pickup advice please :)

[alikzair]

Hi guys.

Was wondering if anybody could give me some advice on a new pickup setup for a jackson DK2. H/S/S

The guitar originally was equipped with STK-1 single-coil (mid and neck), JB TB4 humbucker (bridge).

I play mainly metal but want a more versitle sound that can handle other styles of music.

I used the pickup wizard and it advised me to equip some SSL-5s in the mid and neck. Keeping the TB4 in the bridge.

I went ahead and bought these pickups hoping for more output and excited I might be able to get a bit of a gilmour tone. As i love his sound.

I feel my sound is now muddy and lost a bit of clarity in the mids and highs.

Could anyone suggest maybe a new humbucker that would go well with the SSL5s or maybe swapping the SSL5s for something else or a completely new set all together?

Im a complete novice in this area so advice would be greatly appreciated

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: pickup advice please

Are the SSL5s muddy or just the TB4?

For the bridge... Pegasus, Perpetual burn or Custom 5

If the SSL5s are muddy consider SSL2's or SSL5-2's though in a guitar like that I would probably just go for the STK-S4 as having it noiseless can be an advantage and the S4's sound great in 24 fret guitars.

 

[alikzair]

Re: pickup advice please

I think its the SSL5s that are muddy.

Made my overall tone a bit too warm.

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: pickup advice please

I would look into the STK-s4's or like the SSL-2's. I have a DK2 just like yours and wound up using the STK-S4's They are a big tonal improvement over the old STK-S1's

 

[alikzair]

Re: pickup advice please

Ok great thanks.

I will look into the STK-4s.

what would make the SSL5s sound muddy to begin with do you think? as mentioned i am a complete noob in terms of understanding pickup science

Cheers

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: pickup advice please

Ssl5's are a hotter wind and have a bit pulled back highs compared to a vintage strat wind. It's fantastic in the bridge slot but in the middle and neck the extra bottom can be a bit much sometimes. Keep in mind what works good in a 22 fret non locking term guitar isn't always the same as what works in a 24 fret floyded guitar.

 

[alikzair]

Re: pickup advice please

thanks so much for your advice!

Im thinking STK-4 for both neck and middle now.

Do you have any knowledge of the STK-6 in conjunction with a JB? Ive been reading that it could balance out quite nicely.

output and versatility is what im after.

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: pickup advice please

thanks so much for your advice!

Im thinking STK-4 for both neck and middle now.

Do you have any knowledge of the STK-6 in conjunction with a JB? Ive been reading that it could balance out quite nicely.

output and versatility is what im after.

The STK6 is reminiscent of the SSL5... It has a lot of the same vibe to it. I dont feel that its any brighter than the SSL5 so you might still find it muddy.

You could also try what I do and that is to angle the pickups I tend to have the bass side of my neck pup about 3/16ths of an inch lower than the treble side. This helps keep some of the boom off the low strings and can help with mud. Its 30 seconds with a screw driver so worth a shot to see if it does what you want.

Ive had no issue balancing either the STK4 or the STK6's with the JB. Some guys like the neck to be a bit louder and that might be hard for the STK4 but to balance you will be ok.

 

[Mincer]

Re: pickup advice please

I like the idea of the STK-4s for the neck and middle. You won't have any kind of muddy problems with them at all. They should balance fine with the JB too. The JB has a certain sound which is geared towards the upper mids, and sound bright to my ears. If you are used to that sound, any warm single coil will be described as muddy. I think the STK-4s should solve that.

 

[alikzair]

Re: pickup advice please

Thanks Guys!

 

[moshuajusic]

Re: pickup advice please

You could end up banging your head against the wall trying different pickups. Check the pots. If they're 500k vol + 250k tone, try changing the tone pot to 500k.

 

[treyhaislip]

Re: pickup advice please

You could end up banging your head against the wall trying different pickups. Check the pots. If they're 500k vol + 250k tone, try changing the tone pot to 500k.

This is good advice–slightly helped me with a muddy combo in a Charvel.

If the JB was muddy then I'd say for 99.9% confidence it was not the JB in that Jackson lol

I love the JB with Hotrails in the neck and mid; however, I don't think those would be a good fit if you are experience muddy tones in the neck and mid (Hotrails are pretty warm/darker sounding.) I would throw out maybe try a JB Jr. in the neck BUT ultimately the previous replies are good.