Muffled DXMG Guitar Sound, PLEASE HELP!!!

[straycat]

The trem has nothing to do with a muffled tone.
Has to be in the wiring.

[neptoess]

The trems on those guitars aren't exactly the snappiest or most sustain-heavy things in the world, but I'm pretty sure it's something electronic.

[Skoked]

That's positively the worng direction, but I think at this point you might as well throw in the towel. I wouldn't sink any more money into it at this point if I were you. This guitar simply isn't for you.

And what do you think would have been a better choice?

[Skoked]

The trem has nothing to do with a muffled tone.
Has to be in the wiring.

Then why do big blocks work? Metal quality effects sustain/resonance and although I never experienced it first hand so can't say for sure, would think a different metal type would for sure change the tone one way or another... When I put a brass big block in the tone change, not necessarily for the better, but changed none the less.

[neptoess]

If a JB sounds muffled, a tone zone can only be darker. Those two are nearly polar opposites

[neptoess]

Also these guitars are not dark. Did you play it acoustically like I said? Try that next to an all mahogany set-neck

[Skoked]

It sounds fairly good to me acoustically. Resonant. I also have an Ibanez '85 Roadster and when I play that it sounds roughly the same but when I stop playing the Roadster, it
resonates and sustains for much longer and with a much fuller tone. I suppose without other guitars to compare it to side by side, it would sound good by itself acoustically as long as it made any sound at all....lol

[Skoked]

Maybe I am not explaining myself properly. The tone is not so much "Dark" but "Muffled" as in: Lacking sufficient sustain. I can hit a high note and instead of it screaming/ringing and dragging out into blissful eternity, it dies shortly after and fades very quickly making the guitar sound like someone all of a sudden threw a blanket over the speaker or something. Not that dramatic of coarse but you get the idea I hope.


Some of this is pure laziness on my part because although I did thoroughly check the wiring and electronics, I never did wire it directly to the output jack as was advised. I need to try that I suppose. I am curious as to what differences that will make anyways.

If a JB is on the high end, and the ToneZone is on the low, what would be considered an in the middle pickup? I want this pickup.....lol

[DonP]

Maybe I am not explaining myself properly. The tone is not so much "Dark" but "Muffled" as in: Lacking sufficient sustain. I can hit a high note and instead of it screaming/ringing and dragging out into blissful eternity, it dies shortly after and fades very quickly making the guitar sound like someone all of a sudden threw a blanket over the speaker or something. Not that dramatic of coarse but you get the idea I hope.


Some of this is pure laziness on my part because although I did thoroughly check the wiring and electronics, I never did wire it directly to the output jack as was advised. I need to try that I suppose. I am curious as to what differences that will make anyways.

If a JB is on the high end, and the ToneZone is on the low, what would be considered an in the middle pickup? I want this pickup.....lol

Is your action uber low? Try raising it.

ToneZone is a known dark pickup. Look at the tone chart of a Full Shred, then buy one and stick it in.

[neptoess]

Yeah. I'd check the action. The way I do this personally is to pick the highest fret and then descend one fret at a time all the way to the open string and listen for any buzz. i pick slightly harder than i would when normally playing, since in some spirited soloing you're likely to do that anyway. I do this for every string, both plain fretting, and bending up a step or so. You have to do this acoustically and be really picky. Alot of people run their action so low that the strings just barely hit the frets while sustaining. The main cause of this that I've seen is running your action like you strung up with 11s when you bought 9s

On another note, Wiring directly to the jack is literally two wires. Bad pots can and do cause muffled sounds. The wipers wear away and give far less resistance between the outer lugs, so much more of your signal is getting grounded than usual. Though this is rare, things like really strong contact cleaner can accelerate this process. Plus, the pots in these guitars aren't exactly CTS

[Skoked]

Yeah. I'd check the action. The way I do this personally is to pick the highest fret and then descend one fret at a time all the way to the open string and listen for any buzz. i pick slightly harder than i would when normally playing, since in some spirited soloing you're likely to do that anyway. I do this for every string, both plain fretting, and bending up a step or so. You have to do this acoustically and be really picky. Alot of people run their action so low that the strings just barely hit the frets while sustaining. The main cause of this that I've seen is running your action like you strung up with 11s when you bought 9s

On another note, Wiring directly to the jack is literally two wires. Bad pots can and do cause muffled sounds. The wipers wear away and give far less resistance between the outer lugs, so much more of your signal is getting grounded than usual. Though this is rare, things like really strong contact cleaner can accelerate this process. Plus, the pots in these guitars aren't exactly CTS

The guitar has Alpha pots. My problem does not stem from low action although that is EXACTLY what it would sound like (sustain being cut off early from bumping frets due to low action" it sounds just like that only that isn't it.

I will eventually try wiring directly to output jack although the guitar was bought new and sounded this way from day #1.

[neptoess]

Alpha just means it follows a logarithmic taper rather than a linear. My Epiphone SG Special has an alpha pot in it too, and it's made of plywood

[Skoked]

Alpha just means it follows a logarithmic taper rather than a linear. My Epiphone SG Special has an alpha pot in it too, and it's made of plywood

Alpha is a brand. the A or B after (ie 25kA or 25kB) indicates taper.

[neptoess]

Sorry, I had not known that there was a company making pots called Alpha. That being said, I worked on a DKMG (older one with passive HZs and an afterburner) that had every pot but one go bad, and that one isn't doing so hot either right now. I still say try wiring direct to the jack.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/17062_103574982999312_100000404332631_91854_740770_n.jpg

That guitar there (after I put L-500R/L-500XL in it for my buddy)

[neptoess]

Also don't mistake buying new as meaning all is well. Shipping damages and things that slip through QC mean some "new" guitars have problems before you even touch it