Beefing up a Charvel Spectrum

[Flanging_Fred]

Hello

I'm new here but am a bit of a charvel fan and have a question for all you knowledgable people. I have a Charvel spectrum which, by and large I love to bits.



The main problem I'm having with it is that it sounds pretty thin. I find the Neck pick-up to be okay but in all the other positions it just sounds really weedy. To fix this I thought to replace the bridge J-200 ( is that right?) with a single coil sized humbuker, so in went a SD Hotrail. This did improve the situation somewhat but on the whole it still sound thin and cold.

Would removing the tone pre-amp thingy (J-1500 is it?) help? While it's fun to play with, I don't actually use it much.
I really don't want to route out the bridge pickup slot for a full sized humbucker either.

Any advice would be warmly welcomed.

Fred

[maluco]

Hi Fred,

welcome to the forums,

Very cool guitar, I might be way off but if I am Im sure one of the users will set me right...

My first thing would have been what you done and swapped a stacked pup in there to see if it beefs it up, you said it did help a bit but it is still not to your liking, I would suggest having a look at your bridge, Im not familiar with the materials used to make your bridge but I do know that you can buy brass blocks to replace the current block on the bridge. These brass blocks can sometimes have quite dramatic effects (for the better) on your tone, making it beefier and improving your sustain and tone.

That might be an option.

Cheers

Mal

[nhspike]

Hey Fred,

Welcome to the forum.
Well, you took all the steam out of my reply, as I was going to suggest a hotrails.
Hmmmm
I guess you could try bypassing the mid-boost circut.
You are sure you have the humbucker wired in series/properly so you are getting full output?
I have one in my model 1A and it just screams, very well balanced (not shrill) and hot.

I wonder if upgrading/changing your pots (from 250 to 500 or vice versa) would help?

:think:

[Flanging_Fred]

Hi

Thanks for the wlecome, I thnik I am going to enjoy participating here but it's not going to help the dreaded GAS! 750xl ? nom, nom, nom!

I though about changing the tone pot too, I went and got myself a CTS pot to replace it with but when I opened up the back I found that the tone pot is all wired up to the preamp and doesn't look exactly standard. So I chickened out of changing it until I get some better info about the situation.

So I think the options here are 1. remove the preamp completely and put in a more standed set of wiring. 2. leave the pre-amp and find some better suited pick-ups. That J-200 in the bridge originally sounded like a cheap transistor radio, hence removing it. The hotrail certainly provides more power but there is a lack or warmth still. My 375 deluxe is far more pleasing in this area for sure.

[nhspike]

You're bound to get some excellent advice here.

Did you say 750xl?

hehe

[john.w.lawson]

Get rid of the pre amp! I have tryed to get my model6 to sound thicker with it and a few pickup changes,but notta. Spike likes the boost? maybe he's rig is better geared for it.

[SEEGERMANY]

That sure is pretty! I had an orange one and it sure played nicely!

[dg]

The JE-1500 is different from the regular JE-1200 midboost system. There is a trim pot that selects which frequencies get boosted when the circuit is active:

http://audiozone.dk/cm/displayimage.php?pid=487&fullsize=1

I'd play around with the trim pot settings and make sure you know which mini-switch position is on or off. It's possible that you've had the thing on with the trim pot set to boost high frequencies the whole time, which would be like having a wah pedal pressed down all the way. Just a thought.

[nhspike]

dg is just one of the reasons I come here all the time.

GREAT info man.

[Newc]

The Hot Rails is designed with the intent of getting Strat tones. The Thinner, nasally tones, not the humbucker-in-a-single-coil tones.

You'll want to look at a JBJr or Lil59 for "sounds-like-a-humbucker" tone.

Even in the neck position, a Hot Rails still sounds Stratty.


Do you have the midsweep or the gain boost? When you roll the knob around does the output increase/decrease or does it sound like a wah with limited range?

If the gain changes, but you don't get the "wah wah" sound, then it's a gain boost. Those aren't bad, but you really only need them with low-gain amps and weak pickups. They can't help a weak clean tone be louder without distortion.

[DrDestruction]

Actually, you're thinking of the "Cool Rails", which are the direct Strat-sounding replacements. The "Hot Rails" are the uber-high output "squished" humbucker-version single coil pickups. I've got a couple of guitars with some Hot Rail pickups (including one in a Telecaster) and they're totally ballsy- totally unlike a standard Strat.

But yeah- you could also go with the JB Jr., a Lil' 59, or (if you wanna go the special-order route) a Lil' Pearly Gates as well.

[j4vice]

Charvel Spectrum is a unique looking and sounding guitar. Suggestion don't beef it up. You love it to bits. There's a reason for that, it's a Charvel.
If you want a beefed up guitar get any Jackson.


that's 2 suggestions.

[Flanging_Fred]

Hi

Thanks for all the suggestions. Yes it is the J-1500 circuit (the wah type one, not the mid boost one) and I have played around with the trim pot inside. This lack of "oomph" occurs with it switched both on and off.

I tried the hotrail in it becuase I have another guitar with a SD JB full sized humbucker and wanted to try something a bit different. Given that the hotrail has one of th highest outputs of the mini-humbuckers in the SD range, it seemed the right choice to boost the output in the bridge position. It certainly does that but sounds a little cold.

I'm starting to think that maybe the problem lies in the middle pickup, position 1 & 5 on the selector sound reasonably fine, but 2,3 & 4 lack character and guts. Maybe it's time for another upgrade, any suggestions for a middle pickup?

I guess my real question here is "should I pull that pre-amp circuit out or not, has anyone done this to their guitars and what was the result?"

Anyway, thanks for the comments, it'll give me something to ponder over.

Fred

[Grandturk]

1. Pull the preamp.

2. Insert beefy duncans.

3. Unzip pants.

4. Rock out.

[85 San Dimas]

well, you're fighting Basswood on those where Spikes 1A isn't (am I right spike?). The Lil59, JB Jr. sounds like good ideas but dg is right too. That guiar is about those tone controls.

Love Spectrums. Love them. Keep fooling with it. it's too nice a guitar to give up on.