Hi guys! I bought a Jackson Kelly JS32 and it´s ok. But the pick ups are Jackson and they have a very thin and cheap sound. I would like to put some SD pickups (or some other brand) that have a sound with more body and strength, so that there´s no so much nasal sound. But I don´t know wich ones to buy. I play classic hard rock and 80 metal kind of music. Not to heavy as new metal with drop tonning, but I like more the classic rock sound. I usually use a fender amp. Which ones do you recomend?
Sugestion SD pick ups for a Jackson Kelly
- Thread starter Garay
- Start date
Re: Sugestion SD pick ups for a Jackson Kelly
Welcome to the forum!
This is sound advice.
Welcome to the forum!
This is sound advice.
BeKindRewind
New member
Re: Sugestion SD pick ups for a Jackson Kelly
That's the exact combo I went with for my Jackson Kelly. Custom and 59'. Can confirm, it's bold and muscular. Exactly what you said. Power chords pound like a sledgehammer. I think you'd definitely be happy with it.
The Best thing I can say about the Custom. This is kind of out in left field, hard to explain, but the Custom sounds exactly what I always thought an electric guitar should sound like, when I was a kid, before I even played guitar, but I was into comic books, and Arnold Schwarzenegger, and arcade games where you'd beat the crap out of bad guys. And like if I would close my eyes and imagine a kickass electric guitar rocking out making a soundtrack to all this awesome stuff , this was the sound I heard in my head. And it's funny because I didn't try one until I was 30, but the second I plugged it in, I recognized the Custom as THAT sound, realized. Probably the weirdest review anyone's ever written about a guitar pickup but there ya go.
You also can't go wrong with the JB\Jazz combo. I tried that in the Kelly also, and it sounded really awesome. Less sledgehammer and more precision, perhaps a razor blade if you will.
*snickers*
That's the exact combo I went with for my Jackson Kelly. Custom and 59'. Can confirm, it's bold and muscular. Exactly what you said. Power chords pound like a sledgehammer. I think you'd definitely be happy with it.
The Best thing I can say about the Custom. This is kind of out in left field, hard to explain, but the Custom sounds exactly what I always thought an electric guitar should sound like, when I was a kid, before I even played guitar, but I was into comic books, and Arnold Schwarzenegger, and arcade games where you'd beat the crap out of bad guys. And like if I would close my eyes and imagine a kickass electric guitar rocking out making a soundtrack to all this awesome stuff , this was the sound I heard in my head. And it's funny because I didn't try one until I was 30, but the second I plugged it in, I recognized the Custom as THAT sound, realized. Probably the weirdest review anyone's ever written about a guitar pickup but there ya go.
You also can't go wrong with the JB\Jazz combo. I tried that in the Kelly also, and it sounded really awesome. Less sledgehammer and more precision, perhaps a razor blade if you will.
*snickers*
Last edited:
shadowfire90
New member
Re: Sugestion SD pick ups for a Jackson Kelly
I loved the XL and KE3 Kelly guitars. I grabbed two KE3 guitars for 200-300$ locally each and we all know how much they went for at one time or another.
Tell us what amp you've got it may help. The best advice is see what your guitar heroes are using pickups wise but avoid signature series pickups as most guys who get them think the coils are magic and you get say Kirk Hammett or John Petrucci's studio tone on a favorite record they matched the gear of with their signature sets on whatever guitar they feel like. The EQ chart most big pickup makers have on there will help big time. One pickup that surprised me was the sentient was a surprise. I was thinking it was all hype but for a neck pickup I was surprised.
Now if it's the ones that look like EMG HZ pickups they are terrible. Even if you raise the height it doesn't help much. They are 11k DC resistance and a pretty average inductance of 5-6H. They only thing going for them is they are 4 wire.
The only ones that weren't thin was the duncan designed detonators (close to invaders)
start off adjusting your pickup height by tightening the two screws on the left and right of the pickup. The closer they are to the strings the louder the pickup becomes. Pole piece adjustments are another thing to try.
An overdrive pedal like the ones Joyo makes based off of the tube screamer or dare I say their sweet baby pedal which is supposed to be catered towards blues but it did a great job playing metal when I made it run 18v instead of 9v (a nice tip from Brian Wampler) plus they are quite cheap. Not road worthy by any means but I was actually really impressed and preferred the sweet baby over my real TS9.
if you've got a licensed floyd rose on your JS32 kelly if the guitar is a keeper a brass big block is a great investment. It will add volume, sustain and fullness to your playing. The ones guitarfetish sells seem good too. Never tried them but it solves a lot of hassle if you know what to do to swap and intonate a floyd rose. Guitar world did an A/B comparison with the founder of "FU Tone" about 5+ years ago and I've got them in all my floyd rose equipped guitars.
I loved the XL and KE3 Kelly guitars. I grabbed two KE3 guitars for 200-300$ locally each and we all know how much they went for at one time or another.
Tell us what amp you've got it may help. The best advice is see what your guitar heroes are using pickups wise but avoid signature series pickups as most guys who get them think the coils are magic and you get say Kirk Hammett or John Petrucci's studio tone on a favorite record they matched the gear of with their signature sets on whatever guitar they feel like. The EQ chart most big pickup makers have on there will help big time. One pickup that surprised me was the sentient was a surprise. I was thinking it was all hype but for a neck pickup I was surprised.
Now if it's the ones that look like EMG HZ pickups they are terrible. Even if you raise the height it doesn't help much. They are 11k DC resistance and a pretty average inductance of 5-6H. They only thing going for them is they are 4 wire.
The only ones that weren't thin was the duncan designed detonators (close to invaders)
start off adjusting your pickup height by tightening the two screws on the left and right of the pickup. The closer they are to the strings the louder the pickup becomes. Pole piece adjustments are another thing to try.
An overdrive pedal like the ones Joyo makes based off of the tube screamer or dare I say their sweet baby pedal which is supposed to be catered towards blues but it did a great job playing metal when I made it run 18v instead of 9v (a nice tip from Brian Wampler) plus they are quite cheap. Not road worthy by any means but I was actually really impressed and preferred the sweet baby over my real TS9.
if you've got a licensed floyd rose on your JS32 kelly if the guitar is a keeper a brass big block is a great investment. It will add volume, sustain and fullness to your playing. The ones guitarfetish sells seem good too. Never tried them but it solves a lot of hassle if you know what to do to swap and intonate a floyd rose. Guitar world did an A/B comparison with the founder of "FU Tone" about 5+ years ago and I've got them in all my floyd rose equipped guitars.
