pups for a bright guitar?

[vector]

In an extension of an earlier thread, I'm trying to find a beefy bridge p'up for a "bright" guitar -mahogany body, ebony board, maple neck. Thus far I've had a Seymour PATB2, a Seymour TB-10, & a ToneZone in it and they all sound treble-y & shrill. The pot is 500K (which might be part of the problem) Need a pup that has more mids and bottom but won't sound like mud & still has the sonic punch for sizzling leads. Not that I can play said leads but...
I like how the JB sounds in my RR1 Bengal but I've had JB's (especially newer ones) sound like crap. Maybe a Custom or a Custom custom? Thoughts?

[toejam]

Are you sure the guitar is mahogany? I really don't understand how a Tone Zone or PATB2 could sound shrill. Try a 250k pot and adjust your amp eq a little, maybe try pure nickel strings.

[vector]

Are you sure the guitar is mahogany? I really don't understand how a Tone Zone or PATB2 could sound shrill. Try a 250k pot and adjust your amp eq a little, maybe try pure nickel strings.

Yup. Definitely mahogany- '89 Hamer USA Cali Limited Edition. Suffice it to say that both the PATB and Tone Zone just don't sound "fat" enough, thus come off as shrill sounding- high's are annoying. As a means of establishing a comparison, I play my RR1 Bengal thru the same amp set up- Kustom HV100HD w/ Kustom 4 x 12 slant w/ Celestions, Duncan 10 band EQ with lows and mids boosted a little, hi's rolled back a tad and it sounds f*cking killer. Full, rich and meaty tone with pronounced harmonics and plenty of hi's for punching thru the mix on leads.

[toejam]

Weird. Usually JBs sound more on the shrill side since they've got more high mids and treble. Is there a 250k pot in the RR1? I've always found the TZ and PATB2 to be warmer and beefier than a JB.

[markD]

start with a 250K pot. i like darker sounding guitars, and i always use a 250K volume and tone pot (if needed). most of my guitars have JBs in them now since people sell them off cheap. also, are you sure your cali isn't maple? mine had a maple body with a maple neck and an ebony board and it was the harshest sounding guitar i ever owned. i ended up selling it because of that. nothing could help it....

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

Are you sure the guitar is mahogany? I really don't understand how a Tone Zone or PATB2 could sound shrill.

Yeah, I don't get that.

Try a 250K pot. That should warm it up. I have a Tone Zone in an SG with just a 500K pot and it sounds almost too dark, but it's different, which is what it's for, so, I left it that way, at least for now.

[j2379]

not really sure but, ive had great results with X2N's in maple guitars, and ive never had a mahogany guitar that sounded shrill or trebly. also i find simply lowering the pickup can sometimes take some of the shrill out.

[toejam]

also, are you sure your cali isn't maple? mine had a maple body with a maple neck and an ebony board and it was the harshest sounding guitar i ever owned. i ended up selling it because of that. nothing could help it....

That's why I asked if he was sure it was mahogany, because I also remember those old Calis being made of maple.

[vector]

That's why I asked if he was sure it was mahogany, because I also remember those old Calis being made of maple.

Nope. Definitely a mahogany body on the '89 Limited Edition. True enough, I have a solid maple Cali Custom, see? But the LE is Mahogany.

[vector]

Weird. Usually JBs sound more on the shrill side since they've got more high mids and treble. Is there a 250k pot in the RR1? I've always found the TZ and PATB2 to be warmer and beefier than a JB.

I'd tend to agree with you, Toejam. JB's can be a bit shrill like the one in my Kelly Std Pro. But for whatever reason, in the RR1 Bengal, it sounds killer. The PATB and the ToneZone just sound thinner, too bright, not enough Oomph in the bass and mids. But that's just my take. YMMV.

[84sups]

Have you tried a full shred? I have one in my black Korina parts mutt and I love it.

[vector]

Have you tried a full shred? I have one in my black Korina parts mutt and I love it.

Hmm. It came to me w/ a full shred in it and I don't remember being all that impressed. Might have to try it again.

[markD]

you could always go EMG....

[Hellbat]

SH-5 or PRAILS-Hot. Prails gives you the advantage of a super warm, hot P-90 tone if you like the versatility. If you haven't used a Custom you need to try one.

[vector]

you could always go EMG....

NO!
Sorry. Never been a huge EMG fan but more to the point, I really want that "passive" pup tone as I already have 6 other guitars with active Blackouts in them and one with an EMG 81, including two of the same model (Californian) that I'm trying to find warmer pups for now...