Pickups for A Rhoads

[jimlp]

Hey guys/gals. As you know from previous threads I have just aquired a late 80's Rhoads model, the guitar is very cool but the stock Jackson pickups are not. A switch is badly needed but I am unsure as to what put in, I was going to do the Randy combo of a Distortion and a Jazz but I am interested to hear from all of you as to what might be better.

[Hellbat]

SH-5/TB-5 bridge. Use one in my Rhoads and love it. Jass neck kills for cleans but isn't the best if you do a lot of neck leads. I find mine can be a little too thick with distortion.

[jimlp]

SH-5/TB-5 bridge. Use one in my Rhoads and love it. Jass neck kills for cleans but isn't the best if you do a lot of neck leads. I find mine can be a little too thick with distortion.

Thanks for the suggestion, I thought about the Custom. I have only played it in mahogany guitars though, how does it sound in maple/alder with a trem?

[Hellbat]

Well, my Rhoads is an RR1T but it's pretty snappy and really brings out the 1st harmonic overtone on sustained notes.

[PHILBERT]

My new Jackson RR1 came with a Jazz in the neck and a JB in the bridge. I hated the JB because it had no guts at all. I tried an Alt 8 and it had a huge hole in the mids and not much more than empty punch.

I was not wanting to spend more money on pickups and decided to change the magnet in the JB from alnico 5 to ceramic (taken from an old Duncan Distortion) to see if I could get by. That was the perfect pickup for this guitar with all the good stuff you want in tone, and none of the bad stuff. The guys on th SD forum tell me I just made a Duncan Distortion...with trem spacing. Whatever...it works!

I also wired both pickups to split with pull-pots. The Jazz sounds really great single coil, and very good humbucking. The DD split is a bit top endy, but not unlike many Strats. It is very usable.

[sully]

Thanks for the suggestion, I thought about the Custom. I have only played it in mahogany guitars though, how does it sound in maple/alder with a trem?

Maple/Alder/Ebony board, no trem... sorry.

http://www.sullyville.net/music/custom_demo.mp3

[toejam]

My new Jackson RR1 came with a Jazz in the neck and a JB in the bridge. I hated the JB because it had no guts at all.

I'm not usually a fan of the JB, but it sounded decent in both of the RR1Ts I had. I had a black one and left it stock, but wound up trading that guitar away. In the gunmetal gray one I still own, I put in a Duncan Parallel Axis Distortion (PATB-2) and love it. It pairs up nicely with the Jazz, too. The JB is hit or miss in certain guitars, but I find it usually works better in mahogany.

[jimlp]

This is a good thing as I got a great deal on a used Duncan Distortion, should be here this weekend, I got a Jazz for the neck position. I figure if the Jazz is a bit "off" I could try an A2 magnet in it.

[PHILBERT]

I'm not usually a fan of the JB, but it sounded decent in both of the RR1Ts I had. I had a black one and left it stock, but wound up trading that guitar away. In the gunmetal gray one I still own, I put in a Duncan Parallel Axis Distortion (PATB-2) and love it. It pairs up nicely with the Jazz, too. The JB is hit or miss in certain guitars, but I find it usually works better in mahogany.

I would love to try one of those. I think you suggested it to me not long ago. Maybe I will if I get a little extra cash flow going. My wife just crashed our car and I'm paying out the @$$ right now.