This may sound extremely weird....

[A Skater]

Okay, my fellow band member is getting a semi-hollowbody guitar. He's changing both of the pickups, and he's going to be playing both lead and rhythm (We take turns depending on the skill needed). We play Punk rock, hard rock, Pop Punk, Blues, and some Metal.

Here's the combination I was thinking of telling him to get:

A Seymour Duncan Invader in the Bridge and a Custom in the Neck. The bridge would be used for dist and heavy palm mutes, and the Custom might give him some nice cleans for the bluesy stuff and leads.

Any suggestions? The tone he's going for is like....Tom DeLonge's latest tone. I might post a brief 15 sec clip of the tone if no one here is familiar with it.

 

[nuntius]

Re: This may sound extremely weird....

I can't say for certain, but I don't think the custom in the neck will sound that great... and it hasn't exactly got nice cleans to begin with anyway. I find them to be a bit "boring". Not crap or unusable, but deffinately not a tone to lust after.

I like the jazz neck for clean stuff, but I don't know how that pairs with an Invader, or if it sounds anything like Delonge.

 

[JoyDivision24Hours]

Re: This may sound extremely weird....

To me the Invader sounds a little bit too hot for a semi-hollowbody. Maybe a Custom in the bridge and a Jazz in the neck would be more versatile. I'm sure this set will do distortion really well but with a nicer clean tone and in between.

The Gibson website states that DeLonge's signature guitar has an overwound "dirty fingers" humbucker. I'm not familiar with that pickup but the custom is often described as a PAF on steriods..

Also consider the other flavors of SD Customs: Custom Custom and Custom V.

 

[itbepopples]

Re: This may sound extremely weird....

what guitar are u putting these in?

 

[aleclee]

Re: This may sound extremely weird....

All I know is that changing pups in a semi-hollowbody is not fun.

 

[skyydogg01]

Re: This may sound extremely weird....

i've heard the custom custom in the neck of a strat, and to say that it sounds awesome for what you are doing with it is an understatement.

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: This may sound extremely weird....

The closest tone to a dirty fingers will be the Invader. Delonge used the invader until he switched to Gibson, and quite honestly I think they just didn't want any Duncans in their guitars signature or not.

For the neck tone I'd go with a Jazz or A2P or something with a bit less output. The neck pup on a 22 fret guitar always sounds muddy to me and I'd want something to clean it up. The Jazz or A2P will do cleans and dirty tones VERY nicely.

If he wants an aggressive yet smoother tone tell him to try a Custom Custom in the bridge slot. The Custom Custom will round off the highs and give him smooth lows. It has a large midrange spike which drives the amp well. In a maple bodied and center block guitar I think the Custom Custom would be the best choice.

If it were my guitar I'd go Alnico 2 Pro and Custom Custom bridge. Smooth neck with great balance and lots of grind in the bridge.

Luke

 

[A Skater]

Re: This may sound extremely weird....

Sounds good so far, any other suggestions I should jot down?

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: This may sound extremely weird....

The closest tone to a dirty fingers will be the Invader. Delonge used the invader until he switched to Gibson, and quite honestly I think they just didn't want any Duncans in their guitars signature or not.

Right on all three counts Gibson are weenies about that. They pulled the same thing with Tony Iommi.

Tom DeLonge's tone is very atypical of the Invader. You may be better off going with a lower-output pickup for that tone. The Custom or JB would be good bridge pickups.

 

[theodie]

Re: This may sound extremely weird....

All I know is that changing pups in a semi-hollowbody is not fun.

No doubt, I hope he knows what he is doing.

 

[A Skater]

Re: This may sound extremely weird....

There's a guy I'm recommending him who can do the job for him. He was recommended to me from a forum buddy right here. The shop is called Specimen Guitars/Products. Awesome people.