"Everything axe set" lacking brightness

[Dr P]

Hi all!
Screaming out for help all the way from Sweden! I recently installed the “Everything axe Set” (Bridge Jb Jr, Middle Duckbucker, Neck Little 59) on my Stratocaster (American standard) and I experience two issues:

1. All three pickups sound rather “cloudy” no brightness at all. I’m aware that I can’t expect a single Coil type of sound, but I suspect that something is wrong. Is switching from 250 K volume pot to a 500K something to consider?

2. The duckbucker has lower output than the two other pickups, even tough it is closer to the strings. Is this really correct?

I might add that I’m not very handy in soldering which can be the reason for my issues....

Thanks in advance!

 

[jeremy]

Re: "Everything axe set" lacking brightness

welcome to the forum!!

i would switch to 500k pots which should help with the brightness and yes the duck is going to be significantly lower output than the other two.

 

[Dr P]

Re: "Everything axe set" lacking brightness

Hi Jeremy and thanks!

What a wonderful forum! In 5 minutes I had 5 visitors!

May I ask, should both volume and tone pots be switched? And for the lower output on the Duckbucker, maybe this could regulated by putting it closer to the strings?

No chance that the soldering is bad?

 

[Jeff_H]

Re: "Everything axe set" lacking brightness

I've had that set in an American strat. The duckbuckers are very much a single coil output sounding pickup, so they will be lower in output than the JB jr and the Lil 59, which are single coil sized humbuckers. You will really never get them to balance perfectly as a result. Just realize that the duck is going to be lower output and adjust your settings accordingly when you use it. If you find the need to switch between the HB's and the duck on the fly, you might want to consider something different if you can't live with the difference in volume. You can balance the output of the pickups by lowering the other two pickups and raising the duckbucker. However, if you lower the others too much you will find the sound becomes weaker and thinner. You can only lower them so much before they lose their punch, which is what they are designed for. Just find the best balance you can and see if you can live with the difference.

500k pots will definitely help and I would switch all of the pots. There are some who say only switch the volume pots. I'm not a single coil expert so I'll leave that debate to others.

 

[Dr P]

Re: "Everything axe set" lacking brightness

Thanks to both Jeremy and Jeff H for useful advice! Any speciall type of 500 k pots that shoud be used?

 

[jeremy]

Re: "Everything axe set" lacking brightness

not really. some people prefer audio taper pots. if you have split shaft pots then get the same type.

theres always a chance your soldering is bad but if everything works then its probably ok

 

[Jeff_H]

Re: "Everything axe set" lacking brightness

CTS brand or any other decent quality pot should be fine. The biggest problem you run into is that some of the cheaper pots say 500k, but measure 423 or 398 or whatever. Sometimes over 500k too. Buying quality tested pots like CTS means you pay a bit more, but should get values much closer to 500. That will make more of a difference than brand of pots really.

 

[Stratman]

Re: "Everything axe set" lacking brightness

I never cared for Duckbuckers….

However, JB Jr and Little 59’s are good pups.

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You might also want to try Antiquity II Surfer or a mix of SSL-5 & SSL-6, which are great pups...