Hum Single Pickups For Charvel Model Series

[Charvel1975]

So I've been researching passive pickups for my Charvel Model 5fx and from what I'm reading on the model series in general, it's hard to pick passive pickups for them, right now mine has EMG's in it.
It's a poplar bodied guitar and someone said that Poplar tends to have a somewhat harsh/shrill tone having little in the way of bass/lower mids so do I need to find pickups with attenuated highs and boosted lows to compensate?

I want to improve the sound and I'm looking for a bridge humbucker and neck single coil that can cover hard rock/ classic rock/glam/heavy metal tones to current and be defined and clear, yet having plenty of beef. I also want good split coil tones.

Me & the other guitarist both do rhythm/leads and trade off leads. As far as lead guitar styles, I like Jake E. Lee/Warren DeMartini style and classic rock/hard rock leads so I do like those types of lead guitar attacks but also like a mellow and fat sound when the song calls for it.

 

[Mincer]

I have a poplar-bodied Music Man, and it is probably the most mid-heavy guitar I've ever played. So, I guess it depends on the individual piece. What do you mean by 'improve the sound'? I can recommend a few combos of pickups, but I need to know what you don't like about it currently.

 

[Synapsys]

Had a poplar-bodied Jackson Dinky for a while, and it had neither shrillness nor harshness to it. Unlike Mincer's, mine was quite balanced.

So, looking at the amps on your sig, and at the styles you mentioned, I'd go for a PATB-1 / PA-STK1 set. If you don't like the look, go with a Custom 5 / Vintage Hot Stack set.

 

[Clint 55]

someone said that Poplar tends to have a somewhat harsh/shrill tone

Someone is wrong. Poplar is the most mid heavy wood. You'll want to pick scooped pickups unless you like your tone extremely middy.

 

[dave74]

Someone is wrong. Poplar is the most mid heavy wood. You'll want to pick scooped pickups unless you like your tone extremely middy.

That echoes my experience with poplar body Charvels.

Passive I'd go custom5.
Active I'd go emg 85 in the bridge.

For the neck I'd go twin-rail single of some sort, depending on how you use the neck. (cleans, riffing, leads only ect...)

 

[jeremy]

i think the patb suggestion is a great one!

 

[Charvel1975]

Had a poplar-bodied Jackson Dinky for a while, and it had neither shrillness nor harshness to it. Unlike Mincer's, mine was quite balanced.

So, looking at the amps on your sig, and at the styles you mentioned, I'd go for a PATB-1 / PA-STK1 set. If you don't like the look, go with a Custom 5 / Vintage Hot Stack set.

Thank you for the suggestions I've also had some other people recommending the regular Seymour Duncan Custom Trembucker, is there a big difference between the Custom and Custom 5?

Right now my Charvel is extremely bright sounding and doesn't have any punch, clarity or definition to it and when I plug it in the gain loss is significant. 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.

 

[Mincer]

The Custom 5 is more scooped. The regular Custom feels more 'immediate' to me.

 

[Synapsys]

Thank you for the suggestions I've also had some other people recommending the regular Seymour Duncan Custom Trembucker, is there a big difference between the Custom and Custom 5?

Right now my Charvel is extremely bright sounding and doesn't have any punch, clarity or definition to it and when I plug it in the gain loss is significant. 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.

Though the Custom 5 has less mids than the regular Custom, the latter has way more piercing highs, at least to my ears, which will probably e a bad fit for your guitar. Hence my suggestions above.

 

[freefrog]

Right now my Charvel is extremely bright sounding and doesn't have any punch, clarity or definition to it and when I plug it in the gain loss is significant. 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.

EMG81's have by design a special EQing, with a kind of built-in "bass-cut" / hi-pass filter not far to mimic what a treble booster does... Now, a gain "loss" with this model is surprising and almost suggests something defective in/with this pickup: 81's are supposed to have a high output.

Now and regarding the guitar: if it has a Floyd Rose style trem, this piece of hardware has potentially much more "thinning" effect on the tone than the wood of the body, IME.

On guitars with FR or FR style trems + light gauge strings, I've obtained good results with the usual Duncan SH4's or Custom or similar PU's: twice the resistance and inductance of a regular P.A.F. clone is not too much when it comes to give some beef to such instruments. And high DCR/inductance humbuckers split well.

The result will also depend on external factors, of course: pots resistance, input impedance of the first "host" (pedal or amp input) or... capacitance of the cable(s), due to the length of wire involved, which is the most overlooked tone shaping parameter with passive pickups. Non limitative list.

BTW, there a Duncan DeMartini model: https://www.seymourduncan.com/single...-demartini-rtm

Good luck in your quest.

 

[Mincer]

Yeah, the new DiMartini RTM model should be under consideration, too, although I haven't tried it. I am surprised some Charvels don't come with one stock! The Exciter is also a new pickup that you can consider, which was inspired by early 80s LA bands.

 

[JohnnyGuitarCA]

Had a poplar-bodied Jackson Dinky for a while, and it had neither shrillness nor harshness to it. Unlike Mincer's, mine was quite balanced.

So, looking at the amps on your sig, and at the styles you mentioned, I'd go for a PATB-1 / PA-STK1 set. If you don't like the look, go with a Custom 5 / Vintage Hot Stack set.

This. The PATB neck single coil sized stack is one of the best sounding stack type pickups and the PATB-1 will do what you want as well. They look different but who cares. They kick butt!

PATB -1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdPJ3Tx5WKg

PATB-1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8yYUBaMPC4

PA-STK1 and PATB-3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiEdEL1KVds&t=314s

 

[Charvel1975]

EMG81's have by design a special EQing, with a kind of built-in "bass-cut" / hi-pass filter not far to mimic what a treble booster does... Now, a gain "loss" with this model is surprising and almost suggests something defective in/with this pickup: 81's are supposed to have a high output.

Now and regarding the guitar: if it has a Floyd Rose style trem, this piece of hardware has potentially much more "thinning" effect on the tone than the wood of the body, IME.

On guitars with FR or FR style trems + light gauge strings, I've obtained good results with the usual Duncan SH4's or Custom or similar PU's: twice the resistance and inductance of a regular P.A.F. clone is not too much when it comes to give some beef to such instruments. And high DCR/inductance humbuckers split well.

The result will also depend on external factors, of course: pots resistance, input impedance of the first "host" (pedal or amp input) or... capacitance of the cable(s), due to the length of wire involved, which is the most overlooked tone shaping parameter with passive pickups. Non limitative list.

BTW, there a Duncan DeMartini model: https://www.seymourduncan.com/single...-demartini-rtm

Good luck in your quest.

freefrog Thank you very much for the information on the EMG-81 and the Floyd Rose tremolo :1: My Charvel is the only guitar I have with active pickups and is neck-through. I've just got so used to over the years the sound and versatility and touch responsiveness of passive pickups that's why I've been researching for quite some time now what passive pickups, temolo upgrades, potentiometers, toggle switch, output jack, capacitors, etc. for my Charvel.

 

[Leon Of Late]

I also echo the PATB-1, PATB-Stk combo. I have this exact set of pickups in a Basswood 24.75 scale superstrat type guitar. I’ve had a rotating cast of pickups in this guitar and the PATB’s are by far the best set for my application . You will not find them shrill or too bright. They have good highs, great mids and tight bass. The neck stacked coil is great for lead and clean.

I love the Custom as well, but found the C5 too scooped for my taste. That could be different in your guitar though.

 

[Charvel1975]

That echoes my experience with poplar body Charvels.

Passive I'd go custom5.
Active I'd go emg 85 in the bridge.

For the neck I'd go twin-rail single of some sort, depending on how you use the neck. (cleans, riffing, leads only ect...)

Seymour Duncan Custom TB-5 is what you recommended in the bridge position of my Charvel Model 5FX correct?

 

[jeremy]

the custom5 and custom are two different pups, or at least they have different magnets. the custom is ceramic, the custom5 is alnico 5, hence the name

 

[Charvel1975]

the custom5 and custom are two different pups, or at least they have different magnets. the custom is ceramic, the custom5 is alnico 5, hence the name

Thank you, much appreciated! I'm trying to decide on if I want to go with a low or medium output trem-spaced humbucker in the bridge position of my Charvel Model 5fx instead of a high output humbucker as all my other electrics have high output pickups or what seem like high output pickups.

 

[freefrog]

Thank you, much appreciated! I'm trying to decide on if I want to go with a low or medium output trem-spaced humbucker in the bridge position of my Charvel Model 5fx instead of a high output humbucker as all my other electrics have high output pickups or what seem like high output pickups.

Again, IME, a Custom or Custom 5 doesn't really sound like a high output humbucker once associated to a tone thinning Floyd Rose... my bandmate (a pro musician) has a Custom in his Vigier with a FR style trem: he uses it for all kind of musics, requiring sometimes very clean tones, and it doesn't sound too hot in this guitar. Same thing in a Fernandes that I've fitted recently with the home made equivalent of a Custom Trembucker: it doesn't even seem hotter than low output humbuckers in Gibson's with fixed bridges.

In a Superstrat with a Kahler or regular Fender style trem, it would be another story, since such trem units favor the bass much more than a FR does IME.

Now, do what you want and be happy.

 

[ErikH]

For the single-coil, you'll be limited to anything without the tab on the lower side like the SSL-1, any typical Fender single-coil. Just about any medium to hot humbucker would work great in that guitar.

 

[jeremy]

yes, you need an oval base single coil. almost all duncans can be ordered that way as a shop floor custom though an authorized dealer. there are lots of options