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Icepick and pickup choise - a few questions

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  • Icepick and pickup choise - a few questions

    Hi!
    1. Can the pickup sounds very bright without the icepick effect?
    2. Can the pickup sounds dark, but still have an icepick?
    3. Can the pickup sounds clear,transparent, warm and MIGHTILY at the same time without icepick and floppy low end? Like 80's hair metal tone's.
    4. Can the Fender Strat (Alder, Maple, Rosewood) sounds bright without icepick with humbucker?
    5. Do I only think that high gain and medium gain pickups work better than low gain pickups in Fender Strat for Distortion?
    6. Recently I heard Super D in Gibson Flying V. Sounds very god. Is super D suitable for Strat?
    Last edited by CarlosG; 01-20-2020, 02:03 PM.

  • #2
    Re: Icepick and pickup choise - a few questions

    Yes. I had my Phat Cat bridge built for that goal. I had them wind it to 12k then I ended up with A5 and A6 in it. It's pretty sharp but not ice pick. This is just an example. You can absolutely get the sound you're looking for through experimentation. D standard helped me a lot because the notes are lower and the strings slacker so it gives a fatter sound all things equal. Then I can dial in how much ice pick I want. I also put a double thick A2 in a vintage output humbucker and it came out precise but not ice pick.

    I like vintage and hot output pickups. But vintage single coils are too vintage for me. I like the detail and touch sensitivity of vintage and the punchiness of hot.
    Last edited by Clint 55; 01-20-2020, 12:33 PM.
    The things that you wanted
    I bought them for you

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    • #3
      Re: Icepick and pickup choise - a few questions

      With the exception of No. 5, I'd say that the answer is "yes" to all other questions - it is just a matter of the rest of your gear and how its set up and personal taste.

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      • #4
        Re: Icepick and pickup choise - a few questions

        Originally posted by nexion218 View Post
        With the exception of No. 5, I'd say that the answer is "yes" to all other questions - it is just a matter of the rest of your gear and how its set up and personal taste.
        I'm sorry I meant ... in Fender Strat to distortion

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        • #5
          Re: Icepick and pickup choise - a few questions

          I think the icepick sound that you get is a combination of the guitar, the pickup, the amp, and the speaker. Sometimes they all add together to emphasize some unpleasant frequencies . ... and usually I find these frequencies in the 1 - 4 kHz range for guitar. There are plenty of pickups that are bright without emphasizing this range.
          Join me in the fight against muscular atrophy!

          Originally posted by Douglas Adams
          This planet has - or rather had - a problem, which was this: most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movements of small green pieces of paper, which is odd because on the whole it wasn't the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy.

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          • #6
            Re: Icepick and pickup choise - a few questions

            to remove some icepick from the strats first position if you've got a standard 3 pickup 2 tone setup add the tone control to the bridge position. The amount of wire and solder you need is so small you'd think a tech is messing with you. You'd be amazed at what effect just changing the tone capacitor can do too to a guitar. I like the one capacitor method of wiring a fender strat myself. Keep in mind what demos you see on youtube could have world great on their guitars but may not on yours and there is a lot of people who overprocess their videos so regardless if it's the exact same guitar you may not get the same results.

            other ways to remove ice pick sound is trying half wound, pure nickel or similar strings by your favorite brand. Can pure nickel strings play metal? Absolutely. The only issue with pure nickel strings is they have a different tension (pull) so you'd have to do some adjustments even if you matched a 10-46 set to a 10-46 set. Try a few different types. Not just shapes of picks to see what you like too. I bought about 20 different types of picks from my strings website I use really surprised me. Acrylic picks by D'Addario the red ones, Graphtech tusq picks but what I find myself using the most is the standard Dunlop flow picks. It took what I liked about gators and improved in to me anyways every possible way.

            high output pickups are easier to get metal tones out of absolutely. However medium can be used absolutely. I look at George Lynch and his screaming demon pickup is anything but high or a lot of the djent or progressive guys. Such as Periphery with the right amp and or pedal(s) in front such as in no order. Seymour Duncan Killing Floor (35db gain) , MXR distortion + , the DOD 250 or 308, Electro Harmonix Linear power boost 1 (EHX LPB1) to Joyo or Caline pedals if you're on a budget to name a few will really help. As well as getting the right pickup height and adjust the pole pieces on humbuckers accordingly. If all else fails an EQ pedal is your best friend.

            for capacitors, go with polyester ones from Thailand to save money as military grade versus something I make in my basement all the guitar cares about is what it reads so if both capacitors are perfectly 46.5nf (0.0465uf) measured on a 47nf capacitor they'll sound the same in a passive circuit.

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            • #7
              Re: Icepick and pickup choise - a few questions

              Originally posted by CarlosG View Post
              Hi!
              1. Can the pickup sounds very bright without the icepick effect?
              2. Can the pickup sounds dark, but still have an icepick?
              3. Can the pickup sounds clear,transparent, warm and MIGHTILY at the same time without icepick and floppy low end? Like 80's hair metal tone's.
              4. Can the Fender Strat (Alder, Maple, Rosewood) sounds bright without icepick with humbucker?
              5. Do I only think that high gain and medium gain pickups work better than low gain pickups in Fender Strat for Distortion?
              6. Recently I heard Super D in Gibson Flying V. Sounds very god. Is super D suitable for Strat?
              1. Yes, but maybe hard to find one that is just right.
              2. Yes, I had one! Drove me nuts. Changed it and now I am happy.
              3. Probably yes, but that is a lot to ask and it depends on the guitar, amplifier, speakers, and even your playing style.
              4. Yes.
              5. A matter of taste and preference but I would say yes.
              6. Absolutely! Glenn Tipton played a LOT of the classic Judas Priest albums using a Strat with a Super Distortion humbucker in the bridge position. I currently have a Super Distortion in the bridge position on an alder body/maple&rosewood neck Telecaster and it is thick but cutting. Great combo.

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              • #8
                Re: Icepick and pickup choise - a few questions

                Originally posted by Dave Locher View Post
                6. Absolutely! Glenn Tipton played a LOT of the classic Judas Priest albums using a Strat with a Super Distortion humbucker in the bridge position. I currently have a Super Distortion in the bridge position on an alder body/maple&rosewood neck Telecaster and it is thick but cutting. Great combo.
                Can you record for me little demo?

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                • #9
                  Re: Icepick and pickup choise - a few questions

                  Answer is...yes.
                  Originally Posted by IanBallard
                  Rule of thumb... the more pot you have, the better your tone.

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