Metal humbucker for alder body / maple neck guitar. DD too shrill.

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Xavier

New member
I just bought my first maple neck guitar ("shred guitar" withFloyd 1000, alder body and 24 fret maple neck)

Since I was able to choose the pickups, I went for my safe go-to option ,59+DD.

As much as I love the DD, it doesn't work in this guitar, which is much brighter (i would say it has a pronounced peak somewhere around the 5 kHz when plugged in, and the DD only accentuates this)

I've already ordered an Invader and an Alt 8, however I'm curious to know what else would you suggest to do (250k pots maybe ?), any of those "just install a cap in series, ets...." ideas. Thank you !
 
Re: Metal humbucker for alder body / maple neck guitar. DD too shrill.

Does the FR1000 have a brass block? A big brass block can help add a little bass back into an FR system.


Electrically there's lots of stuff you can do to tame high frequencies in a guitar:

Tone pot:
- Turn the pot down. :P Seriously. You would be amazed how many people set this to max and then never touch it again. A great many guitars sound best with the tone knob back to about 6-7 most of the time.
- Turning the pot down a bit the about the same effect as swapping 500k for 250k.
- Change the capacitor value. What cap value do you have there right now? If it's .047 uF, you might find it too dark to have much usable range on the tone knob. .022 uF is generally a good starting point for single coils and humbuckers. You might also try .015 or even as low as .010 to get usable tones all the way down the knob. The bigger the cap value, the more mid range your tone knob eats when you roll it back. The smaller the cap value, the more upper frequencies it gets rid of. Caps only cost a few cents, so it's worth playing around for an afternoon with some alligator clips to figure out what you like. If you're not regularly using your tone knob, you are using the wrong value cap in your tone circuit.

Volume pot:
- Changing the volume pot to a lower value will make pickups sound darker - less peaky/spiky. A 500k tone pot rolled back a bit so the pot reads 250k will sound just like a 250k tone pot at full. This is not true for a volume pot. A 500k volume pot rolled back to 250k will still sound brighter than a 250k volume pot at full. I find that volume pot changes make a big difference to the character of a pickup.
- If I'm playing with the value of a pot it's really helpful to get a bunch of resistors and use them to step the pot down in value.

500k pot in parallel with 300k resistor = 400k
500k pot in parallel with 100k resistor = 300k
500k pot in parallel with two 1k resistors = 167k
etc.

This lets you quickly figure out what value you like the sound of and is way cheaper than trying to source/wire in a whole bunch of different pots. I've found that dropping 500k down to 400k can transform a piercingly bright pickup into something quite pleasing.
 
Re: Metal humbucker for alder body / maple neck guitar. DD too shrill.

Well, another pickup idea would've been the Black Winter set, which is wonderful with brighter guitars. The Alt8 + Invader is another solution, like you figured out, but is much higher output.
 
Re: Metal humbucker for alder body / maple neck guitar. DD too shrill.

With the Alt 8 and Invader, I wouldn't change any pot values until you've tried both pickups as-is.
 
Re: Metal humbucker for alder body / maple neck guitar. DD too shrill.

How about the JB4? I have a Jackson KV1 with poplar (or alder, we don't know for sure), maple, ebony combination and the JB4 sounds killer. Maybe too much mids for some though. I dig it :D
 
Re: Metal humbucker for alder body / maple neck guitar. DD too shrill.

Just to clarify, the 59 will stay at the neck position....both the Alt 8 and Invader are 2 options I want to try at the bridge and see how the guitar reacts.

Funny on the brass block comment, as I had already ordered it !!. And definitely I will try 250 pots. I have watched a few videos on YT on the subject and the difference ,although not huge, seems to be there and possibly the tiny bit I need......

I tried the Black Winters once and I found them awful...removed them after a couple of months. They seemed to me like an oversaturated, grainier version of the DD, almost like a dirty Invader. I really love Duncans in general, but these ones didn't do it for me....but of course that's only my personal opinion.

Thanks for all the suggestions !
 
Re: Metal humbucker for alder body / maple neck guitar. DD too shrill.

So many changes at once. Try the Alt 8 and Invader with the existing 500K pots first. Then see if you need to lower the values.

Both of those pickups are darker than the DD by default. For example, the DD has a peak resonant frequency of 5.5 khz. Meanwhile, the Invader is 5.0 khz and the Alt 8 is 4.4 khz. You may find they work well in your current configuration and come off too dark/dull with lower pot values.
 
Re: Metal humbucker for alder body / maple neck guitar. DD too shrill.

I like the ALT 8 a lot in a Alder body Super Strat had a couple of them. Should also work pretty well with that 59 in the neck but I would drop a A 4 mag in the 59 if you go to the Alt. The clarity and articulation of the A4 in a 59 with the Alt will be a really good combo! Have a JB/ Alnico 4 59 set up in my Washburn USA Swamp ash body MG 102 and love it.
 
Re: Metal humbucker for alder body / maple neck guitar. DD too shrill.

Xavier, thats interesting. My problem is in the opposite using Les Paul. The Custom and the DD are the only pickups that cut thru the mix. All my A8 pickups, C8 and Alt8, are too middy to cut.
I recommend you to try the brass block first and then try a 500k resistor in parallel to the 500k volume pot. You loose some highs and some volume too. But always check the outcomes with the band. In my experience some guitar/pickup/amp combo work in the band context, some not.
 
Re: Metal humbucker for alder body / maple neck guitar. DD too shrill.

hamerfan said:
Xavier, thats interesting. My problem is in the opposite using Les Paul. The Custom and the DD are the only pickups that cut thru the mix. All my A8 pickups, C8 and Alt8, are too middy to cut.
I recommend you to try the brass block first and then try a 500k resistor in parallel to the 500k volume pot. You loose some highs and some volume too. But always check the outcomes with the band. In my experience some guitar/pickup/amp combo work in the band context, some not.
Click to expand...

Oh, the DD absolutely excels in a Les Paul . It sounds very balanced, as the little bass the DD has gets compensated by the huge natural bass the LP has. I know because I had a LPC with a DD at the bridge. I had a 490R at the neck because I like dark / woody neck pickups.

As per your suggestion, as a 2nd step most likely will try an UOA5 in the 59. If it does the same it did in a Custom V pickup I had, it's a wonderful magnet. I have also an A4, so I might try it as well !
 
Re: Metal humbucker for alder body / maple neck guitar. DD too shrill.

Unless you are committed to passive in general and SD in particular, you might consider the EMG 57. I used EMGs exclusively for decades and tried a 57 when EMG released them. I liked it sooo much better than the 81s and 89s that I swapped them in all my guitars (mostly home built Warmoth and Musikraft Super-Strats) Sounded great in every guitar I had but particularly so in my alder guitars. Loads of output with noticeably more string separation and clarity than the 81s or 85s. I have since had a ‘re-boot’ of sorts and I am now all passive for this first time in my life since 1989 and I am literally loving pickup swapping and magnet swapping. But credit where due - for metal sounds through an alder Strat with a maple neck, the EMG 57 makes the grade.

(In this pic, the guitar with the cream and black zebra is actually an EMH Super 77 - didn’t dig it. Everything else was a 57)
 

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Re: Metal humbucker for alder body / maple neck guitar. DD too shrill.

Xavier said:
I just bought my first maple neck guitar ("shred guitar" withFloyd 1000, alder body and 24 fret maple neck)

Since I was able to choose the pickups, I went for my safe go-to option ,59+DD.

As much as I love the DD, it doesn't work in this guitar, which is much brighter (i would say it has a pronounced peak somewhere around the 5 kHz when plugged in, and the DD only accentuates this)

I've already ordered an Invader and an Alt 8, however I'm curious to know what else would you suggest to do (250k pots maybe ?), any of those "just install a cap in series, ets...." ideas. Thank you !
Click to expand...

I know it sounds like the opposite, but supposedly a JB is a good match in an alder body.

But with what you are saying, I'd try a Custom or Custom Custom.
 
Re: Metal humbucker for alder body / maple neck guitar. DD too shrill.

Putting an alnico 5 or double thick A5 in the Distortion tames it a lot and actually makes it sound like a nice organic rock hb instead of a fizz machine. Other alnicos have different effects too and will be less abrasive than the stock double thick ceramic.
 
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Re: Metal humbucker for alder body / maple neck guitar. DD too shrill.

OK folks, the Earth is coming to an end...I am agreeing AGAIN with Clint!!!

You already know you like the DD. It's just a bit shrill (which is not an uncommon complaint about ceramic mags). So, keep the pup that you love, just put a different mag in it.

To keep it as much the same as it is but with less "shrill" put in an A8 mag. The dbl thick A5 or even an A5 will work wonders, but you will loose some power/output. And it may still sound a bit bright. If you don't mind the slight output loss of switching to an A5 but are afraid it might still be too shrill, you can use an UOA5 which REALLY sounds good in the DD in a bright guitar.

My first choice for mag swaps would be an A8. Then a UOA5. Then A5. But since you've already ordered an Alt8, I'd try that first. That may be the perfect solution.
 
Re: Metal humbucker for alder body / maple neck guitar. DD too shrill.

The Custom would sort you out. Regardless of the slightly strange 'hot PAF' claim SD make about it, the Custom is basically a Distortion that's calmed down a touch. Matches maple (or ebony) and alder perfectly, especially when Floyds, neck-through construction (i.e. way more maple), and/or stainless frets are involved. Check out Emppu of Nightwish for an example of the Custom in a maple+alder Floyd super-Strat into the standard metal favourite of a slightly boosted and slightly scooped Dual Rectifier.
 
Re: Metal humbucker for alder body / maple neck guitar. DD too shrill.

Well the Alternative 8 did not fit the cavity (the pickup was kind of slanted, so I couldn't get it in)

So I installed the Invader. Boy oh boy......... :omg:

This is the fattest thing I have ever tried...whoever says it's only good for metal and rhythm needs to give it another try......I have been playing like for 20 minutes non stop.

Best of all, I have a 2 humbucker guitar with a 5 way superswitch, so position 5 is bridge in series, and position 4 is bridge in parallel. So in series is fat, powerful, awesome for leads, but all that "too much of everything" disappears when you switch to parallel. Then it becomes very similar to a SH6, but since it's still very powerful, it doesn't sound weak at all.

I wasn't this shocked by a pickup for a long time !!!
 
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