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Basswood Charvels-cant get a decent tone

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  • #46
    Re: Basswood Charvels-cant get a decent tone

    FWIW, the JEMs and original MIJ RGs were American basswood. Not sure if that means they shipped it over or if it is a specific type of basswood, not a wood expert.

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    • #47
      Re: Basswood Charvels-cant get a decent tone

      My Basswood RG2 likes the JB/JAZZ set I have in it

      Sounds great to me
      EHD
      Just here surfing Guitar Pron
      RG2EX1 w/ SD hot-rodded pickups / RG4EXFM1 w/ Carvin S22j/b + FVN middle
      SR500 / Martin 000CE-1/Epiphone Hummingbird
      Epiphone Florentine with OEM Probuckers
      Ehdwuld branded Blue semi hollow custom with JB/Jazz
      Reptile Green Gibson Custom Studio / Aqua Dean Shire semi hollow with piezo
      Carvin Belair / Laney GC80A Acoustic Amp (a gift from Guitar Player Mag)
      GNX3000 (yea I'm a modeler)

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      • #48
        Re: Basswood Charvels-cant get a decent tone

        Originally posted by devastone View Post
        FWIW, the JEMs and original MIJ RGs were American basswood. Not sure if that means they shipped it over or if it is a specific type of basswood, not a wood expert.
        I recall the early JEM's being Basswood too. Not sure why the alder thing changed and also not sure why Basswood is a dirty word here. Ive had alder guitars, like i said not particularly earth moving.
        The Indonesian & Japan JEM's are nice guitars but for $2.2K id rather have a Gibson. At least with a Gibson if i decide to sell i can get my money back. Not so with an Ibanez.

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        • #49
          Re: Basswood Charvels-cant get a decent tone

          Originally posted by JMP/HBE View Post
          I recall the early JEM's being Basswood too. Not sure why the alder thing changed and also not sure why Basswood is a dirty word here.
          Yes, all the early JEMs were basswood, Steve decided he wanted to try something different and liked the alder prototype that became Evo, so all the white ones and short lived blue sparkle ones are alder. They made them out of alder because that's what Steve wanted, it's good to be da' king.

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          • #50
            Re: Basswood Charvels-cant get a decent tone

            Advice to try different bridges and especially sustain blocks might help, but isn't where I'd start. Though brass in an Edge Pro seems to do more to fix mids and smooth ugly high end without darkening. Titanium is supposed to be fantastic for brightening without making harsh. It's also got a fantastic price...

            Right pots can help any pickup, and if the guitar runs dark, brightening it with 1M pots is probably the cheapest solution.

            Next I'd look at pickups. PATB-1b & PATB-3 are great for getting beefier tones out of basswood superstrats that are sounding a little thin or lacking in high end. TB-5 Custom (if you want low end punch) or TB-6 Distortion (high mids with ceramic presence/bite).

            I have a old basswood Ibanez RG570 that didn't get on at all well with either the stock pickups or a JB I tried in the bridge. PATB-1b is great in it, great for leads and rhythm. I'd probably like a PATB-2 in it just fine, but if you are looking for bright, that isn't it's strength. It's like a Distortion with more low to mid focus, and the ceramic presence rolled off.

            I also put an oversize brass vibrato block in the RG570. It didn't brighten it, but it did help even out the mids (it had a weird lower mid spike, tended towards bloated) and help sustain. If your current block is eating high end, brass might be brighter.
            Last edited by Despair; 01-11-2020, 10:36 PM.

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            • #51
              Re: Basswood Charvels-cant get a decent tone

              I got a basswood Ibanez Universe, with blazes and it rocks. The basswood, on the downside, is not so strong as to provide a very good neck heel fit.

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              • #52
                Re: Basswood Charvels-cant get a decent tone

                I have a Roadster II body that almost certainly is basswood. It like the Pearly Gator in the bridge, even for heavier stuff. I use it with a maple neck and a vintage style Strat trem.

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                • #53
                  Re: Basswood Charvels-cant get a decent tone

                  The JB is supposed to sound good in basswood too, but I've never tried it.

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                  • #54
                    Re: Basswood Charvels-cant get a decent tone

                    Originally posted by devastone View Post
                    The JB is supposed to sound good in basswood too, but I've never tried it.
                    I tried it in my Charvel Model 2 & Model 4. It sounded like you'd expect, but I ended up liking the Custom Custom better.

                    If I were the OP, I'd get rid of the brass blocks and consider swapping the JT-6(s) to either OFR or Gotoh. BITD switching from alder to basswood was a solution for thin, nasal OFR tone. Grover Jackson was particularly fond of the OFR / basswood combo, so Vai's Green Meanie and the Model series were all intentionally made from basswood. Later on oversized brass trem blocks also caught on as a Floyd Rose tone solution, but using one with a basswood body amounts to trying to solve the same problem twice.

                    The Model 1A I posted earlier has a basswood body along with a 6-bolt vintage trem and a rather small zinc block. Going by conventional wisdom you wouldn't expect much from it, but it sounds exactly how you'd expect a Strat to sound. I've heard that James Tyler is also a fan of basswood / zinc block.
                    Last edited by dystrust; 01-12-2020, 04:19 PM.
                    Originally posted by crusty philtrum
                    And that's probably because most people with electric guitars seem more interested in their own performance rather than the effect on the listener ... in fact i don't think many people who own electric guitars even give a poop about the effect on a listener. Which is why many people play electric guitars but very very few of them are actually musicians.

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                    • #55
                      Re: Basswood Charvels-cant get a decent tone

                      Originally posted by dystrust View Post
                      I tried it in my Charvel Model 2 & Model 4. It sounded like you'd expect, but I ended up liking the Custom Custom better.
                      Another one of the "interesting" things. Basswood seems to be focused on the midrange, so you (at least "I") would think you would want a scooped pickup to even out the frequencies, but usually it's mid-heavy pickups that sound the best.

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                      • #56
                        Re: Basswood Charvels-cant get a decent tone

                        Originally posted by devastone View Post
                        Another one of the "interesting" things. Basswood seems to be focused on the midrange, so you (at least "I") would think you would want a scooped pickup to even out the frequencies, but usually it's mid-heavy pickups that sound the best.
                        Definitely. Over the course of several years that Model 4 (later swapped to maple fb) has had a Full Shred, JB, '59, Custom 5, Invader, Custom, & Custom Custom installed. Of those the '59 and Custom 5 are probably the most scooped, and they were definitely my least favorite. The Custom was good and probably my second favorite, but just a little too bass-heavy.
                        Originally posted by crusty philtrum
                        And that's probably because most people with electric guitars seem more interested in their own performance rather than the effect on the listener ... in fact i don't think many people who own electric guitars even give a poop about the effect on a listener. Which is why many people play electric guitars but very very few of them are actually musicians.

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                        • #57
                          Re: Basswood Charvels-cant get a decent tone

                          Originally posted by devastone View Post
                          Another one of the "interesting" things. Basswood seems to be focused on the midrange, so you (at least "I") would think you would want a scooped pickup to even out the frequencies, but usually it's mid-heavy pickups that sound the best.
                          I would figure a "mid-focused" pup would enhance midrange in a pronounce midrange body.

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                          • #58
                            Re: Basswood Charvels-cant get a decent tone

                            Originally posted by JMP/HBE View Post
                            I would figure a "mid-focused" pup would enhance midrange in a pronounce midrange body.
                            My point exactly, seems like it would be too much, but it usually works, at least for the DiMarzios.

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                            • #59
                              Re: Basswood Charvels-cant get a decent tone




                              Well in the early 90's i was inroduced to the SH-5 Duncan Custom and a star was born. The Jackson Dinky Reverse i put that pup into went from being a pretty good guitar to an OUTSTANDING guitar.

                              SH-5 is the only pickup in 40 years that has never let me down nor disappointed me.

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                              • #60
                                Re: Basswood Charvels-cant get a decent tone

                                Originally posted by JMP/HBE View Post



                                Well in the early 90's i was inroduced to the SH-5 Duncan Custom and a star was born. The Jackson Dinky Reverse i put that pup into went from being a pretty good guitar to an OUTSTANDING guitar.

                                SH-5 is the only pickup in 40 years that has never let me down nor disappointed me.

                                I own a Rondo Music Explorer style guitar without the Floyd Rose clone that is basswood. I like it myself. Nothing wrong with basswood.

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