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Hey everybody - recently became the proud owner of a SL2HT, which instantly became my favourite player. But I've been struggling with the tone. The Soloist is a huge tonal change for me, my other main axes are big slabs of 70s mahogany so I'm used to trying to brighten guitars up, not fill them out.
It came with previous-owner installed EMG81/85s. I have never been crazy about EMGs but they sounded great through my JCM800, which has lots of bass anyway and just likes the hottest brightest signal you can throw at it. I loved the output, clarity, and smoothness of them. However, I couldn't dial in a decent tone on the amps that I play out with, a Mesa MKIII and a Royal Atlantic. The EMGs just don't have enough going on below the upper midrange. I pulled the EMGs out and tried a Railhammer Chisel in the bridge, which was basically the same problem - bright guitar plus bright pickup. Then I threw in an SH-6 I had lying around, which is currently residing there. It sounds... okay, it's good for riffing but there's a really artificial-sounding low mid spike that makes leads sound kind of boxy, or whatever is the opposite of 'singing.'
So, what I'm looking for is something that will give me most of the output and clarity and that sorta smooth cut of the EMGs but with a much broader frequency range, and without the HEY EVERYBODY, HERE'S YOUR LOW MIDS!!! of the Duncan Distortion. Responding musically to volume and tone knob changes is a definite plus. I'd rather have the bottom end a little loose than not have enough - you can always *cut* bass later, but you can only add so much. Tonally I never play clean-clean, and I'm sort of between Mastodon and LoG kinds of gain levels and style.
Any pickup suggestions?
Also, I've put 500s for volume and tone with an 022 cap in when I took the EMGs out - is there something else I should try in there to boost the lows a little?
Thanks!
It came with previous-owner installed EMG81/85s. I have never been crazy about EMGs but they sounded great through my JCM800, which has lots of bass anyway and just likes the hottest brightest signal you can throw at it. I loved the output, clarity, and smoothness of them. However, I couldn't dial in a decent tone on the amps that I play out with, a Mesa MKIII and a Royal Atlantic. The EMGs just don't have enough going on below the upper midrange. I pulled the EMGs out and tried a Railhammer Chisel in the bridge, which was basically the same problem - bright guitar plus bright pickup. Then I threw in an SH-6 I had lying around, which is currently residing there. It sounds... okay, it's good for riffing but there's a really artificial-sounding low mid spike that makes leads sound kind of boxy, or whatever is the opposite of 'singing.'
So, what I'm looking for is something that will give me most of the output and clarity and that sorta smooth cut of the EMGs but with a much broader frequency range, and without the HEY EVERYBODY, HERE'S YOUR LOW MIDS!!! of the Duncan Distortion. Responding musically to volume and tone knob changes is a definite plus. I'd rather have the bottom end a little loose than not have enough - you can always *cut* bass later, but you can only add so much. Tonally I never play clean-clean, and I'm sort of between Mastodon and LoG kinds of gain levels and style.
Any pickup suggestions?
Also, I've put 500s for volume and tone with an 022 cap in when I took the EMGs out - is there something else I should try in there to boost the lows a little?
Thanks!
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