Pickups for Schecter Blackjack Tempest! NEED MORE TREBLE!

[mesa0131]

Hello forum members!

I have a Schecter Blackjack Tempest, all mahogany body with a thick Maple cap, and a 3 piece mahogany neck, rosewood board. It is pretty much a Les Paul style guitar, 24.75" scale, two humbuckers, Volume and Tone for each humbucker, 3 way switch in upper bout. It sounds as you would expect a Les Paul to sound but VERY VERY dark.

I have a 59/C 59N set in it with 50's style wiring using 550k BKP pots and Jensen .015(Rhythm)/.022(treble) caps. You would think the tone would be a little bright, if not just balance out okay, but it was way too dark, and wooly.

I threw in the pickups it had when I originally got it (Vintage EMG 81 bridge, and 81 neck) and these too sounded very dull and woody, with brand new Daddario strings, 10-46 tuned to standard. I have done everything I can think of to get the guitar sounding brighter, from adjusting pole pieces up and pickup height, to running up the treble and presence, and running down the bass, mid and depth... To no avail it really just sounds like something is wrong with the guitar. I have tried two different sets of pickups, with separate electronic circuits, all kinds of strings, and 3 different amps (Soldano Avenger 100, Soldano Decatone 100, Bogner 20th Anniversary Ecstasy) through various cabs (Marshall 1960A WGS ET65/Vet30, Marshall 1960BV WGS ET65/Retro30, and Orange PPC212 WGS ET65/Retro 30) and have narrowed it down to being simply the guitar itself.

So now I have decided I need a pickup that is ungodly bright... like piercing, with alot of presence, and also, high gain. I figure this guitar has one job, to be brutal, and CUT.

What do you suggest?

My thought was a Duncan Custom should give me the treble and cut I am after, and a Jazz(N) in the neck. This guitar will be tuned to Drop C# (Eb standard with a D-tuned bottom string) using 10.5-58 custom guage strings.

 

[Masta' C]

Re: Pickups for Schecter Blackjack Tempest! NEED MORE TREBLE!

Did the EMG pickups sound the same way ("dull and woody") back when you first got the guitar?

 

[jeremy]

Re: Pickups for Schecter Blackjack Tempest! NEED MORE TREBLE!

high gain and really bright dont usually go together. id go jazz neck and full shred if i were you. the full shred has got some teeth and works well for drop tunings. personally i think id go jazz neck and bridge in that guitar if it was mine. not high output but tight and clear sounding and i think they handle gain very well. if those pups dont work for you, id swap to 1M pots.

 

[Demanic]

Re: Pickups for Schecter Blackjack Tempest! NEED MORE TREBLE!

Dimebucker for the bridge.

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[jeremy]

Re: Pickups for Schecter Blackjack Tempest! NEED MORE TREBLE!

i always forget that one. high gain and bright... might be a good solution

 

[Masta' C]

Re: Pickups for Schecter Blackjack Tempest! NEED MORE TREBLE!

Yeah, Demanic, good call on the Dimebucker!

Still seems weird that he's having so much trouble unless the pot/cap values are smothering the sound or there is an unmentioned variable at play, such as poor soldering, doing something to degauss the magnets, etc.

 

[mesa0131]

Re: Pickups for Schecter Blackjack Tempest! NEED MORE TREBLE!

The guitar did sound dull and wooly from the start (with the EMG 81s) but I equated it to the strings being very dead, and the guitar was rat bagged (Fret Dimples, broken mounting rings, rusted/tarnished hardware, stripped screws etc.). I did a full face lift and upgraded hardware, tuners, and fixed up alot of dents and heavy scratches. Did a full fret dress and replaces the pickups rings and every screw on the guitar.

Also, there is no poor soldering at play here, I can assure you that. I am a full time Luthier/Guitar Technician, with 13 years experience. Everything is shielded, and proper use of heat shrink. Everything is grounded correctly and soldered appropriately. I put the exact same pickups and pots/caps into a Gibson SG standard and it sounds phenominal, so that tells me it has to be the guitar. It does have some heavy poly finish on it that I wouldn't be surprised is muffling the guitar at least a bit, but that's a getting pretty picky, even for me.

I really wish the custom would be a good bet, and still might try it. A dimebucker seems a little bit extreme looking at the specs, and I have never enjoyed the tone of the pickup or Dimebag in general, but that might be what its going to take. I see the newer Schecter Tempest's have SD Nazgul and Sentient and have pondered going that route, but I feel it may also come out sounding dull and possibly way too snarly on the top end, have a similar EQ curve to the 59/C, which is a fairly balanced EQ that I typically enjoy in my guitars, as it doesnt color the tone too much.

I haven't enjoyed the taper of 1 meg pots, and so usually leave that as a last resort.

I appreciate all the suggestions.

Does anyone have any experience with the Alternative 8?

 

[Demanic]

Re: Pickups for Schecter Blackjack Tempest! NEED MORE TREBLE!

I have an Alternative 8 in my mahogany body Ibanez. I put it in because I thought the guitar a bit in the bright side.

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[Masta' C]

Re: Pickups for Schecter Blackjack Tempest! NEED MORE TREBLE!

Don't be scared by the Dimbucker's "specs"...they don't tell you much on paper vs real life.

You might like a pickup like the Screamin' Demon, also...bright and clear with moderate output and a dash of single-coil-like chime up top.

Other options: DiMarzio Evolution, SD Black Winter, DiMarzio Super 2, DiMarzio PAF Pro

Another thing is to put a hotter, brighter-oriented neck pickup in the bridge spot. The SH-6N Distortion "Neck" was originally the SH-7 "Seymourizer" bridge model, which is why SD's numbering system now skips from SH-6/6n to SH-8. DiMarzio recommends the DP219 D-Activator Neck for the bridge of darker guitars or, if you want something a little less in your face, the DP224 Dominion Neck in the bridge is said to be great, as well!

 

[mesa0131]

Re: Pickups for Schecter Blackjack Tempest! NEED MORE TREBLE!

Looking at the full shred it seems like the set may be a great choice for this guitar! I did a little research on yourtube and fell back onto the Keith Merrow comparison video and compared the Fullshred to the Custom and JB, for a good point of reference, and the custom seemed to be much brighter than the fullshred, and had a little more push. I plan to only play detuned metal with the Schecter, and my other guitars cover the vintage to vintage hot output nicely. So I am still thinking the custom might be the ticket, but the Full Shred set is marketed as the brightest set over all... it has my attention. Mostly I will stay away from neck pickups in the bridge for now, as I do really want more output than any of my other instruments for modern metal, no need to be super versatile.

 

[Masta' C]

Re: Pickups for Schecter Blackjack Tempest! NEED MORE TREBLE!

Just to be clear, pickups like the Evo Neck, SH-6n Distortion Neck and D-Activator Neck have outputs that trump most bridge pickups

It's kind of short-sighted to think of pickups only as "neck" or "bridge", despite them often being marketed that way. None of the ones I mentioned are slouches in the output department, I can assure you.

Well, no matter what you decide, be sure to report back and let us know the results!

 

[BlueSkiesAndPaign]

Re: Pickups for Schecter Blackjack Tempest! NEED MORE TREBLE!

May i humbly suggest the Duncan Perpetual Burn and the Jazz? I know the Perpetual Burn was meant for Jason's alder body guitar, and hence shouldn't be ultra bright, but it's bright AF on my Mahogany/body maple-top Carvin DC400 - as much as i love Jason Becker (my all-time favorite guitarist), this pup was a disaster for me. It's not bright in the open PAF sense, but more in the compressed-and-bright sense. If you want thicker leads in the neck go for a Sentient instead of the Jazz - that's what i did. The Jazz is brighter in the neck. I think these would suit what you want - especially considering how these three pups turned out for me.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Pickups for Schecter Blackjack Tempest! NEED MORE TREBLE!

I'd take a look at the Full Shred neck, and Dimebucker bridge. If it is too dark then, it might be time to look for another guitar.

 

[Gibson 1964]

Re: Pickups for Schecter Blackjack Tempest! NEED MORE TREBLE!

Wilde L500 XL and R. If that's too dark, you got firewood.

 

[stratguy23]

Re: Pickups for Schecter Blackjack Tempest! NEED MORE TREBLE!

Custom bridge and Jazz neck is a good combination in a set-neck mahogany guitar - I have that right now in one of my guitars. Stiffness of the ceramic Custom makes it a good choice for downtuning.

Jazz neck, while bright, has a "sweet" kind of brightness. I wouldn't call it "ungodly bright" or "piercing". Full Shred neck is a small step closer to that...and if that doesn't work, Dimarzio Humbucker from Hell is worth trying.

Sort of a left field recommendation - if you have one lying around or can find it for cheap, Gibson 498T might do the trick. Very sharp high mid spike. People often complain about that, but it might complement your extremely dark mahogany.

Finally, don't forget other parts of the signal chain - Dunlop Super Bright strings sound really good and may be your friend in this application. Ernie Ball M-Steels are also really bright.

 

[mesa0131]

Re: Pickups for Schecter Blackjack Tempest! NEED MORE TREBLE!

Some great suggestions. I have found a good price on a used set of SD Distortion Neck, and Jazz Neck. I will likely remove the SH-6N logo so it doesn't look F-tarded (Pardon my french) I have also been scouring for a Fullshred set as the brightness of the two has me intrigued, and I think the pickups mid-scoop will balance out with this mid heavy guitar. Still really want to try a Custom/Jazz set but I cannot find anything used and refuse to pay new prices ($140 each pickup in Canada) or even try to ship and pay customs and duty on top. I have tried many bright strings on this guitar and it barely helps at all, and I am picky with string guages, so instead of try and use a string to address the darkness problem, I would rather change the pickups to balance the guitar and run the strings that I like the feel of. I really appreciate everyone's input!

 

[chevyforlife21]

Re: Pickups for Schecter Blackjack Tempest! NEED MORE TREBLE!

bill Lawrence l500xl dimes original pickup is better. jb and duncan distortion also pretty bright and are my favorite. super 2 very very bright

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[Demanic]

Re: Pickups for Schecter Blackjack Tempest! NEED MORE TREBLE!

Dimarzio D-Activators are also quite bright. Or Lace Deathbuckers.

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[mesa0131]

Re: Pickups for Schecter Blackjack Tempest! NEED MORE TREBLE!

Well, I finally figured out what was killing to tone of my Schecter Tempest!

Wait for it....

a cheap-o PLASTIC nut!!!

I cannot believe I over looked that factor, and what is worse is, it took me so long to figure it out. I replaced the stock nut with a Graphtech Black Tusq nut. It is a superb nut and really opened up this guitar. It sounds amazing now, with a nice brilliant top end, and a much tighter bottom end that really makes you want to play for hours. Amazing what a difference a nut makes.

At the exact same time I replaced the nut, I installed 550k pots and .022/.015 caps, along with a set of Bare Knuckle Nailbombs (Ceramic bridge/Alnico V neck) with black covers.

POW! Now this guitar absolutely smokes!