OMG This guitar is killing me. Need pickup advice!

[Dan186]

Hey fellas! you guys were very helpful last time so here I am again. I have a real PROBLEM child - Jackson soloist neckthru, ebony, Floyd, maple cap too and I'm having a hell of a time trying to find a pickup that works for me with this guitar.

So first off, thanks to anyone and everyone that provides any kind of feedback. It is really appreciated. I've had this thing for almost ten years and here I am again wrestling with trying to like the sound. What sound do I like? and amp and etc..here it is:

I have an original 5150 combo, reverb pedal, mxr eq, rocktron multivalve. I'm old school rock n roll. What sound am I chasing...it has always been the same...early Van Halen, Randy Rhoads on the Tribute album. I don't care for the studio sound he had with Ozzy, but man that live sound was killer.

Anywho, it seems no matter what pickup I put in it, there is this inherent sharp edgy response and crazy bright tone I just can't tame completely.

JB - my all time favorite pickup - but not for this guitar, it just comes out waaaay to thin. I really want to make it work, I'm even going to try it again once I get my brass block. what the hell, why not give that a shot too....

Duncan Distortion - I have an extra so what the hell. I tried that too. See above.

Tone Zone - this was interesting, at first I kinda liked it. But, just too thick and tight. I like it to be loose like the JB. I'm guessing that's from the A5 magnet? So yeah it didn't last long. And believe it or not, the highs seemed edgy in this guitar even with this pickup.

Dimarzio Super Distortion - This is the closest I've come so far to wanting to keep a pickup in this banshee. It seems like there isn't enough resonance or presence...maybe I'm trying to say ideally if I could find something that could be a little looser like a JB but with the same tonal characteristics of the Super D... perfection

And once again, the SD also seemed a touch bright and edgy because of the guitar.

So, If you could tell me why I would like any of these, or why I wouldn't, I'd appreciate it:

Duncan - any of the customs, or PATBs which one? it would need to be really hot and loose like a JB. I don't want tight.

Dimarzio - Norton or Air Zone, Steve Special- are those hot enough and "loose" like a JB?

Bareknuckle, EVH?

If I could find something like a JB with more punch I'd be happy. Please don't tell me to adjust my eq, turn my knobs on the amp etc. It doesn't work that way with me. My ears are too picky. I can't fool them.

 

[Demanic]

Re: OMG This guitar is killing me. Need pickup advice!

Live wire Mustaine set.

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[Dan186]

Re: OMG This guitar is killing me. Need pickup advice!

That sounds interesting. I'll research the livewires. Thanks!

 

[Dan186]

Re: OMG This guitar is killing me. Need pickup advice!

After searching through duncans a bit more...a few have me wondering. the Pegasus sounds really interesting. Along with the Alt 8.

the custom and dimebucker have slightly scooped mids and I'm wondering if that will help with taming the tonal characteristics of the Jackson...but then again they are ceramic. I dunno. Does anyone have a Jackson neckthrough that feels its too damn bright and figured out how to tame it?

 

[Leon Of Late]

Re: OMG This guitar is killing me. Need pickup advice!

The pickup you're looking for is the Parallel Axis PATB. This pickup is designed to fatten and thicken the tone of thin and bright sounding Floyd Rose equipped guitars. There are 3 flavors. The PATB-1 is an Alnico 5 pickup at approx 15.7k, I would equate it to JB type output, but not exactly the JB tone. It's in that ballpark, but this pickup is a little fatter, but still a little loose. I have one on my pointy Floyd Rose guitar and I love it, but I'm in a vintage mode now, so I might change it up.

Flavor 2 is the PATB-3, The Blues Saraceno model. This is also an Alnico 5 pickup, but wound to 9k. This is akin to putting a great slightly hot PAF pickup in your guitar. It's more vintage sounding and should let you do 70's and 80's Rock. Probably not Metallica or Iron Maiden type gain, although it wouldn't be too bad at that. It will make your guitar sound similar to a Les Paul.... think of it that way.

Flavor 3 is the PATB Distortion and it's exactly what it sounds like. Ceramic magnet, wound to 21k. Its hot and thick and distorted. Might not be good for what your looking for.

I want to put the PATB-3 in my guitar to replace the PATB-1 and I think the PATB-3 would be great for what you want..... unless you want something hotter like a JB....then the PATB-1 would be it.

Good luck and let us know what you decide.

Oops, I didn't read the last couple of sentences of your post. You might prefer the PATB-1 if you want something in the ballpark of the JB.,

 

[Dahla]

Re: OMG This guitar is killing me. Need pickup advice!

This sounds like a job for the Invader. It's big and mean, punchy and is still in the JB family.

To tame it even more use 300k pots.



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[Boogie Bill]

Re: OMG This guitar is killing me. Need pickup advice!

I was going to suggest trying a heavy Ultex pick with a rounded point, and a high-capacitance cable. If you have a pickup set you like, these two little things can be just enough to remove that extra bit of ice pick highs. A different pot and cap set in the guitar could help too.

Bill

 

[hamerfan]

Re: OMG This guitar is killing me. Need pickup advice!

i have or had most of the pickups that are mentioned here. i really liked the Patb's (i had 1b and 3b), but in a good way they are more transparent (not bright) and with clearer bass (piano bass like). i would first get an a8 mag and try it in the JB, the so called JB8. if thats right your alley, you can think about an Alt8 (meatier and thicker than the JB8) too.

 

[Synapsys]

Re: OMG This guitar is killing me. Need pickup advice!

Custom Custom?

 

[VinceT]

Re: OMG This guitar is killing me. Need pickup advice!

What's the volume pot resistance?


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[Dan186]

Re: OMG This guitar is killing me. Need pickup advice!

Originally, the sl2 came with 250 tone and I'd have to double check the cap. I don't like a jb with 250 pot. I feel it takes away from the resonance/presence and sounds like a thin veil was put over the sound. Yes I'm complaining of bright..maybe I should clarify a bit...it's more the response being very ice picky or edgy..harsh and a little less highs helps with that too. and that edgy sharp response is inherent with with just about every pickup. Just some not as bad as others. It needs to get looser like a jb but yet still have some lows so it's not too thin sounding. I can handle bright as long as it has a punch and doesn't lose resonance and doesnt have too much of that harsh edge. You guys are awesome, thanks for all the input so far.

I really like what I'm hearing about the patb w a5 magnet. Wanna trade for a brand new dmz sd in zebra? Lol

 

[Dan186]

Re: OMG This guitar is killing me. Need pickup advice!

Alt8 sounds promising as well. I guess I have to figure out what the differences will be between Alt8 and a patb w a5 mag.....

 

[Dan186]

Re: OMG This guitar is killing me. Need pickup advice!

I've heard invader samples and it seems too dark and not enough resonance/presence compared to other pups. Even thicker than a tone zone. At least that's what I hear with my ears.

 

[uOpt]

Re: OMG This guitar is killing me. Need pickup advice!

Does thingie have a Floyd or is it a hardtail?

 

[vinta9e]

Re: OMG This guitar is killing me. Need pickup advice!

I suppose you couldn't be bothered to dial in the DP100's twelve polepieces, am I right?

 

[Dan186]

Re: OMG This guitar is killing me. Need pickup advice!

It's a floyd. And yes I lowered the pickup a little and raised the poles. I did end up liking it more. No doubt. I have today off I may try that some more but I think I'd be happier with an A5. It's this guitar. I have an rg550 with a jb and distortion neck that I love, koa charvel with jb that works great...it's just this damn guitar. It's like immune to resonance/presence and just wants to respond harsh. I feel like I'm almost there tho. The sd is really damn close. Why settle though? I want to solve this ten year mystery once and for all. There's gotta be other people that bought US soloists that feel the same way. Or maybe I'm just nuts....

 

[vinta9e]

Re: OMG This guitar is killing me. Need pickup advice!

Good. Quite a bit of sonic wiggle room awaits those who tweak the polepieces.

Oh, you know what? Have you looked into the Custom Custom? It is loose and smooth and loves bright guitars and old school rock and roll. It's not too hot though. The PATB is awesomely clear but plenty tight at the same time.

Pickwise, I recommend staying well away from Ultex, they've got this harsh, brittle upper mid screech you can't dial out.

The heavy sustain block seems to be a step in the right direction. Just keep in mind it will completely change the guitar's harmonic structure so you'll basically need to test each pickup one more time in order to evaluate. Good luck!

 

[Dan186]

Re: OMG This guitar is killing me. Need pickup advice!

So yeah here's my plan...wait for the floyd big brass block...try that with the super d, possibly jb. I'm not holding my breath but why not wait and see...at that point I'm probably going to try patb w a5 or alt8. Need to listen to lots of samples of both.

So the dime bucker and custom won't work you think cuz of the ceramic mag? Even tho they are scooped a bit? Someone please educate me on this if it's not too much trouble...I was thinking the maple neckthrough, ebony, floyd, maple cap, all added a brightness in the midrange which give the guitar such a harsh sharpness. If I'm wrong in my understanding please correct me I don't mind being edumacated?

 

[vinta9e]

Re: OMG This guitar is killing me. Need pickup advice!

The dimebucker is crazy hot and crazy bright and somewhat scooped. It's best to put it into a purring short scale piece of mahogany, IMHO, tune down and chug away. Not exactly your scenario, huh?

The Duncan Custom, on the other hand, sounds like a good idea. I guess it is more up your alley than the PATB.

 

[allbutromeo]

Re: OMG This guitar is killing me. Need pickup advice!

I think the issue is you are too scooped, you need more mid range not less. Its when the mids are scooped out that you get that super bright ice pick sound, especially in a guitar that is already bright. You should check out the Custom Custom, Brobucker, and '78