SD Distortion feeling dull

Re: SD Distortion feeling dull

Well, raising it and running it through a TubeScreamer helped it out a ton, has more of the bite I remember it having. Boomy was probably the wrong word to describe how it sounded; it had more bass to it than I like, but wasn't "boomy." I couldn't get the polepieces to loosen up though, so I left those alone. The guitar sounds much better, maybe not my favorite tone of my guitars, but much better nonetheless. I can work it. My other guitars all feature brighter woods, maple, ebony, walnut, or alder, so my might've grown biased more towards the brighter end of the spectrum.

Why would a Custom Custom be the wrong direction? It has less bass in its EQ which I think would help.

That tone in the Charvel video isn't my cup of tea, but then the one with the JB in the HS model is even worse IMO, so go figure.

Thanks again guys for all the help!

CC would be fine. It's just not as percussive sounding ad most. A less heavy but also less punchy bass. Great pickup for leads.
 
Re: SD Distortion feeling dull

"I've felt that the Distortion lacks bite"

The CC (with an A2 mag) has way less treble and bite than the DD. That's why it would be going in the wrong direction. The Custom (with the ceramic mag) would be much better than the CC.
 
Re: SD Distortion feeling dull

"I've felt that the Distortion lacks bite"

The CC (with an A2 mag) has way less treble and bite than the DD. That's why it would be going in the wrong direction. The Custom (with the ceramic mag) would be much better than the CC.

yep
 
Re: SD Distortion feeling dull

I get what you're saying. I was thinking the lower bass would help. The tone samples on the SD website might be a little short, but I think the Custom 5 sounded the best out of the Custom group. If I replace the Distortion I'd probably be going with that one.
 
Re: SD Distortion feeling dull

I get what you're saying. I was thinking the lower bass would help. The tone samples on the SD website might be a little short, but I think the Custom 5 sounded the best out of the Custom group. If I replace the Distortion I'd probably be going with that one.

The CC is very smooth and round sounding. Yes it has less bass but it's more prone to mushing out and turning flabby with to much gain. If you can try to get the pole pieces raised that will help out also. And one more thing to try is using a different pick. Picks can change tone to a point where they can give you a bit more brightness or roundness depending on the material.
 
Re: SD Distortion feeling dull

Using Jazz III's. I have the Tortex ones, which I like the gripiness of, but prefer the regular material version, because they are brighter. I will try to raise the polepieces, it should be a simple turn of the screw or do I have to go from the inside of the pickup?
 
Re: SD Distortion feeling dull

Using Jazz III's. I have the Tortex ones, which I like the gripiness of, but prefer the regular material version, because they are brighter. I will try to raise the polepieces, it should be a simple turn of the screw or do I have to go from the inside of the pickup?

Yup simple turn of the screw driver. Just make sure not to raise em to close to the strings or you will hamper the sustain and string vibration. What I do is press the string down at the very last fret and see how close I can get without hampering the sustain.

You might try to match the screw stagger to the string radius and also try to find a balance of how close you can get the pup then how close can you get the screws.
 
Re: SD Distortion feeling dull

I have a distortion in one of my Strats, and it rocks. Tight and crunchy with nice bite. Could be the basswood body. I find in basswood, stuff like the Dimarzio EVO and fred sounds better.
 
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