crowd. And, they'll set your sound and playing apart from the crowd, as well.

Sound
Our design goal was to provide extended low and high frequency response, improved articulation, more clarity and detail (especially in the midrange and in the inside voices of chords), to eliminate the metallic and/or nasal edge that a lot of humbuckers have - in short, our V2 humbuckers provide a bigger, more exciting sound than other humbuckers we've tested in our guitars. Our design allows for a broader range of world-class sounds - more usable versatility.
As with all of our pickups, our V2 humbuckers are designed to satisfy world-class professionals. Whether you're playing live or in the studio, you'll get more sound, a better sound; a more expressive sound and a more responsive feel. They meet our overarching design goal: to help you Play Better and Sound Better.

With pickups, the devil is in the details...

The baseplate is stainless steel, so the screw holes won't strip out. It's easy to change a 3¢ screw, but harder and far more expensive to repair or replace a pickup.


Shielded 4-conductor Wire is used from the pickup to the controls to further reduce noise and allow full access to all possible wiring schemes.

U.S. Masters Guitar Works is a product of M-Tec Corp.
2324 Pinehurst Dr. Unit B Middleton, WI 53562
608-836-5505 Fax:608-836-6530
These products are covered by U.S. Patents Nos. 5,886,272 & 6,051,765
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