Congested and nasally guitar

[Hsb]

Have a mahogany guitar with a maple neck, 1 volume and no tone pot and currently has a C5 in the bridge and Jazz in the neck. I like both pickups but it sounds a bit nasally and congested esp the bridge.

Id like to try a 59/C, but sure since it has a good bit more mids, not sure if that would be a good option or not. Anything pickups I should consider? I have a DD in one of my other guitars that I love but want a different flavor for this guitar.

 

[Lewguitar]

Those are both some pretty bright pickups and with no tone control they ought to be even brighter.

Is this a guitar you made? Do you know the value of the volume control? If it's 250K or 500K?

250K will give a pickup a warmer sound and 500K a brighter sound. Most humbucker guitars use 500K.

Do you like hot bridge pickups like C5? Or lower output pickups that are closer to a paf style?

I get the impression you like a hot bridge pickup if you like the DD.

If so, the bridge pickup Seymour uses with the Jazz neck is the JB.

But he uses it with a 250K volume pot. It's pretty bright with 500K.

 

[Mincer]

If the guitar still has overbearing mids, changing to the Hybrid won't help. I have a very mid-heavy guitar, and I use a Jazz & C5 combo, which works. I'd actually suggest a good EQ pedal at this point, though.

 

[Clint 55]

Go over some more with what's wrong. Can't really get a sense of the problem.

 

[dave74]

Just use a regular custom in the bridge. You could also just mag-swap the c5 for a few $.

 

[ItsaBass]

What amp are you using?

High output pickups like the various Customs, JB, etc. can sound very nasal if your amp doesn't have enough headroom.

What e.q. controls do you have on the amp?

How far are your pickups from the strings?

My first trials would be with amp adjustments and pickup height adjustments.

 

[Hsb]

Ok, so I posted that just before bed last nite, so to answer a few questions, no this guitar is a manufactured guitar 25.5" scale and my amp (1987 Jubilee) has a bit of upper mid push but its not as noticeable with the guitar with the DD. The string height I havent messed with as they are direct mount pick ups, just adjusted the bridge height a little. As for pots, the volume pot is a 500k, I happened to look at it last nite so I know that much.

My amp setting are as Presence is between 5 and 6, Bass is 6, mids 5, treble is at 7 and gain is between 4 and 5 at the moment.

As for hot vs lower output, I really am open to that. There are guitarists I like that use both, so not really wedded to one or the other. I do have a MXR 6 band eq that I use on occasion just for chits and giggles.

Clint the easiest way I can describe the sound is it sounds like someone is talking with congested nose. Granted some of that is contributed to the amp and is really more noticeable in single notes vs cords.

 

[GuitarDoc]

You might want to play with your amp settings a bit before changing your pup. Pretty simple and very cheap. Marshalls tend to have a bit more mids to begin with which can be beautiful but can also give that "congested, nasal" kind of tone with the wrong guitar and pup.

Like Lew said, your guitar, pup, and setup with no tone pot should sound bright.

Try lowering your mids and raising your treble a bit on your amp before doing anything else. Then play around with the presence.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Those are both some pretty bright pickups and with no tone control they ought to be even brighter.

If so, the bridge pickup Seymour uses with the Jazz neck is the JB. But he uses it with a 250K volume pot. It's pretty bright with 500K.

Wow.

He's complaining about a nasally and congested sounding tone coming from what should be a bright pup and you recommend JB which has a rep of having a very nasal sound, and then a 250k vol pot which will cut the highs and make it even more congested?

Maybe play around with the EQ of the amp first to get rid of those mids.

 

[Top-L]

Have a mahogany guitar with a maple neck, 1 volume and no tone pot and currently has a C5 in the bridge and Jazz in the neck. I like both pickups but it sounds a bit nasally and congested esp the bridge.

Id like to try a 59/C, but sure since it has a good bit more mids, not sure if that would be a good option or not. Anything pickups I should consider? I have a DD in one of my other guitars that I love but want a different flavor for this guitar.

Is this an M-400? You kinda described the problem I had with it..which was fixed by changing the pot from 500K to 250K. I thought it was a characteristic of the guitar, but actually it was more the lack of a tone pot.

I eventually ended up with a D-sonic (bar towards neck)/PAF Pro combination which is a favorite of mine. I think when a guitar is nasally, it needs a pickup with more bass, so you might (generally) look at the Dimarzio catalog. If you have a Duncan Distortion, I bet it will be perfect with a 250K vol pot. IME, the 250K vol is virtually identical to 500+500K.

At some point I will go back and try the Custom and Custom 5 with the 250K pot.

 

[freefrog]

Is this an M-400? You kinda described the problem I had with it..which was fixed by changing the pot from 500K to 250K. I thought it was a characteristic of the guitar, but actually it was more the lack of a tone pot.

Bingo.

If the cable used between guitar and its first host is a high capacitance one, it might make the problem even worse.

A lower capacitance cable + a 250k pot (or a 470k resistor parallel with the existing 500k pot) should already contribute to "open" the sound (thx to lower pot resistance) and to make it less mid-centric (thx to lower cable capacitance).

 

[Lewguitar]

Wow.

He's complaining about a nasally and congested sounding tone coming from what should be a bright pup and you recommend JB which has a rep of having a very nasal sound, and then a 250k vol pot which will cut the highs and make it even more congested?

Maybe play around with the EQ of the amp first to get rid of those mids.

What I said is: "I get the impression you like a hot bridge pickup if you like the DD.

The bridge pickup Seymour uses with the Jazz neck is the JB.

But he uses it with a 250K volume pot. It's pretty bright with 500K."

The OP wrote that he likes the Duncan Distortion. The DD is a lot like a JB but with a ceramic magnet rather than alnico 5 magnet.

You've become a real pain in the posterior with your insistence on having the last word and your belief that yours is the only opinion that's valid.

I'm not the only one here who's starting to feel that way about you.

 

[GuitarDoc]

What I said is: "I get the impression you like a hot bridge pickup if you like the DD.

The bridge pickup Seymour uses with the Jazz neck is the JB.

But he uses it with a 250K volume pot. It's pretty bright with 500K."

The OP wrote that he likes the Duncan Distortion. The DD is a lot like a JB but with a ceramic magnet rather than alnico 5 magnet.

You've become a real pain in the posterior with your insistence on having the last word and your belief that yours is the only opinion that's valid.

I'm not the only one here who's starting to feel that way about you.

I know what you said. Maybe instead of me saying that "you recommend JB", I should have said, "you endorse Seymour's use of a JB with the Jazz neck, and with a 250k vol pot.". I guess that would have been more accurate.

Sorry for the misquote. I didn't mean to put words in your mouth.

I don't find that the JB is a lot like a DD. To my ears the DD doesn't have that annoying upper mid push that the JB has which gives it its nasally tone. This is not just my opinion that I am insisting that others have to believe. It is well known that many guitarists find the JB annoying because of that.

You've become a real pain in the posterior with your insistence on having the last word and your belief that yours is the only opinion that's valid.

Get off it! Because I contribute a post and try to give the OP some relevant info to help him solve his problem you say I am insistent that my opinion is the only one that's valid?! And you think that by giving him wrong info it's ok because it's from you not me?

And why do you think that contributing some info in a post is being insisting on having the last word? Of course it's the last word until someone else posts something! Just like you just "insisted" on having the last word with your last post. You're an intelligent man, so I'm sure you can't be serious about that.

You can hate me all you want.That's fine. It doesn't hurt my feelings or anything. But don't let it affect the relevance of your posts in serving the needs of the OP. Helping others solve their problems, if I'm not mistaken, is one of the main purposes of this forum. Not berating others who are trying to give relevant, appropriate info to that end just because it differs from your opinion. I have always had a lot of respect for your opinions on this forum, and still do. Even if they differ from mine. And I have no ill feeling toward you. But if you give info that I believe is not in the best interest of the OP then I'm sure as heck going to give my opinion too. Because, I didn't think that this was the "Lewguitar forum". I thought it was the SD forum, open to anyone who has a question or needs help with a problem, and to those who want to help. You know that I have butted heads with Clint and Goober when I have believed that they have given misinformation, but I have also agreed with and supported some of their opinions as well (just like I have done with you in this very same thread). And I still appreciate and respect their desire (and yours) to contribute to the forum and its ideals.

So if you have hatred for me, keep it to yourself. If you have opinions that differ from mine, then by all means post them and even say why you think I'm wrong. That's what advice and help through communication and discussion is all about.

OK, so now I guess you want to post more hate mail. If that's what you are about, then go ahead if you think it's going to help solve the OP's problem.

 

[ErikH]

Those pickups with 500K volume only is crazy bright. Been there, done that. You can't put a 470K resistor across the terminals of a 500K volume and get it to taper right like it would with a tone pot, and the volume pot is actually wired up as a voltage divider. Change the volume out for 250K. What that will do is help to even out the EQ of the C5 some giving it a fuller sound. I find that mid-scooped can be quite congested sounded to me. A 250K volume also tames the upper mids of the JB. I'm speaking from experience in both instances.

 

[Lewguitar]

Those pickups with 500K volume only is crazy bright. Been there, done that. You can't put a 470K resistor across the terminals of a 500K volume and get it to taper right like it would with a tone pot. Change the volume out for 250K. What that will do is help to even out the EQ of the C5 some giving it a fuller sound. I find that mid-scooped can be quite congested sounded to me. A 250K volume also tames the upper mids of the JB. I'm speaking from experience in both instances.

Yes, I used to really dislike the JB.

But with a 250K volume pot (the way Seymour uses it in his Tele) I found that it's not so bad after all.

Still not for me but that's ok.

We all have our preferences.

 

[ErikH]

Yes, I used to really dislike the JB.

But with a 250K volume pot (the way Seymour uses it in his Tele) I found that it's not so bad after all.

Still not for me but that's ok.

We all have our preferences.

I did the same thing with the JB but ultimately swapped it out. Another pickup I like with 250K volume is the Screamin' Demon. There's no tone control on that guitar either.

 

[jeremy]

settle down boys, we dont need the back and forth here or any where else.

 

[Hsb]

Yep its my M-400. I was thinking about a pot change based on what Top-L had posted and was just looking at the Dimarzio AT, appears to be made for a 25.5" scale with a mahogany body. Will try the pot change first before venturing into the realm of pick up swapping.

 

[PDC]

For nasally and congested, I’d try Mucinex and if that doesn’t work, then Flonase...

But seriously, an all mahogany body can be tricky to match pickups for a good, full sound. Think about why Gibson elected to add a maple top the the mahogany Les Paul. I had a beautiful 1-piece mahogany single hum body from Warmoth back when I was running EMG 57s in all my guitars. That guitar sounded SO ‘round’ and ‘warm’ to my ears. I also had an Ash single hum body with a 57 which to me sounded a bit ‘hard.’ I had played a show with decent stage volume and a really good front mix and switched guitars several times throughout the set. It all sounded good on stage. But after the show, everyone from a former guitar student to my wife said ‘that white guitar sounded incredible tonight’ and ‘the brown one looks so pretty, but sounded really muddy compared to your white one.’ (My Mahogany Guitar had a simple oil finish and the Ash guitar was bright white with black hardware) Exact same rig - Splawn QR - exact same amp settings - exact same cab - Greenback 4x12 - same Sound man - same mix. And identical EMG 57 pickups in each guitar. The all mahogany body just did not hold together live. After swapping several passives through that guitar, I ended up selling it and bolting the neck onto an old-school Alder strat body and it sounds killer. The Gibson SG works - but I think Mahogany needs something on top to help firm it up and help it cut in a live mix. That said, Mahogany tends to be bottom-heavy and does not offer much definition. It’s easy for a pickup to accentuate the ‘tubbiness’ of the wood and its also easy for a bright pickup to sound ice-picky. I think fuller mids help firm up the low end and add articulation to the highs.

 

[Top-L]

Yep its my M-400. I was thinking about a pot change based on what Top-L had posted and was just looking at the Dimarzio AT, appears to be made for a 25.5" scale with a mahogany body. Will try the pot change first before venturing into the realm of pick up swapping.

250k made all the difference. I know that sharp upper mid tone you're talking about, with the 250 that is an asset. Guitar has a nice growl now and is balanced. With the 500 there is too much of it. Idk why they shipped it with a 500.

The guitar was insane with 500 pot and evolution. Just wayyy too aggro.

I bought a 250 push pull that I'm going to rewire the guitar with for coil tap. It will have six sounds. I never use tone knob anyway.