whole lotta humbucker too dark in walnut

M

mouse ears

New member
I've got whole lotta humbuckers in multiple guitars, but they're too dark in my walnut carvin dc400. I'm using the Jimmy Page wiring harness that came with the set, so I'm thinking the issue is the walnut. I play classic rock and I have a set of hybrid custom/screamin demons and jazz/59 hybrids in another guitar and slashes aph 2s in yet another. I'm happy with all my other guitars (all carvin :)

I'm thinking about trying a set of pearly gates to brighten things up and add some bite. I've tried a pearly neck but never a bridge. Would this help?
 
Re: whole lotta humbucker too dark in walnut

That's interesting. Isn't walnut a midddle to bright tonewood? Considering WLH sound great in mahogany guitars with rosewood fretboards... there are not any commonly used woods that are darker than mahogany and rosewood.
 
Re: whole lotta humbucker too dark in walnut

SnakeAces said:
That's interesting. Isn't walnut a midddle to bright tonewood? Considering WLH sound great in mahogany guitars with rosewood fretboards... there are not any commonly used woods that are darker than mahogany and rosewood.
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Well, I have a solid 1 piece Walnut San Dimas that is darker sounding. The Dimebucker works great it in as it is more of a brighter pickup.

I would say if you want something that is not a "traditional" pairing BUT will really make that gutiar scream, try a Dimebucker in the Bridge with a Screamin Demon in the neck–awesome combo in my Walnut guitar!
 
Re: whole lotta humbucker too dark in walnut

what I found is that walnut is a medium bright wood, but if you use it as a solid body material (no other materials but walnut) it can be... warm.

The Dimebucker isn't even bright: it's friggin harsh! That brightens up even the woofiest of guitars.

My choice would be the Sentient in the neck (the demon is imho too warm nowadays) and the nazgul in the bridge if you wanna go modern, or the sentient in the neck (great vintage voiced pickup,yeah it is! :o ) and a Jazz Bridge pickup.
 
Re: whole lotta humbucker too dark in walnut

I'm looking for a low to mid output humbucker. I used jbs for years, but they're too hot for me these days.
 
Re: whole lotta humbucker too dark in walnut

orpheo said:
what I found is that walnut is a medium bright wood, but if you use it as a solid body material (no other materials but walnut) it can be... warm.

The Dimebucker isn't even bright: it's friggin harsh! That brightens up even the woofiest of guitars.

My choice would be the Sentient in the neck (the demon is imho too warm nowadays) and the nazgul in the bridge if you wanna go modern, or the sentient in the neck (great vintage voiced pickup,yeah it is! :o ) and a Jazz Bridge pickup.
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Ha! We will have to disagree on the Dimebucker being harsh–I get some pretty smooth tones out of it ;)

mouse ears said:
I'm looking for a low to mid output humbucker. I used jbs for years, but they're too hot for me these days.
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Well, the Pearly Gates is definitely worth a shot! Some people use the bridge position in the neck (paired with something hot like the JB) so if you don't like it in the bridge you can always recycle it yourself or resell as either a bridge or neck pickup.
 
Re: whole lotta humbucker too dark in walnut

If you're looking for bright pickups you should look at the Jazz set or a Sentient neck with a jazz bridge like orpheo said. The Pearly Gates does have sizzle for sure but it also has a lot of mids. Since the guitar is dark naturally you may not like the pearly gates in that specific guitar but the gates are great pickups.
 
Re: whole lotta humbucker too dark in walnut

For me, PGN's have been very warm, too warm. I need more high-end than that in the neck slot. PGB's on the other hand are voiced differently, and are much brighter. Some guys like them in the neck.
 
Re: whole lotta humbucker too dark in walnut

I guess pg bridge or jazz bridge are my best options. Anyone have experience with both of these?
 
Re: whole lotta humbucker too dark in walnut

mouse ears said:
I guess pg bridge or jazz bridge are my best options. Anyone have experience with both of these?
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I felt like the Jazz was too dark in Mahogany, IMO, and it sounds like your Walnut is tonally similar to Mahogany so I don't know on that one. I will let others voice their opinions...
 
Re: whole lotta humbucker too dark in walnut

I have a Jazz set in a very warm guitar and they are awesome. They brought articulation, clarity and a full range of musical possibilities to a guitar I never thought could play such music. They can handle as much gain as you can throw at them but they sound great clean too. Here is a small example of my set from a video someone took of me a few months back when I was jammin with my Jazz set. I use both the neck and bridge pickups individually in this clip:

 
Re: whole lotta humbucker too dark in walnut

blueman335 said:
SD Jazz are pretty bright and clear. If they're too dark, there's not many humbuckers that are going to be a lot brighter.
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It was too dark for my taste in an Ibanez SZ Prestige that was Mahogany with a Maple cap. Granted, that is my only experience with it but it sounded too dark and muffled.
 
Re: whole lotta humbucker too dark in walnut

OP - you mentioned that you also installed a "Jimmy Page wiring harness that came with the set". Is it possible that the issue is with the wiring harness? I have a '78 Gibby "The Paul", which is all walnut with a enbony fretboard. When it had the orignal 300k/100k volume/tone controls, is was really 'dark'. When I replaced it with a all 500k RS guitarworks kit, it became way to bright with the orignal T-Tops. Might it be that the kit may have one or more push/pull pots that aren't close to 500k?
 
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