Middle pick up advice

[Colne]

Hello everyone

First message on the forum

I have an HSH Ibanez that I bought when I was younger and I'm trying to upgrade it.

It has a basswood body and a rosewood fretboard. The SL tremolo is blocked cause it's really bad .

I tune it in D standard (or drop C). As i was looking for better Metal tones I changed the two humbuckers for 2 Distortions (a TB-6 and a Sh-6n). I love them.

Currently I still have the old middle pick up (an Alnico 5 Ibanez Powersound) and the Distortions are wired to be autosplitted in position 2 and 4.
The tones in positions 2, 3 and 4 are OK but well... the Powersound is not amazing.

I don't know what to do now...

Maybe I should go for a classic HSH config with a quarter pound rwrp in the middle position and keep the autosplit in position 2 and 4 ?

Maybe I should try a hot rails neck in the middle position (I like how it sounds) ? If I go for the Hot rails in the middle position should I keep the autosplit in 2 and 4 or should I go for 5 positions of full humbucker power ?

What do you think of this combinations ? Will they work ? What kind of tone will they produce ?

Any advice welcome

 

[Clint 55]

Re: Middle pick up advice

Those will both work. Hot rails will continue the humbucker sound you have going. I prefer to keep them on full since there's no volume drop. Qp will introduce a new stratty sound to the mix. You won't need the rwrp, the regular one is what you want.

 

[BriGuy1968]

Re: Middle pick up advice

Hi Colne, and welcome to the forum!

I agree with Clint55 about using something like the Hot Rails (or even some other single coil sized humbucker). My own HSH guitar had a single coil in the center and I replaced it with a rail pickup for exactly the reason of avoiding the volume drop. I do not have it auto split as I have a different type of wiring scheme for it, but if you were to keep the auto split you would continue to have the volume drop in positions two and four.

Having the pickups work on full still gives you that funky quality that comes from the notch positions, but it will also sound less Strat-like. I guess it depends on what YOU want to end up with.

 

[Colne]

Re: Middle pick up advice

Thank you very much for your advice Clint and BriGuy.

I think I won't keep the autosplit. It seems that all HSH Ibanez are now wired with an autosplit so that's why I wired mine like that... and I guess it was a bad reason.

 

[Blille]

Middle pick up advice

Well... I have an HSH with a hot rails in the middle for the reasons stated above and I never use the hot rails so I'm going to put a single coil in there [emoji4]

I think it really depends on the sounds you end up using. I think 6 coils are just too much for me in a single guitar.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Middle pick up advice

What kind of sound do you want from a middle pickup, and what do you think is wrong with the current one? Too bright/dark/powerful/doesn't blend well/etc? Knowing this will help us direct you to one that suits your needs.

 

[treyhaislip]

Re: Middle pick up advice

Welcome to the forum!

I think a Humbucker in the middle would be very good! I've had great luck with the Hotrails and Lil Screamin Demon in the middle position.

The Hotrails would probably be the best bet for the pickups you already have in there, IMO. Hotrails have great sustain and harmonics. They are definitely hot but should work very nicely with your Distortions, especially for volume (as BriGuy mentioned.)

Keep us posted!

 

[Mincer]

Re: Middle pick up advice

^ Especially the neck Hot Rails, which isn't nearly the beast the bridge one is. If you go with a single coil-sized humbucker in the middle, you won't have to worry about splitting anything, and the whole guitar would be hum-cancelling. But we still have to know what issues you have with the middle pickup.

 

[Colne]

Re: Middle pick up advice

Hey

Thank you again for your advices, experience and questions.

It made me think a lot about why I want to change this pickup.

So... well... you want more informations ... let's go for a longer explanation (Maybe you'll get a better idea of what I want) : I'm not a pro guitarist. I've been playing for something like 20 years but I'm still a newbie still discovering things. I've never played in a band, always alone for my own pleasure. Playing after work on my couch. So my knowledge is quite limited but I really like guitars.

I have three guitars a Strat MiJ from the 90's (ssl-1, ssl-1 rwrp and ssl-5), an Ibanez RG752 with a fixed bridge and two PAF7 (bought last year, tuned standard or drop A) and this 6 string Ibanez I bought around the year 2000.

What's the problem with this guitar then ? It's a Korean made Ibanez. Probably by Cort. The p-ups are Powersounds (probably made by Cort too). They are muddy, undefined and weak.

I'm happy with my Strat and my 7 string. I can get a lot of tones with them.

So I decided to improve my 6 string Ibanez to something more... metal, more heavy. That's why I tuned it in D and got a set of Distortion (That's actually the sound I wanted).

My first idea was to wire these two p-ups in three positions : bridge alone, both, neck alone. But I eventually kept the five way wiring.

I followed your advice and didn't keep the autosplit. I really like it (thank you !) but I still have the middle Powersound (yes the weak, muddy, undefined pickup...).

Now I feel like I have two options :
- A new single coil with more output and better tone like a Quarterpound (I like how it sounds). And have the typical HSH config with the typical position 2 and 4 (without autosplit though).
- A hot rails (I like it too) to have something closer to what was my first idea (remember : bridge, both, neck) but with more diversity (bridge, bridge + middle, middle, middle + neck, neck... That's a lot of coils like Blille said ).

Maybe I like the QP tone a little more than the HR tone... but my inital project was full HBs...

I'm not very experienced, maybe these are bad ideas so that's why I'm looking for advice.

I'm sorry, I can't explain more what I want cause, well, English is not my first language and It's hard to explain the feelings you're waiting from a tone or maybe... I don't actually know what I want .

What do you think of my two options ? (I know some of you have already answered this question, like Clint and BriGuy). Do you think I have other options ?

Thank you for your patience.

 

[Nagisa]

Re: Middle pick up advice

Well I wonder if you like a single coil sound alone. I kinda doubt a HR middle is that good alone. Maybe the neck version, but even still I’m not sure when a middle mini-bucker would beat a neck or bridge full bucker.

If you want rails, but want a stratty sound for the middle and notch positions, the bridge cruiser (Dimarzio) would be a great choice. Otherwise I say go true single coil and live with the vol drop.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Middle pick up advice

It is easy then. If you don't know what you want, then wait until you do. Research is free, and it is fun to listen to a bunch of music to say to yourself 'Oh! I like that!' or 'That is terrible!'. When you can clearly articulate what you are going for, it will certainly narrow it down. The other option is just getting something and living with whatever it is...maybe it will be good, or maybe you will still be unhappy with it.

 

[Colne]

Re: Middle pick up advice

If you don't know what you want, then wait until you do.

That's actually what I'm going to do. Now that I know the two options would work.

Your advices help me a lot.

(This quote could be a great signature )