Loud, big fat bottom, percussive, not shrill humbucker for crunchy gain with sustain?

[Dave Locher]

Mistakes have been made!

Anyone know of a loud, clear, crunchy humbucker with a lot of lows, percussive attack, but no frequencies that make your teeth hurt? I suppose I can try a different vintage V-2. I had another one that had regular hex poles (1983 vs 1978) but it also sounded a bit thinner overall. My fallback plan is a Super Distortion but I would prefer a slightly different flavor from my other main guitar.

I replaced the '78 Ibanez V-2 humbucker in my modded-to-heck Gibson Marauder (maple/maple bolt neck, thick mahogany slab body) and I have gone the wrong direction. Dropped in a "hot vintage" paf-style that promised a lot of mids and although it is a fine sounding pickup it is too soft on the attack and not boomy enough for my taste. I thought I wanted a lot of mids and a bit less output, but I was wrong. The guitar does not sound or feel the way it always has.
So...the V-2 (which I already sold) was about 16k, an A5 magnet, brass base plate, and had pole pieces that looked like hex poles at first glance but were actually a bit wider and had a hole and a slot. That is all I know about them.

What I liked about it: a LOT of volume (louder than a Super Distortion) with a lot of lows but apparently not a ton of mids. Very percussive attack, mild highs. The reason I pulled it is because there was some frequency in there that literally hurt my ears. I could not eq it out, unless I just killed the treble.

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Loud, big fat bottom, percussive, not shrill humbucker for crunchy gain with sust

You might really like the Custom. It is not a "total firebreather," so you might have to adjust to a little lower output than you want...but still, you might like it a lot. It's aggressive without being shrill or muddy. It's more "scooped" than many pickups in that general range of output, but not enough that it sounds anemic. Just enough so that it sounds a bit more clear.

 

[Dave Locher]

Re: Loud, big fat bottom, percussive, not shrill humbucker for crunchy gain with sust

That is ironic because I bought one last winter, never installed it, and sold it!
They have that fast, percussive attack?

 

[LLL]

Re: Loud, big fat bottom, percussive, not shrill humbucker for crunchy gain with sust

Ya I was thinking SH-5 Custom too.

Good lows and tight. Good bite and IMO the perfect mids.

 

[Tone Meister]

Re: Loud, big fat bottom, percussive, not shrill humbucker for crunchy gain with sust

I agree. Just installed a Custom in an Ash body hardtail with a 59 in the neck. The Custom for me is a do it all pickup, great crunch and bite, but not strident. Killer split coil if desired, great clean tones by rolling off the volume. Very responsive to pickup height and mated with the 59 the tones are stellar.

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: Loud, big fat bottom, percussive, not shrill humbucker for crunchy gain with sust

Try a Tone Zone (I'd run it with a no-load tone pot, or no tone at all)

Loud - check
Fat - check
Clear - check (if you're very careful with height adjustment)
Lots of mids - check
Not Shrill - check

 

[comstox]

Re: Loud, big fat bottom, percussive, not shrill humbucker for crunchy gain with sust

"Loud, big fat bottom, percussive, not shrill" Hey... We talkin' guitars or women here??? :18:

 

[Ben1962]

Re: Loud, big fat bottom, percussive, not shrill humbucker for crunchy gain with sust

Super Distortion 3. I love the pegasus too, not sure if it's hot enough for you

Sent from my SM-J737V using Tapatalk

 

[justFred]

Re: Loud, big fat bottom, percussive, not shrill humbucker for crunchy gain with sust

what amp???sounds to me like an amp will go a lot farther in getting that tone for ya than a pickup....

 

[Dave Locher]

Re: Loud, big fat bottom, percussive, not shrill humbucker for crunchy gain with sust

I was just going to ask about how the Custom compares to the Tone Zone! Anyone who has played both in the same guitar, or at least through the same amp?
I've tried the Super 3 and it is TOO moderate in the highs for me. I kept trying to turn up my guitar's tone pot.

I play a 1978 Randall RG100ES and believe me, it has plenty of what I like! I'm not desperately searching for a tone, I'm just trying to get this one guitar back closer to the sound it had with the V-2 but hopefully without that shrill thing that was killing me. Someone with better trained ears that me could probably pinpoint the exact frequency that was annoying me but I just heard it as harsh or shrill even though the pickup wasn't particularly bright.

I have three guitars. One of the others has a Super Distortion and the other has a 9.5k handwound paf-knockoff that I put a roughcast A8 magnet into and both of them sound great to me. But this particular guitar just sounds all wrong with the new pickup. (A 10.5k "hot paf with pushed mids" with an A8. Turns out I didn't want more mids with this guitar at all. It just sounds...soft or something to me. Both of my other guitars have had Bill & Becky L500XLs in them recently and both sounded too thin for my taste, but not horrible. Just sterile.
Me likey a big bottom end and not too thick in the middle! [That was for you, Comstox.]

 

[Aceman]

Re: Loud, big fat bottom, percussive, not shrill humbucker for crunchy gain with sust

You want a Custom - but you ALSO want 250k pot with it to tame the highs a touch.

 

[Dave Locher]

Re: Loud, big fat bottom, percussive, not shrill humbucker for crunchy gain with sust

What about the Custom 5? I realize it's the same pickup with the different magnet, but I'm wondering if it is a little less bright, or at least smoother? (I'm willing to swap magnets, just deciding which one to try first.)

On a related note, what happens if you put a C8 magnet into a Tone Zone? Seems like it should brighten & tighten a bit??

 

[hamerfan]

Re: Loud, big fat bottom, percussive, not shrill humbucker for crunchy gain with sust

C5? Not smooth, not fat, but brite and scooped as hell.

Custom with a 250k sounds good to me. A DD has even more mids.

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: Loud, big fat bottom, percussive, not shrill humbucker for crunchy gain with sust

The Tone Zone is bright enough, but there are some things you can do to brighten it up a lot more.
- Screw the pole pieces a couple mm above the top of the pickup
- Drop the pickup down further from the strings
- Don't wire it with a tone knob (and use 500k or even a 1 meg volume pot)



I wouldn't put an A8 in it. The Tone Zone is very hot and quite middy stock. An A8 will increase the mids over the A5, and increase the output. I suspect it would bring out the cocked wah sound a little more than you may like.

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: Loud, big fat bottom, percussive, not shrill humbucker for crunchy gain with sust

Go Tone zone or Bareknuckle aftermath.

 

[Dave Locher]

Re: Loud, big fat bottom, percussive, not shrill humbucker for crunchy gain with sust

The Tone Zone is bright enough, but there are some things you can do to brighten it up a lot more.
- Screw the pole pieces a couple mm above the top of the pickup
- Drop the pickup down further from the strings
- Don't wire it with a tone knob (and use 500k or even a 1 meg volume pot)



I wouldn't put an A8 in it. The Tone Zone is very hot and quite middy stock. An A8 will increase the mids over the A5, and increase the output. I suspect it would bring out the cocked wah sound a little more than you may like.

I was asking about putting a CERAMIC magnet into the Tone Zone, not an A8. (I know, we see "C8" and our brains assume "A8" because everything is A8 all the sudden, including two of my three bridge humbuckers!)

This particular guitar already has a 500k volume pot and a switch that disconnects the 500k tone pot completely. (Pickup too bright = switch tone pot in; pickup a bit too dull = switch tone pot out. Works really well.) But it still seems like the Tone Zone isn't bright enough for my taste. I just wondered what a ceramic would do to it/for it. I had a stock one in one of my other guitars for a bit and it was too big in the lows and too soft in the highs. I thought a ceramic might change both of those things?

I only ask because I am a total cheapskate (I mean "bargain hunter") and buy my pickups used or on deep discount sales and I figured if I have two candidates my odds of snagging one cheap improve. I also love double cream, which means Dimarzio 9 times out of 10.

I appreciate all of the input so far, and I'm going to assume the consensus for the Custom is good advice and begin haunting eBay looking for a good deal on one. It's not an emergency so I just have to be patient. (The waiting is the hardest part!)

 

[idsnowdog]

Re: Loud, big fat bottom, percussive, not shrill humbucker for crunchy gain with sust

The GFS Bigmouth sounds a lot like a Quarter Pounder humbucker would if such a thing existed. It's loud, clear, big bass and not shrill. I really like it with an A8 magnet to make it even more burly.

 

[Dave Locher]

Re: Loud, big fat bottom, percussive, not shrill humbucker for crunchy gain with sust

The GFS Bigmouth sounds a lot like a Quarter Pounder humbucker would if such a thing existed. It's loud, clear, big bass and not shrill. I really like it with an A8 magnet to make it even more burly.

Interesting...
The regular one, or the "30% more power" version?

 

[idsnowdog]

Re: Loud, big fat bottom, percussive, not shrill humbucker for crunchy gain with sust

Interesting...
The regular one, or the "30% more power" version?

Both are good. I like the slightly more powerfull one though.

 

[BleedingFingertips]

Re: Loud, big fat bottom, percussive, not shrill humbucker for crunchy gain with sust

For the "not shrill" department, I'd say Parallel Axis Distortion (PATB2) or Alternative 8. Both are loud as F. Parallel Axis should sustain better due to its unique pole pieces. I use it in a light weight guitar with a fixed bridge and love it. But it might sound too fat for something like Les Paul. Haven't tried an Alt8 though but according to other people's opinions it suits your description well.