Slash sig. Alnicoll way to bright, please help
- Thread starter Stevenmc
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Fly_with_v
New member
Re: Slash sig. Alnicoll way to bright, please help
If the wiring or switch is bad anything could happen. It really depends on how it it wired. Take the guitar to a tech to have it looked at. It is almost definately a bad ground or connection.
I have these pickups and the regular AII's and the sound amazing in an EPi or Gibson. I would also change the pots, switch, and caps if it is an old guitar. The new Epi hardware is much better, but the old stuff is pretty week. I use .020 caps and they are not overly bright at all. In fact with the right amp settings I get pretty close to his sound. If only I could steal his fingers.
If the wiring or switch is bad anything could happen. It really depends on how it it wired. Take the guitar to a tech to have it looked at. It is almost definately a bad ground or connection.
I have these pickups and the regular AII's and the sound amazing in an EPi or Gibson. I would also change the pots, switch, and caps if it is an old guitar. The new Epi hardware is much better, but the old stuff is pretty week. I use .020 caps and they are not overly bright at all. In fact with the right amp settings I get pretty close to his sound. If only I could steal his fingers.
75lespaul
New member
Re: Slash sig. Alnicoll way to bright, please help
I have a 1975 Gibson Les Paul Custom that EVERYTHING started to sound bad in several years ago. It had Super Distortions in it, which I loved and had had for over twenty years, but I wanted a more vintage sound. I got Antiquites and they sounded too shrill. I then put an AIIP in it, a Dimarzio Mo'Joe, a Brobucker, another Super Distortion--all sounded tinny and trebly. Got a great tip from I believe Gearjoneser who told me to wire the bridge pickup straight to the jack. When I did, it sounded fantastic. I immediately ordered all new pots and the guitar sounds incredible now. My switch would have been next if that didn't solve the problem. I went for years thinking I just had a crummy sounding guitar and darn near sold it--all because I was too ignorant to check the pots.
I have a 1975 Gibson Les Paul Custom that EVERYTHING started to sound bad in several years ago. It had Super Distortions in it, which I loved and had had for over twenty years, but I wanted a more vintage sound. I got Antiquites and they sounded too shrill. I then put an AIIP in it, a Dimarzio Mo'Joe, a Brobucker, another Super Distortion--all sounded tinny and trebly. Got a great tip from I believe Gearjoneser who told me to wire the bridge pickup straight to the jack. When I did, it sounded fantastic. I immediately ordered all new pots and the guitar sounds incredible now. My switch would have been next if that didn't solve the problem. I went for years thinking I just had a crummy sounding guitar and darn near sold it--all because I was too ignorant to check the pots.
Re: Slash sig. Alnicoll way to bright, please help
If i hook the wire directly from my pickup will i lose control of my volume and tone?
If i hook the wire directly from my pickup will i lose control of my volume and tone?
Re: Slash sig. Alnicoll way to bright, please help
Like I said, i had it sounding sweet last night, but its not consistent, after it starts to get buzzing i will play with all connections and switch and it seems to clear up. The thing thats confussing me is all my wires seem to be connected securely, however it still cuts out once in awhile. Could it be from something being grounded incorrectly?
Like I said, i had it sounding sweet last night, but its not consistent, after it starts to get buzzing i will play with all connections and switch and it seems to clear up. The thing thats confussing me is all my wires seem to be connected securely, however it still cuts out once in awhile. Could it be from something being grounded incorrectly?
dd12939
New member
Re: Slash sig. Alnicoll way to bright, please help
Yes, you will. The point of that exercise is to ascertain if your pots (and/or the wiring associated with them) are bad. If it sound better straight to the jack, get new pots, wire up and go from there.
Yes, you will. The point of that exercise is to ascertain if your pots (and/or the wiring associated with them) are bad. If it sound better straight to the jack, get new pots, wire up and go from there.
Edgecrusher
New member
Re: Slash sig. Alnicoll way to bright, please help
Could be a bad ground. Sounds like either a solder joint is bad somewhere (and to those that dont know its hard to eyeball a good one from a bad one) Or you have a bad swtich. I had a vaugely similar problem once. The pups sounded ok most of the time but sometimes would crap out when swapping pickups. When i dug into I found out that who ever had done the pickup swap had gotten the switch way too hot and had pretty literally cooked it.
If you paid someone to do the swap go back to them and have them fix it. If the pots and switch worked before the swap they still should now unless the tech butt jumbled something
Could be a bad ground. Sounds like either a solder joint is bad somewhere (and to those that dont know its hard to eyeball a good one from a bad one) Or you have a bad swtich. I had a vaugely similar problem once. The pups sounded ok most of the time but sometimes would crap out when swapping pickups. When i dug into I found out that who ever had done the pickup swap had gotten the switch way too hot and had pretty literally cooked it.
If you paid someone to do the swap go back to them and have them fix it. If the pots and switch worked before the swap they still should now unless the tech butt jumbled something
J Moose
New member
Re: Slash sig. Alnicoll way to bright, please help
Could be bad pots and/or a bad switch... I had a tech cook a volume pot and it drove me nuts for a few months because the problem was really random and not easy to find. I thought it was a bad connection.
Generally speaking though, with 2-conductor pickups like the AII Slash its sort of hard to "miswire" them... they're either going to work, not work at all, or make lots of noise. 4-conductor pickups are easier to miswire for a thin/honky tone, hook up the coils out of phase or whatever.
Could be bad pots and/or a bad switch... I had a tech cook a volume pot and it drove me nuts for a few months because the problem was really random and not easy to find. I thought it was a bad connection.
Generally speaking though, with 2-conductor pickups like the AII Slash its sort of hard to "miswire" them... they're either going to work, not work at all, or make lots of noise. 4-conductor pickups are easier to miswire for a thin/honky tone, hook up the coils out of phase or whatever.
icantbuyafender
New member
Re: Slash sig. Alnicoll way to bright, please help
My friend briefly owned a epi LP that i swear sounded like a strat when we put in quality pickups and yanked out the 8 year old stockers. Its just the way the guitar sounds. The woods used, etc. which is why i never buy sight unseen, nor do i buy a guitar without finding out what woods were to be used to make it.
I hated that guitar with a passion.
My friend briefly owned a epi LP that i swear sounded like a strat when we put in quality pickups and yanked out the 8 year old stockers. Its just the way the guitar sounds. The woods used, etc. which is why i never buy sight unseen, nor do i buy a guitar without finding out what woods were to be used to make it.
I hated that guitar with a passion.
Re: Slash sig. Alnicoll way to bright, please help
Its not just the way the guitar sounds cause when the buzzing is not there it sounds sweet! I believe its a wiring issue, i just need to figure out where
Its not just the way the guitar sounds cause when the buzzing is not there it sounds sweet! I believe its a wiring issue, i just need to figure out where
Re: Slash sig. Alnicoll way to bright, please help
So basically i will have to disconnect from the pots which means remove the solder or is there a way to bi-pass the pots?
So basically i will have to disconnect from the pots which means remove the solder or is there a way to bi-pass the pots?
Fly_with_v
New member
Re: Slash sig. Alnicoll way to bright, please help
you could just wire to the jack one pickup at a time, if you want to bypass everything.
you could just wire to the jack one pickup at a time, if you want to bypass everything.
Suchapinch
New member
Re: Slash sig. Alnicoll way to bright, please help
I was having a problem with my tone pot doing the on/off thing in my hagstrom swede with AHP-2, everything else sounded great. I thought I'd change the tone pot out with a 500k cts that I had taken out of another guitar in order to install a pull pot. Now the guitar sounds EXACTLY as your description, thin, tinny and distorted sounds are a mess. The funny thing is that all of the controls work correctly. Maybe since this pot has been in and out of guitars a few times, it got cooked. Glad this thread popped up at the same time.
I was having a problem with my tone pot doing the on/off thing in my hagstrom swede with AHP-2, everything else sounded great. I thought I'd change the tone pot out with a 500k cts that I had taken out of another guitar in order to install a pull pot. Now the guitar sounds EXACTLY as your description, thin, tinny and distorted sounds are a mess. The funny thing is that all of the controls work correctly. Maybe since this pot has been in and out of guitars a few times, it got cooked. Glad this thread popped up at the same time.
skynyrd
New member
Re: Slash sig. Alnicoll way to bright, please help
Just put an EQ pedal in your effects loop and dial down the highs and upper mids, a Fish and Chips EQ pedal is inexpensive and alot simpler way to dial your rig into the sound you want without going through the trouble and expense of buying and swapping pickups. Have you tried turning down the presence control on your amp ? Back it off to around 4, that should warm it up as well.
Just put an EQ pedal in your effects loop and dial down the highs and upper mids, a Fish and Chips EQ pedal is inexpensive and alot simpler way to dial your rig into the sound you want without going through the trouble and expense of buying and swapping pickups. Have you tried turning down the presence control on your amp ? Back it off to around 4, that should warm it up as well.
Re: Slash sig. Alnicoll way to bright, please help
If this just started happening when the pickups were swapped, I'll bet the guy who did the install overheated the switch while soldering. This happens fairly easily w/inexpensive switches as the contacts are small and get oxidized quickly from too much heat. You can spray contact cleaner (made for electronics like Caig De-Ox) in the 3-way and work it in, or replace the switch.
If this just started happening when the pickups were swapped, I'll bet the guy who did the install overheated the switch while soldering. This happens fairly easily w/inexpensive switches as the contacts are small and get oxidized quickly from too much heat. You can spray contact cleaner (made for electronics like Caig De-Ox) in the 3-way and work it in, or replace the switch.
RockStarNick
New member
Re: Slash sig. Alnicoll way to bright, please help
Not to beat a dead horse, but something that might have been overlooked:
Lots of times those cheapo multi effects units are acting as preamps. If you plug a preamp INTO the input of your amp, you're essentially double-preamping it. Adding tons of noise, and most likely, tons of treble and weird frequencies.
(Bass players do this all the time, running a sansamp into the amp input, and it just adds a horrendous amount of hiss and noise. Plug it into the FX return, which utilizes only the amp's power section - problem solved. but I digress...)
That could be a culprit. And perhaps the wax-encrusted Epi pickups, which are dull as hell, cancelled out this symptom, which is why your ears are perceiving them as "better".
I'm going to say this with the utmost of respect: if you think that the Epi pickups sound better than the Slash pickups, your ears may not be developed enough to "know" what to listen for in a quality guitar sound.
Not to beat a dead horse, but something that might have been overlooked:
Lots of times those cheapo multi effects units are acting as preamps. If you plug a preamp INTO the input of your amp, you're essentially double-preamping it. Adding tons of noise, and most likely, tons of treble and weird frequencies.
(Bass players do this all the time, running a sansamp into the amp input, and it just adds a horrendous amount of hiss and noise. Plug it into the FX return, which utilizes only the amp's power section - problem solved. but I digress...)
That could be a culprit. And perhaps the wax-encrusted Epi pickups, which are dull as hell, cancelled out this symptom, which is why your ears are perceiving them as "better".
I'm going to say this with the utmost of respect: if you think that the Epi pickups sound better than the Slash pickups, your ears may not be developed enough to "know" what to listen for in a quality guitar sound.
Archer_of_Fish
New member
Re: Slash sig. Alnicoll way to bright, please help
I had a similar problem with a Gibson Les Paul standard. Loved the neck position with the stock pots but found the bridge too bright.
I swapped it (the bridge) out for a CC and 500K pots.
I had a similar problem with a Gibson Les Paul standard. Loved the neck position with the stock pots but found the bridge too bright.
I swapped it (the bridge) out for a CC and 500K pots.
Suchapinch
New member
Re: Slash sig. Alnicoll way to bright, please help
Ok, I didn't want to have any doubt as to where the new or old problem was coming from, so I replaced all of the pots and caps in the guitar. The result was that the pickups were still razor bright, but the tone controls work properly. Now it was obvious that it now was a pickup adjustment issue. The pickup heights and pole screws were adjusted with the stock tone pots installed, which were causing the pickups to sound dull so I raised the pickup screws to compensate. Now the pickup heights and screws are adjusted for the new pots and I can finally hear what these pickups should sound like.
Ok, I didn't want to have any doubt as to where the new or old problem was coming from, so I replaced all of the pots and caps in the guitar. The result was that the pickups were still razor bright, but the tone controls work properly. Now it was obvious that it now was a pickup adjustment issue. The pickup heights and pole screws were adjusted with the stock tone pots installed, which were causing the pickups to sound dull so I raised the pickup screws to compensate. Now the pickup heights and screws are adjusted for the new pots and I can finally hear what these pickups should sound like.
Chickenwings
Alnico 6/8
Re: Slash sig. Alnicoll way to bright, please help
sounds like wiring....but difficult to say whats gone wrong. Grab a wiring diagram from here:
http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wiring-diagrams/
and start from scratch checking all connections. Ill bet something is amiss.
While you are in there, if you are not too rich, but want an upgrade, go to guitarfetish.com and get a full electonics replacement kit (and some orange drops) cos the regular epi componentry is crap, so it will do a few things for you:
1. you will have upgraded everything in your signal path.
2. you will have eliminated any little niggles (or problems) in the wiring (such as hard to diagnose cold solders etc)
3. you will have a better knowlege of your axe , and it will sound better than it would if you fixed the problem but still kept all the original pots etc.
good luck!
sounds like wiring....but difficult to say whats gone wrong. Grab a wiring diagram from here:
http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wiring-diagrams/
and start from scratch checking all connections. Ill bet something is amiss.
While you are in there, if you are not too rich, but want an upgrade, go to guitarfetish.com and get a full electonics replacement kit (and some orange drops) cos the regular epi componentry is crap, so it will do a few things for you:
1. you will have upgraded everything in your signal path.
2. you will have eliminated any little niggles (or problems) in the wiring (such as hard to diagnose cold solders etc)
3. you will have a better knowlege of your axe , and it will sound better than it would if you fixed the problem but still kept all the original pots etc.
good luck!
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F
Funkfingers
Guest
Re: Slash sig. Alnicoll way to bright, please help
The PRS SE Singlecut that I posted about last month sounded annoyingly bright - especially on the E and B strings - until I adjusted the pickups further away from the strings. (This was through an all-valve, Made in USA, Fender Hot Rod DeVille 410.) Less really can be more.
Even with the same PRS #7 pickups, the SE guitar does not sound like its American namesake. Constructional differences may have a lot to do with this. The same holds true for an Epiphone compared to a Gibson.
The PRS SE Singlecut that I posted about last month sounded annoyingly bright - especially on the E and B strings - until I adjusted the pickups further away from the strings. (This was through an all-valve, Made in USA, Fender Hot Rod DeVille 410.) Less really can be more.
Even with the same PRS #7 pickups, the SE guitar does not sound like its American namesake. Constructional differences may have a lot to do with this. The same holds true for an Epiphone compared to a Gibson.
