Pickups: Doheny vs ASAT

[NewEngland45]

Are there any comparison videos of these two guitars? I love the tone of an ASAT special! I’d love to see it compared tone wise to the Doheny!

[neutralomen]

The Doheny is going to be warmer and squishier. The ASAT special pups are great, but they're also kind of unruly. the bridge is VERY bright, and the neck, which sounds awesome once you get the right height/cut some bass, add some treble, is out of the box also quite gainy and breaks up a lot under gain.

If you give the ASAT special pups some love, they really ARE something "special" .

The Doheny and Doheny V12 are recently made MFDs that the current builders over there are doing with 30 years of MFD knowledge behind them. They set out to take advantage of the wider bobbin, which means they could add a little more wire, which increases DCR and warms them up, but they're able to keep the coil nice and short, and keep the ceramic strong. So you'll still get the bright, hot, powerful MFDs with some added warmth and girth from the increased DCR and wider bobbin.

Doheny's are definitely a better, more usable tone "wide open" out of the box, but I really love both pickups. If you want something aggressive that you have to really have a relationship with and tame to taste, go ASAT special. They're great for dirty blues and power pop. If you want something with a bit more finesse and pre-flavored out of the box, go doheny.

that's my two cents, anyway!

[NewEngland45]

Hey, thanks for the reply! I happen to agree with pretty much everything you said about the ASAT special. I recently got one again after being without one for over a year. My skill has significantly improved since then so I was forming new thoughts on the ASAT special. The reason I bought one again is because I accidentally came across an old recording I made with the guitar and I loved the sound.

Your descriptions of the ASAT special are excellent and I completely concur. Unruly is an outstanding word to describe these pick ups. I also like how you said it had to be "tamed', I couldn't agree more! I thought to myself the other night that this guitar would be a better
"mustang" than the Fender mustang because it needs to be tamed like a real horse. Not just with tone, but I believe the ASAT special requires a delicate touch on your strum. Chucking a couple of muted strings on your strum adds to normal T style sound by thickening up the tone. the ASAT special's pickups are too clear for that, and unnecessary chucking is too boomy. A light tough is required. The special also seems especially suited for clean tirades. I currently have a legacy, asat classic(with alnico), and ASAT special, all tribute models. I may add a Doheny or Fall Out to the mix next. I have no doubt that your Doheny description will be as on the nose are your ASAT special description. I appreciate your reply! it was very helpful!

The Doheny is going to be warmer and squishier. The ASAT special pups are great, but they're also kind of unruly. the bridge is VERY bright, and the neck, which sounds awesome once you get the right height/cut some bass, add some treble, is out of the box also quite gainy and breaks up a lot under gain.

If you give the ASAT special pups some love, they really ARE something "special" .

The Doheny and Doheny V12 are recently made MFDs that the current builders over there are doing with 30 years of MFD knowledge behind them. They set out to take advantage of the wider bobbin, which means they could add a little more wire, which increases DCR and warms them up, but they're able to keep the coil nice and short, and keep the ceramic strong. So you'll still get the bright, hot, powerful MFDs with some added warmth and girth from the increased DCR and wider bobbin.

Doheny's are definitely a better, more usable tone "wide open" out of the box, but I really love both pickups. If you want something aggressive that you have to really have a relationship with and tame to taste, go ASAT special. They're great for dirty blues and power pop. If you want something with a bit more finesse and pre-flavored out of the box, go doheny.

that's my two cents, anyway!

[NewEngland45]

Hey! I have an update. I’ve added a Doheny and Fallout to my collection! I’m shocked at how much I like these Doheney pups!! These are easily the best MFD s on the market. Your squishy and warm description is spot on. They remind me of a cross between an ASAT special and single coil. I honestly think these pups will appeal to a wider audience because they are much more “out of the box” ready tones. When you add Gain to these pups, they remind me of a humbuckee, but better sounding. On a side note, the fallout is great too! My only Complaint about the fallout is that it’s already a smidge neck heavy, so I can’t really put locking tuners on this without making it like an SG
.

The Doheny is going to be warmer and squishier. The ASAT special pups are great, but they're also kind of unruly. the bridge is VERY bright, and the neck, which sounds awesome once you get the right height/cut some bass, add some treble, is out of the box also quite gainy and breaks up a lot under gain.

If you give the ASAT special pups some love, they really ARE something "special" .

The Doheny and Doheny V12 are recently made MFDs that the current builders over there are doing with 30 years of MFD knowledge behind them. They set out to take advantage of the wider bobbin, which means they could add a little more wire, which increases DCR and warms them up, but they're able to keep the coil nice and short, and keep the ceramic strong. So you'll still get the bright, hot, powerful MFDs with some added warmth and girth from the increased DCR and wider bobbin.

Doheny's are definitely a better, more usable tone "wide open" out of the box, but I really love both pickups. If you want something aggressive that you have to really have a relationship with and tame to taste, go ASAT special. They're great for dirty blues and power pop. If you want something with a bit more finesse and pre-flavored out of the box, go doheny.

that's my two cents, anyway!

[poppymike]

I think this will show you what you're after. It's a looooong video but well done.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nn-8TQhBsKk

It's in Spanish but he plays guitar in English!