Why Jackson? And why now?

[vector]

I don't think a PAF Pro would be crunchy enough...or loud enough for metal. I have plenty of PAF guitars right now, so that is covered. But thanks for the suggestion.

I hope the Alternative 8 is the answer. My only fear is if it is too muddy, but people say the alnico 8 mags work well on lower mids without mud. It is a 16K pup, so that could cause mud. We shall see! I also have an EVH Frankenstein pickup shipping to me as well. That is going in my ESP.

Phil

Have you checked to see what kind of volume pot you have in it? I have two alder guitars with the classic JB/'59 set up and one is weak sounding while the other just screams. The diff? One has a 500 K volume pot while the other doesn't. My Charvel Star std. is just amazing. Searing highs, great mids and monstrous low end.

[PHILBERT]

Have you checked to see what kind of volume pot you have in it? I have two alder guitars with the classic JB/'59 set up and one is weak sounding while the other just screams. The diff? One has a 500 K volume pot while the other doesn't. My Charvel Star std. is just amazing. Searing highs, great mids and monstrous low end.

Yeah, I sure did. CTS 500K on the volume. The tones were 250K, and I changed them to 500K...actually I made two volumes and one master tone because I like to have my neck pickup volume set different than my bridge pickup...plus I added the pull-switch pots at the same time for coil splitting. Maybe the maple neck-thru is just thinner sounding. All the more reason to get a beefy pickup.

Phil

[vector]

Yeah, I sure did. CTS 500K on the volume. The tones were 250K, and I changed them to 500K...actually I made two volumes and one master tone because I like to have my neck pickup volume set different than my bridge pickup...plus I added the pull-switch pots at the same time for coil splitting. Maybe the maple neck-thru is just thinner sounding. All the more reason to get a beefy pickup.

Phil

Hmm. My second favorite passive pup is the Dimarzio X2N which I have in a Hamer Blitz. Those are as ballsy as passives get.

[Bri]

That might be a good choice. What is the difference between a EVO and a EVO2 in tone?

I never had the Evolution so all I have is second hand knowledge and the tone chart. The Evolution is brighter, I read many reviews say it was too bright. Since that is one of the things I hated about the JB, I went straight to Evo 2. According to DiMarzio, Evo 2 is supposed to be more dynamic. The tone charts are Evolution 6.5-7-6 and Evo2 6-7.5-6 both high to low. My beef with the JB was that it sounded thin, had no lows or mid growl and the harmonics were sterile. The Evo 2 has punchy lows that stay mud free, mid growl just how I like it, and harmonics that just jump out. I use a Legacy II so it makes sense that the Evo 2 plays well with it.

[ulijdavid]

I also have an EVH Frankenstein pickup shipping to me as well. That is going in my ESP.

I put one of the EVH Franks in a customer's guitar. I had very little expectations - I think it was only about 9K. But......man did that thing sound good!!! I also agree with you on the Dimarzio Super Distortions - very muddy. But, I do find that if you move the pickup further from the strings than your normal set-up, you can eliminate alot of the muddiness and still get a pretty good sound.

[PHILBERT]

I never had the Evolution so all I have is second hand knowledge and the tone chart. The Evolution is brighter, I read many reviews say it was too bright. Since that is one of the things I hated about the JB, I went straight to Evo 2. According to DiMarzio, Evo 2 is supposed to be more dynamic. The tone charts are Evolution 6.5-7-6 and Evo2 6-7.5-6 both high to low. My beef with the JB was that it sounded thin, had no lows or mid growl and the harmonics were sterile. The Evo 2 has punchy lows that stay mud free, mid growl just how I like it, and harmonics that just jump out. I use a Legacy II so it makes sense that the Evo 2 plays well with it.

Thanks, Bri. That makes good sense, and I can agree with that. The EVO 2 might well be a good fit! Thoughts to ponder.

[PHILBERT]

I put one of the EVH Franks in a customer's guitar. I had very little expectations - I think it was only about 9K. But......man did that thing sound good!!! I also agree with you on the Dimarzio Super Distortions - very muddy. But, I do find that if you move the pickup further from the strings than your normal set-up, you can eliminate alot of the muddiness and still get a pretty good sound.

Yes, it does get better the lower you go. To be honest...I have not tried one of those in 32 years! So who knows if they are even the same design? And my amp is so much better now than anything I had back then.

[PHILBERT]

Pickup problem solved!

I tried a Duncan Alternative 8 because everyone at the Duncan Forum suggested alnico 8 magnets (the latest rage over there). NFG! There was too much punch and a big hole in the mids. Gutless? no, but not deep enough either...empty, yes. Wasted money.

I decided not to spend any more money, if at all possible, and use something I already had laying around. :think: I know I do not like alnico 5 tone (and now alnico 8?), so that leaves alnico 2 and ceramic. :idea: I had an extra SH-6 Duncan Distortion not being used, but with standard spacing and not trem spacing. Then I had that TB-4 JB doing nothing, so I took the magnet out of the Distortion and put it in the JB. Used the old hair dryer trick to re-melt the wax potting. Results?


There it is! Wicked tone! Full, lots of mids, good crunch and slice...and enough gain to melt the front end of my amp...without a boost pedal. Perfect metal pickup for this guitar. I had to do a little operation on the wires under the pickup, as they got in the way of the pickup legs and prevented me from lowering the pickup to the optimal tone zone. Once I did that everything dialed in perfect.

Some say the JB with a big ceramic magnet is a Duncan Distortion. It doesn't sound like the Distortion that came out of my ESP at all. The ESP is a different guitar though, so maybe. I'm just glad I now have "that sound" I was looking for in this guitar. To me, the JB is a poor choice. This modded JB with a ceramic magnet is the right balanced high-output fit...for me anyway.

I forgot to mention the coil split tones are real good too. I have pull-pots on both pickups. Now it doubles as a hot Strat!