Pickup tone question, need some help

[kmanick]

I have an 88 Jackson Snakeskin strat (that some of you have seen)
I just replaced all of the pickups with these:
Bridge-Duncan custom sh5: had a JB in it.
Middle Duncan Jb Jr. :had a Jackson single
Neck Duncan lil59. :had a duncan 1/4 pounder (too much hum)
The 59 and the Jb jr sound killer.
The Custom on the other hand does not.
Much to my surprise since I've had other guitars with the
Custom TB-5 in them and they sounded great, this guitar
sounds very "Stratish",and what I mean by that is it sounds
very bright and somewhat thin. It had a Duncan JB in the
bridge, but to me it just didn't sound fat enough, now it
really doesn't sound fat enough at all.
So my question (to all of you tone experts) is this.
I want the bridge pickup to sound fatter and fuller than it
currently does. What is the right Duncan pickup for this.
Now I don't play new metal or Uber metal, it's mostly old
school 80's early 90's type of stuff, VH, Ratt, Extreme,
lots of Satriani, Yngwie (which btw, the lil 59er nails
that Yngwie tone),Greg Howe,Megadeth, Dokken etc..
I'm not looking for an ultra high gain pickup just a fatter warmer sounding one. the gain on the Custom and the JB is fine.
I can't figure out what wood the body is made of but it
feels a little heavier than my other Alder bodied guitars,
but why cover maple with a layer of white undercoat, and then the snakeskin graphic on top?, so I doubt it's a maple body.
Opinions please......... thanks [img]/images/graemlins/popcorn.gif[/img]

[Chuckracer]

Re: Pickup tone question, need some help

I'm 99% positive your body is made out of Poplar, in my humble opinion the worst wood possible to make a guitar body out of. Every single poplar bodied guitar I've owned (this is a lot of guitars, BTW) has sounded like dead ass no matter what I put in it.

But I digress...sounds like you may have a wiring problem and the pickup is wired in parallel with itself.

[kmanick]

Re: Pickup tone question, need some help

so if it is wired in parallel to itself, how do I test for that. and BTW with the JB in there the guitar didn't sound bad it just didn't sound great, I was guessing maybe poplar as well, that is a heavier wood than alder isn't it?

[Chuckracer]

Re: Pickup tone question, need some help

Well, don't let me bother you with my poplar opinions...
Yeah, it's heavier than alder, usually.

I don't know how you'd test for parallel...other than making sure your wiring is right. Customs don't sound thin. That's the best pickup Seymour makes...my opinion again!

[kmanick]

Re: Pickup tone question, need some help

I agree that's why I picked this one to put in. You know it sounds almost like the hum is partially tapped(split) so the full hum isn't coming thru.
Hmmmmmmmmm, gues I'll bring it to my tech and let him check how the pickups are wired. Now I'm starting to wonder if the 2 mini hums are coming thru in full "hum" mode, they sound very clear alomost to low gain to really be running at full.

[Newc]

Re: Pickup tone question, need some help

If you're traditionally a DiMarzio user, you may have wired the Duncan incorrectly (followed DiMarzio's color scheme).
The red and white should be soldered together and electrical taped to make sure they're not contacting anything (unless soldered to a tap switch), and the black should be your primary Main Output wire to the switch/knob/output, with the green and bare both soldered to the same ground point.

Customs are supposed to have a more bassy tone than the JB. That's part of what I didn't like about the one I had in the bridge of my NASL - it sounded too different from my other guitars with JBs and Demons and such.

[straycat]

Re: Pickup tone question, need some help

Stew mac has polarity testers, I need one myself.Newc might be on the right track.

[kmanick]

Re: Pickup tone question, need some help

I wired it exactly like that. I'm wondering if because I have the 3 toggle switch layout something is done differently? [img]/images/graemlins/scratchhead.gif[/img] I'm at a loss here

[toejam]

Re: Pickup tone question, need some help

I've never tried a regular Custom, but the Custom-7 I put in my Schecter 7-string kicks much ass and is not thin at all! [img]/images/graemlins/headbang.gif[/img]

[jgcable]

Re: Pickup tone question, need some help

Sounds like a wiring problem with the mini toggles. Tap the pickup poles with a screwdriver and make sure all the toggles are working correctly. Also, check the impedance of that pickup to make sure it is putting out the proper impedance.

[kmanick]

Re: Pickup tone question, need some help

I think you may be right, I don't see any consistency with the solder on each toggle switch. 1 has solder going across,
1 doesn't.
I know shit about this stuff, I guess off to the tech.
Unless anyone has a diagram that they can post so I can see how everything is supposed to be wired
that would save me a trip down to the tech!
the JB didn't sound thin so I thing the soldering job is screwed somehow

[srommes]

Re: Pickup tone question, need some help

[ QUOTE ]
I'm 99% positive your body is made out of Poplar, in my humble opinion the worst wood possible to make a guitar body out of. Every single poplar bodied guitar I've owned (this is a lot of guitars, BTW) has sounded like dead ass no matter what I put in it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Agree 100%.....I can't stand poplar [img]/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img]

[toejam]

Re: Pickup tone question, need some help

[img]/images/graemlins/scratchhead.gif[/img] Poplar sounds very similar to alder, IMO. Never had a problem with it.

[1trussell]

Re: Pickup tone question, need some help

My best sounding guitar is made out of poplar, go figure. Definitely check the wiring for the 3 swithches. What you're describing dose not sound like a Custom at all.

[Endrik]

Re: Pickup tone question, need some help

uh poplar is kinda parasite wood in my country.