Slash sig. Alnicoll way to bright, please help

S

Stevenmc

New member
Hi,
I'm new to this forum and I am in desperate need of help! I recently replaced the stock pickups on my Epi les Paul with Slash signature Alnicoll and the sound is way to bright/sharp, it's hard on the ears. I play it through a GNX3 effects pedal and Tray-nor DG60 amp. I have tried turning down everything on the amp and on the pedal and it only results in a muddy but yet still bright sound. I also tried adjusting the pickups heights and different amps with no luck. I am getting to the point where I am going to remove the pickups cause I hate the brightness that comes out of it, is there something I'm doing wrong or are the pickups just made that way? From what I read they were suppose to be a warm sounding pickup.
I also tried the guitar on rythem with no luck, it gets deeper sounding but there's still the bright sound on top of it.

Please help.....thx
 
Re: Slash sig. Alnicoll way to bright, please help

I have them in my Les Paul and love them. It could be your rig & could also be a cap, but in my case I just swapped out the pickups & they sound awesome. I know the Epis have a maple neck so that could contribute to its brightness some but I don't think it would be enough to make it unbearable.
 
Re: Slash sig. Alnicoll way to bright, please help

welcome to the forum!

i dont own a set of the slash pups but i have played a les paul with them installed and i didnt think they were overly bright, warmer than the burst bucket pro's that came out of the guitar for sure. they are not a high output pup though and if you are used to something with more output, those pups are usually darker by nature.
 
Re: Slash sig. Alnicoll way to bright, please help

Yeah, I figured It was going to be the best thing for that guitar but to be honest my cheap generic stock pickups sound better IMO. I'm going to rent a different effects pedal and see if the brightness is still there, if so their coming out cause I'll be honest I'm very novice when it come to this stuff and I've been fiddling with settings for 2 weeks with no luck. It's a shame cause I hear the sound i want in behind the brightness but just can't get rid of it !

Thx for reply!!
 
Re: Slash sig. Alnicoll way to bright, please help

have you tried it without the digital fx pedal?

slash uses those pups straight into a cranked tube amp and gets a fat warm sound. your rig is alot different so may not give the same results
 
Re: Slash sig. Alnicoll way to bright, please help

Look into adjusting the pickup height and see if it makes a difference.
 
Re: Slash sig. Alnicoll way to bright, please help

The Slash AII's are a hair bit brighter with a different voicing then the regular AII's but they're still "warm" sounding pickups, compared to say... a Full Shred or a Super Distortion or even a '59.

Probably more likely is that unless there's some sort of wiring issue what's happened is that by replacing the stock wax encrusted Epi pickups with something better you're finally hearing the true sound of your guitar. Most stock pickups in overseas guitars sound like mud and have no treble response... now you have some!!! You're just not used to it.
 
Re: Slash sig. Alnicoll way to bright, please help

I just got back from renting a different pedal and as soon as I tried a setting with some crunch to it the brightness is there, I'm starting to realize it's a bright noise but also sounds like the strings are vibrating too much which makes it hard to hear the chord ur playing.
If it was a wiring problem would it just sound bad when you use the distortion? Cause it doesn't sound bad when it's on a clean setting
Thx
 
Re: Slash sig. Alnicoll way to bright, please help

J Moose said:
The Slash AII's are a hair bit brighter with a different voicing then the regular AII's but they're still "warm" sounding pickups, compared to say... a Full Shred or a Super Distortion or even a '59.

Probably more likely is that unless there's some sort of wiring issue what's happened is that by replacing the stock wax encrusted Epi pickups with something better you're finally hearing the true sound of your guitar. Most stock pickups in overseas guitars sound like mud and have no treble response... now you have some!!! You're just not used to it.
Click to expand...

^^^ This is what I think is the most likely culprit as well. Most stock pickups are either hot, heavily wax potted, poorly wound or a combination of all 3. Quite a few of them are very dark and almost muffled sounding. It's very easy for our ear to become accustomed to these tones and then react sharply to a drastic change. It's like taking a blanket off of your speakers.

While these may not be "the" pickups for you, you do have a set of pickups considered to be on the warmer side of the replacement pickup alternatives. There are plenty of pickups out there that will sound much more bright and present. However, there are also pickups out there that will still provide greater clarity, while giving a thicker, smoother tone.

If you bought these from an authorized dealer in the US, you can exchange them within 21 days from the date of purchase for another set of SD's. Youl will have to call or email SD and get a return authorization number, but it can be done.

If you decide to try some different pickups, let us know what type of music you play and we will try to steer you in a better direction.
 
Re: Slash sig. Alnicoll way to bright, please help

I play Gn'R, Velvet Revolver, Slash, Buckcherry songs so the Slash sound is what im going for. I believe there is something wrong with the pickups / wiring due to i cannot make a clean sounding chord when there is distortion, it sounds loud and buzzy, even with distortion the chords should sound clear. Im gonna bring it back to where they wired the pickups with everything im using to see if they can figure it out, if not i will probably buy a new guitar, anyone know how the Epiphone Salsh sig, AFD sounds and the quality of it? Also, where is the cheapest place to buy it online?

Thx
 
Re: Slash sig. Alnicoll way to bright, please help

Stevenmc said:
I'm starting to realize it's a bright noise but also sounds like the strings are vibrating too much
Click to expand...

No man, that's the freakin' point!!! We WANT to hear the strings vibrating... that's a GOOD thing.

If you've been playing the stock mud pickups for a long time and have your rig setup around that sound, then yes... this is going to take some adjustment. All for the better though.

The quickest adjustment? There's this other knob on the guitar next to the volume called "tone" and if you roll that back, it'll take the highs away.

Another thing to do, rather then get a different digital distortion box (yech!) would be to get your hands on a different guitar with equivalent pickups... maybe a Schecter with stock Duncans or whatever your friends or guitar teacher have. Try 'em back to back and see if the brightness stays or goes.
 
Re: Slash sig. Alnicoll way to bright, please help

Buying another Epi guitar is not the answer to your problems. Yes there are good Epiphones out there, but going from one to another is not going to drastically alter your sound. In fact, you will be going backwards in terms of pickup quality. Once you eliminate any potential wiring issues, you need to look at the rest of your signal chain. If need be, go into the guitar store and just plug your guitar into a clean, low volume Fender amp and see if it plays nice and clean. Then plug into another amp with a mild distortion setting and see how that sounds. Then play something with higher gain, but just using the amps distortion....no pedals or effects.
 
Re: Slash sig. Alnicoll way to bright, please help

J Moose I have adjusted the tone and as I mentioned in my first post the sound gets muddy and I know the strings are suppose to vibrate, I may not know much but I know that! It seems the more I play the worse it sounds cause the vibrating sound reminds me of having a bunch of out of tune strings and strumming it hard all in the open position....and yes the guitar is tuned!!
Obviously there is to many variables for anyone to answer this question with a knowledgable response so I will bring to the guitar techs where I live, thanks to all for trying to help!!
 
Re: Slash sig. Alnicoll way to bright, please help

Have you played the guitar acoustically to see if this 'string vibrating' noise is fret-buzz, or if the guitar naturally sounds a bit thin (you might need to be trying out others in a store to fully gauge this I admit).
Do you strum very hard too. Several issues to do with tone (or intonation) can be down to your pick attack and/or fretting hand pressure. New clearer pickups can make this more apparent. I've had similar wake-up calls when buying my first hot pickup and shredstick type axe.....I suddenly discovered I had to be a lot more precise with both hands to remove extraneous noise.

Just saying....
 
Re: Slash sig. Alnicoll way to bright, please help

how close to the strings are they?
sounds to me like they might be too close.
with new pickups it's best to start with the guitar going straight into an amp, then adding stuff from there; it'll be too differenent from the stockies to run all the same settings
 
Re: Slash sig. Alnicoll way to bright, please help

I had a breakthrough tonight, I got it sounding pretty sweet using all my gear and same settings as old pickups. It didn't start off that way but as i was getting frustrated i started to put my toggle switch from rythem to treble real fast and noticed it was shorting out, but after that i struck a chord and to my surprise the sound was clean, crisp n sweet. As i play on however, it starts to get worse so i play with the toggle and patch chord and it helps....for the fellas who said it was bad wiring i think you nailed it on the head. So i guess to be sure, is it common for the guitar to have the issues i have been having with bad wiring? Cause it doesnt cut in and out while im playing, it just gets real ****ty sounding
 
Re: Slash sig. Alnicoll way to bright, please help

AlexR said:
Have you played the guitar acoustically to see if this 'string vibrating' noise is fret-buzz, or if the guitar naturally sounds a bit thin (you might need to be trying out others in a store to fully gauge this I admit).
Do you strum very hard too. Several issues to do with tone (or intonation) can be down to your pick attack and/or fretting hand pressure. New clearer pickups can make this more apparent. I've had similar wake-up calls when buying my first hot pickup and shredstick type axe.....I suddenly discovered I had to be a lot more precise with both hands to remove extraneous noise.

Just saying....
Click to expand...

I have tried everything you mentioned and none are the issue, i beleive it is the wiring....Thx
 
Re: Slash sig. Alnicoll way to bright, please help

When installing new pups in a stock guitar, it is a good idea to replace the pots and switch as well.

I have no idea what pots come in an Epi, but I am willing to bet they are far from great.
 
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