It turns out I'm just a huge fan of the way the right bridge humbucker sounds when it's wired right to the jack on a Gibson. I wired up an old Warpig with a ceramic magnet to the jack in my 7 string LP and it sounds and feels phenomenal. I only had it wired up this way to check and make sure the pickup was ok, because I couldn't get the quick connector wiring right; I finally figured it out and got it all set up properly, and wouldn't you know, I didn't like it anywhere near as much. I missed the brightness, pick attack, and drive. It still sounded good, but it wasn't "I just played for 90 minutes without realizing it because of how much fun it is to play a guitar that sounds like this" good. So I took it out today, undid all of my work, and ran it back straight to the jack. When it works, it works.
The guitar has 3 knobs - 2 volume, master tone - and a toggle switch for a battery powered boost where the 4th knob would go on a normal LP layout. I never use the boost and it isn't mounted to the circuit board like all the other controls, so I'm thinking about whether or not I could use that spot for a blower switch with all of the other quick connect stuff intact. I think my other option if I still want a range of control is to pull the entire board, and put in (maybe) a 1Meg volume pot for the bridge, have the neck going through 500k volume and tone pots, and put the pickup selector in as a small 3 position toggle in the 4th hole. That would bypass the run of wire to the switch on the upper bout.
Or maybe I'll just leave it this way. It's got the perfect amount of crunch and pick attack. It's not a very subtle difference. I can make up the high end and gain at the amp and get it sounding fine, but it just doesn't feel as good.
I've had my Explorer set up this way for 16 or 17 years. I only tried it at first (with a BKP Cold Sweat) to bypass a bad pot because I needed the guitar up and running, but it was instantly what I wanted to hear. I've since tried it just to hear how it sounds on my other guitars with varying degrees of success. It doesn't work everywhere. Going straight to the jack has sounded unbalanced, harsh, and brash with all of the Duncan bridge pickups I've used, and in all of my 25.5" scale guitars. On the other hand, it worked great with with a 498T in my Steinberger baritone. The Cold Sweat sounds crunchy and awesome in my old Epiphone LP. The Explorer is currently home to a Rebel Yell which also sounds amazing. And I have to say there's something nice (to me) about just plugging in and having the guitar sound how it sounds. Helps me focus on playing instead of fiddling around with little adjustments.
Anybody else enjoy this with any of their guitars?
The guitar has 3 knobs - 2 volume, master tone - and a toggle switch for a battery powered boost where the 4th knob would go on a normal LP layout. I never use the boost and it isn't mounted to the circuit board like all the other controls, so I'm thinking about whether or not I could use that spot for a blower switch with all of the other quick connect stuff intact. I think my other option if I still want a range of control is to pull the entire board, and put in (maybe) a 1Meg volume pot for the bridge, have the neck going through 500k volume and tone pots, and put the pickup selector in as a small 3 position toggle in the 4th hole. That would bypass the run of wire to the switch on the upper bout.
Or maybe I'll just leave it this way. It's got the perfect amount of crunch and pick attack. It's not a very subtle difference. I can make up the high end and gain at the amp and get it sounding fine, but it just doesn't feel as good.
I've had my Explorer set up this way for 16 or 17 years. I only tried it at first (with a BKP Cold Sweat) to bypass a bad pot because I needed the guitar up and running, but it was instantly what I wanted to hear. I've since tried it just to hear how it sounds on my other guitars with varying degrees of success. It doesn't work everywhere. Going straight to the jack has sounded unbalanced, harsh, and brash with all of the Duncan bridge pickups I've used, and in all of my 25.5" scale guitars. On the other hand, it worked great with with a 498T in my Steinberger baritone. The Cold Sweat sounds crunchy and awesome in my old Epiphone LP. The Explorer is currently home to a Rebel Yell which also sounds amazing. And I have to say there's something nice (to me) about just plugging in and having the guitar sound how it sounds. Helps me focus on playing instead of fiddling around with little adjustments.
Anybody else enjoy this with any of their guitars?
