Pups for a Washburn wi64

[stiffneck]

Hi all,

First post here so please excuse possible bad form.

I just bought a used washburn wi64 (awesome guitar by the way) The pickups, however, suck big time. After buying a APTL-1 for my wannabe tele last year, on a whim, I've come to trust SD pickups, so I now turn to the wisdom of SD forums for advise.

Let me first say that I'm by means experienced in "tone creation" I'm mostly a bedroom player for the past 15+ years.

The wi64, to me, is somewhere between an sg and a les paul, but mostly sg, I'd say. As I said, however, the pickups suck, so I'm not really sure.

Anyway, obviously I'm shopping for new pickups which will do this gem justice. I really the alnico pro II/pearly gates, however, it really doesn't sound that good in the hard rock/metal spectrum. Metal isn't a high priority sound, but still it would be nice to be able to do it without sounding like absolute poo.

At the other end of my spectrum are the screamin demon and the jb. How well do they do the "just overdriven clean channel tube amp" sound? I'm getting the feeling that the PU I'm looking for is the JB, but for some reason I'm doubtful...

Also, atleast in Europe, the PG is crazy expensive, while a jb-bridge/jazz-neck set is very reasonably priced. My first thought was that I didn't have to replace the neck pu, but after listening to the samples on the sd site, I'm beginning to think a neck PU upgrade might be in order too. I still would prefer a 59bridge/jazzneck set though. Also, juding solely from the descriptions on the SD site, the custom5 seems like the perfect compromise, although I've never heard it live or otherwise.

Input please

 

[doveman]

Re: Pups for a Washburn wi64

I have a WI62 ... which is similar. I like the Gibson 498T in the bridge over everything else I tried ... even the 59B ... which suprised me. If you like listen to my clips of 59N, 59B & A2P in thh neck 1min=neck, 2min=middle, 3min=bridge. I was building a slide guitar.

WI62 Slide Clips

Maybe it will help. Good luck. Oh & welcome.

 

[doveman]

Re: Pups for a Washburn wi64

Another clip from the WI62 ...

DR3 Funk

I love this inexpensive guitar ... runs in the same pack as my sons SG Standard.

 

[TheArchitect]

Re: Pups for a Washburn wi64

Does yours have the knob that morph's from series to parallel? I pulled mine for traditional 4 knob wiring scheme

I have a WI66. I had a set of Seth Lovers in it that just ruled. So much so they had to go to my LP. I have a JB in the bridge now short term with a PG neck. The JB is decent enough. I think A5 mags have a little too much bite for this guitar though. I would look at a Custom Custom w/A2 mag myself if I were you

 

[doveman]

Re: Pups for a Washburn wi64

Does yours have the knob that morph's from series to parallel? I pulled mine for traditional 4 knob wiring scheme

I have a WI66. I had a set of Seth Lovers in it that just ruled. So much so they had to go to my LP. I have a JB in the bridge now short term with a PG neck. The JB is decent enough. I think A5 mags have a little too much bite for this guitar though. I would look at a Custom Custom w/A2 mag myself if I were you

Mine did not come with the VCC tone system ... although I played one recently ... not for me. I like to ride the tone knobs. AP2 (A2) was a bit too smooth for me in the neck ... I liked the A5 magnets better with the 59n/498T. It's a very SG-like guitar though ... thinner body and all mahogany. My original post here has the clips showing AP2, 59B and 59N in the neck. I think they all sound good ... I left the 59B in there because it was the thinnest of the 3 and that worked for me.

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: Pups for a Washburn wi64

I don't own a Washburn, but my Hamer is pretty similar in construction, save for the string through body bridge. My fave set up to now is the PGn/C5 bridge. It does everything from Cream to Collective Soul with aplomb.