pidenguitar
New member
Another boring "Seymour Duncan pickups are great" post?
Yes it is, and I apologize, but I need to give credit where credit is due. I readily voice my negative experiences, so I decided that success stories deserve an equal voice.
I spent weeks visiting every music store within 100 miles of my home in an irrational quest of tracking down a factory-fresh sunburst US Strat with a maple fretboard. I finally found one that felt and sounded like "the one". You know, the weird sensation of instant familiarity with a strange instrument? I cannot explain it, but during the next few months the guitar's sound changed dramatically. It progressively assumed a bright, shrill, brittle tone. I couldn't as much as fret a note without the clanking sound of metal-on-metal shooting through my amp. Bass response had all but disappeared into a hollow void, almost as if the alder and maple woods of this guitar had transformed into some annoying metal alloy, it was truly that bad. On he bright side (pun intended), I was now the proud owner of a monster surf guitar. Repeated setups didn't help and a set of Fender "Fat Fifties" made the problem even worse.
I own an Ernie Ball "Albert Lee Signature" guitar that is as smooth, yet spanky as can be and I discovered that it sports some SD APS-2's and a Twangbanger. Long story short, I replicated this setup in a last ditch attempt to save my beloved icepick-to-the-forehead Strat from the scrap heap (or eBay).
Mission accomplished. SD's description of the tone of these pickups is extremely accurate, and I am glad I didn't give up on this guitar. She has real musical character now. Thank you, Seymour.
I have bought many brand new guitars, but I have never experienced such a dramatic change in tone before. Has anybody else?
Yes it is, and I apologize, but I need to give credit where credit is due. I readily voice my negative experiences, so I decided that success stories deserve an equal voice.
I spent weeks visiting every music store within 100 miles of my home in an irrational quest of tracking down a factory-fresh sunburst US Strat with a maple fretboard. I finally found one that felt and sounded like "the one". You know, the weird sensation of instant familiarity with a strange instrument? I cannot explain it, but during the next few months the guitar's sound changed dramatically. It progressively assumed a bright, shrill, brittle tone. I couldn't as much as fret a note without the clanking sound of metal-on-metal shooting through my amp. Bass response had all but disappeared into a hollow void, almost as if the alder and maple woods of this guitar had transformed into some annoying metal alloy, it was truly that bad. On he bright side (pun intended), I was now the proud owner of a monster surf guitar. Repeated setups didn't help and a set of Fender "Fat Fifties" made the problem even worse.
I own an Ernie Ball "Albert Lee Signature" guitar that is as smooth, yet spanky as can be and I discovered that it sports some SD APS-2's and a Twangbanger. Long story short, I replicated this setup in a last ditch attempt to save my beloved icepick-to-the-forehead Strat from the scrap heap (or eBay).
Mission accomplished. SD's description of the tone of these pickups is extremely accurate, and I am glad I didn't give up on this guitar. She has real musical character now. Thank you, Seymour.
I have bought many brand new guitars, but I have never experienced such a dramatic change in tone before. Has anybody else?
