I have achieved the worst guitar tone ever

guitarded

guitarded

New member
Ordered a little 59 bridge for my Strat cause the JB JR sounded OK in it but just a little brash........ Usable but not quite what I wanted from it.

So the pup arrives and I install it... Hit the first power chord through my POD XT and thinking... cool... got some bottom and some warmth I didn't have before but something sounded a little weird..... Plug it into my Mark IV and play some licks on the upper registers...... whoooooo....... I think I could broke glass if I increased the volume......

Take the pickguard off..... and check all the connections.... noticed I forgot to connect the bare ground wire so I connected that.... put it back together and same thing.... Look at the instructions that came with the pup as last resort and noticed a 47uf cap in the pic and I only had a 22... Soldered another 22 in parallel and no change except the tone takes out more treble when turned all the way down.... and noticed I could do swells with the tone pot that sound just like a wah pedal.....

Take a closer look at the SD box......and notice it is a neck model!!!!!!!!!! I have a little 59 in the neck already that sounds great.... Couldn't believe the difference from just where it is physically located.... Got it straightened out and a bridge model is on it's way..... but just in case anyone was considering trying a little 59 neck in the bridge spot.... You can expect to make ears bleed. And if you order a bridge... read the model number before installing it!
 
Re: I have achieved the worst guitar tone ever

actually the neck model lil 59 sounds pretty good when mixed with vintagy single coils in the middle and neck but with a lil 59 in the neck the neck model will probably sound bit weak
 
Re: I have achieved the worst guitar tone ever

jeremy said:
actually the neck model lil 59 sounds pretty good when mixed with vintagy single coils in the middle and neck but with a lil 59 in the neck the neck model will probably sound bit weak
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It sounds single coil'ish on the bridge clean and not unpleasant, but apply some gain and it turns into an ice picky thin mess on the high end. Nice full body on the lows though. I hope the bridge model, when it comes will still have those nice warm lows that don;t get muddy. That's the main thing I didn't like about JBJr in that guitar. This Strat has been like my red headed step child as far as taming the upper mids and treble on the bridge pup. The JBjr works great in one of my other older American Strats.
 
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Re: I have achieved the worst guitar tone ever

jafo said:
+1

Hendrix and Blackmore managed it, but I can't equal them, alas.
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... and the irony is... neither Jimi or Richie had the luxury of being able to use higher quality pups from Seymour Duncan in the 60s/mid 70s... yet they still rocked quite hard... :friday:
 
Re: I have achieved the worst guitar tone ever

jafo said:
+1

Hendrix and Blackmore managed it, but I can't equal them, alas.
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Both of those guys definitely sound still like Strats...... Blackmore did a good job translating that tone to a heavier sound by his choice of modes and chord progressions and lots of keyboards.

I consider Hendrix more of a Blues player which stock Strats lend themselves to really well.

I am shooting more towards what Iron Maiden does with Strats...
 
Re: I have achieved the worst guitar tone ever

that and the fuzzface can tame the treble especially thru a raging marshall.

have you put the tone control on the bridge pup yet? if not do
 
Re: I have achieved the worst guitar tone ever

jeremy said:
that and the fuzzface can tame the treble especially thru a raging marshall.

have you put the tone control on the bridge pup yet? if not do
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Tone control on the bridge is a brilliant mod.
 
Re: I have achieved the worst guitar tone ever

Gingrel said:
Tone control on the bridge is a brilliant mod.
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My tone controls both the bridge and middle on all my super strats Strats. My EJ Strat came stock with the tone on the bridge and the other on the neck.
 
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Re: I have achieved the worst guitar tone ever

Slapped the little 59'er bridge in last night. Sounds a LOT better. Was hoping it to be just slightly warmer but hey it's a Strat :)
 
Re: I have achieved the worst guitar tone ever

YHWH said:
... and the irony is... neither Jimi or Richie had the luxury of being able to use higher quality pups from Seymour Duncan in the 60s/mid 70s... yet they still rocked quite hard... :friday:
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Oddly enough, Blackmore seems to have taken until last year to figure that out... the Blackmore Strat used Lace Sensors until the current model, which uses Quarter Pound Flats.
 
Re: I have achieved the worst guitar tone ever

YHWH said:
... and the irony is... neither Jimi or Richie had the luxury of being able to use higher quality pups from Seymour Duncan in the 60s/mid 70s... yet they still rocked quite hard... :friday:
Click to expand...

LOL, a couple Marshall stacks cranked up probably had nothing to do with it.:cool2:
 
Re: I have achieved the worst guitar tone ever

guitarded said:
Slapped the little 59'er bridge in last night. Sounds a LOT better. Was hoping it to be just slightly warmer but hey it's a Strat :)
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I take that back... Just got to play it at rehearsal levels and it is PLENTY warm. As a matter of fact... thinking of getting another to replace the JBJr in my other super strat. I am really loving both the cleans and dirty sounds this pup is producing through my Mesa Mark IV. After having a full size JB in there and then a JBJr I think I finally got what I was after for that guitar.
 
Re: I have achieved the worst guitar tone ever

jafo said:
Oddly enough, Blackmore seems to have taken until last year to figure that out... the Blackmore Strat used Lace Sensors until the current model, which uses Quarter Pound Flats.
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Screw the pups...... His Engl signature amp sounds frigging amazing...!!
 
Re: I have achieved the worst guitar tone ever

JOLLY said:
This thread title cracks me up.
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Dude.... It really was BAD with that neck pup in the bridge spot... I never heard something sound so bad in my life. It sounds great in the neck spot though.
 
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