Hi forum,
I have a schechter avenger 7 string (thin mahogany body, bolt on maple neck, rosewood fingerboard) with a duncan custom (bridge) and jazz (neck); I am not happy with its tone. Descriptive words always fall short of their intended meaning, but I feel that the custom is shrill, bright, sterile, etc. I've used "thin" to describe it previously, but I think that's been confusing. It can sound like a sledgehammer (a bright one), but it lacks the crunch or hairyness or complexity or grit of other pickups. The jazz neck is ok, it sounds kind of blah to me, but I can always live with neck pickups, I spend most time at the bridge.
So, I'm wondering whether I should replace the pickups and if so to what? From reading on line, I've read that other folks have similar tonal problems with thin mahogany guitars with bolt on maple necks. I wrote to BKP a while back and they recommended holy divers for this guitar. What sd options would work better for me than the custom? I play metal, prog, etc. I really like the protest the hero tone on volition. I'd rather not buy dimarzios.
Another option is for me to send in the pickups for mag swaps (e.g., custom 8); I'm not sure if this is worth it though. (as an aside, I tried swapping magnets in some duncan designed pickups for practice and destroyed two of them, so I'm not comfortable doing this on my own). SD charges 20$ for the swap, I just don't want to do it if it is not going to solve my problem.
Thoughts?
I have a schechter avenger 7 string (thin mahogany body, bolt on maple neck, rosewood fingerboard) with a duncan custom (bridge) and jazz (neck); I am not happy with its tone. Descriptive words always fall short of their intended meaning, but I feel that the custom is shrill, bright, sterile, etc. I've used "thin" to describe it previously, but I think that's been confusing. It can sound like a sledgehammer (a bright one), but it lacks the crunch or hairyness or complexity or grit of other pickups. The jazz neck is ok, it sounds kind of blah to me, but I can always live with neck pickups, I spend most time at the bridge.
So, I'm wondering whether I should replace the pickups and if so to what? From reading on line, I've read that other folks have similar tonal problems with thin mahogany guitars with bolt on maple necks. I wrote to BKP a while back and they recommended holy divers for this guitar. What sd options would work better for me than the custom? I play metal, prog, etc. I really like the protest the hero tone on volition. I'd rather not buy dimarzios.
Another option is for me to send in the pickups for mag swaps (e.g., custom 8); I'm not sure if this is worth it though. (as an aside, I tried swapping magnets in some duncan designed pickups for practice and destroyed two of them, so I'm not comfortable doing this on my own). SD charges 20$ for the swap, I just don't want to do it if it is not going to solve my problem.
Thoughts?
