After MONTHS of waiting for the Duncans to come in, I finally got to Guitar Center today to pick them up. I got a Lil' Screamin Demon and Hot Rails, both white for my Strat. For the neck I got the DiMarzio Virtual Vintage Heavy Blues single coil. Do you guys think I should even bother getting a push/pull master volume pot for splitting the two mini humbuckers? Personally I dont think I'll use it that much, but I guess its always a good thing to have. I just hate that damn hum that I'll get if I do split them...but like I said, its always good to have that versitility I guess. What do you guys think. I think theres 250K pots in there now considering theyre the stock pots that came with the 3 single coils, so I think I'm gonna leave them in and see how they sound with the mini humbuckers, but I have to replace the volume pot anyway because the one I have in there now is really scratchy. What do you guys think? Thanks a lot, Marc
Finally got my pickups today...
- Thread starter AsIAm666
- Start date
larry_emder
New member
Re: Finally got my pickups today...
i say DO IT!
Cheap way to get a different sound.......also cleans up your sound a lot if you are playing a non footswitchable amp.
i say DO IT!
Cheap way to get a different sound.......also cleans up your sound a lot if you are playing a non footswitchable amp.
Re: Finally got my pickups today...
Well I see your point, but I dont think I'll be fumbling with it. All the installs I'm gonna do to my Strat should be relatively hidden, aside from MAYBE a mini toggle for a piezo. And I dont think I'll be using the coil tap often but I just want it there because it would be a cheap way to add versatility. The problem with waiting is that I'm not doing the work myself because I dont trust myself with electronics along with most techincal work on my guitars. I'm having a tech do all the work and he is pretty far away from me so I want to have as much done in as little visits as possible. Although, I MIGHT be able to save myself some money because my dad has some experience with electronics and my sisters fiance is an electrician Lol. Anyone else? Thanks, Marc
Well I see your point, but I dont think I'll be fumbling with it. All the installs I'm gonna do to my Strat should be relatively hidden, aside from MAYBE a mini toggle for a piezo. And I dont think I'll be using the coil tap often but I just want it there because it would be a cheap way to add versatility. The problem with waiting is that I'm not doing the work myself because I dont trust myself with electronics along with most techincal work on my guitars. I'm having a tech do all the work and he is pretty far away from me so I want to have as much done in as little visits as possible. Although, I MIGHT be able to save myself some money because my dad has some experience with electronics and my sisters fiance is an electrician Lol. Anyone else? Thanks, Marc
metallicaxlxl
New member
Re: Finally got my pickups today...
id say get youre dad or youre sis's fiance to do it, or even do it yourself. its never too late to learn, and it will save you a lot of money. you cant really mess up in there. if you screw up a connection or wire it wrong, you just undo it, clean it up a bit, and restart. id say do the push/pull. its a cheap way to add a lot of versatility and value to youre guitar (if you ever plan on reselling)
id say get youre dad or youre sis's fiance to do it, or even do it yourself. its never too late to learn, and it will save you a lot of money. you cant really mess up in there. if you screw up a connection or wire it wrong, you just undo it, clean it up a bit, and restart. id say do the push/pull. its a cheap way to add a lot of versatility and value to youre guitar (if you ever plan on reselling)
Re: Finally got my pickups today...
Thanks for the reply. I'll see if I can get either one to do it, cuz I dont really trust myself with something like that yet. But theres also some more work that I'm going to have done as soon as I can, like installing a SNAGG chip, getting a piezo and figuring out how I want the controls set up, which I dont want to do myself because I'm gonna need the whole guitar set up again especially if I go with the Fishman or L.R. Baggs direct replacement Trems. And now if I get the Push/Pull pot, I'm not sure if I'm gonna use 250K or 500K pots because 2 of the pickups are humbuckers. :smack:
Thanks for the reply. I'll see if I can get either one to do it, cuz I dont really trust myself with something like that yet. But theres also some more work that I'm going to have done as soon as I can, like installing a SNAGG chip, getting a piezo and figuring out how I want the controls set up, which I dont want to do myself because I'm gonna need the whole guitar set up again especially if I go with the Fishman or L.R. Baggs direct replacement Trems. And now if I get the Push/Pull pot, I'm not sure if I'm gonna use 250K or 500K pots because 2 of the pickups are humbuckers. :smack:
metallicaxlxl
New member
Re: Finally got my pickups today...
yeah i think 250k would make the humbuckers way too muddy, but i guess if youre gonna get 1 thing done by the tech, why nto get it all done by him.
yeah i think 250k would make the humbuckers way too muddy, but i guess if youre gonna get 1 thing done by the tech, why nto get it all done by him.
Re: Finally got my pickups today...
Well yea, thats what I was thinking, but its gonna be A LOT of money because this guy is like....top notch. He used to set up George Benson's guitars Lol. Plus I really wanna learn how to do stuff like this, I just dont wanna mess it up. My plan was to leave the current 250K's in there now, and see how it sounds...then if theyre too muddy I'll get 500K's, but with the 500K's...what will the happen to the sound of the Single Coil in the neck? Thanks, Marc
Well yea, thats what I was thinking, but its gonna be A LOT of money because this guy is like....top notch. He used to set up George Benson's guitars Lol. Plus I really wanna learn how to do stuff like this, I just dont wanna mess it up. My plan was to leave the current 250K's in there now, and see how it sounds...then if theyre too muddy I'll get 500K's, but with the 500K's...what will the happen to the sound of the Single Coil in the neck? Thanks, Marc
MikeS
Bengalsologist
Re: Finally got my pickups today...
If the SC is too bright and harsh with 500k pots, you can always roll back on the knobs. 250K works for the lil' screamer's big brother, it may work on the lil' screamer. IMO, the hot rails does not like 250K pots in the bridge position. I shudder to think how much mud there could be in the middle position with a 250K pot.
I've never owned a lil' screamer, so I can't say if it splits well or not. Regarding the HR, I've found it's split tone to be completely useless (then again, there's not a single rails pickup that I've thought split well). It's ultimately your axe, though, so split it if you want to.
Finally, sometimes a scratchy pot is nothing more than a dirty pot. Some electrical contact cleaner might do the trick. Spray a small amount in the pot, turn it a few times, and see if the scratchyness disappears. If not, then you might have a bad pot.
If the SC is too bright and harsh with 500k pots, you can always roll back on the knobs. 250K works for the lil' screamer's big brother, it may work on the lil' screamer. IMO, the hot rails does not like 250K pots in the bridge position. I shudder to think how much mud there could be in the middle position with a 250K pot.
I've never owned a lil' screamer, so I can't say if it splits well or not. Regarding the HR, I've found it's split tone to be completely useless (then again, there's not a single rails pickup that I've thought split well). It's ultimately your axe, though, so split it if you want to.
Finally, sometimes a scratchy pot is nothing more than a dirty pot. Some electrical contact cleaner might do the trick. Spray a small amount in the pot, turn it a few times, and see if the scratchyness disappears. If not, then you might have a bad pot.
