Trembucker suggestions

[MadmaxG79]

I'm looking for a trembucker to put in the bridge position of my Carvin TL60 Tele, HS config, through neck, all koa (like mahogany only a tad brighter), ebony fingerboard.

I'm not really concerned about matching the bridge with the single coil tele neck (currently a Lace Tele neck pu) since I'm planning on putting a Sustainiac Stealth Pro 2 single coil in there at some time.

Right now I have a Parallel Axis Original in there and it's a bit dull. Not defined enough in the highs and mids, a bit muffled.

I'm looking for a kind of middle ground between a JB and a Tone Zone. I really like the Tone Zone in the bridge of my Burny LP, but it just has a little too much bass. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy the 'oomph' it has, it just has a little too much of it... I also really enjoy the JB in the bridge of my Kramer Imperial (alder body) but it's a little too bright and missing some of the Tone Zone's punch. It's as if the JB's bark is worse than it's bite.

I play classic and hard rock with mid gain. I don't really care about the clean tone, I hardly use it. Don't get me wrong, I don't play metal, but I like power chords and palm muting and seering lead tones. My base rythm tone is something along the lines of Black Stone Cherry / John5 for Marilyn Manson / Foo Fighters. I know, that was 3 very different tones, I just didn't know another way of describing it

I'd prefer staying in the SD or DiMarzio price range but if something like the BKPs is the secret sauce that I need, who am I too argue? I don't mod pickups, never touched a soldering iron either. If it's possible, I'd prefer it to be with open zebra covers but that's not a deal breaker.

So far I'm looking into Alternative 8, Super Distortion, Custom, Custom Custom or Distortion. I'm considering going for a bit lower output but I really don't want to change all the current gain settings in my rig... I would prefer being able to swap between my guitars without having to change all the gain settings. I'm not even sure that would be necessary? If not, I'm considering trying out the 59/Custom Hybrid or the WLH Trembucker bridge.

Right now I'm leaning towards the Alternative 8.

Any thoughts?

(sorry about the poor descriptions of sound, I'm not very good at it and I'm just a hobby musician...)

 

[LtKojak]

Re: Trembucker suggestions

I have a Parallel Axis Original in there and it's a bit dull

Swapping the A5 mag with a ceramic mag would work alright.

HTH,

 

[marcboomer]

Re: Trembucker suggestions

Maybe listen to the newer Pegasus Trembucker. Between a JB and an Alt 8....there's a 21 day exchange to lean on.

 

[Gibson 1964]

Re: Trembucker suggestions

Im just going to say if a PATB-1B is muffled... I'd take a look at your pots. Especially on a Carvin. (I have not been impressed with their stock pots) I would make sure you have a good 500k there before proceeding as I have found the PATB-1B to be quite bright. I would also make sure to look at the BW in addition to the pegasus. But first I would make sure you don't have what you want minus a crappy set of pots holding you back.

 

[devastone]

Re: Trembucker suggestions

After checking the pots which is a good idea, I personally like the Custom or the DiMarzio Norton (regular Norton, not Air), which is a great bridge pickup.

 

[MadmaxG79]

Re: Trembucker suggestions

Thank you for all the replies!

I will 'have a look' at all the pots before changing the pickups. Or I'll have a tech do it, at least...

 

[Mincer]

Re: Trembucker suggestions

The Perpetual Burn might also work. It is less barky than a JB, but enough output to drive a sustainer pickup, and doesn't compress as much as higher output pickups. the 59/Custom Hybrid is also great for hard rock/mid gain stuff, and would be a good choice too- good combo of power with vintage-ish tones.

 

[MadmaxG79]

Re: Trembucker suggestions

Just to give you an update:

I tried significantly lowering the pickup height and it really worked wonders for my tone! I have more sustain and dynamics albeit less output. But the PATB-1B has enough of that already... As a bonus, the bridge trembucker now plays much nicer with the Lace Gold Tele neck pu.

I'm still not crazy about the lack of definition in the tone, it still seems a little bit 'muddy'. I'm going to try experimenting with increasing the pu height on the treble strings to see where that gets me.

In the mean time I've been made aware of IronGear pickups, which I might check out, if the PATB-1b doesn't meet my requirements. I'm thinking either the Dirty Torque or the Hot Slag. IronGear doesn't make trembuckers, but I can live with the misalignment of strings to pole pieces.