San Dimas Pro Mod

[cableguy]

Having had my San Dimas for a month or so now I am not too happy with the JB in the bridge. JB seems weak and too bright. I was thinking of swapping it out, thought the Tone Zone may be a good choice. Still up in the air about the neck... Any suggestions

[The Rossness]

How about just a TZ w/o a neck pup?

[gerryl98]

Air Norton

[plon]

Seymour Duncan PATB-2. Got one in my USA SD and it's sounds very full without being overly bassy, smooth highs too. The JB sounds like shit in my MIJ SD, I installed pickup rings on it so it's not direct mount anymore. I think I'll go TB-6 distortion for this one and if that sounds ass, it's PATB-2 for this one too.

[2Loud2Old]

Bare Knuckle Holy Diver, to add some low-mids to a bright guitar.
For more chunk, try the Miracle Man.

I have both of these.
Holy Diver in my Baretta (Maple body), Miracle Man in my Soloist Pro

I'll be putting another Holy diver in my So-Cal next.

SD '59 is always a good neck choice, or Dimarzio's EVO

[cscoios]

I've got the Tone Zone in my So-Cal and love it. Great crunchy sound, perfect for Dokken type stuff that I mostly play.

[metafunj]

I created a thread about this yesterday, before I saw this. I have a SD Production Mod Tele and it has a JB which also sounds thin and the low end is smeary. Also the distortion does not sound as saturated as with it does with other guitars. I think this is because most of the JB's volume comes from that upper mid spike and the rest of the tone is pulled back generating what sounds like . I think this is because the JB has that mid range spike and then the rest of the EQ is dialed back and the overall sound is less distorted than most stock pickups. I'm kinda wishing I had bought a socal since I like the evolution neck and the Tonezone probably sounds a bit more average than the JB.

Also your guitar may have a 250K volume pot which you might want to replace with a 500k pot if you decide to get another set of pickups.

[vexed73]

my favorite pickup combination is the dimarzio breed in the bridge and a PAF JOE in the neck. Should take a look at them might be a good match for you.

[surfreak]

I have a SD too, and just like you I thought the JB sounded too thin and harsh. So I replaced it with, in order:

- DiMarzio Tone Zone
- SD Custom custom
- SD EVH
- DiMarzio Evolution bridge

Yes, that is nuts, but I already had those pickups in my box, so I thought of trying them all and yet I still could not achieve the tone I wanted. So I swapped the stock Floyd Rose tremolo block with a 37mm big block and a brass string retainer, and in the end, believe it or not, I went back to the JB!

Now the stock JB with the big block just sounds right, it sort of acquired the bass frequencies and resonance I could not hear before, and in the process I got rid of an annoying "nodal point" around the G# note, which gave me a slight dead spot (well, more of a dull spot) on the 13th fret of the G string and the 9th on the B string.
OK, I'm rather obsessive about these dead spots and nobody would have noticed it anyway, but now every note rings true and sustains perfectly on every fret.

Also, in general, the JB tends to suck on its own, I agree, but in a band context it cuts through the mix much better than, say, a Tone Zone. So if you play by yourself you might not like it, but try it with a backing track or better, with a band, and you'll see what I mean.

[Guinny]

Bareknuckle Holydiver all the way for me!

[metafunj]

Wow Dude! I missed this post. I have those same two dead spots. I'll have to get that brass block and retainer. I also have another dead spot on the G# on the 6th fret D string. Did adding the block and retainers just move the dead spot to another fret or completely remove it? One of the things I don't like right now is I can't get any kind of chugga chugga sound with the JB. I bet adding the block adds more volume to your signal, since more vibration is kept above the pickups. What type of volume pots are you using now?

[surfreak]

Yes it did get rid of any *audible* dead spots. The volume pot is the stock one, which I believe has a 500k resistance.

And for the chugga chugga, well my suggestion is, wait until the fad has died, and then your JB will sound just fine!

[Rich#6]

You can't get a chugga sound out of a very bright pickup like the JB. you want chugga chugga toss in an invaider.

[metafunj]

Surfreak, did you get the 37mm L shaped block or the regular. Does it effect your tremelo pull/push range?

[surfreak]

I got the regular 37mm block. Yes, as it is twice as thick as the stock block, the tremolo range is reduced. Basically I can barely pull, however the usable push range is not affected, as I never push so far down that the strings fall off the fingerboard anyway.