Versatile pickups for all-in-one guitar

[Peter_M]

Hi to All,
I'm new here and at the very start I want to apologies for my English as I'm not a native speaker. I need some help to make a decision about the new pickups for my favourite guitar. I have two other guitars at home (LP and Strat) but when I'm going to play at the garage with my colleagues I prefer to take just one of them. We are playing almost everything from John Lee Hooker to Death so one of my guitars just has to be kind of Swiss knife
And about the guitar itself ...... it is Mayones EXG-1 Custom (very similar to Ibanez RG higher models), set H-S-H, fretboard - Rosewood, neck- maple, body-solid swamp ash, FloydRose bridge, scale length - 25,4'.
Stock set of pickups is SH-1n/SSL-1/SH-4 (I know that it should be TB).
So regarding SH-4 in general I like it despite of this grid in mids (in general I prefer more scooped mids) so I was thinking about Jason Becker Perpetual Burn Trembucker that seems to be more balanced ..... do You think that it is good idea ?
In the middle there is SSL-1 which I would like to keep (although maybe You have some suggestions).
And SH1n ... I like its vintage sound specially with boost but I would like to have here something a little bit brighter as with heavy distortion it seems to be a little bit muddy. On the other hand SH2 is not what I want .... lack of this Vintage thing. I was thinking about Pearl Gates/Whole Lotta/Sentient.
In general I'm not a big fan of ceramic magnets I prefer the sound of Alnico.
Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

 

[dxlxntxxlxr]

Re: Versatile pickups for all-in-one guitar

Hi to All,
I'm new here and at the very start I want to apologies for my English as I'm not a native speaker. I need some help to make a decision about the new pickups for my favourite guitar. I have two other guitars at home (LP and Strat) but when I'm going to play at the garage with my colleagues I prefer to take just one of them. We are playing almost everything from John Lee Hooker to Death so one of my guitars just has to be kind of Swiss knife
And about the guitar itself ...... it is Mayones EXG-1 Custom (very similar to Ibanez RG higher models), set H-S-H, fretboard - Rosewood, neck- maple, body-solid swamp ash, FloydRose bridge, scale length - 25,4'.
Stock set of pickups is SH-1n/SSL-1/SH-4 (I know that it should be TB).
So regarding SH-4 in general I like it despite of this grid in mids (in general I prefer more scooped mids) so I was thinking about Jason Becker Perpetual Burn Trembucker that seems to be more balanced ..... do You think that it is good idea ?
In the middle there is SSL-1 which I would like to keep (although maybe You have some suggestions).
And SH1n ... I like its vintage sound specially with boost but I would like to have here something a little bit brighter as with heavy distortion it seems to be a little bit muddy. On the other hand SH2 is not what I want .... lack of this Vintage thing. I was thinking about Pearl Gates/Whole Lotta/Sentient.
In general I'm not a big fan of ceramic magnets I prefer the sound of Alnico.
Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

P-Rails! Maybe custom in the bridge pg in the neck?

 

[Nagisa]

Re: Versatile pickups for all-in-one guitar

I vote for just keeping the JB in there, doing a magnet swap if needed to change the mids up. Others here like Blueman would be better at guiding you for which magnet in this scenario. Keep the middle. PGn is once again working for me personally - I think it's a pretty good choice, though the a2 keeps it pretty warm. If your guitar is dark then maybe something else.

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Versatile pickups for all-in-one guitar

Sentient neck and Perpetual Burn bridge sounds like something you might like. The Perpetual Burn is more like a JB without the midspike than it is a SH-4, however. The Sentient neck is tonally about halfway between a Jazz and a 59n. They should both pair well with the SSL-1.

You might also like:

Jazz neck and 59/Custom Hybrid bridge
'59 neck and Custom 5 bridge
Sentient neck and Black Winter bridge

The first two sets both have a fairly scooped bridge and all three neck pickups are similar and can be swapped "to taste".

 

[Mincer]

Re: Versatile pickups for all-in-one guitar

Welcome to the forum!

I'd go with possibly a P-Rails with Triple Shot in the neck, and a 59/Custom Hybrid (with split switch, or auto split) in the bridge. The P-Rails/Triple Shot combo gives you a wide range of sounds, while the Hybrid has an EQ & power level (it is more scooped than the graph leads you to believe) that makes it great for a wide range of styles.

 

[Peter_M]

Re: Versatile pickups for all-in-one guitar

Thank You for the tips.
Regarding '59 I have it now and well I really like clean and crunch tones but with a lot of distortion it is a bit too muddy. Few months ago when I was changing strings in my guitar I swap it with my friends Jazz and it is just opposit situation, distorted sound seems to be great but clean tones ...... well I prefer '59. At this moment I rather have to choose between Pearl Gates and Sentient.
And regarding JB I have to change it anyway because it is SH-4 instead of TB-4 and the poles are not exactly in the right place so I have a problem with sustain at some strings. So if I have to change it ..... then I prefer to change it on something that will sound better for me. At the very begining I was thinking about Sentient and Pegasus as the DEMO of Pegasus that is on SD website sounds great for me but when I watched some YouTube tests it doesn't seem so perfect any longer. For example TB-14 (Custom 5) sounds much better than Pegasus.
For example here: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lnrlZAFYk8) - Pegasus is the winner for me but here: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UR9Z3V9n2PA) - I prefer TB14

 

[Synapsys]

Re: Versatile pickups for all-in-one guitar

PATB-1B/ PATSTK-S1/ PATB-1N will probably sort you out.

 

[Peter_M]

Re: Versatile pickups for all-in-one guitar

Hmmm I did not consider this option before ..... well they sound really nice. Now I have more doubts and options than at the moment when I wrote this thread

By the way I've forgotten to mention that as it is all-in-one guitar I have coil splitter for both humbs in push-pull tone pot and I have a special electric circuit made by my friends father. He added a push/push switch just the same as You can find in some Fender Strats, when it is OFF 5-position blade switch is working and when it is ON You have bridge and neck humbuckers working together.

 

[Peter_M]

Re: Versatile pickups for all-in-one guitar

Hi,
I'm refreshing this thread as I've just found the solution of my problem and actually ...... it was a coincidence. Maybe it will be kind of tip for somebody. So .... I have an opportunity to buy used Dimebucker (SH-13) at quite low price. It was something around 80 USD and it was in perfect condition, honestly it's almost as new. I checked some YouTube comparisons and found out that it sounds really similar to Pegasus and Custom (SH-5). In the past I wasn't thinking about this humbucker as i thought that it is rather a one trick pony kind of pick for heavy stuff. Well, I could not be more wrong. It sounds great with distorted signal but set the Volume at 7 and tone around 6-7 on your guitar and it will give You really nice clean notes ........ as for me much nicer than JB. Lets go further on, it sounds really great in a split coil mode, it gives You telecaster type of twang.
On SD website I've found that it is combined in a set with SH1b for the neck position. Well I had SH1b somewhere within the old cables, pots and other stuff I swap SH1n and I've put SH1b in the neck position. Surprise !!!!! Now I still have the same vintage sound that I like a lot but with a little higher output and little bit more dynamics it is no longer muddy when I'm playing with the gain at 10

Now I have only one more problem ..... my SSL-1 in the middle has a little too low output. Probably I'll have to change it for something more powerful. Any idea about the singel pick that will sound similar to SSL-1 but with higher output ? Maybe SSL-7 rwrp in the middle ?

 

[Mincer]

Re: Versatile pickups for all-in-one guitar

Well, as you increase the output on a single coil, it gets further away from the chimey bell sound of the SSL-1. You get more mids, and a softened attack. I might go for a noiseless pickup here, to keep the whole thing noise cancelling. One that may work, however, is the Parallel Axis Stack.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Versatile pickups for all-in-one guitar

And regarding JB I have to change it anyway because it is SH-4 instead of TB-4 and the poles are not exactly in the right place so I have a problem with sustain at some strings.

Actually, if there even really IS a difference, then it will be just the opposite to what you are suggesting. When the strings are closer to the poles, there is more magnetic attraction to the strings which will tend to dampen their vibration/sustain.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Versatile pickups for all-in-one guitar

Keep the SSL-1 in the middle and lower your bridge and neck pups some. Maybe raise the SSL-1 slightly as well.