Gonna try Duncans?

[Mike M.]

I recentley put a Dimarzio Virtual PAF in the bridge position of my Strat. The low output and clarity of this pickup blends very well thru my Peavey Classic 30 which leans towards a darker type of sound. This pickup is a keeper. The guitar in question is my Wolfgang Special with a Floyd Rose. I installed Dimarzio's in this guitar: An Air Zone in the bridge position and an Air Classic in the neck position. Although these pickups are a 100% improvement over the stock pickups I don't think they are the right pickups for this guitar thru the C30. The "big sound" and darker nature of these particular Dimarzio's combined with the C30 is just a bit too dark. So as far as I can tell I'd like to try a bridge pickup by Duncan thats similar in nature to the V-PAF that will work in the Wolfgang thru my amp. Because the C30 does'nt have a lot of bottom end "chunk" I think something with an A5 magnet would be the way to go. One thing I want to avoid at all cost's is a pickup with thin highs, like the stock Wolfgang pickups are. Any suggestions for both a bridge and neck pickup would be appreciated. Thank you and have a great weekend.

[walt]

Re: Gonna try Duncans?

I recentley put a Dimarzio Virtual PAF in the bridge position of my Strat. The low output and clarity of this pickup blends very well thru my Peavey Classic 30 which leans towards a darker type of sound. This pickup is a keeper. The guitar in question is my Wolfgang Special with a Floyd Rose. I installed Dimarzio's in this guitar: An Air Zone in the bridge position and an Air Classic in the neck position. Although these pickups are a 100% improvement over the stock pickups I don't think they are the right pickups for this guitar thru the C30. The "big sound" and darker nature of these particular Dimarzio's combined with the C30 is just a bit too dark. So as far as I can tell I'd like to try a bridge pickup by Duncan thats similar in nature to the V-PAF that will work in the Wolfgang thru my amp. Because the C30 does'nt have a lot of bottom end "chunk" I think something with an A5 magnet would be the way to go. One thing I want to avoid at all cost's is a pickup with thin highs, like the stock Wolfgang pickups are. Any suggestions for both a bridge and neck pickup would be appreciated. Thank you and have a great weekend.

I had put a 59/C5 in my wolfgang and found the brightness for the guitar still bright to my ears. I then pulled the C5 and replaced it with a JB which had a bright high end and not too much bottom. I replaced both with an Air Norton neck and Air Zone bridge and the brightness disappeared, it has a good bottom end and the mids make it sound BIG. Have you tried to eq your amp? Another thing to try is to "tweek" the screws on the pickup bobbin about a 1/4 turn each. Try to get the screw heads to look similiar to this \ / \ / \ /. That should help. Another thing to keep in mind with Duncans is that you will have to trim the pickup legs to fit in the Wolfgang and that blows your 21 day exchange. DiMarzios are a natural fit.

Hope that helps.
Walt

[ArtieToo]

Re: Gonna try Duncans?

Hi Walt; are you saying, that you can actually hear a difference by the way you line up the screw heads?
I'm not saying you don't, but to be honest, I'm a bit skeptical.

[WARRENLEELYNCH]

Re: Gonna try Duncans?

I recentley put a Dimarzio Virtual PAF in the bridge position of my Strat. The low output and clarity of this pickup blends very well thru my Peavey Classic 30 which leans towards a darker type of sound. This pickup is a keeper. The guitar in question is my Wolfgang Special with a Floyd Rose. I installed Dimarzio's in this guitar: An Air Zone in the bridge position and an Air Classic in the neck position. Although these pickups are a 100% improvement over the stock pickups I don't think they are the right pickups for this guitar thru the C30. The "big sound" and darker nature of these particular Dimarzio's combined with the C30 is just a bit too dark. So as far as I can tell I'd like to try a bridge pickup by Duncan thats similar in nature to the V-PAF that will work in the Wolfgang thru my amp. Because the C30 does'nt have a lot of bottom end "chunk" I think something with an A5 magnet would be the way to go. One thing I want to avoid at all cost's is a pickup with thin highs, like the stock Wolfgang pickups are. Any suggestions for both a bridge and neck pickup would be appreciated. Thank you and have a great weekend.

get this for the bridge,

Blues Saraceno Model™

PA-TB3 -- Created in the Custom Shop for Blues Saraceno, this pickup had to have the tone of the great old Gibson® P.A.F. and the power to cut through for Blues' unique and sometimes over-the-top style. Put this pickup in and you'll sound big, bad and plaid! Available in black only.
Four conductor cable




and this for the neck,


Original Parallel Axis Trembucker™

PA-TB1 -- This humbucker is specially calibrated for the neck position. Its spacing is also adjusted to allow for precise string alignment. Its tone is sweet and bluesy. The more gain you add, the more it sings. Available in black only.
Four conductor cable








and the the wolf will sound like a fine tuned les paul!

[papersoul]

Re: Gonna try Duncans?

I had put a 59/C5 in my wolfgang and found the brightness for the guitar still bright to my ears. I then pulled the C5 and replaced it with a JB which had a bright high end and not too much bottom. I replaced both with an Air Norton neck and Air Zone bridge and the brightness disappeared, it has a good bottom end and the mids make it sound BIG. Have you tried to eq your amp? Another thing to try is to "tweek" the screws on the pickup bobbin about a 1/4 turn each. Try to get the screw heads to look similiar to this \ / \ / \ /. That should help. Another thing to keep in mind with Duncans is that you will have to trim the pickup legs to fit in the Wolfgang and that blows your 21 day exchange. DiMarzios are a natural fit.

Hope that helps.
Walt

What's with the screw head positioning?

[walt]

Re: Gonna try Duncans?

What's with the screw head positioning?

In a guitar like the Wolfgang where the pickups are direct mounted with nothing under them the only way to adjust them is with the screw heads on the bobbins. With the heads positioned \ / \ / \ / or the other way / \ / \ / \ it seems to bring the pickup to life. It maybe because of a closer magnetic field on the strings, I'm not sure, but I did read on this form that Seymour himself has raised the screw heads on his JB. You could also argu that you can match the radius of your neck with the screws and have a more balance tone. I did this a while back on one of my humbuckers and I did notice a difference to my ears. Try it, if it works and you are happy with it, you saved yourself a lot of time and fustration trying to figure out what pickup you need, you may already have it. If it doesnt work shop on.