Brightening my sound

[Peko]

Hi all,

I recently purchased an EBMM Steve Morse model and love it. Unfortunately, the bridge pickup is way to mid heavy for me. It's Steve's signature DiMarzio model and designed to seriously boost the mids, as per Steve's taste. It is definitely a high output pickup ( I think the DiMarzio website lists is output at 440 millivolts)

The body is poplar and it is a hardtail

I'm looking for something to brighten up the guitar in the bridge position. I don't want to change the 250k pots because the neck pickup sounds perfect. I checked with the DiMarzio techs and they recommended either an Evolution or a D Activator. Unfortunately, the only clip I could find of the D Activator was on you tube and it sounded sterile to my ears (although I'm sure the computer is not the best way to gauge a pickups abilities).

Any advice would be appreciated,

Peko

 

[Rowan]

Re: Brightening my sound

What strings do you have on there? I'd try changing those first before spending money on a new pickup. I'd recommend Diaddario XLs.

 

[Binnerscot]

Re: Brightening my sound

An Evo would certainly brighten it up a bit.

 

[Peko]

Re: Brightening my sound

Just received an email from Seymour Duncan customer service and the Custom 5 was recommended because it is the most balanced of the SD offerings.

Anyone care to share some info on this pickup?

 

[NoOnesFang13]

Re: Brightening my sound

i dont see a C5 being balanced (scooped mids) though it will give u more high end

 

[Binnerscot]

Re: Brightening my sound

I think the tone chart is a little deceiving with the Custom 5, I find it to be very balanced. The C5 is a great pup in general, a search will tell you a lot more about it.

 

[Yngwiestein]

Re: Brightening my sound

Get a bright amp bro. Matchless is a good start!

 

[Peko]

Re: Brightening my sound

I plan to take my time and hopefully find exactly what I'm looking for......I'm actually going to wire up a completely different pickguard for it because I love the switching and multiple single coils/humbuckers but I really don't want to mess with the stock guard just in case.

I have to say that the DiMarzio Morse neck pickup is the best sounding neck pickup I have ever heard....at least for my tastes.

The singles are really clear but **** noisy, one is a Class of 55 and the other is just made for Steve Morse. I will be switching them out too. I was looking at the a variety of single coils as well, but I think I will worry about that after I find the bridge 'bucker I want.

 

[Axl H]

Re: Brightening my sound

Well, a Duncan Custom could do the job, but what I would really get, if I was you, would be a DiMarzio Super III. It is even higher output than your current pickup, but its brighter than the Morse and would work wonders in your EBMM I think.

I have one in my Heartfield, and it has a very tight and controllable bottom, the midrange has loads of cut, but it is quite flat and upper mids/treble is smooth.

-Alex

 

[Lake Placid Blues]

Re: Brightening my sound

I think you probably want a more Seymour voiced Hb'er in this particular case and just don't know it yet. Try the C5.

The Dimarzio Area pickups are very good noiseless SC's, as is the newer model Classic Strat Plus, from Duncan.

 

[Peko]

Re: Brightening my sound

I am very interested in the Classic Strat Plus, but I haven't heard much about them except for the description on the website and that Nuno uses them.

 

[jerryjg]

Re: Brightening my sound

Well, b4 you do anything- ADJUST THE PICkUP HEIGTH> A large portion of muddiness and dullness can be remidied to a large extent by pickup hieight adjustment.
I cant belive how little this is suggested around here especially on a pickup specific forum!!

 

[Lake Placid Blues]

Re: Brightening my sound

I am very interested in the Classic Strat Plus, but I haven't heard much about them except for the description on the website and that Nuno uses them.

Well Lew Guitar (a regular around here) field tested them for Duncan. A search should bring up some of Lew's findings and reports.

 

[Peko]

Re: Brightening my sound

Well, b4 you do anything- ADJUST THE PICkUP HEIGTH> A large portion of muddiness and dullness can be remidied to a large extent by pickup hieight adjustment.
I cant belive how little this is suggested around here especially on a pickup specific forum!!

Thanks, I appreciate the advice. The bridge pickup itself is not muddy or dull, just incredibly mid heavy. I have tried almost every thing I could think of before coming to the conclussion that I want to try out some other options. The pickup height adjustment did alter the sound, but the end result wasn't my goal.

 

[telemike]

Re: Brightening my sound

Maybe a Jazz Bridge? That's what I'm looking for to brighten up my Schecter PT that has a mid heavy JB.

 

[Robert S.]

Re: Brightening my sound

The C-5 isn't mid scooped, it just doesn't have the mid hump that most other hot pickups have. I am all about mids in my tone and I find none lacking in the C-5 (at least in maple/mahogany).

I was also a beta tester for the Strat Classic Plus pickups. The sound like vintage Strat single coils without the hum. Hum really shouldn't be a problem in an h/s/h guitar with a 5 way. You can wire so that the HBs split to the proper coils to be hum cancelling.

That being said, I use a JB/Hot Stack/lil59 in my Strat without the splits because I like the thicker notched tones that I get with HBs and a noiseless center single.