Tone Help! I'm Going Crazy!!!!

[fwibble]

hi, below is the gear that I've got, and the pickups have just recently been put in (2 days ago) but i can't get rid of the muddy sound when the bridge pickup is being played with distortion. I've tried messing with the eq on my amp, changing strings to a lighter gauge, pretty much everything.

does anybody have any other suggestions (change pickups back to stock, amp, strings etc.) please let me know. By the way I don't really like using effects i'm more of an amp + guitar guy (sometimes with wah)


my gear is:
Epiphone Les Paul (2 Alnico 2 pros HB's)(with coil tap)
Marshall AVT 100
Boss V-Wah

ideally i want to get (primarily) a fat rock sound like VR ahnd GNR, but would still like to keep some versatilty to occasionally play some metal,

thanks

 

[tone4days]

Re: Tone Help! I'm Going Crazy!!!!

hmmm ... have you tried lowering the pickup height down a bit on the bass side? .. adjust it little by litte (don't be drastic all at once) to see if you can dial it in that way ... i don't think i've heard folks say their AIIP in the bridge is muddy .. mine in the neck is not, but i've not tried it in the bridge ...

you might want to trade it in for a different pickup (especially if you are within the 21 day 'no hassle' return window) ... maybe a JB or a Distortion?


good luck - let us know
t4d

 

[fwibble]

Re: Tone Help! I'm Going Crazy!!!!

nobb question here, but how do you adjust the pickup height?

 

[tone4days]

Re: Tone Help! I'm Going Crazy!!!!

the little screws that hold the pickup to the mounting ring or body of the guitar - one on each side ... you turn them in or out to change the height .. and you can change one side without having to change the other ... so if you are getting a bit too much bass, lower the bass side ... you can also adjust the pole pieces (slot-head screws) individually in order to change the 'string-to-string' balance of the pup .. but do either of these adjustments little by little .. dont just screw it all the way down at once .. as little as a quarter of a turn can yield a dramatic immprovement .. and experiment to find your own preference !!

hope this helps
good luck
t4d

 

[fwibble]

Re: Tone Help! I'm Going Crazy!!!!

thanks for the help, the best way i can describe the sound at the moment is that the bridge pickup sounds like a neck pickup (I realise that both pickups I have are the same) but surelt there should be a difference in how much 'bite'they have? I had a pair of different model pickupas before and this didn't happen

 

[bryvincent]

Re: Tone Help! I'm Going Crazy!!!!

try to reduce the gain in your amp a little bit.

 

[fwibble]

Re: Tone Help! I'm Going Crazy!!!!

^^ that's been tried, I might switch the bridge p'up back to the stock gibson onees which came with the guitar, but this could cost me up to £60 / $100 which I don't have and I would like to make use of the pickup

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: Tone Help! I'm Going Crazy!!!!

My bridge Alnico 2 Pro is anything but muddy. It sounds to me like the pup is very low if it sounds like your neck pup.

Here's what to do

Get a ruler,a flathead, and phillips screwdriver, and make sure you have plenty of time.

Use whichever screwdriver (usually a phillips with factory pups, and a flathead with SD's) and raise the pup (using those 2 small screws bill mentioned) till the bobbin (plastic part) is about 2mm from the strings.

Raise and lower the pup sides tillyou get it where it sounds best.

To fine tune grab the flathead and raise or lower the screws ON the pups till you find the ideal height for you.

Remember that the strings don't need to touch the screws when you get high up on the neck.

Do the same with the neck pup.

Hope this helps!

Luke

 

[fwibble]

Re: Tone Help! I'm Going Crazy!!!!

the problem is that non of the notes seem to be ringing clear when in distortion, I'm sure this isn't a preoblem with my amp 'cos i've put presence all the way up, turned gain down, but it's not getting that 'bite'

 

[MikeS]

Re: Tone Help! I'm Going Crazy!!!!

Seriously, adjust all the heights first. These guys are 100% correct in saying that too low of a height can cause mudiness. If the pup is too far from the strings you lose a lot of bite and articulation. The AP2H should be anything but muddy. It's known for its smooth tone and great articulation.

 

[fwibble]

Re: Tone Help! I'm Going Crazy!!!!

the birdge pup is the main problem, and i've set it as high as i can without touching the strings, and then lowering it by 1/2 a mm until they've got as low as the body - no joy. I'm beginning to think it's my amp, but even with another amp i have, the problrm remains the same. I know this is a noob question, but is it possible to fit a neck pup in the bridge? I 'm also beginning to think this is the problem, as there is absolutely no articualtion

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: Tone Help! I'm Going Crazy!!!!

Hey Fwibble did you wire it yourself, or did a tech do it? If a tech did it take it back and have the tech fix it.

If you don't want to mess with it in either case open up the back and tell us how the pup is wired, I can't help but think it might be a wiring problem.

It is also possible the a pot filament got melted. When I melted the pots in my LP it did a muddy bad sound kind of thing.

Luke

 

[tone4days]

Re: Tone Help! I'm Going Crazy!!!!

luke's right - if a tech did it, take it back

another test is to wire the bridge pickup straight to the output jack (no tone control / no volume control) ... see if you can get a good tone like that .. if you can, you have another clue

and yes, it is possible to fit a neck pup in the bridge slot ... that thought had crossed my mind earlier (that maybe they were installed in the wrong slot), but i dismissed it as unlikely ... worth checking though

good luck
t4d

 

[fwibble]

Re: Tone Help! I'm Going Crazy!!!!

i didn;t wire it myself, i'm cack-handed with a soldering iron, a tech did it for me in the local shop, so i'll take it to them in the morning, thanks for the help guys. If you can think of anything else please let me know

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: Tone Help! I'm Going Crazy!!!!

i didn;t wire it myself, i'm cack-handed with a soldering iron, a tech did it for me in the local shop, so i'll take it to them in the morning, thanks for the help guys. If you can think of anything else please let me know

No problem Fwibble! Your pups are definitely NOT right, I have found that most techs have no clue what they are doing when it comes to installing aftermarket pups. They don't follow the schematics provided, or try to use different color codes. It's terrible that this guy didn't even check your guitar out to see if everything was working good. If I were you I wouldn't have anything else done THERE!

Soldering is easy it only takes some practice and we can give you some tips too!

Luke

 

[dd12939]

Re: Tone Help! I'm Going Crazy!!!!

Maybe the tone control is messed up? That would definately cause muddiness. Another thing to try is to lower the pickup itself, but raise the polepiece screws - that should yield a significatntly brighter sound. Try to match the screw heights to the radius of the fretboard and then adjust from there.

 

[fwibble]

Re: Tone Help! I'm Going Crazy!!!!

problem in Uk is that getting stuff done on guitar is expensive unless you know a tech yourself, so what I'll do is get him to do it again and insist it's free since he srewed up first time round, and if it's still stuffed I'll try and get my money back. I know a guy in a pretty succesful band (well they were huge in the UK in the 80's and are making a kind of comeback) called Tigertailz, I'll see if he knows anybody who'll a) do it for cheap b) teach me how to mod guitars so I won't have to pay out £60 every time i need something done

 

[Ralle 500]

Re: Tone Help! I'm Going Crazy!!!!

Have you tryied to change the pots on your guitar? Some Epiphones don't have the best of pots. A bad pot can make " wonders " to your sound. Do you have a 250 k or a 500 k for the volume? I would go with the 500 k. Another thing you can try is to wire the pick directly to the volume pot. If none of this doesn't work I'm afraid that you need to check your amp.

 

[Artie]

Re: Tone Help! I'm Going Crazy!!!!

. . . but i can't get rid of the muddy sound when the bridge pickup is being played with distortion.

the problem is that non of the notes seem to be ringing clear when in distortion . . .

I couldn't help but notice that you've said this twice. Are the notes clear and articulate when run clean? How are you achieving your distortion? Overdriving the amp, a distortion pedal?

If the pickup is clear when run clean, but muddy only when using distortion, I wouldn't think that it has anything to do with the guitar, but more to do with the pedal/settings.

Maybe. Just my 2-cents worth.

 

[fwibble]

Re: Tone Help! I'm Going Crazy!!!!

i took it to my guitar tech this morning and he checked everything out and said it was fine, i think after 2 solid days of constant fiddling and going through the internet (thanks for the help by the way guys) i'm starting to come to the conclusion that it;s the distortion on my amp being total ****e, whcich is annoying cos i hate using loads of effects. Anybody got any suggestions for a really good, versatile distortion pedal that goes well with my gear?