Humbucker for a Mahogany body hard tail Superstrat with Rosewood fretboard

D

dc_mally

New member
As the title suggests, i'm wondering what my options are for a Mahogany bodied superstrat with a rosewood fretboard.  The guitar has a fixed bridge.. has two humbuckers and a simple 3 way switch with tone and vol pots.

Are there any pickups i should flat out avoid for this guitar?? should i be looking for bright pickups as i seem to remember mahogany being a muddy sounding wood (its been a long time since i took an interest in the tonal qualities of woods).

I haven't decided if i'm going to go for a low output nicer sounding pickup or a hotter pickup as of yet, as i want this guitar to be pretty much an all rounder, but it will be used for a lot of metal.

Most of the time it will be used with a Peavey Classic 30.. but i have a hotter amp too which only comes out for special occasions as its a bit large to be set up permanently.

any help much appreciated.

Cheers,
Dave.
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Re: Humbucker for a Mahogany body hard tail Superstrat with Rosewood fretboard

That looks similar to an Ibanez S-series body, is that a thin body on that guitar? If so you might actually want a pickup to thicken it up. Though the fixed bridge may make it less thin than the floyded models.

For a fat but balanced pickup with good but not piercing highs, you might look at the PATB series. Either the PATB-3 for lower output, or the PATB-1b for singing leads, but still reasonably good for low gain. Either way I'd probably go with a PATB-1n for the neck.

Thin mahogany isn't much like a Les Paul, tends to behave more like an SG, but with a bolt-on maple neck, it wont really behave like that, either. The 24 frets will give you some trouble getting a classic neck humbucker tone though, just like the SG's oddly positioned neck pickup. The PATB-1n is said to work well in that situation, but if you don't go with that, I'd consider a Screamin' Demon if you have a hotter bridge, or a Full Shred neck if not.

Oh, first question I should have asked is are you planning to rip out the active electronics? If not, I don't know what pickups would work with their system.
 
Re: Humbucker for a Mahogany body hard tail Superstrat with Rosewood fretboard

the active electronics are coming right out, a new set of pots will be going in there as it comes with 25k pots (i think).

i forgot to add, i'll be wanting it with a nickel cover, so the parallel axis humbuckers are out.

Cheers.
 
Re: Humbucker for a Mahogany body hard tail Superstrat with Rosewood fretboard

For GOOD actives, my vote goes to the SD Live Wire Classic II humbuckers.

For passives, I suggest the same pickups that I recently played through a friend's Peavey Classic 30 at an open mic night. SD Pearly Gates neck/rhythm and Brobucker bridge/treble.
 
Re: Humbucker for a Mahogany body hard tail Superstrat with Rosewood fretboard

A shame, I think the PATB series are just insanely great sounding.

I'm not sure the Demon or FS are cover-compatible either, especially if you want the option of changing screws to tweak tone. Anyone know if Seymour Duncan does a two rows of holes humbucker cover as a floor shop custom option? Or is that out too on the cosmetics score?

What sorts of metal tones are you looking to cover? Do you care about thrash rhythms, 80s hair metal, nu-metal or what?
 
Re: Humbucker for a Mahogany body hard tail Superstrat with Rosewood fretboard

Despair said:
What sorts of metal tones are you looking to cover? Do you care about thrash rhythms, 80s hair metal, nu-metal or what?
Click to expand...

It's funny how people use the word "metal" to indicate a type of music or type of guitar tone, as if there were only one kind of either.
 
Re: Humbucker for a Mahogany body hard tail Superstrat with Rosewood fretboard

Jessie's ghost said:
It's funny how people use the word "metal" to indicate a type of music or type of guitar tone, as if there were only one kind of either.
Click to expand...

Somebody, please post a link that webpage about all the minutely different sub-genres within Metal.
 
Re: Humbucker for a Mahogany body hard tail Superstrat with Rosewood fretboard

Just remember, whatever pup you go for, that the cover sucks a bit of the treble frequencies out.

Personally I am thinking the nickel covers may look a little odd on such a modern looking guitar....your choice of Pups will certainly be broadened with exposed coils.
Your guitar of course, but thats my $.02

I agree with Despair
 
Re: Humbucker for a Mahogany body hard tail Superstrat with Rosewood fretboard

Jessie's ghost said:
It's funny how people use the word "metal" to indicate a type of music or type of guitar tone, as if there were only one kind of either.
Click to expand...
Ah, but there is. There is the One True Tone, and then there is yours, which is different and thus sucks!

[Just kidding, of course! And left out a moronic comment about the perfect genre, but you can fill that in for yourself if you REALLY feel it's necessary. :]
 
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Re: Humbucker for a Mahogany body hard tail Superstrat with Rosewood fretboard

Despair said:
Ah, but there is. There is the One True Tone, and then there is yours, which is different and thus sucks!

[Just kidding, of course! And left out a moronic comment about the perfect genre, but you can fill that in for yourself if you REALLY feel it's necessary. :]
Click to expand...

The one True Tone that rules all the others.....the precioussss
 
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