Pickup swap; Too much treble

[RetroGrouch]

I'm new to the boards and not sure if this is the place to ask. I changed out pichups in a '62 ri strat and now there is too much treble, harshness especially on the bottom (heavier) strings. Even when dragging fingers across strings it seems unusually loud and harsh. Could this be a grounding problem, bad solder, etc.

 

[marvar]

Re: Pickup swap; Too much treble

hmm, what kind of pups did you replace with? are they in phase or out of phase? Were they stacked single coils? Does it happen in all switch positions? if i were a grounding problem you would probably have a hum all the time. could you have wired the pups in phase with each other, causeing a thin, trebely sound?

 

[RetroGrouch]

Re: Pickup swap; Too much treble

I replaced with texas specials. I have these in another strat that I love the sound of. That strat is shielded and has a full, rich, warm, round tone to it. Could the sielding be acting as a capacitor and roll off some of the highs. The guitar with the problem is wired exactly like the guitar I am trying to match. There shouldn't be any phase issues. I know this is not something easily diagnosed through a forum, but was hoping someone might have had similar exp. I know trying to get one guitar to sound just like another is not going to happen given all the variables, just thought it would be closer than what I got. Or at least alittle more pleasing to the ear. Weird.

 

[flank]

Re: Pickup swap; Too much treble

do you have the pickups set too high?

 

[RetroGrouch]

Re: Pickup swap; Too much treble

actually they are set fairly low. could too low a pickup height cause some weirdness. the pups i switched out were cs 54's and they were fairly bright too, which I thought would have been their sound. Maybe it's the guitar.

 

[TheArchitect]

Re: Pickup swap; Too much treble

Those pups are considerably hotter than what you took out. As for the shielding, if its done right the effect will be minimal but will roll off a bit of treble not increase it. I don't see how a grounding problem could be causing this issue. Did you change the circuit at all or replace anything else? If the tone controls are not in the circuit things will get a lot brighter. If you replaced pots with something of a higher value that will also increase treble.

 

[marvar]

Re: Pickup swap; Too much treble

If everything is wired correctly, as you say, the only other thing I can think of is the differences in body wood, neck wood, and fretboard. Are both guitars made of the exact same materials? Having the pups too low shouldn't cause alot of treble, less if anything. This is interesting, do you have access to a mulit-meter? do you know how to use one? If so, you could take some impedance readings and check for shorts, etc. and maybe we could get a better idea of whats going on.

 

[RetroGrouch]

Re: Pickup swap; Too much treble

I do have a multi-meter and am reasonably adept at using it, although wouldn't know where to look for shorts. Both guitars are alder; the problem guitar has rw neck, ideal guitar has maple; problem guit is nitro, ideal is poly; problem guit has mint pickguard, ideal has gold anodized. I really don't think these diff. would cause the sound diff. But who knows? I checked the pot values with meter before installing t. specials and all were in 250k range so that should not be it. I appreciate everyone's time and input but this may be a fruitless search. Would love to check for shorts if pointed in the right direction.

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: Pickup swap; Too much treble

If you have a metal pickguard (as I gather from your post), it will act as a capacitor as will the shielding. Also, the poly finish ight be damping some of the ideal guitar's vibration, which your ears perceive as a god thing. Another thing might be the weight and material that your bridge and sustain block. If you have a heavier, denser bridge or block on your maple necked strat, that might be one more thing making it warmer and rounder, and less zingy.

If you find the Texas specials too bright and harsh, you might want to sell them and load up your strat with something smoother.

I would recomend a set of APS-2's or a pair of APS-2's in the neck and middle and a Twangbanger at the bridge. I have something very similar to that in my MIJ 62 RI and I love the sounds I get from them. I installed them in place of the Fender CS 62's I had in it before and I immediately fell in love with the rounder, spongier feel.

they're definately fatter than the Fender pickups, but they still have the sting, twang, and output of a traditional Strat pickup, but they're a lot more foregiving and friendlier to overdrive than most Alnico V strat pickups.

Good luck. :burnout:

 

[RetroGrouch]

Re: Pickup swap; Too much treble

I had a thought on the steel block not being the best. The spacing on the saddles is right for an american vintage bridge but the block looks not right. May have been from a classic 60's instead. I guess it wouldn't hurt to change the block to something I know is cold rolled.

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: Pickup swap; Too much treble

CAllaham is reputed to make some good parts for strat.