experiences and advice needed about SH5

[stewg]

Hi there, first post on the Duncan forum.
I've recently spent a lot of time working with amp sims (I used to play pre dominantly through my regular guitar amp). I've noticed that I have an over abundance of bass (I put this down to the dimarzio Tone Zone in the bridge). Having had the chance to play with a friends EMG equipped guitar I noticed how much more brightness and bite his guitar had in comparison to my alder body yamaha.
After doing a lot of research on a pickup that would produce less output, less bass and more mids and treble I have narrowed my options down to the SH5, the hotter SH6 and possibly the SH4.
I'd like to get the views of users of the above named pickups thanks.

 

[grapeskeletons]

Re: experiences and advice needed about SH5

The SH-5 Custom is a fun pickup, but it has a lot of bass and not so much mids as the tone chart would suggest. It doesn't have as much bass as a Tone Zone, though. There is a lot of treble, but not as much definition as you might hope. I used to get lost in the mix with my other band, and it always sounded a bit plasticy to me.

Seems like you want the SH-6. Much better definition, much more mids, and definately less bass. Also, I love the SH-4 in mahogany, it has the perfect balance of bite, mids, and bass for the music I play. It definately sounds 80s to me, but I like that.

 

[Despair]

Re: experiences and advice needed about SH5

You likely actually want a TB rather than SH, if it's a vibrato bridge, or a strat-style guitar as seems probable from the alder body.

The TB-5 Custom is a great pickup, plenty of cut for most situations. The TB-6 Distortion can be a bit harsh, depends on your tastes. The TB-4 JB often works great in alder, plenty of cut but a bit smoother than the Distortion.

You might also consider the PATB-1b, Yamaha used to use those in some guitars. Articulate and defined without being excessively bright, though if you crank it up close to the strings it can do bright & bassy at the same time. Sings for solos, bites for crunchy rhythms, terrific all-around pickup. Terrific for beefing up a superstrat without bloat. Also features low magnetic pull, improved sustain, enhanced harmonics and higher output without losing the open feel of a medium output pickup. The polepiece and changed coil shape really do some unique things.

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: experiences and advice needed about SH5

You don't always need a Trem-spaced pickup for a trem-spaced guitar. The TB-6 sounds different to me than the SH-6 in the same guitar. The TB sounds a bit more articulate but with seemingly less "push" than the SH. String alignment is not always a guarantee of a better sound in my experience.

As well, you do have to tweak the amp/sim's EQ to compensate for the pickup's tonal curve. If one pickup is giving you the mids and treble you want, but too much bass, back off the bass freqs in your EQ.

 

[surface54]

Re: experiences and advice needed about SH5

i would disagree the SH5 sounds kinda plastic. its stiff and accurate and sometimes that lack of give messes with players ears, it did with mine for the first time around. now, its near the perfect ceramic rock pickup. i havent had a better rock/metal tone, there is also the C8 but its the same wind different magnet, different and just as good metal tone. there are others aspects like a persons amp that also factor into this equation. i have a marshall DSL and its a harder amp to deal with than most, its either bright and/or not heavy enough. this pickup has wrestled this amps tones alot better than the JB/ALT8 did. i also now dont have fancy mid range spikes getting in the way of this amps power anymore, its more so in the treble that focus's the pickups slightly scooped mids, giving it a metal edge and the bass has a slight bass extension that doesnt bloat out very far keeping it dead on tight for palm mutes. its a very nice standard ceramic pickup. consistent on every amp ive tried it on. hard to find faults in it. so i give it a thumbs up.

 

[stewg]

Re: experiences and advice needed about SH5

thanks guy for the input, sadly i'm no wiser now than when i was when i posted the thread lol.
Got a lot of research to do. If anyone has a clean DI of the pickups mentioned I sure would like to receive those so I can reamp them and see what results I get.

 

[stewg]

Re: experiences and advice needed about SH5

Forgot to ask, can someone explain what TB and SH acronyms are? Tremolo Bridge maybe?

 

[DonP]

Re: experiences and advice needed about SH5

TB is wider spacing for Floyds. But certain Gibsons come wide spaced as well, so measure.

 

[stewg]

Re: experiences and advice needed about SH5

thank you Don for the reply.
To give you some background info im using a handful of various amp simulators, these are TSE X30 pre amp (very hot metal pre), Revalver 3 (ok, if a little grainy) and Kefir with various IR's. I do spend a lot of time tone matching by using the sine wave technique of throwing a guitar only track at a sine wave and capturing the EQ and then loading it into Kefir. The problem that i have is that the Tone Zone isn't a tight defined sound, the bass dominates the other freqency areas yet trying to EQ out the bass just ruins the character of the Tone Zone.
At the moment it seems that the SH6 would be ideal for myself as I need a pickup that isn't as bass heavy as the Dimarzio. Clarity, definition but tight palm mutes are what I need.

 

[surface54]

Re: experiences and advice needed about SH5

SH5 recorded today

http://www.netmusicians.org/files/57-SurfaceX - Tuesday.mp3

 

[Ed Hunter]

Re: experiences and advice needed about SH5

Forgot to ask, can someone explain what TB and SH acronyms are? Tremolo Bridge maybe?

TB stands for "trembucker"
SH stands for "seymour humbucker"