A5 DD-N is like... really dark

Rex_Rocker

Rex_Rocker

Well-known member
I swapped an A5 in my DD-N thinking it would get me close to my Air Norton in another guitar. It didn't, LOL. This is for the neck position.

It's funny becuase it sounds fine distorted, but clean, it sounds like the tone is rolled way off, except I don't even have a tone knob.

The bridge pickup I have it paired with is an Antiquity JB. Should pair well in theory, right? It kinda does, but it kinda doesn't. I like that the output gives me more room to play with pickup height than the '59N it replaced. I hate that it sounds like there's a blanket over the speakers when I switch to my neck pickup clean.

Back to the drawing board, it seems. My favorite neck pickup so far, then, is the Air Norton. But I wish I could find something that has the AN's distorted tone but also close to the '59's clean tone.
 
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Mincer said:
That pickup shouldn't sound dark...hmmm....
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The ceramic DD-N isn't super bright IME. At least not '59N levels of bright. Maybe "bright" is not the right word. Maybe "open" is what I mean to say here.

Anyways I expected A5 to smooth it out a bit, but I didn't expect it to darken so much to where it would be like this.

I'm using it with a single 500K pot. I could go to 1M, but it is so dark that I don't expect the 1M pot to fix it.
 
You took a 59 out and put a hot DD in. That's why it sounds dark. How long have you had it in? Maybe live with it for a bit and see if you feel the same. A5 also might have lowered the power a bit, which would darken a hot wind; though I don't know to what degree I would expect. I haven't gone ceramic to alnico before, only alnico to alnico.
 
beaubrummels said:
You took a 59 out and put a hot DD in. That's why it sounds dark. How long have you had it in? Maybe live with it for a bit and see if you feel the same. A5 also might have lowered the power a bit, which would darken a hot wind; though I don't know to what degree I would expect. I haven't gone ceramic to alnico before, only alnico to alnico.
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I dropped it in yesterday. Yeah, I plan to keep it there a bit longer. But my initial impresions weren't good, so knowing me, it will probably not stay unless something really changes my mind.

The distorted tone is nice and fat. That's the upside. But I still prefer the AN in my Les Paul distorted.
 
Rex_Rocker said:
Would that brighten it up? Or just thin it out? That might not be such a bad idea... but also a smaller ceramic magnet might be cool.
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It'll add clarity and reduce any low-end muddiness, but it won't necessarily add brightness. Sort of like the Antiquity JB vs the standard JB if that makes sense.

A regular ceramic might be fun to try. Alternatively, doing some sort of "air" mod (half-air or full air) to the existing magnet, as Esandes hinted at, could be a potential fix.
 
Masta' C said:
It'll add clarity and reduce any low-end muddiness, but it won't necessarily add brightness. Sort of like the Antiquity JB vs the standard JB if that makes sense.

A regular ceramic might be fun to try. Alternatively, doing some sort of "air" mod (half-air or full air) to the existing magnet, as Esandes hinted at, could be a potential fix.
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Ohhh, that's what he meant. Yeah. Might be a good idea.
 
Yeah, just tried a 1M pot. It brightened up, but not enough.

I think I'm going to try either swapping the mag to Ceramic (but not oversized) which is what I have at hand or doing the half air mod.

I think either would help because the other issue I have now is it's super wooly in the lows as well.

Man, I really feel like DiMarzio neck pickups are more my thing than Duncan. I've always kinda felt that way.
 
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