Monsta-Tone
New member
For years I've been struggling with my Ibanez JS1000.
The stock pickups (DiMarzio PAF Pro in the neck and FRED in the bridge) work very well for Satch.
I have neither the talent, fingers, or Marshall amp with bright distortion pedals, to make the stock pickups work for me.......
The neck always seemed a bit too muddy or muffled, no matter what pickup I tried, and no matter where it was adjusted, what magnets, etc..
The bridge always seemed WAY too bright, no matter what I tried.
I have tried so many pickups in this guitar that the mounting holes have had to be refilled and drilled 3 times......
For the last 6 months, I had been using a PATB-1n and PATB-2 in it. The neck was just right if I set my amp up correctly, I could use it for just about everything.
Believe it or not (don't care if you do or don't), the PATB-2 was still too bright in this guitar. Even a Tone Zone was mercilessly bright in this guitar for some reason.
Plus, the PATB-2 was just way too much everything for what I use this guitar for. I always thought of it as a "Sonic Supernova," when I was really looking for a Sonic Sledgehammer.
I've always swapped Alnico 8 or V into pickups, and never even thought about swapping in an Alnico II. I thought it wouldn't sound right or that it might be muddy because I had tried a Custom Custom in this guitar and while I liked the tone, the output was too low and it just wasn't a good fit.
So......long coffee induced story short......Last night I installed a polished Alnico II magnet (came out of a Custom Custom) into the PATB-2 and holy crap if it just didn't solve all of my issues with this guitar!
It's weird. The pickup has as much or more output than my PATB-1b with Alnico 8, but more of a PATB-3 kind of organic tone.
It's warmer and just a little lower in output than the Tone Zone that I tried (again) earlier yesterday in this guitar, and it just has a great feel to it.
I'm thinking that with a Jazz in the neck, this guitar just might have been saved from the chopping block.
I thought about this magnet swap all day yesterday and kept talking myself out of it. Lesson learned! Instead of thinking in circles and wasting time, I will ignore my inner voice next time and just go for it!
The stock pickups (DiMarzio PAF Pro in the neck and FRED in the bridge) work very well for Satch.
I have neither the talent, fingers, or Marshall amp with bright distortion pedals, to make the stock pickups work for me.......
The neck always seemed a bit too muddy or muffled, no matter what pickup I tried, and no matter where it was adjusted, what magnets, etc..
The bridge always seemed WAY too bright, no matter what I tried.
I have tried so many pickups in this guitar that the mounting holes have had to be refilled and drilled 3 times......
For the last 6 months, I had been using a PATB-1n and PATB-2 in it. The neck was just right if I set my amp up correctly, I could use it for just about everything.
Believe it or not (don't care if you do or don't), the PATB-2 was still too bright in this guitar. Even a Tone Zone was mercilessly bright in this guitar for some reason.
Plus, the PATB-2 was just way too much everything for what I use this guitar for. I always thought of it as a "Sonic Supernova," when I was really looking for a Sonic Sledgehammer.
I've always swapped Alnico 8 or V into pickups, and never even thought about swapping in an Alnico II. I thought it wouldn't sound right or that it might be muddy because I had tried a Custom Custom in this guitar and while I liked the tone, the output was too low and it just wasn't a good fit.
So......long coffee induced story short......Last night I installed a polished Alnico II magnet (came out of a Custom Custom) into the PATB-2 and holy crap if it just didn't solve all of my issues with this guitar!
It's weird. The pickup has as much or more output than my PATB-1b with Alnico 8, but more of a PATB-3 kind of organic tone.
It's warmer and just a little lower in output than the Tone Zone that I tried (again) earlier yesterday in this guitar, and it just has a great feel to it.
I'm thinking that with a Jazz in the neck, this guitar just might have been saved from the chopping block.
I thought about this magnet swap all day yesterday and kept talking myself out of it. Lesson learned! Instead of thinking in circles and wasting time, I will ignore my inner voice next time and just go for it!
