mcdolphinburger
New member
First post, long time lurker. I've learned a great deal over the years from some of the posters of long standing, and the forum influenced my first aftermarket pickup purchases (Seth Lovers for a maple-necked Epiphone Les Paul).
I have a Strandberg Boden Standard 6 (basswood w/maple cap; roasted maple, carbon fiber-reinforced neck; hardtail) that's a bit lacking in the lower midrange. The guitar naturally has a great deal of detail and high-end extension, and I'd like to substitute the stock pickups for something that would retain those qualities while filling out the bottom end.
The stock pickups are Strandberg's first-gen OEM line (A5, 10.6k neck and 18.2k bridge). Those are pretty formidable DCR ratings, and I can confirm that the output is quite high – I had to screw them down considerably when I received the guitar in order to get a more natural, uncompressed ring out of struck notes. These are quality pickups that seem optimized for clarity under heavy gain (note also that there's some debate in the Strandberg community around whether these pickups are direct clones or adaptations of the Suhr SSV and SSH+); however, I’m way more of a jazz and fusion player these days, and I think I'm ready to move on to something that suits a less gained-out style.
This is a 24-fret neck, multiscale, 25”-25.5” guitar, and the pickups are in their normal position perpendicular to the guitar’s neck axis (that is to say, they’re not offset like most extended-range multiscale guitars). Although the neck pickup has great high-end extension and detail, it’s always a bit thin for my taste and I have trouble getting fatter and darker jazz tones out of it even when I roll down the tone considerably.
The bridge pickup isn’t bad either, but it’s got a bit of an upper-midrange spike that works well for some things, but it's a bit harsh for clean playing. Again, I’d like something that fills out the bottom end a bit more.
I’m drawn to the Dimarzio Breed ‘cause many posters here have advocated for its qualities in filling out lighter-weight, bright-sounding guitars. I’ve also got an old Air Zone lying around that I might try in the bridge position. I’d like to stick to medium-output/hotter-than-vintage pickups.
Other suggestions? Air Norton/Air Zone? I’m gravitating toward Dimarzio here because most of SD’s newer higher-output offerings seem optimized toward proggier or more percussive styles of playing. Alnico II Pro neck/Custom Custom bridge might work, but I kinda suspect that the CC’s EQ is moving too far in the other direction for me.
I have a Strandberg Boden Standard 6 (basswood w/maple cap; roasted maple, carbon fiber-reinforced neck; hardtail) that's a bit lacking in the lower midrange. The guitar naturally has a great deal of detail and high-end extension, and I'd like to substitute the stock pickups for something that would retain those qualities while filling out the bottom end.
The stock pickups are Strandberg's first-gen OEM line (A5, 10.6k neck and 18.2k bridge). Those are pretty formidable DCR ratings, and I can confirm that the output is quite high – I had to screw them down considerably when I received the guitar in order to get a more natural, uncompressed ring out of struck notes. These are quality pickups that seem optimized for clarity under heavy gain (note also that there's some debate in the Strandberg community around whether these pickups are direct clones or adaptations of the Suhr SSV and SSH+); however, I’m way more of a jazz and fusion player these days, and I think I'm ready to move on to something that suits a less gained-out style.
This is a 24-fret neck, multiscale, 25”-25.5” guitar, and the pickups are in their normal position perpendicular to the guitar’s neck axis (that is to say, they’re not offset like most extended-range multiscale guitars). Although the neck pickup has great high-end extension and detail, it’s always a bit thin for my taste and I have trouble getting fatter and darker jazz tones out of it even when I roll down the tone considerably.
The bridge pickup isn’t bad either, but it’s got a bit of an upper-midrange spike that works well for some things, but it's a bit harsh for clean playing. Again, I’d like something that fills out the bottom end a bit more.
I’m drawn to the Dimarzio Breed ‘cause many posters here have advocated for its qualities in filling out lighter-weight, bright-sounding guitars. I’ve also got an old Air Zone lying around that I might try in the bridge position. I’d like to stick to medium-output/hotter-than-vintage pickups.
Other suggestions? Air Norton/Air Zone? I’m gravitating toward Dimarzio here because most of SD’s newer higher-output offerings seem optimized toward proggier or more percussive styles of playing. Alnico II Pro neck/Custom Custom bridge might work, but I kinda suspect that the CC’s EQ is moving too far in the other direction for me.
