MalcolmSex
New member
Re: Ibanez S540FM Pickup Selection (HSH)
Further update and thread resurrection.
After much magnet swapping, I've settled on a Custom with an A4 and the Jazz Neck with an A5. I'm pretty certain the Sabre is quite a mid-heavy guitar with little bass and an average amount of treble so this combo works well. These are the combinations I tried if anyone is interested:
1) Jazz Neck A5, Custom A2 - Jazz sounded good, maybe a bit scooped but clear and good for rhythm and lead. Custom Custom was all mids with no treb or bass. Too much.
2) Jazz Neck A5, Custom UOA5 - Custom is good, but compresses early and not enough bass
3) Jazz Neck A5, Custom A3 - C3 is really good for lead and initially a great impression. Played it for longer though and there is too little bass for rhythm both clean and dirty. Really good mid and treble balance though. Also, it's too low output to be balanced well with the Jazz N. This is the biggest issue
4) Jazz Neck A5, Custom A8 - Custom 8 is just a no in this guitar, very dark and compressed. Not useful for anything other than heavy gain.
5) Jazz Neck A3, Custom A3 - Output balances well, but the Jazz Neck is now way too soft on the bass
6) Jazz Neck A4, Custom A5 - Really dislike the Jazz Neck. Sounds flat. Custom A5 however is great. Scooped but with the Sabre filling the mids, quite balanced. Good for rhythm and lead
7) Jazz Neck A5, Custom A5 - Great combination in this guitar. Volume balances well and both pickups sound great
At this point I though I was done. This maintained for a couple of weeks, then... I was trying to get quite a mid-heavy lead tone from the Custom ala Go Your Own Way by Fleetwood Mac, and I just couldn't get the tone. Eq pedal in front of the amp and it wasn't working. So I read a bit more on this forum and as I'd not tried the A4 in the Custom (because of my dislike of it in the Jazz Neck), I thought I'd give it try (whilst watching England not even try versus Belgium last night).
I recorded the C5 clean and distorted with my looper to give me a point of reference and swapped in the A4. End result is that I think I've found the best combo for that guitar. The C4 hasn't lost much of the bass of the C5 (ab'd with the C5, I could tell but it's not a bad difference), but still has the treble and the mids are fuller. It seems to "feel" good to play as well, this is probably to do with how the combination responds to picking. The output also keeps up with the Jazz Neck A5. I'd say this is the combo I'll keep, however I've yet to try an A2 in the Jazz so I might do that and then revert to the A5 if it's not good. Then stop, I need to stop!
I suppose what I've actually worked out is something I dismissed when I started, the guitar and wood combination is key to which pickups are good. Also, this forum is both a blessing and a curse. Full of information but it's brought out the tinkerer in me!
Now to finally decide on the middle single coil...
Cheers.
Further update and thread resurrection.
After much magnet swapping, I've settled on a Custom with an A4 and the Jazz Neck with an A5. I'm pretty certain the Sabre is quite a mid-heavy guitar with little bass and an average amount of treble so this combo works well. These are the combinations I tried if anyone is interested:
1) Jazz Neck A5, Custom A2 - Jazz sounded good, maybe a bit scooped but clear and good for rhythm and lead. Custom Custom was all mids with no treb or bass. Too much.
2) Jazz Neck A5, Custom UOA5 - Custom is good, but compresses early and not enough bass
3) Jazz Neck A5, Custom A3 - C3 is really good for lead and initially a great impression. Played it for longer though and there is too little bass for rhythm both clean and dirty. Really good mid and treble balance though. Also, it's too low output to be balanced well with the Jazz N. This is the biggest issue
4) Jazz Neck A5, Custom A8 - Custom 8 is just a no in this guitar, very dark and compressed. Not useful for anything other than heavy gain.
5) Jazz Neck A3, Custom A3 - Output balances well, but the Jazz Neck is now way too soft on the bass
6) Jazz Neck A4, Custom A5 - Really dislike the Jazz Neck. Sounds flat. Custom A5 however is great. Scooped but with the Sabre filling the mids, quite balanced. Good for rhythm and lead
7) Jazz Neck A5, Custom A5 - Great combination in this guitar. Volume balances well and both pickups sound great
At this point I though I was done. This maintained for a couple of weeks, then... I was trying to get quite a mid-heavy lead tone from the Custom ala Go Your Own Way by Fleetwood Mac, and I just couldn't get the tone. Eq pedal in front of the amp and it wasn't working. So I read a bit more on this forum and as I'd not tried the A4 in the Custom (because of my dislike of it in the Jazz Neck), I thought I'd give it try (whilst watching England not even try versus Belgium last night).
I recorded the C5 clean and distorted with my looper to give me a point of reference and swapped in the A4. End result is that I think I've found the best combo for that guitar. The C4 hasn't lost much of the bass of the C5 (ab'd with the C5, I could tell but it's not a bad difference), but still has the treble and the mids are fuller. It seems to "feel" good to play as well, this is probably to do with how the combination responds to picking. The output also keeps up with the Jazz Neck A5. I'd say this is the combo I'll keep, however I've yet to try an A2 in the Jazz so I might do that and then revert to the A5 if it's not good. Then stop, I need to stop!
I suppose what I've actually worked out is something I dismissed when I started, the guitar and wood combination is key to which pickups are good. Also, this forum is both a blessing and a curse. Full of information but it's brought out the tinkerer in me!
Now to finally decide on the middle single coil...
Cheers.
