What pickups in Agathis body?

marcello252

marcello252

Well-known member
I have an inexpensive Ibanez Gax 30, agathis body, rosewood fingerboard, bolt on, 24" 3/4 scale.

It doesn't play bad unplugged, not very sparkling but it reminds a bit mahogany. When plugged I'm not able to find a good sound, I tried a lot of pickups but I've never found the good one.

I play rock, generally pretty mild but sometimes I go to higher gain things, I currently use an american style amp with some dist pedals.

Please, I'm curious, what kind of pickups (bridge and neck) would you suggest here?

Thank you
 
Re: What pickups in Agathis body?

I've had a few agathis guitars in my day and I recommend bright Pickups, they seem to actually compliment the dark nature of the wood. I've used Bill Lawerence XL500's to great success in the past and I think the Super Distortion does well in those guitars as well.
 
Re: What pickups in Agathis body?

I had a GRX40 with a SSL-1, the stock middle, and a super distortion, and I liked it OK. Sometimes I've found the Super D and other super high output pickups to have too much midrange. The last high output pickup I really dug with agathis was the original D-Activator, as it was pretty open sounding, a lil bright (great sizzle!) and didn't have a ton of midrange.

Have you tried a Custom 5? I've used that one with a basswood Yamaha strat to get a good balance, and I don't feel like cheap baswood is too far off from agathis.
 
Re: What pickups in Agathis body?

I suggest either humbucker-sized P90s or P-Rails. The latter would be of more use to you in Triple Shot mounting surrounds.
 
Re: What pickups in Agathis body?

I didn't say what I've tried:
- GHS crunchy (14K ceramic, something similar to a SD custom I think, too much sterile)
- GHS classic II (very good at neck position, didn't tried at the bridge)
- '59 (too hollow, but I didn't know about mag swapping at the time)
- JB (a mid-high overflow)
- C5 (even more hollow)

Now I put the original Ibanez back but I think it's the worst of the bunch.

the P90 idea could be good but I'd prefer an humbucker, the p-rails could be interesting but here costs more than the guitar
 
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Re: What pickups in Agathis body?

Man, just something bright. I found that Agathis actually sounds really good once you get some decent bright pickups in it.

59/59 maybe or C5/59.

I only recommend using A5s or ceramics in agathis...
 
Re: What pickups in Agathis body?

After two-and-a-half-years of trials changing EVERYTHING in that guitar and 'bout $ 500,00 burned trying to make an Agathis-made strat sound good, my conclusion was that it was just IMPOSSIBLE. It doesn't matter what I did, everything I played had that "plastic-y" quality that bothered me to no end.

Sold the guitar and got my excellent-sounding, mahogany-made PRS SE EG, paired up with a Custom set wound by David Plummer aka Zhangliqun.

Search over. Back to making music.

HTH,
 
Re: What pickups in Agathis body?

marcello, listen to Kojak. Then, listen to yourself.

marcello252 said:
It doesn't play bad unplugged, not very sparkling
Click to expand...

In the UK, we have the expression "damned by faint praise". By your own admission, you are facing an uphill struggle with the Agathis body.

You have tried adding brightness through replacement pickups but failed to arrive at a good overall balance. I suggested a P90 style pickup because it would make a feature of the natural "dark" tonality of the timber.
 
Re: What pickups in Agathis body?

LtKojak said:
my conclusion was that it was just IMPOSSIBLE
Click to expand...

:)
Selling mine it's not even worth. At what price? 90 euros? at that price I'll keep it in the cupboard instead, it could be useful one day, at least for spare parts.
I have to say I haven't buy anything for that guitar, I've just tried what I have around.
The P90 idea is indeed interesting, too bad I sold a ghs mean 90 I had...
I have the pieces to make an hybrid in the drawer, maybe I could try something with it, with an A5.
 
Re: What pickups in Agathis body?

marcello252 said:
:)
Selling mine it's not even worth. At what price? 90 euros? at that price I'll keep it in the cupboard instead, it could be useful one day, at least for spare parts.
I have to say I haven't buy anything for that guitar, I've just tried what I have around.
The P90 idea is indeed interesting, too bad I sold a ghs mean 90 I had...
I have the pieces to make an hybrid in the drawer, maybe I could try something with it, with an A5.
Click to expand...
Hybrids are often good for dull guitars, as they add sparkle and extended range to compensate.

You might also look at picking up some hex or other 0.5" screws, they're very cheap and are a great tweaking tool. Adds a bit of bite, tightens things, removes just enough bass to tighten things in the pickups I've tried.
 
Re: What pickups in Agathis body?

GFS Crunchy PAT is pretty close to a Custom, since that didn't work, go for the Dimarzio D-Activator. If you've got an A8 handy, try that in the C5.
 
Re: What pickups in Agathis body?

Of all my guitars, I have just one that is definitely Agathis. I have worked on a few for other people. Compared to the classic Fender tonewoods, agathis is exactly as marcello252 describes - "not very sparkling". The wood is not without resonant qualities. They are just not at the frequencies associated with Fender guitars. Thus, a guitar built from Agathis is going to struggle to sound Fender-y.

This can work to one's advantage. My one Agathis-bodied guitar is a Squier Vintage Modified Tele Custom II - the one with the P90s. This sounds NOTHING like any Fender Telecaster you will ever hear. On the other hand, it does a wonderful Blues-Rock rumble for not very much money.

If I were booked to play in a rough and tumble venue and did not want to risk taking a P90-equiped Gibson, I would happily take the Squier instead.
 
Re: What pickups in Agathis body?

hey stinkfinger, you know the routes will take humbuckers and that you can get a humbucker scratchplate from the guitar parts guru/resource, right?

those teles are fantastic bang for the buck.
 
Re: What pickups in Agathis body?

dr. ad said:
hey stinkfinger, you know the routes will take humbuckers and that you can get a humbucker scratchplate from the guitar parts guru/resource, right?

those teles are fantastic bang for the buck.
Click to expand...

Yes, I know about the generous PU routs. They are so big, they would probably accept Jazzmaster pickups. (Perhaps, somebody oughta tell Astrozombie?!) I wanted P90s. P90s was what I got.

Finally, Mister Australian, I shall have you know that my next Pommie bath is due any moment this month - whether I need one or not. :D
 
Re: What pickups in Agathis body?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFeoS5i9zro&feature=related

Six minutes in to this video, I start talking about the P-Rails. That red guitar I'm holding is an Agathis GSZ body that I re-shaped into a Radius/Satriani type of thing, and had all the same issues brought up in this thread. I did have a hybrid in the bridge at one point which was okay. But everything had an awkward quality to it. That neck is a Japanese SC420 neck, and the hardware and electronics were all upgraded. I debated putting in Blackouts, and for awhile I had a boost circuit in there, just anything to force something to happen. It was never terrible, just never great either. And I'm usually pretty good at getting a guitar/pickup combo to be exceptional. The P-Rails were the best that guitar ever sounded. I still considered it a pretty bland vehicle for demonstrating the sound of P-Rails, and I never played it in any other demos, then I sold it off.
 
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