Body wood + Pickup combo for custom job.. help!

[slash-ed]

Hey guys... I can't afford a CS Jackson, so I'm going custom locally, all the way down here! A great local luthier is going to build me a neck-through Kelly type thing. The specs, roughly are:

- 5-piece maple/bubinga neck through
- alder wings
- ebony board
- X2N/Air Norton

What I'm worried about is the combined brightness of the maple, ebony, alder, etc being too much for the X2N, and the guitar ending up sounding shrilly... I do however want to go for a high-output screamer like an X2N or Dimebucker in this guitar.

My luthier has recommended either Sapele or real mahogany as a substitute for the wing material instead.

What do you guys reckon? Admittedly, my original spec is built on the Jackson formula, so does anyone have any comments regarding how an X2N would sound in that situation?

Cheers!

[slash-ed]

...anyone?

[Newc]

Pickups don't care what type of wood you use, only how good the strings are anchored.

That, of course, is determined by the density of the wood the bridge posts are mounted in. In this case, it will be alder.

While your acoustic tone will be affected by the maple/bubinga laminate neck, your amplified tone will not.

[toejam]

The X2N should be fine in alder. That's what I used in my old Warrior MG mutt that was alder, with a Super 2 in the neck. Didn't seem that bright to me.

[daemon barbeque]

The X2N is a flat EQed PU!No problems there.The PUs will be mounted of the neck ,and that will effect the sound of the Guitar.A Duncan Distortion ,PATB2 ,The PATB1 ,Bare Knuckle Cold Sweat and Miracle Man will fit your needs.
But if you tell us more about the "tone" that you're looking for ,it would be easier to recommend you somethin'!

[slash-ed]

Well... my KE-3 has Bill Lawrences in there... They're pretty high on the treble. So I guess for this one I'd prefer something more meaty, but still with a decent treble output. Flat EQ-ed? Really, I was under a different impression...

[daemon barbeque]

Well... my KE-3 has Bill Lawrences in there... They're pretty high on the treble. So I guess for this one I'd prefer something more meaty, but still with a decent treble output. Flat EQ-ed? Really, I was under a different impression...

it's normal!Your KE3 is bolt on ,wich makes it brighter ,you have a floyd on the "body" wich makes it brighter too .The X2N is a really "neutral" PU !Do you have the XL 500?.It's a bright PU!The X2N is very easy to hear on Death albums.He used them on every guitar ,with different woods and body shapes (R.I.P Chuck)

[toejam]

It's not totally flat eq. It does have more treble than bass and can be a bit bright in certain guitars. It was more bright in my old Charvel Model 5A which was poplar. It sounded more balanced in the alder Warrior.

[Newc]

The PUs will be mounted of the neck ,and that will effect the sound of the Guitar.

How? Pickups are not as sensitive as microphones - the strings have to be directly over the tops of the coils to pick up their vibrations.

You put a mic in a rectangular hole and you're going to get acoustic refelctions out of that hole. Pickups do not suffer from that, as they do not have a diaphragm like a mic does.
You have to disturb the pickup's magnetic field directly surrounding the pickup - preferably directly over the coils since it is most powerful in that area - to get sound.

Pickups do not care if they are mounted in wood or water. All that matters is the wood that the bridge and nut are anchored to, and the quality of the materials of the bridge and nut.

[daemon barbeque]

How? Pickups are not as sensitive as microphones - the strings have to be directly over the tops of the coils to pick up their vibrations.

You put a mic in a rectangular hole and you're going to get acoustic refelctions out of that hole. Pickups do not suffer from that, as they do not have a diaphragm like a mic does.
You have to disturb the pickup's magnetic field directly surrounding the pickup - preferably directly over the coils since it is most powerful in that area - to get sound.

Pickups do not care if they are mounted in wood or water. All that matters is the wood that the bridge and nut are anchored to, and the quality of the materials of the bridge and nut.

Just hit on the body with your fingertip!You will hear it!f the Wood where not an important part of the sound that interacts with the PU ,SD wouldn't give so much respect on it!Try it out man!
BTW ,even the very hard potted PU's are microphonic!They tend to get the vibration of the wood(On Neck Thru's the neck) and really give it to the sound!

[ihocky2]

The wood absolutely affects the tone. The pick ups repsond to the strings vibrations, but the wood affects how much vibration, and which pitchs return to the strings. If wood did not affect the tone, Jackson, Gibson, Fender, BC Rich, Charvel would all use MDF or particle board or plywood to make their guitars because it is a hell of a lot cheaper than hardwoods.

[siggy14]

I agree about the X2N, Very nutural in guitars, I love them in alder, but in mahogany they are not bright enough. I do not think you can go wrong with the X2N in the guitar you are having built.

[slash-ed]

Thanks guys. I am also debating using an Evo bridge - I got Quantum Rider's Model 3A w/ evos and I really like em! Any thoughts on that? Which is hotter, the Evo or X2N?

[QuantumRider]

Ed-

The Charvel Model 3A that the Evos sound great in is made of basswood, to throw another variable into the equation (if in fact it is a variable).

EDIT: Just checked Dimarzio's site. The X2N has a higher output than the Evo bridge.

[Mickey_C]

How? Pickups are not as sensitive as microphones - the strings have to be directly over the tops of the coils to pick up their vibrations.

How?

The body itself forms a resonance loop with the strings:
a) The strings initially vibrate the wood (the attack).
b) The wood resonates in frequency characteristics dependent upon that particular tonewood.
c) This resonance contributes back to string vibrations, giving cumulative sustain.
d) The pickups convert the total string vibration into a low level electrical signal for amplification.
e) The amplified signal itself contributes back to this loop by also vibrating the guitar body, and causing again a sympathetic vibration in the strings.

A great example of how effectual this can be is the hollow thunk of a les paul, with a vintage neck tenon contributing a vowel like "ahhhhh" sound to the notes. The pursuit of that specific tone is a pretty engrossing and obsessive task. It's not just pickups and strings.

To answer the comparison to a microphone, as you suggested, most simply put, instrument body vibrations (give it a whack with your knuckles) are transferred back through your bridge and nut as sympathetic vibrations, moving the strings, and effectively acting as a filtered type of microphone. This is why even the type of string used effects the final tone (to greater and lesser degrees).

So, in the final analysis, the wood of the guitar can matter a great deal to the final sound of a guitar. Or, conversely, if you play through super high gain amplification, using mid-scooped eq, with high-gain pickups, on a guitar with a large massed metal nut and bridge (like a Floyd), it can be very negligible.

For a heavy metal or shred style player, it may be a moot point.

But either way, it's still there. Wood type is a key building block of tone.