Troubles ...

Lespaul85

New member
Recently installed invader(bridge) In my les paul
Tone is really muddy..
Havin second thoughts
Wondering should I go back to the stock gibson 57 classic plus or try different duncan

Pickup height currently at 1/8
Should I lower the height?or just switch it out
Thanks guysimage.jpg
 
Re: Troubles ...

Lower it for starters. You can also try soldering in a 0.047uf capacitor between the black hot pickup wire and the pickup selector. This will act as a filter, taking out some of the low end. You can try up to a 0.01uf cap for varying amounts of filtering.
 
Re: Troubles ...

Plug in your guitar and adjust the height and eq while you play. That's really the only way to tell.

What amp?
 
Re: Troubles ...

I would try another duncan if you hate the invader. I hate the invader because it is to my ears so muddy. I far prefer brighter pickups. I love the black winter, and really like the distortion. Neither of those are muddy at all.
 
Re: Troubles ...

Mess with the pickup height and polepiece screws first. Then the high pass filter LonePhantom suggested. If that doesn't work, I'd use the SD 21-day exchange policy. I'm assuming you want a really high-output humbucker that sounds nice and thick (which would usually be the Invader, but it turns out that pickup is too muddy in this guitar). I'd then suggest the Distortion, Black Winter, or Custom.
 
Re: Troubles ...

Its not a muddy pickup when used for the purpose its built for....crushing distortion through driving a tube amp into total submission. When used for that, it is best described as brutal dark and powerful.
However, it might not be the best pickup for your uses. We all have different tonal needs depending on the kind of genres we play and the rest of the gear in our signal chain.
What sounds are you aiming to achieve? What kind of amp are you using? What kind of famous player's tones would be a good reference point?
Also....what value pots and caps did you install? Many gibsons have 300k pots as stock and most humbuckers - especially dark ones like an invader sound best with 500k pots.
 
Re: Troubles ...

How about wiring a series parallel switch for it? You would have to add a DPDT switch for this but a push-pull pot will do the job without changing the appearance of the guitar. The parallel setting would be much brighter - especially if you are not using distortion. Just a thought - and it's easier than changing it for a new pickup. (Of course, don't let the 21 day exchange period slip by either if you really feel it's necessary to change the pickup.)
 
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Re: Troubles ...

Thanks for all the help guys

I'm currently using a marshall avt275

I play mostly thrash


I'm pickin up a mesa mini dual rectifier over the weekend with the mini slant cab
I'm thinkin I should get the time I'm lookin for

My current amp as seen it's day I think
Takes too long to warm up and I'm sure she needs a tune up
 
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