Switching pickups to a PC-1

[Mr. Arpeggio]

Hi guys, I'm new to the community.
Anyway, here is the question: I recently purchased a Jackson PC-1 and I dig it much, however the thing that I dislike are the pickups... mostly sterile sounding, especially the neck, the Jackson Sustainer/Driver which is an active.
I can live with the bridge DiMarzio Super 3 humbucker (not so great, but OK) however the neck feels real weak to me.
Is it any difficult to switch neck PUs with the PC1 since this guitar has a sustainer which actually resides in the neck?

I read somewhere that swapping pickups can be a real bitch to do on a PC1, any difficulties with wiring it? If I switch, is there anything special I have to take care of? Thanks.

[Newc]

The neck pickup is the sustainer driver. It's not very good as a pickup because it has about half as much coil as a standard pickup, thanks to the huge magnet it needs for the sustainer circuit.

If you remove that, you won't need the sustainer circuitry in the body, and can then wire it up like a regular guitar.

I think you'll have to replace the pots, though. Not sure, never had one.

[Mr. Arpeggio]

If you remove that, you won't need the sustainer circuitry in the body, and can then wire it up like a regular guitar.

So if I remove the original neck PU I then won't be able to use the sustainer/harmonic system, right? That's not so good because it takes away half the fun when playing this guitar... I actually purchased a PC1 because of the sustainer (and the killer quilt heheh).
Is there any possible way I can retain the sustainer while switching to a passive PU? Or has it to be an active?

[KevinDguitar]

All the sustainors out that are active circuits and if you remeove that driver pup its gone..no sustainor circuit.

[Bryan]

You don't like the sustainor???

Seriously though everything posted previously is true. When you pull out the neck pup the sustainor goes with it.

[neilli]

So if I remove the original neck PU I then won't be able to use the sustainer/harmonic system, right? That's not so good because it takes away half the fun when playing this guitar... I actually purchased a PC1 because of the sustainer (and the killer quilt heheh).
Is there any possible way I can retain the sustainer while switching to a passive PU? Or has it to be an active?

Yeah, the neck pickup is the driver so if you remove that, the sustainer is history. However, Rick on here told me that there are a couple of trim pots on the PCB which can be tweaked to improve the output of the pickups somewhat.

I feel your pain cos I had a PC1 which I sold because I didn't like the pickups (esp the neck), and because the sustainer was a cool toy (when it worked) but not something I ever used seriously.

Does anyone know if the sustainer could be moved to the middle position?

[rjohnstone]

The neck pickup is not an "active" pickup.
It's a passive pickup with an oversized magnet.
The sustainer circuit reverses the signal sent to the pickup.
This causes a magnetic pulse that makes the strings vibrate.
There is no replacement for it.

[Mr. Arpeggio]

OK it's not an active, but it still works with batteries.

Does anyone know if the sustainer could be moved to the middle position?

That's interesting because I rarely find myself using the middle position. That would be the solution.

Seriously though... it's such a shame that this high-end guitar has such a weak PU, I have a hard time believing Phil uses it stock version.
It really sounds like a standard active only worse, flat, uninspiring, sorta "dead".

[Bengal65]

The Jackson sustainer neck pickup is the most powerful of any on the market. Just try a Fernandez or Sustainiac, they are both weak as I have both of them on other guitars. I love the Jackson sustainer on my PC1's. IMO this is the unique feature of this particular guitar. I only wish the Jackson sustainer was available as aftermarket, then my other guitars would have them too.

[Mr. Arpeggio]

You don't like the sustainor???

Nope, the more I play it the more I like it.

Another question... how is that when you switch the sustainer on, it actually works with every PU combination, not just the neck?
That makes me think that the sustainer has no particular reason for being in the neck position and that it can be moved a position down (to middle).
Maybe I have to contact Jackson to shed some light, but will I ever get a reply?

[Mr. Arpeggio]

The Jackson sustainer neck pickup is the most powerful of any on the market. Just try a Fernandez or Sustainiac, they are both weak as I have both of them on other guitars. I love the Jackson sustainer on my PC1's. IMO this is the unique feature of this particular guitar. I only wish the Jackson sustainer was available as aftermarket, then my other guitars would have them too.

Good for you!
But it's not so much the weakness, it's rather the "flatness", its dynamics and sound are totally unispiring to my ears. Like an EMG.
Compare it to a Duncan Screaming Demon or a DiMarzio Fast Track and you'll get the idea.

[neilli]

I think Mark meant that he likes the sustainer, not that the pickup itself, but that the pickup is better than some of the alternative drivers out there.

And if the driver sounded like an EMG, I'd have loved it. It just didn't, but my problem was more that the output was so low, rather than the tone...

[Mr. Arpeggio]

It's true, it sounds way worse than an EMG... but the output is decent, as to be expected from a Strat-spaced single sized humbucker, and also, this is not a metal guitar.
Back to the question:
can it be moved down to middle???

[toejam]

I don't think the neck pickup really is much of a pickup on its own. That pickup is the driver/sustainer and is supposed to make the bridge pickup sustain, at least that's how I remember it.

[thetroy]

You could move it to the middle, but it would probably be weaker and the harmonic mode would probably sound very different.

On the other hand, the Jackson sustainer is very strong to begin with so it might work out fine.

I would say it's worth a shot.