My DK2 still dull sounding after major changes

[Trev57]

After reading loads of stuff on here about DK2's being 'dull' sounding. I decided to modify my guitar by changing out the Trem (replaced with an Ibanez Cosmo Pro) the pickups and all the electrics (Fernandes Sustainer kit). I am disapointed to report that the guitar still sounds significantly duller that all the others in my collection. I can only come to the conclusion that it is the body wood. I put this guitar on ebay a while ago, but here in the UK, no one would open the bidding a £200.00. So given the quality of construction, in particular the neck, I decided it was not worth selling. But if I cannot get a usable sound out of it, it is not worth keeping. The only other option of course is to change the body. Now that has me thinking.

[nhspike]

Hmmm
I've had plywood guitars that I could find a reason to love, if I wanted to.
and
I've had mahogany guitars that I could find a reason to hate, if I wanted to.

Sell it.

Don't torture yourself.

It's YOU that you have to make happy.

I don't care what the logo says, if you don't like it, FUCK IT

[Joelski]

Yer fixin' to play a DK2M that sounds like a USA Dinky, Spike! I can't answer why you perceive the DK2M to be "dull" sounding; there are lemons on every tree, even annointed ones. Take Spike's advice and instead of selling it, ship it to me for a proper forensic examination and setup. That said, the only thing I'd put an edge trem on is my worst enemy's wife's big, fat, gnarly booty so I can whammy them ole cheekies and watch 'em ripple while he's at work!

[Robert Hendrix]

that said, the only thing i'd put an edge trem on is my worst enemy's wife's big, fat, gnarly booty so i can whammy them ole cheekies and watch 'em ripple while he's at work! :d

[DonP]

Bummer.

Break it up and sell for parts?

[MartinBarre]

Well, of course it COULD just be a bad 'un. My RR3 never sounded great with a number of different pickups, until I decided to just use actives. Maybe you could try the same.

However - I recall you saying you couldn't get the Sustainer to work properly and it makes me wonder if you've actually wired everything properly. It could be the case you've not wired it all right, so it sounds crap? I don't know how experienced you are with wiring and stuff, but it seems like a possible solution to me.

At the end of the day, if you don't like it - sell it.

What pickups have you put in it? I'd be willing to bet a pickup change, with the right ones, would make all the difference.

[emperor_black]

Maybe its time you put an eq between the guitar and the amp?

Yes, I've seen that you can get better money by breaking it into parts and selling them. good luck!

[Ben...]

Sell it. If it doesn't click with you there's no point in letting it collect dust. I've gone through many guitars trying to find guitars that "click" and my strat, my DK2 and my P-Bass are the only ones of the many I've owned that I have kept for longer than 6 months.

[Newc]

Agreed about the Ibenhad trem. It's made of material that is just as bad as the one that came on the DK2 originally.

Get a Schaller-made Original Floyd Rose.


Also, when it's all strung up and tuned to pitch, loosen the neckbolts about 1/4 turn. You should feel the neck "slip" closer to the body joint just a hair. Tighten the bolts again and you should have a better acoustic tone immediately (at least better than it was before).

Another thing you can try is putting another neck from a different DK2 on it. Sounds crazy, yes, but mass-production has a tolerance scale to work with, so you're going to find slight variances in important things like position of neck bolt holes, length of neck heel, etc. There's nothing that can be done to change that - it's a natural part of mass-manufacturing.

[straycat]

The body maybe made with many pieces of wood Fender is bad for that.I have seen as many as 9 pieces of wood in a Fender body and it sounded very dull.
I had a Charvel 375 that had 6 different pieces and it was dull sounding as well just real pretty due to the flame veneer on top.
The idea of throwing EMG's it wont fix the dullness problem if the body doesn't resonate its just doesn't.
Now making sure the neck is the pocket correctly makes the most sense to me.
If its not snugged down and making solid contact dullness is a symptom of that.
As well if the neck is NOT all the way back touching the body the same thing happens.
Newc is right on the money he just beat me to it.

[john.w.lawson]

Hmmm
I've had too FUCK IT

+1000.

[dirtyroadie]

I thought it was just me. I've done a bunch of work on my DK2 to make it more responsive. I put in a Big Block, an OFR, and tried a Super Distortion in the bridge.
What have I learned? This thing has little or no sustain with the stock JB, though I like the tone of the JB better than the Super Distortion. The Big Block, heralded as a drastic improvement in sustain, made little difference. The OFR, however, feels so much better than the licensed trem.
I play through a 3 Channel Triple Rectifier half stack and since adding an MXR micro amp and a TS9 tube screamer for clean boost/overdrive, the DK2 sounds much better. However, I don't think I'd buy another one and instead will save my money for a Charvel San Dimas.

[Trev57]

After endless tweaking, I have got the sustainer to work on the guitar. Not as well as I would like, but it does sustain on certain notes quite well. So I decided to take the thing to the gig last night and play it alongside my regular Koa bodied custom shop job. Night and day! If I didn't have money invested in it, I would have thrown it in the bin right there. I guess I will be parting this one out after all.

[nhspike]

Good.
Get something that moves you like your Koa.