lowenzz
New member
Well I'm not sure if you all remember but I have been on a tone quest of sorts/ experiment of others. I am somewhat local to John Wymore and picked up some mags from him today. A4, 2 A5, and an A8. He had some cool pics from his PIR racing days on the wall and we chatted about our past track experiences a bit. Very nice guy. Beyond simple transaction. Thanks again John for letting me come over to your house today.
My test pig is my Blue Carvin CT3 in the avatar, solid mahog, set-neck, ebony board. It has a bit of a dark/dense voice to it I would say. The guitar originally had A5 pickups with 13.6k bridge and 7.6k neck. These Carvin pickups are actually quite nice as I have used several in the past. With that said.
I have several guitars and wanted something different out of this, more open, less dark/dense, more versatile. So I ordered a PhatCat neck and PG bridge. And I honestly was not very thrilled with the outcome. Phatcat was alot noiser than my tele, tone was ehhh, allright I guess, just kinda murky. Not what I imagined it would be. The bridge was a bit better, lots of clarity, a bit strong on pressence, but the output was just not enough for me.
Maybe I reacted to soon, but I ripped em out and took advantage of the exhange. So I wanted different but similar....I guess, who friggin knows.
Next up. And A2pro neck and CC bridge. Now this is more like it. But surprisingly of the 4 guitars I have I like this one the least tone wise. It's just fine, but I like others better at this point. Just kinda middle of the road.
The A2p neck is dark , output seems allright, nothing that stands out tonally, just smooth, very smooth. low end is undefined or loosish, as is the CC too. Well I guess I am just not an A2 kinda guy.
The CC bridge is a good pickup, don't get me wrong. but with the highs rolled off a bit and the undefined low end, all mids, it seems abit "thin-ish". But that isn't the right word to describe what I am hearing. Just sorta a narrow range of MIDS is it I guess. I do like the output and level of grind.
I use 2 different marshall amps a VM2266 head and a DSL50 head along with a
4x12 cab of G12C's and another with V30's. I play I guess Blues rock/Classic hard rock.
I have learned a ton about pickups at this point. I have adjusted poles for the first time ever. Bringing up the A2p neck about an 1/8" brought out alot of clarity, but it still has lower mid/mid thing I wish was less. Raising the CC bridge about 1/16" on the poles brought out some clarity to the grind and made the clean tone much nicer, more delicate or articulate, seemed to kinda even out the upper middy ness that seemed a bit congested. The low end is still undefined.
I do believe I am just not an A2 guy. Maybe for my Semi-hollow body down the road some time as I really use that for cleanish clean or on the edge type sounds.
So if your still awake and actually read my novel of trivial drivel---I have some new magnets.
I am tempted to through A5's in both. But that would be to easy for me. SOOOOO
I am gonna start with by making my neck an A4pro, hoping to basically flatten the eq a bit, tighten the low end up, dont really want more, lower the mids (muds) a little, keep it warm, less thick, less smooth. For the highs, well I actually want some. I would like a fair amount of highs, but that goes hand in hand with how the mids react.
For the Bridge, well, I have read so much about the C8, how could I not want to try that one out. If it tightens the low end up abit, clarifies and or widens the mids and adds a little crispness. That should be about perfect. I'm guessing a C5 would be more my style, but I gotta chase the hype dragon here, and this is way cheaper than the fancy schmancy pedals I am weening myself of off.
(I also live about 5 minutes from Pro-Guitar shop) If you know what that is, then you understand my affliction.
Hope the details came through the rambling, I find it rather hard to verbally describe tonal characteristics. Now where is my screwdriver........
Low
My test pig is my Blue Carvin CT3 in the avatar, solid mahog, set-neck, ebony board. It has a bit of a dark/dense voice to it I would say. The guitar originally had A5 pickups with 13.6k bridge and 7.6k neck. These Carvin pickups are actually quite nice as I have used several in the past. With that said.
I have several guitars and wanted something different out of this, more open, less dark/dense, more versatile. So I ordered a PhatCat neck and PG bridge. And I honestly was not very thrilled with the outcome. Phatcat was alot noiser than my tele, tone was ehhh, allright I guess, just kinda murky. Not what I imagined it would be. The bridge was a bit better, lots of clarity, a bit strong on pressence, but the output was just not enough for me.
Maybe I reacted to soon, but I ripped em out and took advantage of the exhange. So I wanted different but similar....I guess, who friggin knows.
Next up. And A2pro neck and CC bridge. Now this is more like it. But surprisingly of the 4 guitars I have I like this one the least tone wise. It's just fine, but I like others better at this point. Just kinda middle of the road.
The A2p neck is dark , output seems allright, nothing that stands out tonally, just smooth, very smooth. low end is undefined or loosish, as is the CC too. Well I guess I am just not an A2 kinda guy.
The CC bridge is a good pickup, don't get me wrong. but with the highs rolled off a bit and the undefined low end, all mids, it seems abit "thin-ish". But that isn't the right word to describe what I am hearing. Just sorta a narrow range of MIDS is it I guess. I do like the output and level of grind.
I use 2 different marshall amps a VM2266 head and a DSL50 head along with a
4x12 cab of G12C's and another with V30's. I play I guess Blues rock/Classic hard rock.
I have learned a ton about pickups at this point. I have adjusted poles for the first time ever. Bringing up the A2p neck about an 1/8" brought out alot of clarity, but it still has lower mid/mid thing I wish was less. Raising the CC bridge about 1/16" on the poles brought out some clarity to the grind and made the clean tone much nicer, more delicate or articulate, seemed to kinda even out the upper middy ness that seemed a bit congested. The low end is still undefined.
I do believe I am just not an A2 guy. Maybe for my Semi-hollow body down the road some time as I really use that for cleanish clean or on the edge type sounds.
So if your still awake and actually read my novel of trivial drivel---I have some new magnets.
I am tempted to through A5's in both. But that would be to easy for me. SOOOOO
I am gonna start with by making my neck an A4pro, hoping to basically flatten the eq a bit, tighten the low end up, dont really want more, lower the mids (muds) a little, keep it warm, less thick, less smooth. For the highs, well I actually want some. I would like a fair amount of highs, but that goes hand in hand with how the mids react.
For the Bridge, well, I have read so much about the C8, how could I not want to try that one out. If it tightens the low end up abit, clarifies and or widens the mids and adds a little crispness. That should be about perfect. I'm guessing a C5 would be more my style, but I gotta chase the hype dragon here, and this is way cheaper than the fancy schmancy pedals I am weening myself of off.
(I also live about 5 minutes from Pro-Guitar shop) If you know what that is, then you understand my affliction.
Hope the details came through the rambling, I find it rather hard to verbally describe tonal characteristics. Now where is my screwdriver........
Low
