Going to passive pickups on my Chavel Model 5FX

[Charvel1975]

:wave: After some time to think about my Charvel model 5fx and get it back to where I can enjoy playing it again I think I've grown out of the EMG phase some years ago, Metallica phase if you will LOL! and realized I'm going to go passive pickups on my Charvel but it's been taking a lot of time researching all the different pickup choices out there and then thinking ok if I go passive pickups then what wiring kit, output jack, potentiometers (will the guitar need routed for the new Volume & Tone potentiometers?), do I want a push/pull tone pot or just keep it straight forward with the 3-way toggle switch and 1 Volume & 1 Tone pot?

My Charvel has a humbucker and a slant single coil in the neck, I've been researching the different Seymour Duncan pickups and different combo's and so far here is one combo:

Seymour Duncan TB-16 59/Custom Hybrid humbucker with either a Cool Rails or Classic Stack Plus in neck

 

[Top-L]

Every beginning player goes through the EMG phase. Then back to passives.

But... I recently bought a guitar with EMG 57/66tw (dual sound) set, and frankly they are enough like the passives I play that I enjoy them.

If you already have EMGs, and if they can be swapped easily, you might consider trying different EMGs. The 57tw is a pretty special bridge pickup, much different from the 81 or whatever hot metal pickup they use.

 

[Mincer]

:wave: After some time to think about my Charvel model 5fx and get it back to where I can enjoy playing it again I think I've grown out of the EMG phase some years ago, Metallica phase if you will LOL! and realized I'm going to go passive pickups on my Charvel but it's been taking a lot of time researching all the different pickup choices out there and then thinking ok if I go passive pickups then what wiring kit, output jack, potentiometers (will the guitar need routed for the new Volume & Tone potentiometers?), do I want a push/pull tone pot or just keep it straight forward with the 3-way toggle switch and 1 Volume & 1 Tone pot?

My Charvel has a humbucker and a slant single coil in the neck, I've been researching the different Seymour Duncan pickups and different combo's and so far here is one combo:

Seymour Duncan TB-16 59/Custom Hybrid humbucker with either a Cool Rails or Classic Stack Plus in neck

A great combo. I'd go with the Cool Rails if you want the neck to sound close to a Jazz humbucker...go with the Classic Stack if you want a clear Stratty sound in the neck.

 

[Charvel1975]

I've been trying to narrow down a list of Trem-Spaced bridge pickups and neck single coils/single coil sized humbuckers for my Model 5FX and this is the list I have so far:

Bridge pickups:

59/Custom Hybrid - Some people said might not sound right?
Custom 5
Custom - Some people were telling me this might be too bright sounding in my Charvel?
Perpetual Burn - Jason Becker pickup
JB - Some say to use a 250K volume pot with the JB
Gravity Storm
AT-1 Andy Timmon pickup
Tone Zone - Some say might have a boomy low end which I don't want

Single coils:

Cool Rails
Lil 59
Classic Stack Plus
True Velvet​

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Every beginning player goes through the EMG phase. Then back to passives.

But... I recently bought a guitar with EMG 57/66tw (dual sound) set, and frankly they are enough like the passives I play that I enjoy them.

If you already have EMGs, and if they can be swapped easily, you might consider trying different EMGs. The 57tw is a pretty special bridge pickup, much different from the 81 or whatever hot metal pickup they use.

Making the switch from a non-coil-slpittable to a coil-splittable EMG is not as easy, though, as the quick connect terminals are different.

I have not tried the 57TW, but the regular 57 is actually hotter than the 81 by quite a bit, LOL.

The 81TW is indeed lower output than the regular 81, same as the 89 compared to the 85. So I bet that fits your appreciation of the 57TW.

 

[Mincer]

I've been trying to narrow down a list of Trem-Spaced bridge pickups and neck single coils/single coil sized humbuckers for my Model 5FX and this is the list I have so far:

Bridge pickups:

59/Custom Hybrid - Some people said might not sound right?
Custom 5
Custom - Some people were telling me this might be too bright sounding in my Charvel?
Perpetual Burn - Jason Becker pickup
JB - Some say to use a 250K volume pot with the JB
Gravity Storm
AT-1 Andy Timmon pickup
Tone Zone - Some say might have a boomy low end which I don't want

Single coils:

Cool Rails
Lil 59
Classic Stack Plus
True Velvet​

Start with the singles...what do you want a neck pickup to sound like...a fat humbucker, a clean humbucker, or a single coil?

 

[Charvel1975]

Start with the singles...what do you want a neck pickup to sound like...a fat humbucker, a clean humbucker, or a single coil?

That's where it gets tricky on what to select as lately I've been thinking of just keeping the Charvel simple without push/pull pots and if I want the 3-way toggle switch to go from full bridge humbucker then when switching to the middle position do I want it to split the bridge to single coil and then the neck single coil or what other switching option? I usually use the neck pickup for clean stuff and occasional distorted/clean soloing.

 

[Charvel1975]

Another pickup combination I've been reading up on is the JB TB-4 and Flat Strat SSL-6 pickups. Wonder too what value pots would work with this combo as my Charvel has 1 Volume and 1 Tone pot and what capacitors and if it's short or long shaft and solid post or with splines on the pots?

 

[jeremy]

if it was me, id use 500k pots for the ssl6/jb setup

 

[Mincer]

if it was me, id use 500k pots for the ssl6/jb setup

I agree with this.

 

[Charvel1975]

Making the switch from a non-coil-slpittable to a coil-splittable EMG is not as easy, though, as the quick connect terminals are different.

I have not tried the 57TW, but the regular 57 is actually hotter than the 81 by quite a bit, LOL.

The 81TW is indeed lower output than the regular 81, same as the 89 compared to the 85. So I bet that fits your appreciation of the 57TW.

At one point I was considering trying a different EMG bridge pickup but the current old non-quick connect EMG-81 in my Charvel is just extremely bright sounding and no punch, clarity or definition to it and digital sounding. The neck EMG single coil doesn't sound too bad but there is such a drastic volume drop when switching from the neck to both pickups and then to just the bridge and also the gain loss is significant when switching to the 81 and I've replaced the 9 volt battery with a new one and even raised the EMG-81 closer to the strings and no noticeable difference.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

At one point I was considering trying a different EMG bridge pickup but the current old non-quick connect EMG-81 in my Charvel is just extremely bright sounding and no punch, clarity or definition to it and digital sounding. The neck EMG single coil doesn't sound too bad but there is such a drastic volume drop when switching from the neck to both pickups and then to just the bridge and also the gain loss is significant when switching to the 81 and I've replaced the 9 volt battery with a new one and even raised the EMG-81 closer to the strings and no noticeable difference.

Yeah, the 81 isn't for everyone. I love it, personally, but to me, it was an acquired taste. However, I don't find it so much bright as I find it thin. But that's kind of why it's so tight too.

But I do find it more of a downtuned Metal pickup for people who play through Dual Rectos.

Honestly, pick the passive of your choice. Absolutely every passive pickup will have more low-end than the 81.

 

[Charvel1975]

Yeah, the 81 isn't for everyone. I love it, personally, but to me, it was an acquired taste. However, I don't find it so much bright as I find it thin. But that's kind of why it's so tight too.

Honestly, pick the passive of your choice. Absolutely every passive pickup will have more low-end than the 81.

Yea I guess it's because all my other electric guitars have passive pickups that I've got so used to the passive pickups sounds and I like to manipulate the volume control and every now and then the tone control.

With my Charvel I was wondering if I should just keep it simple with no coil splitting but too I don't want my sound getting muffled when rolling back the volume pot. I've been reading up on Poplar body wood which my Charvel has and seems the general consensus is Poplar has a lot of midrange which I like midrange and not a scooped sound.

 

[Ram_Air_Intake]

Another pickup combination I've been reading up on is the JB TB-4 and Flat Strat SSL-6 pickups. Wonder too what value pots would work with this combo as my Charvel has 1 Volume and 1 Tone pot and what capacitors and if it's short or long shaft and solid post or with splines on the pots?

I absolutely love this Combo in my Jackson American Series SL3 along with the super switch, there's not a bad tone out of any of the switch positions. So versatile, 500k vol, 250k tone pots, 5-way switch, not sure on the capacitor value.
The RW-RP middle pickup is a great addition too.

5-Position Blade: Position 1. Bridge Pickup, Position 2. Outer Coil of Bridge and Middle Pickup, Position 3. Neck and Bridge inner Coil, Position 4. Neck and Middle Pickup, Position 5. Neck Pickup

 

[STLMTLHD79]

I had a Model 5 loaded with a Custom Trembucker and 59. guitar sounded great, but I got tired of dealing with that damn JT-6 trem. I only have 1 80s Charvel left, a Model 3DR with the fire crackle paint. I am going to swap it over to a Gotoh floyd sometime soon.