pickup suggestions for an ash guitar

[VitaminG]

I'm thinking about changing out the pickups in my Fusion Plus. I absolutely love this guitar. If I'm sitting up late and don't want to bother the family, it's the first guitar I grab to play unplugged on the lounge. Plays fantastic, even sounds good unplugged. The 5-way Megaswitch is setup to offer inner & outer coils of each in the 2 & 4 positions. But I'm sick of the fuzzy, woolly sound I get out of it when I plug it in & crank up the overdrive. It actually gets a quite a range of tones that sound pretty decent when playing clean. But distorted? meh...

Can anyone suggest a pair of humbuckers to suit? I'm only looking to play rock/hard rock on this guitar, and the J50 & J80 just aren't doing it for me anymore. I was thinking maybe a JB/Jazz or JB/59 setup but don't know how they'll fly in ash? Any other ideas? Dimarzios?

[dg]

I can't say enough about how great the Custom/59 combo sounds in my ash strathead. The Custom has great clarity no matter how much you crank it, and the 59 has an awesome vintage vibe, great for cleans or for an LPish sound as well. Another neck pickup to possibly check out is the Pearly Gates. I put one in the neck of my 750 & it sounds great on its own and in the split positions (with a Distortion in the bridge on that one).

[MountainDog]

My Robin Ash body has a JB in bridge and either a Jazz or 59 in neck (I can't remember). It is one of the best sounding guitars I have for rock/hard rock. dg's recommendation on the Custom is also a great alternative. The 59 is great for cleans, especially when coil-tapped.

[kelly user]

EMGs:ROTF: the super2 would sound pretty good in the bridge. why don't you go to the dimarzo or ducan site and use the little guide thing, to get a general idea.

[kelly user]

super distortion, d activator, tone zone........to think about.

[toejam]

I've got a DiMarzio Super Distortion in the bridge of my swamp ash Carvin SC90, with a Super 2 in the neck. They sound great!

[sully]

duncan custom and jazz. you won't be disappointed. i had a DC in an ash bodied guitar and it killed. i a good way. rest assured that my family is still safe. if i had some extra, they'd be en route to you.

[VitaminG]

EMGs:ROTF: the super2 would sound pretty good in the bridge. why don't you go to the dimarzo or ducan site and use the little guide thing, to get a general idea.

the Super 2 in the bridge of my Model 2 sounds good, but I wasn't sure how it would sound in ash.

I have checked out the suggestions on the Dimarzio & Duncan sites, but wanted to know what folks here thought.

I've got a DiMarzio Super Distortion in the bridge of my swamp ash Carvin SC90, with a Super 2 in the neck. They sound great!

hmmmm. That could work. You had that guitar wired up to coil split too, didn't you?

duncan custom and jazz. you won't be disappointed. i had a DC in an ash bodied guitar and it killed. i a good way. rest assured that my family is still safe. if i had some extra, they'd be en route to you.

I'd forgotten about the Custom. I remember a few years ago when the JCF went Custom mad! I've always wanted to check one out.


thanks all for your suggestions. Much appreciated

[jackson1]

I'd forgotten about the Custom. I remember a few years ago when the JCF went Custom mad! I've always wanted to check one out.

I bought a Custom back then because of the hype, but haven't gotten around to installing it. I'm slow like that. Every time I open the drawer where it's in, it stares back at me, going: "I'm the shit, man. Why am I still here and not in your guitar?

Let us know what you think of the Custom, if that's gonna be your choice. Btw. if you need a little scooped sound (just a tad), try the DiMarzio Steve's Special. I like it's brutal percussiveness... crunchy sound. NOT fuzzy at all. Some say it's scooped, but I guess I've got that counter-adjusted on my preamp, so it sounds pretty good. Good roar!

EDIT: I'm talking bridge pos. of curse.

[toejam]

I've got a DiMarzio Super Distortion in the bridge of my swamp ash Carvin SC90, with a Super 2 in the neck. They sound great!

hmmmm. That could work. You had that guitar wired up to coil split too, didn't you?

Yep, I've got a special DiMarzio "Petrucci" switch to have the inner coils on while the selector is in the middle position. With the extra volume and tone control added like a Les Paul, I also get single coil splitting when rolling back one of the volume controls while in the middle position.

And the Super 2 is great in the neck, as I like it brighter there, so I wouldn't use it in the bridge on that guitar.