Mad-Max
New member
Okay, so about a year ago I purchased a guitar that I had my eyes on for a super long time. Everything about it was perfect to me. To the color, to the electronic configuration (Had a coil-split, unfortunately it only works for the neck), to the tone woods, and especially because I am a V person, it was calling my name.
Unfortunately, this particular guitar came with an EMG Active 81 in the bridge, and an 85 in the neck, while not terrible pick-ups, they just aren't my thing. I have never liked the sound of Active pick-ups. I like the Blackouts but even those have that 'Active' sound that I just don't care for all that much.
So long story short, I bought the guitar knowing that I was going to change out the pick-ups. Although, there was a part of me going, "You know what? Maybe I'll actually end up liking the EMG's and keep them" well... turns out I still didn't like them. They made guitar sound way too overly bright for my taste, and it just didn't have that dynamic punch that I liked from my other Jackson V that has a JB & 59n combo. This new guitar was already bright enough, it didn't need help in that department (Guitar has an Alder Body, Maple Neck going through the body, and an Ebony Fingerboard w/ a Floyd).
Some of you might remember when I posted thread after thread after thread about trying to find pick-ups for this freakin' guitar. It took me months to truly figure out what I wanted, because I like a variety of tones, and sometimes my tonal tastes change from time to time (Hence why we need a variety of guitars!) but after months and months of trying to figure out what I truly wanted and what I truly needed for this guitar, the time has officially come that I have now made the decision that took far longer than it should have.
Behold ladies and gents, the Custom Custom for the bridge and a 59 for the neck! *insert applause*
Here are some pictures of the pick-ups and the guitar they're going into.
I chose the Custom Custom merely because of the fact that its sole purpose was to tame overly bright guitars like mine, and also because the clips I heard of it were just juicy. It just had a tone that was rather enjoyable, and it was hot enough to scream, but had sort of a vintage character that the Alnico II brings that gives me the best of both worlds. I pretty much knew from the get go that this was probably the pick-up I was gonna pull the trigger on, but I was always trying to see what else there was too, but this just felt like the one. It was a toss up between the Custom Custom and the 59/Custom, but at the end of the day, the Custom Custom seemed better suited for what I was looking for.
The 59 for the neck was mainly because it's a comfortable shoe for me, because I have it in my other Jackson, and I love it to pieces, and knew I was gonna get a tone I liked from it, so I decided to just go with what I knew. Not sure how it'll interact with the Custom Custom or with this guitar for that matter, but we'll see! Worse comes to worse, I'll ship it back and look for something else if it doesn't work out, but I have no doubts.
I recently bought all the parts I need to go from Active to Passive. I have the mono jack, but I still have yet to receive the pots, but those should be in by tomorrow I hope. I ordered two 500K pots, one being a push/pull for coil-splitting and the other being just a standard pot, both made by Dimarzio (Or CTS since I think they make the Dimarzio ones, correct me if I'm wrong). I'm also deciding to finally try to install the pick-ups myself. I figure it'll save me money, and I've always wanted to try it, so I figure why not? It's worth a shot.
Pictures to follow once I have them installed. I may post clips as well. Cheers!
Unfortunately, this particular guitar came with an EMG Active 81 in the bridge, and an 85 in the neck, while not terrible pick-ups, they just aren't my thing. I have never liked the sound of Active pick-ups. I like the Blackouts but even those have that 'Active' sound that I just don't care for all that much.
So long story short, I bought the guitar knowing that I was going to change out the pick-ups. Although, there was a part of me going, "You know what? Maybe I'll actually end up liking the EMG's and keep them" well... turns out I still didn't like them. They made guitar sound way too overly bright for my taste, and it just didn't have that dynamic punch that I liked from my other Jackson V that has a JB & 59n combo. This new guitar was already bright enough, it didn't need help in that department (Guitar has an Alder Body, Maple Neck going through the body, and an Ebony Fingerboard w/ a Floyd).
Some of you might remember when I posted thread after thread after thread about trying to find pick-ups for this freakin' guitar. It took me months to truly figure out what I wanted, because I like a variety of tones, and sometimes my tonal tastes change from time to time (Hence why we need a variety of guitars!) but after months and months of trying to figure out what I truly wanted and what I truly needed for this guitar, the time has officially come that I have now made the decision that took far longer than it should have.
Behold ladies and gents, the Custom Custom for the bridge and a 59 for the neck! *insert applause*
Here are some pictures of the pick-ups and the guitar they're going into.
I chose the Custom Custom merely because of the fact that its sole purpose was to tame overly bright guitars like mine, and also because the clips I heard of it were just juicy. It just had a tone that was rather enjoyable, and it was hot enough to scream, but had sort of a vintage character that the Alnico II brings that gives me the best of both worlds. I pretty much knew from the get go that this was probably the pick-up I was gonna pull the trigger on, but I was always trying to see what else there was too, but this just felt like the one. It was a toss up between the Custom Custom and the 59/Custom, but at the end of the day, the Custom Custom seemed better suited for what I was looking for.
The 59 for the neck was mainly because it's a comfortable shoe for me, because I have it in my other Jackson, and I love it to pieces, and knew I was gonna get a tone I liked from it, so I decided to just go with what I knew. Not sure how it'll interact with the Custom Custom or with this guitar for that matter, but we'll see! Worse comes to worse, I'll ship it back and look for something else if it doesn't work out, but I have no doubts.
I recently bought all the parts I need to go from Active to Passive. I have the mono jack, but I still have yet to receive the pots, but those should be in by tomorrow I hope. I ordered two 500K pots, one being a push/pull for coil-splitting and the other being just a standard pot, both made by Dimarzio (Or CTS since I think they make the Dimarzio ones, correct me if I'm wrong). I'm also deciding to finally try to install the pick-ups myself. I figure it'll save me money, and I've always wanted to try it, so I figure why not? It's worth a shot.
Pictures to follow once I have them installed. I may post clips as well. Cheers!
