1990 (?) 550 xl construction

[nickcoumbe]

Any idea of the woods used in the construction of ths model?

I am thinking of upgrading the PU's, and wondered what would be best for what kind of wood.

[1trussell]

Re: 1990 (?) 550 xl construction

I'm guessing that it was a maple through the body neck with poplar sides. That is what my 650xl is, so I assume they were the same.

As far as pickups, it kind of depends what amp you play through and what sound you're looking for. I've got a Duncan Distortion in the bridge of my 650 and I love it. I'm looking at getting a pair of Distortions for my 750xl for an all out metal assault. If you want a little more versatility, however, I might recommend a 59 or Jazz in the neck. They compliment a high output bridge humbucker quite nicely.

[1trussell]

Re: 1990 (?) 550 xl construction

Crap, I just thought of something. The 550 xl has a single coil in the neck, doesn't it? I tend to lean towards the Hot Rails and Cool Rails for single coil sized humbuckers. The Hot Rails I have in the neck and the Cool Rails I have in the mid of the 650 as well. The Hot Rails gives some of the best shred metal lead tones I've heard. However, it can get muddy with the rhythms if you don't eq the amp quite right. The Cool Rails is more like a vintage humbucker. It has a nice smooth lead tone (think blues/rock) while keeping the rhythm a little tighter. If you want a single coil tone, you might need to watch the output difference between it and the humbucker. I find that the Vintage Rails work well with higher output pickups while still giving some good clear single coil sounds. I also hear the the Quater Pounder works well with higher output humbuckers.

[nickcoumbe]

Re: 1990 (?) 550 xl construction

Thanks for the info.

The guitar generally runs through a JMP1, into whatever amp I am using, or straight into my Peavey Mace VT (ugh! I know). I pretty much play metal only on this guitar, and am really looking for a good rock sound, maybe as far as thrash. I would be nice if I had something that cleaned up well with the volume rolled back, but I have other guitars that do that anyway so it wouldn't be necessary.

I actually tried the guitar back to back with a Jackson SL1 (I think) with SDs. They were both going through a Dual Rec. and the Jackson really kicked the Charvels arse.

I am not a Seymour Duncan fan, I am more used to Dimarzio. I have to say that the Sds really impressed mew though.

[txcharvel]

Re: 1990 (?) 550 xl construction

A good combination for you might be a SD JB in the bridge and a SD Little '59 in the neck. The Little '59 is a pretty hot pick up, but it's not to muddy and cleans up nice.

To my ears, the '59 and the JB compliment each other nicely.

[nickcoumbe]

Re: 1990 (?) 550 xl construction

Thanks for the advice guys,

I had better start saving the pocket money, and pick up (no pun intended) some of those seymours then.