TripTik Modern - 14 Different Guitars Pickup Comparison

Dave Z

Dave Z

Inspired
TripTik Modern/Plexi 50 W - 14 Different Guitars Pickup Comparison

Hello. I did a pickup comparison similar to this before, but I had a few new guitars to test out.

I used the same patch for all guitars that is based on a TripTik Modern Amp tone - \m/

I'm playing a simple riff that has a combination of palm mutes on A and E string, power chords, and some inverted power chords to try to demonstrate the difference in note separation and tones between all guitars/pickups.



Here's a list of all guitars used in order (some are tuned differently as well):

1 - USA Strat - EMG 81 Pickup Alder Body, Maple Neck, Rosewood Fingerboard, American Tremolo Bridge, Bolt-On

2 - Fender Blacktop Strat HH - Bareknuckle Holy Diver Pickup, Alder Body, Maple Neck, Rosewood Fingerboard, Bolt-On, Floyd Rose

3 - Schecter Damien Special FR Amazon - EMG 81 Pickup - Mahogany body/Maple Top, Maple Neck, Rosewood Fingerboard, Bolt-On Neck, Floyd Rose

4 - PRS Se 245 - Stock pickup, Mahogany body/Maple top, Mahogany Neck, Rosewood Fingerboard, Stop Tailpiece Bridge, Set Neck

5 - BC RICH USA STIII - Seymour Duncan Blackouts AHB-3 Mick Thomson EMTY, Alder Body???? Maple Neck, Rosewood Fingerboard, Bolt-On, Ibanez Edge Tremolo

6 - BC RICH USA WARLOCK - EMG 81 Pickup w/18 V Mod, Alder Body???? Maple Neck, Rosewood Fingerboard, Bolt-On, Ibanez Edge Tremolo

7 - BC RICH USA Warlock - EMG 81 Pickup w/18v Mod - Mahogany body??? Maple Neck??? Ebony Fingerboard, Neck-Thru, Original Floyd Rose

8 - Ibanez RG7620RB 7 String - Stock DiMarzio pickup, Basswood Body, Maple Neck, Rosewood Fingerboard, Ibanez Edge Tremolo, Bolt-On

9 - Schecter Blackjack SLS C7 - Duncan Active Blackout Pickup, Mahogany Body, Maple Neck, Ebony Fingerboard, TonePros Bridge, Neck Thru

10 - Musicman Petrucci 7 String - Stock Dimarzio Pickup, Basswood Body, Maple Neck, Rosewood Fingerboard, Bolt-On, Tremolo

11 - Steinberger Newburgh GM5TA - EMG 89 Pickup, Maple Body, Graphite Neck, Transtrem, Bolt-On

12 - Steinberger Newburgh GM4T - Evans Pickup, Maple Body, Graphite Neck, Transtrem, Bolt-On

13 - DBZ Barchetta Eminent FR - EMG 81 Pickup, Mahogany/Maple Body, Neck Thru, Mahogany Neck, Ebonized Rosewood Fingerboard, Original Floyd Rose

14 - DBZ Cavallo AB-FR - DBZB DBZ Pickup, Mahogany/Maple Body, Neck Thru, Mahogany Neck, Ebonized Rosewood Fingerboard, Original Floyd Rose

Enjoy!

Dave Z
 
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Thanks for doing this. Interesting. I like how the transparency of a high quality amp can let the voice of the guitar shine through even with heavy distortion.

I thought it was very useful and I don't think they all sounded the same. (if someone can't hear the difference between the EMGs in example 1 and the Holy divers in Example 2 then I honestly don't know why they wasted their money buying an AXE). Ex11 and Ex12 are also good examples. I liked the way the tightness and "hardness" of the PRS came across in EX4 as well.

If these sound samples are all sounding the same to some listeners then maybe it might help to listen to them on different monitors or maybe through headphones..
 
They sound close due the nature of saturated distortion and pronounced mid tone from amp / cab settings.
Try the same test using less drive saturation / or try it using a clean tone setup from one of the Fenders. All kinds of difference in tone.

It's like adding a shit load of sugar to coffee and trying to tell the differnce between blends.

I'm not saying I don't like the tone, I do - I heard what was expected from each of the instruments.
 
There is a difference, but it is disappointingly small to me too.
OTOH, it also has its advantages...
 
The differences aren't incredibly pronounced, but then again there's a ton of gain in the preset and the majority of guitars are using EMGs (active pickups very specifically designed to minimize the influence of the natural qualities of the guitar's wood on the tone) or other active pickups designed to directly compete with EMGs.

Do this exact test with pretty much any real world high gain tube amp with similar gain settings and the results will be about the same.

Most of the guitars do sound really good though. :D
 
Thanks everyone. I'll do the same test tonight with a different amp tone that isn't so overdriven/saturated. The differences aren't so extremely different between guitars, but there are differences IMO. For example, the palm mutes on the Low E string sound different to me on a lot of the guitars due to the amount of bass amplified by the pickups and body woods.

Any recommendations on a patch to use that isn't so overdriven? Remember this test is using mostly high output humbuckers like EMG's and such, so I need to find a patch that will work well with these pickups. As you can see from the guitar list, I play mostly overdriven/metal sounds. Thanks.

Dave Z
 
I've included an update to my pickup comparison test with another amp model that doesn't have as much gain as the TripTik patch did.

This recording uses a Tone Match patch I did for the KISS song "Lick It Up". The amp model is a Plexi 50W High Input, Cabinet is a Marshall 4x12 25W Greenbacks with a 57 DYN Mic.
The patch is included if anyone wants to try. I used Scene 1 on this recording, Scene 2 on the patch is a more distorted sound similar to the second guitar part of the song.



Here's the guitars used on this recording listed in order:


1 - USA Strat - EMG 81 Pickup Alder Body, Maple Neck, Rosewood Fingerboard, American Tremolo Bridge, Bolt-On

2 - Fender Blacktop Strat HH - Bareknuckle Holy Diver Pickup, Alder Body, Maple Neck, Rosewood Fingerboard, Bolt-On, Floyd Rose

3 - Schecter Damien Special FR Amazon - EMG 81 Pickup - Mahogany body/Maple Top, Maple Neck, Rosewood Fingerboard, Bolt-On Neck, Floyd Rose

4 - PRS Se 245 - Stock pickup, Mahogany body/Maple top, Mahogany Neck, Rosewood Fingerboard, Stop Tailpiece Bridge, Set Neck

5 - BC RICH USA STIII - Seymour Duncan Blackouts AHB-3 Mick Thomson EMTY, Alder Body???? Maple Neck, Rosewood Fingerboard, Bolt-On, Ibanez Edge Tremolo

6 - BC RICH USA WARLOCK - EMG 81 Pickup w/18 V Mod, Alder Body???? Maple Neck, Rosewood Fingerboard, Bolt-On, Ibanez Edge Tremolo

7 - BC RICH USA Warlock - EMG 81 Pickup w/18v Mod - Mahogany body??? Maple Neck??? Ebony Fingerboard, Neck-Thru, Original Floyd Rose

8 - Ibanez RG7620RB 7 String - Stock DiMarzio pickup, Basswood Body, Maple Neck, Rosewood Fingerboard, Ibanez Edge Tremolo, Bolt-On

9 - Schecter Blackjack SLS C7 - Duncan Active Blackout Pickup, Mahogany Body, Maple Neck, Ebony Fingerboard, TonePros Bridge, Neck Thru

10 - Musicman Petrucci 7 String - Stock Dimarzio Pickup, Basswood Body, Maple Neck, Rosewood Fingerboard, Bolt-On, Tremolo

11 - Steinberger Newburgh GM5TA - EMG 89 Pickup, Maple Body, Graphite Neck, Transtrem, Bolt-On

12 - Steinberger Newburgh GM4T - Evans Pickup, Maple Body, Graphite Neck, Transtrem, Bolt-On

13 - DBZ Barchetta Eminent FR - EMG 81 Pickup, Mahogany/Maple Body, Neck Thru, Mahogany Neck, Ebonized Rosewood Fingerboard, Original Floyd Rose

14 - DBZ Cavallo AB-FR - DBZB DBZ Pickup, Mahogany/Maple Body, Neck Thru, Mahogany Neck, Ebonized Rosewood Fingerboard, Original Floyd Rose

Enjoy!

Dave Z
 

Attachments

  • KISS Lick TM DZ.syx
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To me it sounded like a modeler and not a tube amp. Simply not enough low end to show the amp dynamics. Maybe a balanced IR and less tweaking would land you somewhere a bit more natural. :)

PRS SE was among the best tones in there. That to me was funny. :) PRS is so awesome!
 
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