Muffled/Dark Tone

Re: Muffled/Dark Tone

925SS said:
I started with a .047 on the tone pot, then moved to a .022, then a .01, then disconnected the tone pot altogether & ran wide open with not a lot of success.
Click to expand...

I'm not talking about the tone pot, read my post again. I'm talking about putting a capacitor between the pickup's hot wire and the pickup selector. ;)
 
Re: Muffled/Dark Tone

925SS said:
I recently finished (kinda) my PRS style all maple body build.
Under the impression that maple is a very bright wood, I expected to be fighting to tone it down some...NOT THE CASE.
I have a set of MHD custom pups that I bought for my all mahogany LP.
For giggles, I tried them in the build, while the bridge does ok, the neck is very muffled/dark. I was shocked.
Why would an all maple body, with a very thin finish, & NO clearcoat on it yet, be muffled/dark sounding?
I have a set of DM 36th paf pups that I had hoped to use, but with the results I'm getting from the custom set, I'm not very hopefull.
I started with a .047 cap, expecting the guitar to be Bright, then after hearing it, moved to a .022, then to a .01.
Now I have totally disconnected the tone pot, & am running the pups wide open.
Still muffeled.
The neck is mahogany with a rswd fb, & i'm running EB 10-46 strings
I have a gibson 3 way toggle, switchcraft jack, & two no name 500k pots (the vol pot reads over 500k, & the tone around 480k on my meter)
I'll definatly be putting the customs back in the LP, & at this point, a different set of pups ain't in the budget.
I have a super distortion, & a few other no name pups to try, but was leaning more toward a paf type sound with this axe.
Does anybody have any idea how to brighten up a 36th set. I've read the set uses a degaussed A5, so I'm lost on what magnet would brighten the set up.

Any suggestions would be much appriciated.
Click to expand...

That's what maple does to some neck pups, in my experience too. ESPECIALLY MAPLE-ANYTHING WITH MAHOGANY NECK (!!!!!!).

Try zeroing bass on amplifier and kicking most everything else out of the signal chain, it somehow overwhelms certain amps and pedals with bass and forces them to sound reaaally weird sometimes. Also try fiddling with pickup height. And try some mellower, brighter (yes, brighter) pups. Or maybe lighter strings? I had much the same thing happen, also stringed with 10-46s... hmmmm....
 
Re: Muffled/Dark Tone

LonePhantom said:
I'm not talking about the tone pot, read my post again. I'm talking about putting a capacitor between the pickup's hot wire and the pickup selector. ;)
Click to expand...

I read & understood your post, it's a quick & easy mod, so i'll give it a try. TY
 
Re: Muffled/Dark Tone

Adieu said:
That's what maple does to some neck pups, in my experience too. ESPECIALLY MAPLE-ANYTHING WITH MAHOGANY NECK (!!!!!!).

Try zeroing bass on amplifier and kicking most everything else out of the signal chain, it somehow overwhelms certain amps and pedals with bass and forces them to sound reaaally weird sometimes. Also try fiddling with pickup height. And try some mellower, brighter (yes, brighter) pups. Or maybe lighter strings? I had much the same thing happen, also stringed with 10-46s... hmmmm....
Click to expand...
The EVJ doesn't have an eq section, but I did install a bright switch.
I've adjusted the s@*t out of each pup i've tried, often to the point that the bass side is just below thi ring, while the treble side is just about touching the strings (talk about slanting).
As far as diff/brighter pups, I was thinking a Jazz, but the HB from Hell is starting to seem like a good choice for me.
I'm not a big fan of 9s on a short scale, or anything else for that matter, but if that's what it takes, I guess I could get used to it. This would be a last ditch effort though.
 
Re: Muffled/Dark Tone

Before you go buy any more pups give the Mean 90 a shot. I love that pup in the neck. I have installed a bridge Mean 90 in the neck to great results.

Also do what Lone Phantom tells ya, I've done that one too, it brightens up the pup. Better yet do it by putting the cap in series between black n white cables (DM colours), or red & white in a Seymour. Actually SD Invaders on the neck position do this mod betwix the two bobbins, I can't remember which cap they use but they use it. It's connected in series between south & north coils, if you search in this forum for Arties Mod you'll find it
 
Re: Muffled/Dark Tone

I know what you mean. In my case, I'm about to give up, pull the plug on the neck Super 70, put in an active EMG 89, and hope that changes things radically :)

Btw, the more I think, the more I suspect some sorta interplay between the maple and the mahogany neck... maybe the maple cap on the Les Paul does a helluva lot more than we give it credit for, or maybe it's all about the mahogany neck, period?
 
Re: Muffled/Dark Tone

Guitaraxz said:
Before you go buy any more pups give the Mean 90 a shot. I love that pup in the neck. I have installed a bridge Mean 90 in the neck to great results.

Also do what Lone Phantom tells ya, I've done that one too, it brightens up the pup. Better yet do it by putting the cap in series between black n white cables (DM colours), or red & white in a Seymour. Actually SD Invaders on the neck position do this mod betwix the two bobbins, I can't remember which cap they use but they use it. It's connected in series between south & north coils, if you search in this forum for Arties Mod you'll find it
Click to expand...

I haven't given up on anything yet. What guitar did you use the mean bridge in the neck on?
I just installed a .01 cap athe switch to the neck lead, & got er strung back up.
While I was in there, I went ahead & installed the super dist in the bridge, & reconnected the tone pot:fingersx:
 
Re: Muffled/Dark Tone

It's been a trial & error day, mostly error.
After last post, I tried the .01 cap between the switch lug, & the neck lead to no avail.
I then tried the mean 90 with the cap mod...nope
Out of frustration, I dug out an old strat pup, ceramic mag 4.6k, & slapped it in there WITH THE CAP MOD...NOPE:crazy:
At this point, I don't even know if the humbucker from hell will solve this issue.
I've been thinking of either lining the pup cavity in light gauge aluminum, or filling it in.


I read an article somewhere that a guy added screws near the neck pup to brightened it up.
Anyone ever hear of such a thing, or is it just a pipe dream? I got some lag bolts in the garage, & I ain't scared.........
 
Re: Muffled/Dark Tone

i'd look at the A2P, the screamin demon and the PG+ for stock pickups
a phat cat with 2xA5 or a '59n w/A2 are also good matches for muddy neck slots, IME
good luck!
 
Re: Muffled/Dark Tone

Could the bridge pickup be really bright so you are over compensating on your amp to tame the high end thus resulting in a dark neck pickup?
 
Re: Muffled/Dark Tone

jake_xms3_punk said:
Could the bridge pickup be really bright so you are over compensating on your amp to tame the high end thus resulting in a dark neck pickup?
Click to expand...

Hey, that's a distinct possibility...

OP: set your amp ALL KNOBS TO 12 NOON. Try it then. Or, better yet, try someone ELSE's amp set to 12 noon all around.
 
Re: Muffled/Dark Tone

Adieu said:
Hey, that's a distinct possibility...

OP: set your amp ALL KNOBS TO 12 NOON. Try it then. Or, better yet, try someone ELSE's amp set to 12 noon all around.
Click to expand...

This story is continued in a thread I started called "Wet Blanket" thanks for your input
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

I
Newbie new build pickup questions for HSS configuration.
2
Replies
29
Views
287
illogical
I
N
HHH wiring ideas
Replies
7
Views
76
Chistopher
C
C
SD Everything Axe pickups for Telecaster?
Replies
10
Views
111
Mincer
Mincer
M
TB6 in bridge sounding muddy/muffled
Replies
6
Views
148
beaubrummels
beaubrummels
W
Brightening a dark sounding humbucker with equalizer
2
Replies
36
Views
390
jeremy
jeremy
Back
Top