Humbucker in ASH guitars

Sensates

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Does anyone had a hard time finding the right bridge humbucker for an ash body guitar? The few that I had all sounded honky, thin and nasally with distortion.

Any success story? Please tell..
 
Re: Humbucker in ASH guitars

Which ones have you tried? Ash is supposed to be on the brighter side, meaning you may want to find humbuckers that have more bass/mids.

I just put a Dimarzio Tone Zone in a guitar with a Paulownia body (supposed to sound like ash) and maple fretboard neck. Absolutely crushing sounding.
 
Re: Humbucker in ASH guitars

Which ones have you tried? Ash is supposed to be on the brighter side, meaning you may want to find humbuckers that have more bass/mids.

I just put a Dimarzio Tone Zone in a guitar with a Paulownia body (supposed to sound like ash) and maple fretboard neck. Absolutely crushing sounding.

Suhr SSV, Duncan JB, Lollar Imperial. The guitar in question is a ash tele with humbucker/p90/p90 configuration. P90s sounded fine. Neck is full wenge.

I agree with what you said about the EQ, but would prefer lower to mid output pickups, something that I can get a good blues tone with.
 
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Re: Humbucker in ASH guitars

Usually you're relying on the amp for the type of music you're playing. I've been able to get death metal tones out of low output pickups. :) The main thing you're looking for is to balance the sound of the guitar itself. The bridge is going to be the position that gives you the most treble, so it's no surprise that a brighter guitar may have some annoying overtones with brighter pickups.

One of the thicker sounding Dimarzios like the Air Zone (basically a lower output Tone Zone), Air Norton, Gravity Storm, or AT-1 or either of the Breed models (neck or bridge) should work. You can also try the Duncan PATB-1 or PATB-3, which are made to thicken up the sound of thinner/brighter guitars.
 
Re: Humbucker in ASH guitars

I've had issues with ash body, wenge neck. I think I know what you are meaning.


A2P maybe? The wenge seems to me to add a certain thickness in a narrow range of the low mids with some nasalness as well. It made finding a pickup hard. I ended up swapping the neck.
 
Re: Humbucker in ASH guitars

I can't comment on the Wenge neck, but my Ash bodied/ maple neck G&L Legacy sounds pretty awesome with a WLH bridge. Nice thick sounded rhythm with good detail and singing leads, I want another for my Tyler.
 
Re: Humbucker in ASH guitars

I can't comment on the Wenge neck, but my Ash bodied/ maple neck G&L Legacy sounds pretty awesome with a WLH bridge. Nice thick sounded rhythm with good detail and singing leads, I want another for my Tyler.

The stock Legacy came with JB correct? You did not like it?

Anyways it seem like most ash guitar is paired with maple fretboard/necks.
 
Re: Humbucker in ASH guitars

Canary also pairs well with Ash. Or I might try some offbeat pickups. I would try to find things that would have an eq curve more like a p90. I would avoid bright pickups, and low wind PAF style stuff.
 
Re: Humbucker in ASH guitars

I would try to find things that would have an eq curve more like a p90. I would avoid bright pickups, and low wind PAF style stuff.

Yes, after the unsuccessful attempt with PAF types I'm having the same thoughts, something with more mids and hotter.

I have a spare Nailbomb that I want to try, but it has long legs so I might have to swap the baseplate.
 
Re: Humbucker in ASH guitars

Which ones have you tried? Ash is supposed to be on the brighter side, meaning you may want to find humbuckers that have more bass/mids.

...put a Dimarzio Tone Zone...

This - only I would go with an Air Zone which is a Tone Zone with some tiny spacers on the magnet that airs out the presence overall making it a little smoother. You can still grind with it but it's more agreeable with ash and I know this because I have a vintage stratocaster rerouted for humbuckers with an Air Zone installed. It's one of my favorite sounding guitars.
 
Re: Humbucker in ASH guitars

What neck and fretboard combo?

The absolute best rock sounding guitar I ever used was a Wayne Rock Legend with a JB in the bridge and a JB Jr in the neck–Ash body with an insane Birdseye Maple neck plus Rosewood board...guitar was sick as could be and got the best most natural sounding harmonics of any guitar I've ever played! Unfortunately, my dad had to sell it about 9 years ago. Wish I could get it back!
 
Re: Humbucker in ASH guitars

I have used the Custom Custom in ash, and it sounded great. It was a pretty bright guitar, and the increased mids really helped.
 
Re: Humbucker in ASH guitars

The stock Legacy came with JB correct? You did not like it?

Anyways it seem like most ash guitar is paired with maple fretboard/necks.

Mine was a SSS and I modded it to HSS. It's a very resonant guitar and rings out loud so I didn't really know what to expect, now it's a killer guitar that covers a hell of a lot of ground. I did have a JB in my Ash bodied/ Maple neck Wayne T type that sound killer. I swapped it out to try a Crazy 8 and have never swapped it back as the Crazy 8 sounded great too.
 
Re: Humbucker in ASH guitars

This - only I would go with an Air Zone which is a Tone Zone with some tiny spacers on the magnet that airs out the presence overall making it a little smoother. You can still grind with it but it's more agreeable with ash and I know this because I have a vintage stratocaster rerouted for humbuckers with an Air Zone installed. It's one of my favorite sounding guitars.

Which is why I posted this two nights ago:

Usually you're relying on the amp for the type of music you're playing. I've been able to get death metal tones out of low output pickups. :) The main thing you're looking for is to balance the sound of the guitar itself. The bridge is going to be the position that gives you the most treble, so it's no surprise that a brighter guitar may have some annoying overtones with brighter pickups.

One of the thicker sounding Dimarzios like the Air Zone (basically a lower output Tone Zone), Air Norton, Gravity Storm, or AT-1 or either of the Breed models (neck or bridge) should work. You can also try the Duncan PATB-1 or PATB-3, which are made to thicken up the sound of thinner/brighter guitars.
 
Re: Humbucker in ASH guitars

Which is why I posted this two nights ago:

That's right you did include the Air Zone among the 7 various pickups you listed so you should get full credit for that. Bringing up the Air Zone in my ash Fender was redundant.
 
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Re: Humbucker in ASH guitars

You don't want mid-scooped pickup which ash eq usually is, scooped.
 
Re: Humbucker in ASH guitars

My Warmoth is an ash body with a wenge neck. I use the 59/Custom hybrid in there and it woulds amazing. I match it with a Five Two and a Classic Strat Stack.
 
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