Rise and Fall of 3 Humbucker Guitars

[orpheo]

Hm, I have no issues with the middle pickup.

There's one I'm missing! Just noticed that. I'll rotate all my guitars to make watch pics for a watch forum I frequent, so I'll gt to the others soon enough. Same chair, same position.

 

[Obsessive Compulsive]

Also, regarding a middle pickup, I'm a big fan of Sustainers/Sustainiacs. I have a Jackson DK2 with one. It sounds pretty good as a pickup but you do sacrifice some tone for the sustainer function in the neck positon.

A sustainer being used in the bridge is probably less useful since the strings don't vibrate as much, but maybe with a third pickup in the center, either as HHH or HSH, a sustainer could be used in the middle and a proper neck pickup retained?

I like complex wiring schemes. I would love to build something with a Sustainer, Graphtech Ghost system, killswitch, Floyd Rose--the problem is by then things become very custom and expensive and you need someone who really knows what they are doing to make it work.

I used to have a Ghost in my semi hollow. It wasn't very complex with additional mini toggle: piezo, piezo + humbucker, and humbucker only. The Ghost by itself sounds thin, not anything you ever desire, not even close to an acoustic guitar. I paired it with a humbucker with the tone rolled off. The wiring inside is a convoluted mess, lotsa wires going into a mini board.

Eventually the wires from the board to the saddles broke off one by one, and I finally decided to yanked the whole system but leaving the graphite saddles on. Never again in my life.

 

[GuitarStv]

Also, regarding a middle pickup, I'm a big fan of Sustainers/Sustainiacs. I have a Jackson DK2 with one. It sounds pretty good as a pickup but you do sacrifice some tone for the sustainer function in the neck positon.

A sustainer being used in the bridge is probably less useful since the strings don't vibrate as much, but maybe with a third pickup in the center, either as HHH or HSH, a sustainer could be used in the middle and a proper neck pickup retained?

I like complex wiring schemes. I would love to build something with a Sustainer, Graphtech Ghost system, killswitch, Floyd Rose--the problem is by then things become very custom and expensive and you need someone who really knows what they are doing to make it work.

That's a really cool idea! I use the neck pickup too much to ditch it for a sustainer . . . but using one as a middle pickup would be perfect!

 

[alex1fly]

I may have seen the exact same specimen when I was working in a local high school. I think it was a neon green PJ owned by the band teacher. It struck me as particularly out of place in that setting. But I just thought, "That's a Dean being a Dean." Like Dean Zelinsky himself, not the easiest thing to work with.

I'll be a little kinder. I *do* like their more traditional looking stuff like their MAB and Rusty Cooley lines (I want one of his 8 strings with a scale length for a high A). But for the most part the styling of Deans and their derivatives alienate me. And I'm a guy who likes BC Rich.

Yeah I had absolutely zero intention of bringing home a Dean instrument. I like FENDERS and PEAVEYS and YAMAHAS, thank you very much. But the price was right, it was broken in (Guitar Center used, I'll pass on their new stuff TYVM), and is still a rock solid instrument. Then I'm looking around for a Jazz style and nothing feels right until the local Mom n Pop shop had another Dean... and boy did it feel right as well. Smooth, fat, sultry, just amazing. I record with both basses regularly now 5 years later! Go figure!

 

[alex1fly]

Also, regarding a middle pickup, I'm a big fan of Sustainers/Sustainiacs. I have a Jackson DK2 with one. It sounds pretty good as a pickup but you do sacrifice some tone for the sustainer function in the neck positon.

A sustainer being used in the bridge is probably less useful since the strings don't vibrate as much, but maybe with a third pickup in the center, either as HHH or HSH, a sustainer could be used in the middle and a proper neck pickup retained?

I like complex wiring schemes. I would love to build something with a Sustainer, Graphtech Ghost system, killswitch, Floyd Rose--the problem is by then things become very custom and expensive and you need someone who really knows what they are doing to make it work.

I can see this working if they function at all like Ebows. The Ebow is pretty good at getting vibrations going around where the middle pickup would be.

 

[Mincer]

I can see this working if they function at all like Ebows. The Ebow is pretty good at getting vibrations going around where the middle pickup would be.

A Sustainer made for the middle pickup position would make me rethink middle pickups. I don't want to give up the neck pickups I like so much to install a Sustainer. I do use an Ebow a lot.

 

[Blille]

A Sustainer made for the middle pickup position would make me rethink middle pickups. I don't want to give up the neck pickups I like so much to install a Sustainer. I do use an Ebow a lot.

My understanding is that the sustainer/sustainiac needs to be further away from the bridge pickup. But I agree it would be killer.

 

[Wattage]

Also had Glen Buxton from Alice Cooper using a 3 H SG Custom back then

I've had a couple 3H guitars but I don't find it all that useful

 

[Mincer]

My understanding is that the sustainer/sustainiac needs to be further away from the bridge pickup. But I agree it would be killer.

Yes, I've heard this too. Maybe if they come up with something to embed in the end of the fingerboard....

 

[NegativeEase]

For me, middle pickup isnt as creamy and round as the neck and aint as aggressive and tight as the bridge -and a blend of those two pickups making a blend of 2 better sounds is more useful than a middle pickup in my experience.

 

[Mincer]

For me, middle pickup isnt as creamy and round as the neck and aint as aggressive and tight as the bridge -and a blend of those two pickups making a blend of 2 better sounds is more useful than a middle pickup in my experience.

Bingo, me too.

 

[Inflames626]

A Sustainer made for the middle pickup position would make me rethink middle pickups. I don't want to give up the neck pickups I like so much to install a Sustainer. I do use an Ebow a lot.

In my experience if you mainly want a Sustainiac/Sustainer (one is by an American company, the other is by Fernandes) to create infinite harmonic sustain during climaxes of solos, etc., then they are perfect.

But Ebows require special techniques and practice to use. I had a teacher at GIT who could sweep with one. But you see most people just holding single notes--which a Sustainiac does better than an Ebow and frees you up to use your pick. Plus I can use my Sustainiac with a killswitch for a cool effect.

For me, Ebows just got in the way. Phil Keaggy is probably the person I am aware of who uses it best:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIWMrK67_bk

TC Electronic has tried to kill the Ebow with its Aeon:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWgoQ41pX6c

The Sustainiac as a single coil neck pickup doesn't sound bad. It made me think of an EMG SA.

 

[Mincer]

I've used an Ebow for 30 years...I have one from the mid 70s and a modern one..they are different from one another. Ive never used a Sustainer, but would like to try before I commit to one. I use the Ebow mostly for ambient stuff.

 

[Inflames626]

I've only tried the new ones. I felt like I was trying to play guitar with a pack of cigarettes.

 

[alex1fly]

Sustainiac pickup system is a pretty high barrier to entry just to extend monophonic feedback on a single instrument. Ebow is cool because you can do swells and rhythmic things as you "bow" with it. Definitely can be a little cumbersome switching between Ebow and pick.

 

[treyhaislip]

I've always preferred the HSH to the HHH...but I always use a single coil sized humbucker in the middle (my go to are either the Hot Rails or the lil Screamin Demon.) Can't really say "why" but I think its just the aesthetics on a Strat that makes me think the HSH looks better.

 

[Mincer]

Sustainiac pickup system is a pretty high barrier to entry just to extend monophonic feedback on a single instrument. Ebow is cool because you can do swells and rhythmic things as you "bow" with it. Definitely can be a little cumbersome switching between Ebow and pick.

Yeah, that's why I don't own one. It is expensive and a pretty complicated install for what it does. It is cheaper to get a pedal to do that these days, though it doesn't quite sound the same. Neither does an Ebow, but I am ok with that.

 

[Inflames626]

Yeah, that's why I don't own one. It is expensive and a pretty complicated install for what it does. It is cheaper to get a pedal to do that these days, though it doesn't quite sound the same. Neither does an Ebow, but I am ok with that.

Believe it or not, Mincer , but I was able to swap out some stuff on a late 00s Jackson DK2S that I have that came with a Sustainiac. You are right that the guts inside are a little complicated and it's best to make modifications that are only absolutely necessary.

The guitar also had a STK-1 Classic Stack, which I think has since been discontinued, and a JB. I didn't like the JB in there, so I put a Distortion in and wired both the Distortion and the STK-1 to split.

The Distortion was a huge improvement I think, as the Distortion's bright, cutting sound combined much better with the Sustainiac than the JB.

But I get that Jackson was probably trying to appeal to as many kinds of players as possible, so putting an all rounder like the JB in there probably made the guitar appealing to more potential customers.

 

[Jeffblue]

I build 3 pickup guitars and I like them

 

[NegativeEase]

Whats a great example of a middle pickup only tone -that is not phased/mixed with others or messed with?

Like a nice classic clean or overdriven example that anyone likes on here.

My own guitars with a middle have not been the best tone option usually when recording