New picups for Jackson KE3 Kelly...?

[Mayhem]

Re: New picups for Jackson KE3 Kelly...?

Thanks for the help Zerberus and all you other guys.

I will now have a watch over the second hand marked and see what I can get.

[Zerberus]

Re: New picups for Jackson KE3 Kelly...?

As far as the Axe Goes: the ke-3 is a fine guitar, definitely worth its street price.

Jackson does it a bit differently than most on the imports. Where other companies take the red marker to more or less everything evenly, Jackson puts the emphasis on the craftsmanship and raw materials.

The details like Neck pocket, hardware fit, fretwork (!), which make all the difference, seem to be of higher standards than on moist others. For example, I´ve never seen a New jackson that needed a Fretjob, and I´ve sold and played literally hundreds (used to be a dealer in the late 90´s). There are occasional oddballs, but they are few and far between. And every Jackson I´ve EVER tried that was in decent playing condition had the "quality" of tone I expect from a guitar made of decent wood. There are NO plywood Jacksons, nor were there ever any. At least AFAIK (which isn´t much). The JS series are made of Indian Cedro, which is a member of teh mahogany family. 10x better IMO than agathis or chesswood (IbeenHad, BC Rich, occasionally LTD IIRC), I personally even prefer it to basswood as a Guitar wood, but that´s me.

What do you lose for that extra build quality? Even the most expensive Jackson Imports (SL-3, DK-2) have relatively mediocre trems, the JT580 series isn´t notably better than the Ibanez TRS-series (it figures, same Manufacturer, Takeuchi). And you´re getting Duncan Designed Pickups or EMG-HZs on almost all High end Imports (RR-5 with Duncans being a notable exception). The Graphic paintjobs arent as intricate, not sure if they´re being airbrushed again, and Inlays are usually Mother-Of-Toilet-Seat instead of real pearl.

But what do most people do to Imports? Tear out the Trem and/or Pickups. In your case the Pickups.

The JB /Jazz would sound great in that axe, but for death/Black you´ll probably want more output and either a more scooped or generally fatter tone, or brighter for more thrash. I would suggest the Dimebucker (Scooped, nice fat bass and cutting not screeching highs), Invader (think Ultra-fat, like a ton ton hammer) or Distortion (Think early Megadeth or Metallica, this is one for us Thrashers ) and go from there.

But A Duncan Custom (My preference) almost always sounds great in a Jackson, bridges almost all of those gaps with ease if you can. Definitely one of the most versatile pickups Duncan makes along with the JB and ´59

[Mayhem]

Re: New picups for Jackson KE3 Kelly...?

Invader, thats the picups Blink182 uses lol.
I'll have a look at it.

[\m/(00)\m/]

Re: New picups for Jackson KE3 Kelly...?

for the black, death metal, thrash stuff...... i say Invader for bridge and a 59 neck.

[TheMist]

Re: New picups for Jackson KE3 Kelly...?

I like Gibson pickups. Years ago I had a pair in a old Ibanez RG and they where sweet.


But if I were you I would buy 2 DiMarzio PAF Pros.

[Mayhem]

Re: New picups for Jackson KE3 Kelly...?

Hmmm... The 59 would be easyer to get, because they are sold in the Norwegian stores(Jazz isn't)

I agree about the light colour on the neck, I would like it a litle darker, but it has goten darker and smoother after some playing actualy.

The sustain is good enough, not the best, but not the worst either.

[Davey]

Re: New picups for Jackson KE3 Kelly...?

well... what about a JB with a 250k tone pot? it will darken the pup a bit and you wont get cut by those heights it'll produce.. the C5 or the custom is the secondary choice =) and for the neck.. definately a 59 hehe

[Neeradj]

Re: New picups for Jackson KE3 Kelly...?

I never really thought the KE3 was that good of an axe, but that had much to do with the construction of their bolt on necks, pared with bright woods (not necessarilly cheap), but I can assure you Duncans can help you improve your tone dramatically. With an alder body, bolt on maple neck, and rosewood fretboard you've got yourself a bright guitar (is it sustaining well enough?). So I think you'd like to balance that out, not only for the heavier sounding stuff, but for the overall sound. I suggest a Custom for the bridge and a Jazz for neck. The Custom is well known for balancing out in practically every guitar, it's high output, lots of harmonics, with just about enough of everything. And you already chose the Jazz yourself, which is kind of a self explaining pup.

[Robert S.]

Re: New picups for Jackson KE3 Kelly...?

The vast majority of people that replace pickups in Gibsons take the Gibsons out of their guitars and replace them with something else. Very rarely (like almost never) do I ever hear someone raving about how great their guitar sounds after installing a production set of Gibson pickups. The cheap price is only a good deal on those if you end up liking the tone. I would suggest passing on the Gibson pickups if you are looking for significantly better tone from that guitar.

A used JB and a 59 neck model would be a far better upgrade.

Almost any guitars tone can be improved with a set of SD pickups, and yours is no exception. I'd keep looking for a set of SD pickups. If you could find a used Duncan Distortion, Dimebucker or Invader you'd still be better off for what you want to do than getting the Gibsons.

[Mayhem]

Hi

I have this Japan made Jackson KE3 Kelly... and I ain't 100% happy with the sound of it.

First of all, I would like to know if the guitar is good enough for better picups. Will it help, or is the tone and wood in the guitar to bad to get decent sound at all?
I am not expecting the "cheap" Jackson to sound like a qualety guitar, but I got to say that Duncan dessigned suck, and if better picups is worth it, I will get it because I like the look of the guitar, and its nice to have a decent sounding guitar who can get scratshes without beeing the end of the world. I have some friends playing on really expensive Les Pauls, they take of their belts and ****..

And to the next topic on my agenda...
What picups?
I am thinking about getting the Duncan JB and a JAZZ. This is considered to be good picups, and a great combo.

I will use the guitar to play Black metal, trash, death.

I would like to get something second hand though, because I don't have mutch money at the moment.. And no stores in Norway has the Jazz.

I think I can get a pair of good old Gibson LP picups fthrough a guy I know for a quite lower price than new Duncans. Some people consider Gibson mics to be better than Duncans too. But are they better for my guitar?
If I can get gibsons for a third if the price of new Duncans, It would be smart to go for it if they are good enough.

Is the guitars so bad that the sterile EMG's I don't whant is the only way?

I hope there is sombody out there who can help me. Maybe someone who has upgraded their Jackson KE3 Kelly?