Help with Guitar sounding way to thin..tinny!

[Shinobi]

I have number of guitars and this one just sounds like crap compared to the other ones. I recently picked up a 1989/90 Kramer ProAxe Deluxe. The guitar has a Mohagany Body, Maple Neck with Ebony Fretboard, Floyd Rose Pro Bridge in SSH config. The neck and middle PUP's are Hot Rails. It came with a Parallel Axis in the Bridge. It was so bright/brittle sounding in the bridge position that I thought is was the PUP. I own four Kramers, a couple Charvels, EVH Wolf, and a EBMM Axis. The ProAxe sounds like crap compared to them. The PUPS I have in the other guitars are CC, JB, Jazz, EVH Frankenstein, EVH Wolf, and EBMM Axis (like DiMarzio Andy Timmons bridge..but not quite).

I really like the way the CC, the EVH Frank (like CC) and the Wolf pickups sound. The EBMM Axis tone is great but the output is too low for me compared to the CC, Frank, and Wolf. I will eventually take it out and put in an EVH or CC.

Anyway I went back and forth and decided to put a EVH Wolf in the ProAxe....thinking it would sound similar to my Wolf. To my surprise it sounds the same as Parallel Axis did with respect to no mid-range and very thin sounding. Given this I'm thinking the Parallel Axis was probably fine and there is something else wrong.

The guitar is 26 years old, but then again so is my mid-late 80's Kramers and Charvels. This ProAxe has a 5 way selector and coil split....could it be that the wiring or pots are making it sound so thin and weak? I use the same strings on every guitar too .09-42.

Just stumped by how bad the guitar sounds...shouldn't sound the way that it does? The trem sustain block looks different on the Floyd Rose Pro vs. my other Floyd Rose. The Proj is very thin looking, but the literature I have found says that it's coated brass??

Sorry for the long rant.

 

[leevc5]

Re: Help with Guitar sounding way to thin..tinny!

I think you may be on to something regarding the wiring. I would suggest you rewire to the most basic set up, skip the coil splitting, and set it up as close as you can to the wiring configuration of one of your other guitars. I had a similar experience while I was setting up a Stratocaster for seven tones. After retreating to the basic configuration a few times and making adjustments I finally got the thing to work.

 

[AlexR]

Re: Help with Guitar sounding way to thin..tinny!

Try wiring the pickup directly to the jack. If you suddenly get everything back that you're missing, then its the electronics. If its unchanged then sell the guitar.

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: Help with Guitar sounding way to thin..tinny!

If it's not the electronics, try removing the neck, removing/replacing any visible shims, make sure the pocket and heel are smooth and not wavy, put the neck back on it and tighten the bolts slowly (once they start getting tight, not slowly from the very tips, that's dumb).

Also be sure the nut is touching the wood, and there's not a metal shim under it. Check the bridge posts to be sure they're not sloppy in the inserts, and that the inserts have not previously busted through the wood and fixed with epoxy.

You can try a thicker block if you wish.

 

[Shinobi]

Re: Help with Guitar sounding way to thin..tinny!

I think you may be on to something regarding the wiring. I would suggest you rewire to the most basic set up, skip the coil splitting, and set it up as close as you can to the wiring configuration of one of your other guitars. I had a similar experience while I was setting up a Stratocaster for seven tones. After retreating to the basic configuration a few times and making adjustments I finally got the thing to work.

Try wiring the pickup directly to the jack. If you suddenly get everything back that you're missing, then its the electronics. If its unchanged then sell the guitar.

If it's not the electronics, try removing the neck, removing/replacing any visible shims, make sure the pocket and heel are smooth and not wavy, put the neck back on it and tighten the bolts slowly (once they start getting tight, not slowly from the very tips, that's dumb).

Also be sure the nut is touching the wood, and there's not a metal shim under it. Check the bridge posts to be sure they're not sloppy in the inserts, and that the inserts have not previously busted through the wood and fixed with epoxy.

You can try a thicker block if you wish.

Thanks for the info I will try and just hook up the one PUP and check the tone. What about POTs?

 

[zenmindbeginner]

Re: Help with Guitar sounding way to thin..tinny!

I'd just replace all of the wiring... it can't be the actual guitar.

 

[dominus]

Re: Help with Guitar sounding way to thin..tinny!

I'd just replace all of the wiring... it can't be the actual guitar.

It could be the combination of a bright piece of wood for the body, bright fretboard, and a pickup that's a little brighter than what he's used to through his amp settings.

I had a piece of alder that was absolutely piercing once.

 

[AlexR]

Re: Help with Guitar sounding way to thin..tinny!

I'd just replace all of the wiring... it can't be the actual guitar.

Well, I've had a few guitars that have sounded flat and lifeless no matter what very nice pickups were in it (some which sound absolutely fabulous in more responsive guitars). If it can go one way, it can certainly go the other.