Godin Icon guitar, very bright LP-style, need pickup advice

J

jmcorey

New member
Hi guys,

I have one of the original Godin Icon guitars. It is a 24.75" scale guitar with a chambered mahogany body, no cap, with a glued-in mahogany neck and an ebony fretboard.

It is an amazingly bright guitar. It came with a Duncan 59 in the bridge (which was shrill in this guitar) and a very muffled Godin neck pickup. I switched them out for a set of Whole Lotta Humbucker pups, which are a drastic improvement. However, these are still quite bright in this guitar. The neck is ok, but I'd like something a less midrangey on distortion. The bridge pickup goes into crunch right on the spot. A nice tone, but a tad on the bright end for this guitar.

I play all genres through a fractal audio set up through front of house.

I am looking for all suggestions, but I have been leaning away from DiMarzios for a few months and also willing to look beyond Duncans. I am considering Bare Knuckles, especially Mules (which Godin has included in some of the offspring models of the Icon). I also have been looking at the WCR website, since some forum posters at various places have had good luck with these in their LP Customs, which this guitar appears to mimic based on wood composition.

I'd love to see your thoughts.
 
Godin Icon guitar, very bright LP-style, need pickup advice

A set of A2Pros will add the warmth you seem to be after. Cheaper: you can try to swap the magnet for an A2 in you WL. Even cheaper: you can also try raising the pickups a bit.
 
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Re: Godin Icon guitar, very bright LP-style, need pickup advice

Just a thought, but since it's a dual humbucker axe, it probably has 500k pots. Maybe as simple as swapping the tone pot for a 250k.
 
Re: Godin Icon guitar, very bright LP-style, need pickup advice

ArtieToo said:
Just a thought, but since it's a dual humbucker axe, it probably has 500k pots. Maybe as simple as swapping the tone pot for a 250k.
Click to expand...
This or add a resister is even easier.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk
 
Re: Godin Icon guitar, very bright LP-style, need pickup advice

The Alnico II Pro set would be my first recommendation. They should balance just right in a very bright guitar. You might also consider the Slash Set. They were designed to make a modern construction Les Paul sound like his original AFD Les Paul copy. My normal first recommendation for a semi hollow or chambered is the Seth Set, but they are brighter than the APH or the Slash. If you do change pickups, make sure you stay with Alnico II magnets for a warmer tone.

However, as Artie said, a simple switch to a 250K pot might just solve the problem, as it will attenuate some of the highs in that chambered body.
 
Re: Godin Icon guitar, very bright LP-style, need pickup advice

Addendum: coily cable might do it.
 
Re: Godin Icon guitar, very bright LP-style, need pickup advice

ArtieToo said:
Just a thought, but since it's a dual humbucker axe, it probably has 500k pots. Maybe as simple as swapping the tone pot for a 250k.
Click to expand...

The guitar has a revoicer circuit that allows the player to take the pickups active. Pot and cap changes are therefore not possible.

Great suggestion though.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Re: Godin Icon guitar, very bright LP-style, need pickup advice

Ah. If you decide to go the APH route, here's another vote for the Slash set. I have both and the Slash set just has that little extra something. Hard to verbalize.
 
Re: Godin Icon guitar, very bright LP-style, need pickup advice

Good advice Artie. I've used the APH set for years, but I've yet to try the Slash set personally. I really like the clips here and on YouTube, but you can't tell for sure until they're in your own guitar.

The one thing that worries me personally is the 8K neck pickup. I like the neck pickup to retain clarity. I like the warmth of APH, but I don't want to lose that top end sparkle that the regular APH still has. I just worry that the neck is too hot for that and might be too warm and congested. I usually like my neck pickups in the low to mid 7K range, at least in SD pickups.

Amy I worrying over nothing?
 
Re: Godin Icon guitar, very bright LP-style, need pickup advice

I think so. To me, the Slash set has a smidgen more "bite". Almost like it borrows a bit from the PG's. Tomorrow, I'll dig both axes out and see if I can give a better description.
 
Re: Godin Icon guitar, very bright LP-style, need pickup advice

I like that description..... bite. That's exactly what I like. It's the reason that I've started to use the Seth Lover neck more often now. It may be that I'm just getting older and not hearing high frequencies like I used to, or that my tastes have evolved slightly. But I've really wanted to try the Slash set.

Of course, I have at least 9 sets of double cream SD's that aren't in guitars right now, so it seems silly to buy more pickups. The obvious answer is to buy more guitars, LOL. I've got two sets of AHP's and two sets of Antiquities, so maybe I'll send one of those sets in to be rewound as the Slash set?

Thanks for the info Artie.
 
Re: Godin Icon guitar, very bright LP-style, need pickup advice

I’ve never tried a Slash either but the A2Pro is one of my favorites. I‘ve stayed away because I love how versatile is the A2Pro, I love it for jazz in a semihollow. And I thought the Slash version would skew it towards heavier styles :) Looking forward to hearing about the differences as well.
 
Re: Godin Icon guitar, very bright LP-style, need pickup advice

I know you were saying you wanted to get away from Duncans, but the APH line (-1 or -2) seem tailor-made for the issues you are having and that style guitar.
 
Re: Godin Icon guitar, very bright LP-style, need pickup advice

jmcorey said:
I play all genres through a fractal audio set up through front of house.
Click to expand...

I played in a cover band with a guy that used an Axe FX II. He had a few different guitars. So he set up different patches for different guitars.

With all that power I don’t see why you can’t get there in the Fractal rig.

I use a Marshall Code 100 live. Sometimes I have to reduce the treble for certain patches in certain clubs if I’m sounding too shrill.

Or get a darker bridge pickup. Personally I like humbuckers that sound almost like a P-90. [emoji2]


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Re: Godin Icon guitar, very bright LP-style, need pickup advice

Mincer said:
I know you were saying you wanted to get away from Duncans, but the APH line (-1 or -2) seem tailor-made for the issues you are having and that style guitar.
Click to expand...

OK, thanks, I’ve come back to this post because I am more determined to solve this problem.

However, I’m not a huge fan of the Slash neck tone distorted. If I use the APH-1 in the neck, then how much variability is there? Can I get tones that differ substantially from the typical one I hear on YouTube or other demos of that pick up, where people just try to get close to Slash?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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Re: Godin Icon guitar, very bright LP-style, need pickup advice

So, stupid question . . . but have you tried rolling back the tone control a bit?
 
Re: Godin Icon guitar, very bright LP-style, need pickup advice

You said you are off Dimarzio for some reason but they do tend to be less bright or shrill than Duncans. Just saying.

On a related note, what are all these double cream pickups you are hoarding and would you like to thin the herd a little?
 
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