My New SD AHB-3 EMTY

L

leesops

New member
Hello all new here and wanted to say hi.

Well I just got my AHB-3 installed and they sound great, they have the sound and tone I have been looking for.

The install went somewhat easy but the 5 way switch that Ibanez use was a pain in the butt to wire, work with.

So I went to the music store and just got a Fender 3 way switch ($12.00) and 10 min later I was done and playing.

I put ERNIE BALL Skinny Top Heavy Bottom strings on.

Wow talk about new life in something, these pups are hot and has a sick evil sound and tone.
I cannot wait to jack up my amp and wake the dead but the walls here are thin and I don’t want to make any one mad or kill the 80 year lady across the hall from me.

I know most of the time stock pups are not that good but I liked the sound of the Ibanez V7 & V8 was really good for older rock type music,

But for metal when I would go above 3 on the gain on my amp the pups got muddy sounding fast,

when I used my Metal Muff it was a train wreck no tone or anything else just a mess.

Gear
Ibanez RG = basswood body
SD AHB-3 EMTY set
Metal Muff
Randall 75w G3 Plus
Roland amp

I know this is not much of a review but I cannot put into words how these pickups sound.

I mean they sound nothing like EMG or anything else
I have heard.

Guitar Center and Sam Ash know me by name I’m in there so much playing with all their toys.

I am very happy with the pickups.
 
Last edited:
Re: My New SD AHB-3 EMTY

The EQ on the pickup is crazy. It's like all bass. Good to hear a review, though. I might have to give these a shot.
 
Re: My New SD AHB-3 EMTY

The pickups sound great on this amp but you are right the G3 does have a lot of bass.

I have the bass set to about 3 on the amp and control the rest on the metal muff.

If I set the bass to 6 and the metal muff to 12 or 1 you can really feel it almost like someone is pushing on you.

I have the amps vol. at 3 due to the walls are thin here so I have not got a chance to really see what my set will sound like.

If I put the treble on 6 to 7 and the middle at about 11.

I can get the AHB-3 to sound like the AHB-1

To me it like 2 pickups in one but I really like the tone and sound I can get from the AHB-3.

I like Randall amps but wanted to get the 6505 half stack but the $$$$.
That and I got a great deal on the Randall.

The music store near me had a sale they marked down all there Randall amps.

$ 250.00 out the door for it brand new. They’re not going to stock Randall any more.

One thing about the G3 Plus it has one tube in it I found it sounds better if I let it warm up for about 10 min.

I am still playing with EQ on the amp and metal muff but the sound and tone is really sick I think the AHB-3 match up good with the amp and metal muff.
 
Last edited:
Re: My New SD AHB-3 EMTY

The pickup EQ is not all bass. I'm not sure where you're seeing that, but I'm sure it's a typo somewhere. I think someone posted the B/M/T numbers somewhere but they were thinking it was T/M/B. We may have typoed it somewhere between the press release and web pages or something but it's actually tilted more toward treble vs. the original Blackouts.

EDIT: Found it on the Tone Comparison page, if you guys see it anywhere else let me know.

http://www.seymourduncan.com/comparetones
 
Last edited:
Re: My New SD AHB-3 EMTY

frankfalbo said:
The pickup EQ is not all bass. I'm not sure where you're seeing that, but I'm sure it's a typo somewhere. I think someone posted the B/M/T numbers somewhere but they were thinking it was T/M/B. We may have typoed it somewhere between the press release and web pages or something but it's actually tilted more toward treble vs. the original Blackouts.

EDIT: Found it on the Tone Comparison page, if you guys see it anywhere else let me know.

http://www.seymourduncan.com/comparetones
Click to expand...

That's where I saw it. Glad to hear that's not the case!
 
Re: My New SD AHB-3 EMTY

leesops said:
Hello all new here and wanted to say hi.

Well I just got my AHB-3 installed and they sound great, they have the sound and tone I have been looking for.

The install went somewhat easy but the 5 way switch that Ibanez use was a pain in the butt to wire, work with.

So I went to the music store and just got a Fender 3 way switch ($12.00) and 10 min later I was done and playing.

I put ERNIE BALL Skinny Top Heavy Bottom strings on.

Wow talk about new life in something, these pups are hot and has a sick evil sound and tone.
I cannot wait to jack up my amp and wake the dead but the walls here are thin and I don’t want to make any one mad or kill the 80 year lady across the hall from me.

I know most of the time stock pups are not that good but I liked the sound of the Ibanez V7 & V8 was really good for older rock type music,

But for metal when I would go above 3 on the gain on my amp the pups got muddy sounding fast,

when I used my Metal Muff it was a train wreck no tone or anything else just a mess.

Gear
Ibanez RG = basswood body
SD AHB-3 EMTY set
Metal Muff
Randall 75w G3 Plus
Roland amp

I know this is not much of a review but I cannot put into words how these pickups sound.

I mean they sound nothing like EMG or anything else
I have heard.

Guitar Center and Sam Ash know me by name I’m in there so much playing with all their toys.

I am very happy with the pickups.
Click to expand...

how do yours sound clean. My freind installed em on mine and he's saying clean isnt good. I dunno. He's epic when playing so I dunno. Can't wait to try it myself:/
 
Re: My New SD AHB-3 EMTY

hello frankfalbo

Some months ago I was inquiring about the ABH-2s, and your help made me decide for them. SO superior to my 81s!

I now want to buy another bridge pup for black metal playing, but I was wondering which pups are more agressive/best suited? ABH2s or these 3s?

Much obliged
 
Last edited:
Re: My New SD AHB-3 EMTY

TIghter, brighter, clearer, edgier, punchier!

BTW, great video by AlteredBeast. I see you also share my love of Kahler tremolos!
 
Last edited:
Re: My New SD AHB-3 EMTY

Darth Nihilus said:
TIghter, brighter, clearer, edgier, punchier!

BTW, great video by AlteredBeast. I see you also share my love of Kahler tremolos!
Click to expand...

I really don't know how people deal with Floyds, my first trem was a Kahler on a MIJ Strat and I loved that thing. I remember messing with a Jackson at a music store when shopping and I loved everything except for the Floyd. I'm thinking of dropping a Kahler in my Mockingbird.
 
Re: My New SD AHB-3 EMTY

HyVriD said:
how do yours sound clean. My freind installed em on mine and he's saying clean isnt good. I dunno. He's epic when playing so I dunno. Can't wait to try it myself:/
Click to expand...

This is exactly what I have heard also. How do they handle clean sounds?
 
Re: My New SD AHB-3 EMTY

Darth Nihilus said:
TIghter, brighter, clearer, edgier, punchier!

BTW, great video by AlteredBeast. I see you also share my love of Kahler tremolos!
Click to expand...

thanks man! your description of the ahb-3 is right on Darth. my descriptions consist of "it sounds better to me" haha. Yes we do share the Kahler love. i used to be OFR or die. now after playing kahlers for 3 years and having not touched a floyd in that time, i played one the other day, and it felt like poop. as far as cleans, im not so picky, as i usually use a tad of od anyway on cleans.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

T
Ssl-5/ssl-3 in serie with a ssl-1
Replies
5
Views
48
freefrog
freefrog
Hot Octopus
Air Zone vs Custom Custom
Replies
17
Views
118
Rex_Rocker
Rex_Rocker
J
SD hot rodded with coil splitting/parallel
Replies
6
Views
240
jeremy
jeremy
MojoBud
Picked up a beater and it has 2 SD Neck humbuckers
2
Replies
26
Views
497
Mincer
Mincer
A
Wiring 3 SD Mini Humbuckers
Replies
3
Views
237
Mincer
Mincer
Back
Top