2 Tricks for a One-Trick Guitar? Which pickup would you choose?

[Masta' C]

I have a stock Jackson "Kevin Bond" signature Rhoads guitar with a single S.D. "Iommi" bladed humbucker in the bridge. The single pickup design is really cool, but definitely limits the guitar's versatility, especially with the Iommi at the helm. So, I want to change it up and teach this old "one-trick-pony" a new trick...keeping in mind that it IS a hard-rocker at heart!

The guitar is neck-through with a Mahogany neck and body, an Ebony fretboard and a fixed bridge. In reality, it is NOT as dark sounding as you would expect from reading those specs. The pieces of wood on this guitar are ridiculously lightweight (even compared to identical models) and the overall tone of the wood seems fairly neutral. If it were a beer, it would be called "Mahogany Light".

Here's what I'm after...
A balance between driven and clean tones. The voicing of the Iommi cuts through very well with gain, but sounds stiff and oddly EQ'd when put through the clean channel, no matter what I do to it. I want something that will respond to pick attack and have good character and articulation under medium to high gain, but still keep the clean channel on my amp usable, so I don't have to switch guitars all the time to get a half-decent clean sound. I don't want to lose the warmth of the Iommi...I think this particular guitar needs it. However, I need something that sounds more "musical" when clean without losing the hard-rock/heavy-metal oriented focus when distorted. I'm probably asking too much of a single pickup, but that's what I'm here to find out!

I can tell you that one of my favorite Duncan pickups of all time is the Screamin' Demon, but I've never learned to cope with the harsh treble character after the initial honeymoon period wears off...it eventually gets taken out of every guitar I try it in. However, I do love its overall balance, open sound, ease of harmonics and very controllable drive. Plus, it has a great low end that is tight, but very musical. The JB has similar traits I like, particularly under gain, but there's something in the midrange that bugs me and would probably be emphasized in this odd guitar, so the JB is out. I would like to stick to passive pickups, as well.

Pickups currently on my short list (kind of a wide range, I know):
PA-TB1 or PA-TB3, Alternative 8, DiMarzio Crunch Lab, Suhr Aldrich, Carvin C22B

With warmth, balance, drive, great harmonics and musical cleans in mind...what pickup(s) would you suggest?

 

[MojoMonster]

Re: 2 Tricks for a One-Trick Guitar? Which pickup would you choose?

I want to pair one of the PATBs I have with that new Blackouts volume preamp thingy.

My vote is for the PATB-1.

MM

 

[Despair]

Re: 2 Tricks for a One-Trick Guitar? Which pickup would you choose?

Custom 8 is another strong choice if you are interested in pickup hacking. I think a ceramic Custom would probably be a bit bright for that guitar, though. Any of the pickups you mention could also work well, just a matter of personal taste which will work best for you.

On the Screamin' Demon, have you ever tried the trick of moving all the hex screws under the wound strings, and all the fillisters under the high strings? That smooths out the high end and further tightens the low end. Can also just get extra fillisters and only swap out the hex screws under the high strings.

Knowing what amp you are using might help nail things down, depending on whether you need a particularly punchy/deep bass to tighten it up or make it come alive, or a looser feel to counteract it's stiffness.

The PATB-1b might get a bit of what you like about the JB, without the problems. Mids are more balanced, more highs but sweeter, more but tighter lows. Articulate and a ridiculous range. The PATB-3 is a bit more towards the classic PAF sound, but also great (and shares the PATB-1b's articulate and dynamic feel).

I absolutely love the PATB-1b, I love the high end on it, slightly more than I like but not harsh at all. Very unusual feel, ridiculously responsive to volume & tone controls, and even moreso to varied pick attack. Great harmonics, though they don't scream like a JB.

The Parallel Axis pickups (at least the alnico models) are great for having high output but not feeling compressed.

Full disclosure: I had a JB in my basswood Ibanez RG570 that just wouldn't work (loose, harsh, goose honk sound, dull with tone rolled off at all, hopeless for cleans, but despite all those quirks great for leads). I now have a PATB-1b that is better for everything, including leads. In that guitar, at least.

 

[John E Rokker]

Re: 2 Tricks for a One-Trick Guitar? Which pickup would you choose?

try the 59b (but check the spacing though, you might need the TB instead of SH).

 

[Reload in 5]

Re: 2 Tricks for a One-Trick Guitar? Which pickup would you choose?

hows the iommi parallel?

 

[King IzzO)))]

Re: 2 Tricks for a One-Trick Guitar? Which pickup would you choose?

I have 2 Diablos, and they're very high on my list of favorite pickups. This might be a dumb suggestion, but try rolling the volume around. The Diablo is pretty damn versatile at different volume settings. I haven't ever tried a split with mine, but I'd bet it has much better than average single sounds, probably nice & warm. If it sounds funky with your EQ you probably need to adjust your EQ too, they do have some mids.

If you like the Demon, well, I don't really know what to say, I hate that pickup. It's like the anti-diablo. I don't think you would like the Alt 8 either. I haven't ever tried one, but the PATB-1 sounds like what you want, a warmer Demon would be the FS or Custom/C5, both of which might still be too bright. The PATB-1 is supposed to be like a warmer Custom, and everyone that uses one raves about it. The C8 is probably a good choice too, but you can't just go buy one. Don't know about the Crunch Lab, but descriptions fit, might be worth a shot, everyone that has one of those raves about it too.

 

[Masta' C]

Re: 2 Tricks for a One-Trick Guitar? Which pickup would you choose?

Rig:

My practice amp is a Peavey Special II 212 (Made in USA) with dual Eminence Texas Heat speakers. It was a dark and kind of lifeless amp from the factory, but the speakers brought it back to life nicely.

My other setup (not seeing much use right now) is a Marshall rack-mount head with a first-gen Behringer/Bugera cab. Surprisingly smokin' setup with some volume thrown at it!

Also, I occassionally play through an older Boss GX700 rackmount processor or a Zoom G9.2TT floorboard, but haven't been using those much at all lately.


Pickups:

I have done a little messing around with the Screamin' Demon in the past, including switching screw types around, and never got it quite where I wanted it. Never tried something like an Alnico 8 in it though...think there's some promise in a mag swap with the Demon? I've always thought if I could get a Screamin' Demon with 5-10% more drive and a slightly smoother/fuller top end, I'd have my perfect pickup!

I agree with you on the JB. Close, but no cigar.

Haven't thought about the 59 Bridge model. I might do some research on that one.

The Parallel Axis series has intrigued for a long time, especially being just a bit different. We've already got 2 votes for the PA-TB1. Hmmm....

As for the C8, I wouldn't be afraid of swapping mags.

 

[King IzzO)))]

Re: 2 Tricks for a One-Trick Guitar? Which pickup would you choose?

I have an SH-TI1 and a SH-SI1, so both the Iommi and a Scott Ian twin magnet type. If there's a difference I can't really tell other than maybe the Iommi is a smidge brighter. Mine is in a maple neckthru, mahogany body, the diablo is in a mahogany/mahogany set neck, both have trems. Other than that they sound very much the same, so I chalked it up to the maple and the neck thru. Still, they do the same thing when you back them off.

I've heard of that other Diablo, but what I heard didn't sound much like a Demon description to me, I think maybe it just used the same pole piece configuration. Scott Ian used to use JB's back in the day, so maybe that sheds some light on it.

 

[LatsMcGee]

Re: 2 Tricks for a One-Trick Guitar? Which pickup would you choose?

I've got a Crunchlab that I'd be willing to swap for your Diablo.....

 

[Masta' C]

Re: 2 Tricks for a One-Trick Guitar? Which pickup would you choose?

LatsMcGee- PM Sent

 

[Masta' C]

Re: 2 Tricks for a One-Trick Guitar? Which pickup would you choose?

I have an SH-TI1 and a SH-SI1, so both the Iommi and a Scott Ian twin magnet type. If there's a difference I can't really tell...

You are right! I just played an "El Diablo" equipped Washburn tonight and there's no difference that I can see between the El Diablo and the Iommi. Must be the original "Diablo" that's different...

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: 2 Tricks for a One-Trick Guitar? Which pickup would you choose?

Trick 1: On
Trick 2: Off

There ya go, that'll be $57.34 with tax.

 

[frankfalbo]

Re: 2 Tricks for a One-Trick Guitar? Which pickup would you choose?

Triple Shot mounting ring first, then P-Rails if you want to change pickups. If you can't find at least two usable sounds in that package, then "yer doin' it wrong"

 

[Aceman]

Re: 2 Tricks for a One-Trick Guitar? Which pickup would you choose?

How about this:

Add a mini on/on/on switch. Then, get this pickup -

DiMarzio X2N; I had one of these wired for series, parallel, split and it was just freaking awesome. Go chckout the DiMarzio site for a detailed description

In series - rock/harmonics was a non-issue. It was a beast.
In Parellel - the thing was awesome clean! Great clean rhtyms sounds that way. Totally different pup/dynamics
In Split - hot enough to give a legit single tone instead of some lame super weak signal.

It really can do a lot. I can't overstate the coolness of the parallel mode on this pup.

For bonus points, add a drop in eq. with a push/pull on/off knob and set a second eq curve for the series mode.

 

[King IzzO)))]

Re: 2 Tricks for a One-Trick Guitar? Which pickup would you choose?

Frank, it won't fit in a tripleshot, will it?

Masta, if you trade it you should be a nice guy and send the mounting ring with it, it won't fit in a regular one. I got one of mine without it and it was such a PITFA that I just direct mounted it.

 

[Masta' C]

Re: 2 Tricks for a One-Trick Guitar? Which pickup would you choose?

FYI...S.D. sells various trim rings for the slightly wider bobbins through the custom shop for just $6.00 each and those seem to fit most guitars without modification.

The other option is just to dremel small half-circles into a standard trim ring. I just spent 5 minutes and modified a generic trim ring to see if it would work...and it does. Looks ok and works just fine. I'd be happy to include the ring I just made for free with the pickup....

The trim ring on my Kevin Bond Rhoads is specific to this guitar, not just the pickup, so the stock ring has to stay with the guitar.