Converting my Charvel DK24 Pro Mod to an AVRI '62 strat

[shadowvault]

Hey SD people,
so recently i sold my avri strat in order to save some money and also cause that pink charvel looks sick!
i have to say that i find the pickups too trebly and thin for my taste. It has ss6 instead of the 57/62 set that my strat had
Another difference is 9s vs 10s and TUSQ vs bone nut.
DK also has to extra frets so pickup is slightly moved a bit down.

I can fix the strings and nut but which set do you think would get my closer to that vintage warm sound? Since i have an ssh model with which humbucker would you pair the single coils?
Also do you know if pickups from the DK are some special colour that needs to be custom ordered? They dont look like pure white
Obviously i know you cant get it spot on and you dont have to be. They are different beasts.

 

[GuitarStv]

The SSL6 isn't a particularly trebly or thin pickup. Is your Charvel wired with 500k pots? 500k pots can often make single coil pickups sound too bright and trebly. First thing I'd do is play around with the wiring a bit. Try wiring some 500k resistors in parallel to drop value that the single coils see:

You can also try a 250k rather than 500k volume pot (although that might make it too dark for the 'bucker).

 

[shadowvault]

You are correct on the pots. They are 500K. Maybe going with 250K would solve my issue?. Are ssl6 more high output? Changing pots would be much cheaper than messing with all pickups, so thats a pretty good tip

 

[Mincer]

As far as what humbucker, I have to ask...for what music?

 

[PFDarkside]

The SSL6 isn't a particularly trebly or thin pickup. Is your Charvel wired with 500k pots? 500k pots can often make single coil pickups sound too bright and trebly. First thing I'd do is play around with the wiring a bit. Try wiring some 500k resistors in parallel to drop value that the single coils see:

You can also try a 250k rather than 500k volume pot (although that might make it too dark for the 'bucker).

I agree 100% with this suggestion.

OP, when you roll back your volume do the singles sound better?
(I have a Charvel style H/S and the S is just too bright with the 500K. I’m going to do Steve’s mod above but in the mid term I roll back the volume to add some resistance back in and round off that treble.

 

[dystrust]

(I have a Charvel style H/S and the S is just too bright with the 500K. I’m going to do Steve’s mod above but in the mid term I roll back the volume to add some resistance back in and round off that treble.

What pickups are in your Charvel? I ended up with a Cool Rails / Custom Custom in mine and it sounds great with a 500K volume.

 

[PFDarkside]

What pickups are in your Charvel? I ended up with a Cool Rails / Custom Custom in mine and it sounds great with a 500K volume.

It’s one of Mike D’Avanzo’s Clones. It’s a Wagner WCR Godwood and his Single Coil, which is pretty traditional. I think an SSL-6 or STK-S6/7 would work as well. The guitar also has a brass bridge so it’s got an interesting EQ curve I’m not quite familiar with. It’s like the midrange is a little more forward and the upper treble is kind of rolled off. In theory the vintage single should be perfect but think I’m used to hearing 250K for singles.

I went back and looked, Mike originally spec’ed and built it with C5/Cool Rails. Very interesting. I’ve never played a Cool rails, might need to check it out.

 

[dystrust]

It’s one of Mike D’Avanzo’s Clones. It’s a Wagner WCR Godwood and his Single Coil, which is pretty traditional. I think an SSL-6 or STK-S6/7 would work as well. The guitar also has a brass bridge so it’s got an interesting EQ curve I’m not quite familiar with. It’s like the midrange is a little more forward and the upper treble is kind of rolled off. In theory the vintage single should be perfect but think I’m used to hearing 250K for singles.

I think you're on the right track. My Charvel has a Kahler with brass cam & rollers, so I'm hearing an EQ curve similar to what you describe. You wouldn't think that a middy pickup like the CC would sound good in that, but it somehow does.

Meanwhile the Classic Stack Plus in my Tele is almost too bright with 500K so I'm familiar with that as well.

 

[shadowvault]

Ive post it before but i will add it here once more for the people that asked.

For charvel:
Custom Seymour Duncan® Full Shred™ SH-10B
Seymour Duncan® Custom Flat Strat® SSL-6 Single-Coil
Seymour Duncan® Custom Flat Strat® SSL-6 RWRP Single-Coil
Volume (500K EVH® Bourns® Low Friction Pot), No-Load Tone

For fender:
Three American Vintage ‘62 Strat single-coil pickups with aged white covers.
Bridge - 5.82K ohms;
Middle - 5.81K ohms;
Neck - 5.79K ohms.
Vintage-accurate 250K 3/8" CTS potentiometer for volume or tone control

 

[Teleplayer]

If it was me, I'd like to put a regular 500k tone control instead of the no-load one. Ultimately, I don't think you will get a vintage tone from SSL-6, but I would try the control pot mod, and lower the pickup height. .

 

[donaldr]

Have you tried the tone pot between 3-6?

 

[shadowvault]

I now im never gonna get super vintagy tones. Thats ok. What is not ok is that everything sounds so trebly and thin.
If i play with my pot i cant get a sweet spot that everything feels right. I did not know about 250/500 pots though. This must be the problem.
Curious if since i have single coils in all positions (in 3 i have neck and bridge split), is it possible to have 250 pots and make a humbucker see 500 only in the bridge position?

 

[PFDarkside]

I now im never gonna get super vintagy tones. Thats ok. What is not ok is that everything sounds so trebly and thin.
If i play with my pot i cant get a sweet spot that everything feels right. I did not know about 250/500 pots though. This must be the problem.
Curious if since i have single coils in all positions (in 3 i have neck and bridge split), is it possible to have 250 pots and make a humbucker see 500 only in the bridge position?

The diagram listed by GuitarStv above adds two resistors to bring the total resistance to ground down to ~250K for the singles. It’s a very cheap and pretty quick way to see if that’s the issue.

 

[IMENATOR]

I don't want to sound rude but I think you really need to spend more time tweaking your EQ. Also, a Boss GE-7 between guitar and amp can help to tweak a bit the eq, maybe cut a bit of the 6.4k can help.

 

[shadowvault]

I don't want to sound rude but I think you really need to spend more time tweaking your EQ. Also, a Boss GE-7 between guitar and amp can help to tweak a bit the eq, maybe cut a bit of the 6.4k can help.

You dont sound rude at all

The diagram listed by GuitarStv above adds two resistors to bring the total resistance to ground down to ~250K for the singles. It’s a very cheap and pretty quick way to see if that’s the issue.

Are there any disadvantages with that approach? Btw the diagram shows 250k pots

 

[PFDarkside]

You dont sound rude at all



Are there any disadvantages with that approach? Btw the diagram shows 250k pots

Yes, that’s a good point, it would be using 500k pots.

I can’t recall if it changes the taper of the volume or not, but resistors are only a few cents and less than an hour of time to open the pickguard (or back cavity) to do a little soldering to experiment. If you don’t like the change or it’s not enough, you can always remove it. (I believe that’s how Suhr wires their HSS guitars, btw).

 

[GuitarStv]

Btw the diagram shows 250k pots

Yeah, I just grabbed the diagram off the web to show where you want to wire in the resistors in order to drop values for single coils in an HSS setup. With your Charvel you're going to have 500k pots in both pot positions.

I still think you're best off to try wiring the resistors first.

If that doesn't work well enough for you, then maybe consider changing out the volume pot for a lower value (300 or 250k will drop the highs down again, but might be too dark for your humbucker).

 

[dystrust]

Yes, that’s a good point, it would be using 500k pots.

I can’t recall if it changes the taper of the volume or not, but resistors are only a few cents and less than an hour of time to open the pickguard (or back cavity) to do a little soldering to experiment. If you don’t like the change or it’s not enough, you can always remove it. (I believe that’s how Suhr wires their HSS guitars, btw).

Suhr uses a 500K volume with a 470K resistor in parallel for the single coils; I'm not sure about the tone pot value.