Pickup Question

[Skee]

I am new to guitar. Just bought my first guitar and have been taking lessons for aobut 4 months. I have a Fender Strat Showmaster Quilt HH guitar. Here's a link to it. http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/fg=141/g=guitar/search/detail/base_pid/511329/
It has SH-1 RP humbuckers at the neck and Pearly Gates humbuckers at the bridge. I really love my guitar. It has great action and looks great too. However, it just sounds too twangy to me. I like hard rock to metal music. I like Clutch, Audioslave, DKY, Mudvayne, Metallica, Black Sabbath, etc. I would like some advice on what pickups to put in this baby. I currently play thru a Fender Deluxe DSP 90 that has a 12" Celestion. And yes it is a solid state amp but that was all I could afford. So be gentle on me. Any help on what pickups to help me get rid of the twangy sound would be greatly appreciated. I hear some talking about the JB/59 pickups but I don't see them on the Duncan website.

Skee

 

[tone4days]

Re: Pickup Question

welcome to the forum

i have the predecessor to that amp, before the dsp was added .. i really like it .. SUPER loud, that's for sure ... and very responsive to subtle variations in picking hand attack/dynamics/touch ...

i think you'd like a custom in the bridge and a distortion in the neck .. both are ceramic magnet-based and very smokin' .. you might need to lower the neck model of the distortion a little bit to balance with the custom in the bridge ... a matched set of distortions would be sweet too ... dont let the name fool you, if you roll back the volume, they get fantastic clean sounds too ...

your SH-1 IS a '59 ... the JB is a great pickup indeed .... it is featured on alot of HR/HM from the 80's ...


remember, that with a strat, even an H-H model, it is only gonna get so heavy .. alot of the heavy sounding guitarists you mentioned are not playing strats ... you are gonna have to EQ the amp to get a satisfying sound too ... with an open-backed cab, it is never gonna go THUNK like you might hope ... consider a closed back amp for your next one

good luck
t4d

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: Pickup Question

Hey man, WELCOME TO THE FORUM!

Don't worry on this forum no one is going to bite your head off for being the new guy, you might get told a lot of things you already know though. First being make sure your pups are the right height otherwise they will always sound twangy.

Ok, from the Fender website here is what you've got:

1 Seymour Duncan® SH-1N RP ‘59 Reverse Polarity Humbucking Pickup (Bridge),
1 Seymour Duncan® SHPGP-1B Pearly Gates Plus Humbucking Pickup (Neck)

First of all, FYI the Pearly Gates Plus (PG+)is a different pup than the Pearly Gates (PG) the magnet is different giving it a completely different tone.

OK, so we are wanting a Hard Rock meets Metal tone right? The place to start is what bands you like (you already mentioned) and what the problem with the current pups are (you also mentioned).

I would keep the 59 RWRP since it keeps it nice and quiet on the split positions. Is the neck pup too twangy as well? If it is too twangy as well I'd look into an Alnico 2 pro, or switch magnets if you want.

For the bridge slot (which I'm guessing is what you really think sounds twangy (I've got that pup). I suggest looking at the Custom series, and the JB or distortion. Here's a breakdown of the Custom Series and JB. I'll work on a distortion write up.

The Custom Series---The Custom Series is all on pup configuration but with different magnets. The coils are symmetrical and the pups come with Standard 4 Conductor wire

Custom---The Custom is a PAF kicked up a few notches. This pup gets its aggressive edge from its Ceramic magnet. This pup has lots of grind with good treble and midrange. It also has ample bass for palm mute playing.

Custom Custom---The Custom Custom is a midrange heavy pup that lends itself to leads and warming bright guitars. This pup gets its huge midrange from the Alnico 2 magnet. I has smooth bass and treble. Essentially it is an overwound A2 PAF.

Custom 5---The Custom 5 is a pup with an EQ very identical to The 59. It has thumping bass, scooped mids, and cutting treble. Like the 59 it is a bright pup that will liven up dark guitar, but the bass can be overwhelming in a bassy guitar, or the the treble overwhelming in a trebly guitar.

JB---The JB is in a class of its own. There is really no other pup like it. It has fair bass and lots of treble. This particular pup has a large upper mids spike that allow it to cut through the mix like no other. It can be heard on countless recording especially throughout the 80's. Lots of people like to pair it with a Jazz or 59 in the neck. In bright guitars it is usually soldered to a 250k pot just like the original Seymour made 30 years ago.

Hope this helps!

Luke

 

[Skee]

Re: Pickup Question

Thanks a lot for the help. You are right the SH-1 sounds fine. It's nice and clean. The Pearly Gates is the one that is twangy. It doesn't sound too bad over driven but if I want to play clean or combine my neck and bridge pups it just sounds too twangy for me. You talk about bright, dark, warming bright guitars. What kind of guitar would you consider mine? I guess being new to guitar I don't understand all of the lingo. I don't want to put the wrong pup in and it have too much treble or too much bass and sound like crap. Being a new player I can do that on my own. LOL!

Thanks a lot for your help.

Skee

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Pickup Question

If you've only been playing for 4 months I'd wait a while to invest in new pickups. It took me at least 2 years before I could play well enough to even begin to have the technique on my instrument needed to shape the tone with my hands and that is probably what's up with your tone too: you just haven't been playing long enough to have developed the technique and coordination needed to get the tone of your heroes.

I guarantee you that if one of your heroes picked up your guitar and played it for you that you'd be blown away by how good the pickups you already have can sound.

It sounds like you already have a much better instrument and better pickups than many players start with.

I think you should just keep with what you have for the time being and when you get more musical maturity and get a little more accomplished on your instrument then consider pickup swaps...if needed.

You might find that what you have now is more than adequate.

Just my opinion. Good luck!

 

[Skee]

Re: Pickup Question

Thnx I appreciate that. I know I don't need to be humbled. HEHE. You are right. I am not even close to where I want to be as a player. I guess being new I don't know how to shape the tone with my hands or can even comprehend what you mean in that area. I do know that my 59 pup sounds good to me clean and ok over driven. The Pearly Gates sounds pretty good over driven but just sounds twangy to me when I play it clean. Yes I am lucky that I have a pretty good guitar to start on. I am an older guy trying to learn to play and saved up my money to get it. I've always wanted to play but never had the money growing up. Well enough of my sob story. I just wanted to make sure I could get something that wouldn't frustrate me and cause me to quit, and I didn't want to spend $1500-$2500 on a guitar when I didn't even know how to spell guitar.

Thanks again

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: Pickup Question

What the _____ is a RWRP humbucker? The humbucker itself is two coils that are RWRP relative to each other.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Pickup Question

Thnx I appreciate that. I know I don't need to be humbled. HEHE. You are right. I am not even close to where I want to be as a player. I guess being new I don't know how to shape the tone with my hands or can even comprehend what you mean in that area. I do know that my 59 pup sounds good to me clean and ok over driven. The Pearly Gates sounds pretty good over driven but just sounds twangy to me when I play it clean. Yes I am lucky that I have a pretty good guitar to start on. I am an older guy trying to learn to play and saved up my money to get it. I've always wanted to play but never had the money growing up. Well enough of my sob story. I just wanted to make sure I could get something that wouldn't frustrate me and cause me to quit, and I didn't want to spend $1500-$2500 on a guitar when I didn't even know how to spell guitar.

Thanks again

The bridge pickup will always sound thinner and twangier than the neck pickup. That's just how the strings sound near the bridge. Same idea as when you strum your unplugged guitar over the neck pickup it sounds rich and deep and when you pick it near the bridge it sounds more like a banjo! When I first started playing I played EVERYTHING on the neck pickup because the bridge pickup always sounded to thin and twangy to me. :laugh2: You learn how to use it eventually and eventually you learn to like it. After I got good, I switched to a Tele which is even thinner and twangier than your ax...but I hated Teles when I first started playing because they sounded so thin and brittle. But the problem wasn't the guitar...it was me! :smack: Anyways, It does sound like you have a very nice ax there...I'd just stick with it for a while. If you do need to beef up the bridge pickup someday there are lots of good choices: JB, Custom, Custom Custom, Distortion, etc. But you might want to wait a while until you know what tone you're really after. Lew

 

[ksmith63]

Re: Pickup Question

buy a nice thick distortion pedal like a BIG MUFF. Problem solved.

 

[Skee]

Re: Pickup Question

I wanted to thank everyone for the replies. I really appreciate it. It's a little intimidating reading thru this forum being a new guy. I hear everyone talking about pups in the bridge. The exact same pup I think is a little twangy. There is like a 4 page thread on this. I understand that it comes down to personal preference and that what amp you play thru has a big effect on your sound. But reading thru it people talk about whether you play with an alder body or ash body can have an effect and how bright strats are. I think mine is a bass wood body. I don't know if my guitar is bright or not. I do know that my Pearly Gates pups in the bridge sound great over driven. Just when I play clean they sound a little twangy. Maybe I will take your advice and wait until I become a little bit better at playing and see if my ax sounds better over time.

Thanks for everyones help

Skee

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: Pickup Question

What the _____ is a RWRP humbucker? The humbucker itself is two coils that are RWRP relative to each other.

A humbucker that is wired, backwards, and has backwards polarity. Fender Big Apple strats came with RWRP 59's in the neck. Mine is the only one I've ever seen. It's kind of like a PRS capable thing.

Luke

 

[Skee]

Re: Pickup Question

I'm pretty sure the SH-1 RP in my neck is "reverse polarity". I think that's what the RP stands for. I don't know what that means or what that does to sound but I like how it plays in my neck. It's my bridge I'm not too sure of. Dirty it sounds great but clean it kind of gets on my nerves. But from all of the posts it sounds like it's just me not being a very good player yet.

Skee

 

[bungalowbill]

Re: Pickup Question

If you've only been playing for 4 months I'd wait a while to invest in new pickups. It took me at least 2 years before I could play well enough to even begin to have the technique on my instrument needed to shape the tone with my hands and that is probably what's up with your tone too: you just haven't been playing long enough to have developed the technique and coordination needed to get the tone of your heroes.

I guarantee you that if one of your heroes picked up your guitar and played it for you that you'd be blown away by how good the pickups you already have can sound.

It sounds like you already have a much better instrument and better pickups than many players start with.

I think you should just keep with what you have for the time being and when you get more musical maturity and get a little more accomplished on your instrument then consider pickup swaps...if needed.

You might find that what you have now is more than adequate.

Just my opinion. Good luck!

This is from a genleman who sells pickups ....good advice. Welcome to the forum, lots of good people with a ton of knowledge.