Too many options; advice sought

sbecker67

sbecker67

New member
I picked one of these up recently, very nice for the price except the p'ups are...well, horrible!

http://www.ravenwestguitar.com/k245pcrsflame1.html

It's a H/S/H configuration (coil tapped), neck through design with a floyd rose trem. The top is sycamore and the neck a combination of hard maple and walnut with an ebony fretboard. I have no idea what the body wood is but if I understand correctly the neck wood, in a through the body design, is of greater influence so that should be the basis for determining the appropriate p'up.

My problem: the more I investigate and research, the more difficult it's becoming to make a decision. Every time I decide on a combo, I come across something that causes me to reevaluate. LOL It's getting annoying! I've gone from the PATB to Custom 5 to Alt8 and everything inbetween.

I have other guitars that cover the vintage/usual PAF ranges so I was trying to stay away from the JB, '59 and A2 style p'ups and wanted to put something in this one that had higher output and is more suitable for high gain amps but stopping short of the insane gain/thrash metal type p'ups like a Full Shred set.

I welcome any advice and suggestion you may have.

Thank you
 
Re: Too many options; advice sought

welcome

wow, that's gonna be one bright guitar given those woods and construction methods ... what kind of pickups are in there and what dont you like about em - that'll help us steer you in a new direction

you can get all the output you want - it'll be plenty loud - but you are gonna have to be sure it can get you the tones you want at that volume .. i like the way you were thinking with the PATB ... you say you are coveredd for traditional humbucking tones, but remember, with these wood combos, a JB will sound quite different in this guitar than will a JB in a more traditional wood combo (e.g. maple over mahogany, or ash, or alder ...)

i am almost tempted to recommend some active pickups so as to have the active EQ available onboard to sculpt the tone to your needs ... either that or passives with an onboard EQ/preamp to do the same

the cool thing is that if you go with duncans, you can use the return policy to get yourself dialed in - if the first set doesnt do it, you can trade em in for a different set until you find the tone you are satisfied with ... just follow the instructions on the website and be sure to buy from an authorised dealer
 
Re: Too many options; advice sought

tone4days said:
... what kind of pickups are in there and what dont you like about em
Click to expand...

Cheap, no name, bland, lifeless, Korean made rails. There's no response or articulation at all. There is little to no difference at all in the tone regardless in which position the p'up selector switch is in; even in tapped mode. They are just lifeless and without any range at all. Muddy, unresponsive, lacking any clarity or crispness and definition. They don't respond to pick attack. They sound like gumball machine p'ups, is all I can say, and it's a shame because the guitar is built very well, feels great, plays very nice and is a tremendous value for the couple hundred dollar price tag.

Maybe a better question to ask is would any of these sets NOT be a good choice;

PATB set (not the blues saraceno bridge, but not against it)
Alt8 in the bridge with an AlnicoII pro in the neck
Custom 5 in the bridge with a Jazz in the neck

I wasn't going to look into a the single coil needed until I was set on the buckers.
 
Re: Too many options; advice sought

There's nothing insane about the Full Shreds. They are just very assertive and can cut. Business pickups. Might need something to fill out the bottom.

I think you want to go DD, hot rails, demon. That would be my first stop if I had vintage pickups elsewhere. BTW, the JB isn't vintage class.
 
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