Walnut Bodied Guitar, Need pickup suggestions

jonny24

jonny24

New member
Ok, I have a guitar that I need pickups for. Every thing I read about walnut contradicts... one person says it's bright, the next says too many low-mids, muffled, etc...

The guitar has a walnut body and neck. The body is heavily chambered. Maybe it's considered semi-hollow?
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Thats 1.5" thick. and the back is a little less than 3/8" thick.

25" scale, ebony fretboard, 1/2" maple cap.
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I play mostly classic rock to hard rock. Think AC/DC, Guns n Roses, Zeppelin. And some Def Leppard and Motley Crue type of stuff. Basically I like it crunchy and loud, no hi-gain fizzy noises.

Right now I'm thinking Alnico 2 pro's, maybe the slash models, or a set of pearly gates. maybe a C5? I *think* a2 is the way to go, since the ebony and maple will make it brighter for sure, and I don't know about the walnut's tone.

I have a '59 in a lespaul-type guitar, but it seems like i have to turn up more than when i play my stock PRS SE, which is why I'm looking at going a bit hotter with the Slash pups.

Thanks in advance for any advice or suggestions.
 
Re: Walnut Bodied Guitar, Need pickup suggestions

Semihollow means the tone will mellow and be a bit more midsey than walnut usually. This is what walnut is described as:

A darker wood with Ash-like grains, but like mahogany, the density is uniform. It is harder and denser than Mahogany so the tone is brighter, but the open grains make for a complex midrange that seems to be compressed in some frequencies, but dynamic in others. There’s a nasal response to rhythms, while solo notes jump out. It has a lot of advantageous features of the other main guitar woods. It has a snappy attack and solid lows like Ash, but with smooth highs like Mahogany, and textured mids like Alder. The drawbacks are that it’s heavier, and more stubborn in its sound. It doesn’t respond to random pickup changes. The pickups have to be well suited to the guitar. A Walnut body will dictate the tonal signature of the guitar more than the other main woods. A heavy piece will dampen the mids to produce an overly nasal and lifeless sound, so it needs to be light and open grained enough to resonate the main guitar frequencies.


You might have a hard time getting the absolute right combo, but I think the Slash pups would be a good starting place, as would pearly gates. You might even have good success with the PATB 3 as it is really open and uncompressed, but still PAF-like despite a 9K + reading
 
Re: Walnut Bodied Guitar, Need pickup suggestions

The conflicting opinions are probably because there isn't much in terms of reference to go by. Walnut is common for basses, but as a guitar material it is less common. It's possible that people are measuring walnut against more traditional guitar woods and are disappointed when it doesn't match expectations derived from other more traditional woods.
 
Re: Walnut Bodied Guitar, Need pickup suggestions

Very detailed description, thanks!

Ok, I will look into the PATB-3. For now, are there any opinions on choosing the PG's over the Slash's, or vice versa?

Thanks, guys! :D
 
Re: Walnut Bodied Guitar, Need pickup suggestions

idsnowdog said:
The conflicting opinions are probably because there isn't much in terms of reference to go by. Walnut is common for basses, but as a guitar material it is less common. It's possible that people are measuring walnut against more traditional guitar woods and are disappointed when it doesn't match expectations derived from other more traditional woods.
Click to expand...

Sorry, I missed what you said......................nice avatar BTW:friday:
 
Re: Walnut Bodied Guitar, Need pickup suggestions

i'm thinking demon and 59n, maybe A2Pn
considering the woods, chambering and what you're looking for

nice, btw
 
Re: Walnut Bodied Guitar, Need pickup suggestions

From the description given that's the best combo you can get for that guitar and the kind of music:

A4 '59n + OUA5 Custom.

/thread
 
Re: Walnut Bodied Guitar, Need pickup suggestions

Forgive me, probably a stupid question. What does "unoriented" mean? How does it change tone?
 
Re: Walnut Bodied Guitar, Need pickup suggestions

I've got a full bodied walnut les paul. I use a stagmag/patb2 hybrid with a thick ceramic magnet to get a raunchy, broad, dynamic tone with nice harmonics. not great, but nice.

I noticed that walnut takes actually almost every pickup nice and well. the patb3 in that guitar will sound very balanced with a nice sweetness to it.

For a very wide palette of tones, I'd take the pearly gates in the bridge and a duncan jazz bridgemodel in the neck.
 
Re: Walnut Bodied Guitar, Need pickup suggestions

Thanks for all the suggestions, guys!

Heres where I'm at. I looked at the PATB's, but I using a humbucker-spaced bridge, so yeah...

I found a thread (cant link to it, I'm on my PSP) about choosing pickups for a 78 The Paul. One poster figured that PGs might be a bit harsh. And with the maple and ebony, I dont think I need an overly bright pup.

I had been leaning towards the PGs, but now I'm not so sure. Maybe the Slash pups are the way to go? Their expensive, though, and I want covers, too...
 
Re: Walnut Bodied Guitar, Need pickup suggestions

I ran a Demon in the bridge of my walnut DC127. Sounded great. My guitar had a great low mid growl to it. Really wish I still had that guitar...
 
Re: Walnut Bodied Guitar, Need pickup suggestions

I think walnut itself varies. I have a walnut SG that is fairly warm-toned. But there's guys with bright ones.

Your guitar has a bright ebony board and maple top: that adds treble. You'd probably want to try Kojak's suggestion, and use warmer PU's.
 
Re: Walnut Bodied Guitar, Need pickup suggestions

Bottom line, Walnut is generally bright, Maple is generally bright, Ebony is generally bright. Bright Bright Bright.

I'm feeling an A2P.

I'd also make sure it had a killer tone knob and an amp that wasn't spikey.
 
Re: Walnut Bodied Guitar, Need pickup suggestions

Ok, so maybe A2P's, maybe a Demon, maybe a Custom ( OUA 5? :S)

Aceman, what make a good tone knob? Resistance, taper? What would you suggest?
 
Re: Walnut Bodied Guitar, Need pickup suggestions

jonny24 said:
Ok, so maybe A2P's, maybe a Demon, maybe a Custom ( OUA 5? :S)
Click to expand...

To me, stock Customs are bright and harsh. Kojack recommended one with a (warm) UOA5 magnet, which gives it a rich tone with lots of dynamics and response (which you don't get with the stock ceramic in a Custom).
 
Re: Walnut Bodied Guitar, Need pickup suggestions

I had a walnut tele that I made. Very prominent midrange with a bit of a nasal character to it, not necessarily honky, nasal. I really liked it. If you're wanting humbuckers, then I'd have to second Aceman's recommendation of the A2P's. However, I had a set of Phat Cat's in mine and it totally rocked!

Mine was solid walnut. Yours has a maple cap which is going to change things somewhat tonally. Still, I'd go with a warmer toned pickup to balance it.
 
Re: Walnut Bodied Guitar, Need pickup suggestions

Thanks for all the help guys! Much appreciated.

I think I've settled on A2P's, possibly Slash models. Just gotta find a good price. I'll let you know how it works out.
 
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