Pickups

Charfett · Post by **Charfett** » Wed May 13, 2015 1:38 pm

First off different taste for different folk. I'm an EMG fan, I them in 5 guitars. One guitar has a Dimarzio super distortion so in both spots and then are wired for single coil operation. Lately I've been playing in a doom band and have not been cutting my gain back so I've been thinking about trying some medium gain pickups. Any suggestions?

Corium_AZ · Post by **Corium_AZ** » Wed May 13, 2015 3:25 pm

Charfett wrote:First off different taste for different folk. I'm an EMG fan, I them in 5 guitars. One guitar has a Dimarzio super distortion so in both spots and then are wired for single coil operation. Lately I've been playing in a doom band and have not been cutting my gain back so I've been thinking about trying some medium gain pickups. Any suggestions?

I'd say, if it's an alder or ash bodied guitar, try a Duncan JB, or if it's mahogany try a Duncan custom. Custom works great in alder & ash too. All around great pup, and not all that expensive! Pop an A8 mag in either a JB or a custom, and they just come alive and destroy!

Corium_AZ · Post by **Corium_AZ** » Wed May 13, 2015 3:29 pm

Speaking of pup magnets... If you are apt to tinkering and tone shaping, and most here are if imagine, then try some magnet swaps in your pups. Makes a HUGE difference in tone, response, feel, eq, etc. You can get pup magnets for about $5/ea. Just grab an Alnico 2, 3, 4, 5, UOA5, 8 and maybe a ceramic & just swap away. Plenty of info on the web on how to do it, and tons of info on the Seymour Duncan forum on which mags do what and in what pups, etc.

Careful, it's addicting...

Corium_AZ · Post by **Corium_AZ** » Wed May 13, 2015 3:45 pm

isolated1523 wrote:I'll add useless fuel to the fire...

My Temoniti PRS (American made) has me 50/50 on the humbuckers in it...i LOVE the bridge pickup, it does anything I need a bridge to do...but the neck pickup is SOO bass-heavy that i almost always use it as a mute position lol.

I've wondered if its because Tremonti plays most of his clean stuff through fender amps, and uses other amps for his distortion?

I've run into the same problem with every Gibson I've had (all LP's or semi hollows), no matter what pup I've run in the neck.

I have managed to make all of them sound great though. Try these:

1) Lower that neck pup. Sink it all the way down to about flush with the pup ring. That alone may do the trick. If you lose too much definition, leave the bass side sunk, and raise the treble side closer. It'll be crooked, but who cares if it works?

2) Swap in an A4 magnet. That tremonti bass pup has an A5, which is a pretty hot magnet, with a lot of bass, a lot of treble and scooped mids. An A4 will flatten the eq, and significantly lower output & bass.

3) Install a 'de-mud' mod on the neck pup volume pot. Search google for 'Artie de mud mod'. This is basically a tiny high pass filter that installs between your pup hot lead and its corresponding pot lug. Really easy install, and it works awesome! I have one in every Gibson I own, and every Gibson anyone I know owns, lol. Everyone wanted it & loves it. It's just a .01uf cap and 500k resistor in parallel. Prolly cost $1. Look it up, you won't be disappointed!

audiomidijace · Post by **audiomidijace** » Wed May 13, 2015 4:21 pm

Good stuff!

JKD · Post by **JKD** » Wed May 13, 2015 4:23 pm

+1 on lowering that neck pickup.....I lower mine as far as I can then tweak it back up for output.

isolated1523 · Post by **isolated1523** » Thu May 14, 2015 1:56 pm

Corium_AZ wrote:
isolated1523 wrote:I'll add useless fuel to the fire...

My Temoniti PRS (American made) has me 50/50 on the humbuckers in it...i LOVE the bridge pickup, it does anything I need a bridge to do...but the neck pickup is SOO bass-heavy that i almost always use it as a mute position lol.

I've wondered if its because Tremonti plays most of his clean stuff through fender amps, and uses other amps for his distortion?
I've run into the same problem with every Gibson I've had (all LP's or semi hollows), no matter what pup I've run in the neck.

I have managed to make all of them sound great though. Try these:

1) Lower that neck pup. Sink it all the way down to about flush with the pup ring. That alone may do the trick. If you lose too much definition, leave the bass side sunk, and raise the treble side closer. It'll be crooked, but who cares if it works?

2) Swap in an A4 magnet. That tremonti bass pup has an A5, which is a pretty hot magnet, with a lot of bass, a lot of treble and scooped mids. An A4 will flatten the eq, and significantly lower output & bass.

3) Install a 'de-mud' mod on the neck pup volume pot. Search google for 'Artie de mud mod'. This is basically a tiny high pass filter that installs between your pup hot lead and its corresponding pot lug. Really easy install, and it works awesome! I have one in every Gibson I own, and every Gibson anyone I know owns, lol. Everyone wanted it & loves it. It's just a .01uf cap and 500k resistor in parallel. Prolly cost $1. Look it up, you won't be disappointed!

Sounds good, i'll give them a shot!!

warlok · Post by **warlok** » Thu May 21, 2015 6:39 pm

Don't know anything about Gibson pups but I agree with EVERYTHING Corium_AZ said about Duncans and magnets. I have a few Customs with A8 mags which I love.. And per his advice quite a while ago, I just put a JB with an A8 mag in place of the EMG 81/89 in my RRTMG. Holy s*&t that pickup is awesome!! AWESOME!!!