pickups over and over again

[guitar geek]

well, it is pickup time again for me...

I have a nice model 6, and in it there are some nice pu's which sound GREAT when I play it in my room. last week in the band I stumbled upon a big problem. since a couple of months we have a second guitar player, and since HE came in, I am not audible and it does not matter how much I crank up my amp, and it is a very well known problem, no mids in my sound. I use a Dimarzio Steve's Special in the brdige and simply, it does not fit the bill anymore. the sound is great, but not for a band situation (this PU served me in different guitars for 2 years in differnt kinds of bands)

so, what do I need? may sound stupid, but never the less I am going to say it. I had a Gibson LP and it is with my parents now. I played it today over my amp, cranked up pretty mucho, and I was like; oh my god, why is this not MY guitar anymore (it is my dads now). so what do I want? a pickup that brings my model 6 as close to the LP as possible. I know it is not possible to come close, but I really love the tonal curve of the LP and I want to get as close as possible. So I guess I need a PU with tons of mid, not TOO much high notes and with a nice bass, at least that is what I think is the difference.

so, any ideas?

Harrald [img]/images/graemlins/help.gif[/img]

[txcharvel]

Re: pickups over and over again

A SD JB should cut through very nice. Lots of mid, it might be a little much on the high end and not enough on the low end. I like 'em.

[lhrocker]

Re: pickups over and over again

If you wanna stick with dimarzio, try either the Tone Zone or Breed. Lots of output and lots of mids.

[RyanThelen]

Re: pickups over and over again

Throw a Dimarzio Evolution in there. Those are pretty hot and has lots of mids. You should check out Dimarzio's website to get a better feel for all the specs of their pickups. That will really help you decide

[guitar geek]

Re: pickups over and over again

I actually know the sites. Did quite some research on them, but honestly, I really think the best way to learn about them, is to hear what people have to say about them.

I was thinking of a breed, since it is a PAF in hot version, other than the PAF Pro. another option is the SD 59 model. I am not stuck to hot PUs anymore, that was quite some mistake [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Harrald

[guitar geek]

Re: pickups over and over again

hmm, checking the SD site I think the custom custom might be a good choice... experiences?

Harrald

[dinkyjacksonman]

Re: pickups over and over again

It is really hard to recommend pickups to people because everyone has own taste in tone.
It really depends on what amps and guitars you use.
Duncan custom is pretty popular on JCF.
I had one and like it.
Now what I use is Tone Zone,Duncan Distortion,Dimarzio Virtual PAF(for neck position),Duncan Jazz(in neck position)and couple of others.
They all sound great.

If you want higher output pickups, try Distortion.
If lower outputs, Alnico Pro 2(used by Slash) will be cool.
There is a MP3 demo on Gibson custom(Historic) website.
Check Slash model and you will hear how it sounds.
I thought it sounded killer and the best tone.
I want these pickups in my future Les Paul.
[img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Jester700]

Re: pickups over and over again

Almost anything mentioned will be better than that Steve's Special - it has a scooped out midrange that sounds great for clean cluck in a strat clone (I have them in a Yamaha Pacifica) but no mids. I like the Duncan JB idea or variations on their distortion or custom.

[guitar geek]

Re: pickups over and over again

well, I play with a mesa rack (quad and 50/50) which has plenty of gain, its no rectifier or slo100 or uberschall, but it does have more gain than I need, so a low output PU is no big problem. the PUs in the gibson LP are 498T which are not as hot as the steve's special, the alnico pro II is I think a nice option and I will consider that one, it sounded KILLER in the slash sig, so I guess it won't be too bad for my model 6

Harrald

[dan glover]

Re: pickups over and over again

I have a model 6 with the exact same problem and I put in and EMG 81 and an SA in the neck and disconnected the middle pickup.This worked however I had to disconect the mid boost, which would have made it sound even better. Plus the model 6 has a **** load of electronics due to its individual pickup on off switches. After all this trouble the guitar still sounds not bright enough, and i think the guitar will never sound the way i want it. Maybe this is a running problem with Model 6's because I have heard other people complain that they won't cut. I also own a older rhoads professional and I put in a Dimebucker and it is **** bright as hell. So what I would do is first try **** around with your EQ on your amp and then maybe put in a dimebucker or a JB or something.

[guitar geek]

Re: pickups over and over again

well, I can mess around, but it cannot solve the problem of my lack of midrange due to the Steve's Special, which has a tonal V curve... I think with the proper PU it would give a hell of a nice bottom and midrange

harrald

[frankencat]

Re: pickups over and over again

I've got a Duncan Custom in one Model 6 and a JB in the other and they BOTH rule!

[jazzman]

Re: pickups over and over again

It's funny. I've had a DiMarzio Super Distortion sitting in a drawer for several years. I recently put it in a guitar to see if it should stay in the drawer or not. It sounds real good. It seems to be pretty rounded. It's an old 2 conductor. They now have 4. So, I don't know if it sounds different from the new ones or not. DiMarzio has a money back guarentee. If you don't like the pickup, they will take it back.

[toejam]

Re: pickups over and over again

Harrald, I'd suggest either a Norton, Tone Zone or Fred. The Super 3 might be a good choice, too.

[1trussell]

Re: pickups over and over again

I know you said you don't like hot pickups. But I have a Distortion in my 650xl and that guitar has tone coming out of its ass (if guitars had asses). It handles all my metal riffing needs, lows to mids. And it doesn't get shrill at all. Plus, you can always back off the volume a little if it is just too hot for you.

I was never a fan of the JB. I've had it in two different guitars and it blows next to the Distortion.

If you want to try a Tone Zone I have a NIB black F-spaced one I could sell you if you're interested. I've never tried one so I can't vouch for the sound like the Distortion (I have 4 of those).