Axe FX ll---> Crunch-Lab---> Ibanez Basswood body(RG1820)

Hyper Planet

Hyper Planet

Power User
Hey guys do you had any experience with Crunch-lab Pickup and a Basswood body electric guitar that result has become too much bassy and boomy on Low String I mean just Lowest String, I'm on C tuning and my string gauge is 12-54, I decrease height of my bridge pickup but problem is still out there, I tried to use so many things on the Axe-Fx ll that's interact with bass but it seems like just changed the character of my sound not any effect on boomy and too much bassy and flabby on my lowest String, not to say I tried to use filter block, PEQ, GEQ, but I can't reduce it enough


any sugesstion??
 
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I have an ibabez prestige with crunchlab and liquifire. I suggest trying out some different amp IRs if you aren't finding the ones you like in the factory settings. Amp choice also makes a big difference in your tone. Certain amps like Mesa Boogies tend to sound more boomy then others. Experiment until you find what you like.
 
Shredder3386 said:
I have an ibabez prestige with crunchlab and liquifire. I suggest trying out some different amp IRs if you aren't finding the ones you like in the factory settings. Amp choice also makes a big difference in your tone. Certain amps like Mesa Boogies tend to sound more boomy then others. Experiment until you find what you like.
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well, actually I didn't experiment with the other amps so far, just because I really need to use boogie amps ! not to say I'm using OH-HGE-MESA IRs
 
I sold my crunch lab. Its the pickup itself is designed differently than what you normally use. I had the same issue. You are gonna have to change your settings. I switched to deactivators and the issue was solved. If you really want change then the the aftermath would work perfectly. I do my own work so I'm constantly changing pups. the crunch lab are way too open for me.
 
i noticed noticed a lot of people went thru this. They make the pickup sound like it works for any situation but it doesn't. its not a well rounded pickup.
 
cgraci said:
I sold my crunch lab. Its the pickup itself is designed differently than what you normally use. I had the same issue. You are gonna have to change your settings. I switched to deactivators and the issue was solved. If you really want change then the the aftermath would work perfectly. I do my own work so I'm constantly changing pups. the crunch lab are way too open for me.
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What about Illuminator pickups ? they have the same issue ?, did you heard the same thing about them or any experience ?
 
I owned one of the Petrucci signature guitars for a while, with the crunch lab and liquifire combination. It was always very clear, but very bass-heavy. For me the most effective way to tackle it was to use a "Filter" block, change the Type to "Bandpass," lower the Q to around 2.500 and sweep around the low end until I find the frequencies causing the problem. Then just use a "Paraeq" block to cut those specific frequencies out. Bam! Done.

Cut narrow, boost wide, as usual. And remember: when cutting the bass the problems with the treble frequencies will become more apparent, so you might need to make another narrow cut around 2200 hz, or possibly 3200 hz. Hope that helps.
 
Hyper Planet said:
Which D-Activators model did you get, exactly ?
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i got the 7 string dactivator but i also have it in my 6 string and believe it or not the six string is tight. I never tried the illuminator. If you really want a great pickup the aftermath by bare knuckle blows them away but if your on a tight budget then i would go deactivator.
Both of my guitars are the rg series so they are basswood
 
To me a pure basswood body is a problem for detuned guitars but I know Ibanez sells many that are used for this purpose so they must be good for most. I'd rather have a blend of woods or a different tone wood (mahogany with a maple top is nice). I sold an awesome Ibanez Universe UV-777 for this reason. Actually I think Ibanez are very over-rated guitars outside of the low end models (and yes I have owned many) but that is a different discussion. Asking what pickups to use won't be very helpful. As difficult as it is, the only way to know for sure is to buy pickups and install them and see how they perform for you. I suggest talking to Bare Knuckle about your guitar, style and needs and try some of their pickups. I have an EBMM JP BFR7 with CrunchLab and LiquiFire and most patches don't work for me even with tweaking. I usually have a PEQ high pass after the cab block ~115 Hz. I use the high pass in the cab block at 85Hz with proximity less than 2 and turn the bass way down in the amp block. I usually use custom IRs I mixed from the OwnHammer HGE library sometimes with stuff from Fractal or Clark Kent. I like the FAS Modern, Savage, 5150 and HBE amps. Why do you feel you "need to use Boogie amps!"? They aren't working for you and you are using a virtual amp modeler. Use the "Pink Lollipop" amp if that is the one that delivers the tone you need. Actually what I suggest is this. Take your Axe-FX and laptop with lots of patches at the ready to Guitar Center and patch it up through nice FRFR speakers and bring all of your guitars and play all of your guitars and all of their guitars through it and see what kind of insights you gain. I'd love to hear about what you learn.
 
The Last Romantic said:
I owned one of the Petrucci signature guitars for a while, with the crunch lab and liquifire combination. It was always very clear, but very bass-heavy. For me the most effective way to tackle it was to use a "Filter" block, change the Type to "Bandpass," lower the Q to around 2.500 and sweep around the low end until I find the frequencies causing the problem. Then just use a "Paraeq" block to cut those specific frequencies out. Bam! Done.

Cut narrow, boost wide, as usual. And remember: when cutting the bass the problems with the treble frequencies will become more apparent, so you might need to make another narrow cut around 2200 hz, or possibly 3200 hz. Hope that helps.
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Thank you for your a pieces of advice, Actually I'm disinclined to cut or boost anything a lot or really tweaking on PEQ or Filter even I don't put a drive block because I like to have the pure sound of the amp in the Axe-FX, So as our buddies mentioned here, and checked
Bare Knuckle pickups, I think I should go for a set of their pickups ;), not only for this guitar but for whatever I buy in the future :), But again I much appreciate you!
 
cgraci said:
i got the 7 string dactivator but i also have it in my 6 string and believe it or not the six string is tight. I never tried the illuminator. If you really want a great pickup the aftermath by bare knuckle blows them away but if your on a tight budget then i would go deactivator.
Both of my guitars are the rg series so they are basswood
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Thank you for cluing in on me Bare Knuckle pickups, I think I should go for it ;)
 
Krakadon said:
To me a pure basswood body is a problem for detuned guitars but I know Ibanez sells many that are used for this purpose so they must be good for most. I'd rather have a blend of woods or a different tone wood (mahogany with a maple top is nice). I sold an awesome Ibanez Universe UV-777 for this reason. Actually I think Ibanez are very over-rated guitars outside of the low end models (and yes I have owned many) but that is a different discussion. Asking what pickups to use won't be very helpful. As difficult as it is, the only way to know for sure is to buy pickups and install them and see how they perform for you. I suggest talking to Bare Knuckle about your guitar, style and needs and try some of their pickups. I have an EBMM JP BFR7 with CrunchLab and LiquiFire and most patches don't work for me even with tweaking. I usually have a PEQ high pass after the cab block ~115 Hz. I use the high pass in the cab block at 85Hz with proximity less than 2 and turn the bass way down in the amp block. I usually use custom IRs I mixed from the OwnHammer HGE library sometimes with stuff from Fractal or Clark Kent. I like the FAS Modern, Savage, 5150 and HBE amps. Why do you feel you "need to use Boogie amps!"? They aren't working for you and you are using a virtual amp modeler. Use the "Pink Lollipop" amp if that is the one that delivers the tone you need. Actually what I suggest is this. Take your Axe-FX and laptop with lots of patches at the ready to Guitar Center and patch it up through nice FRFR speakers and bring all of your guitars and play all of your guitars and all of their guitars through it and see what kind of insights you gain. I'd love to hear about what you learn.
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Thank you for your full-scale descriptions, well actually one of the main reason I bought The Axe-Fx ll had been to have Mesa Boogie Mark Series and also Triaxis all together in a one virtual machine with the best quality and price, and I'm satisfied with the result, but in this case my new pickup got me out of the track which result me to asking you guys for sharing your same experience, not to say I'm using OH-HGE-MESA IR's too and I had this issue with those IR's also, and at the end I think I should change my pickups to Bare Knuckle pickups

EDIT: Unfortunately I haven't access to Guitar Cener because I'm not in US right now!
 
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I am using Crunch Lab / Liquifire on EBMM JP6 BFR without problems, if it helps, I am using a Di Marzio Drop Sonic (Which is close to Crunch lab in many ways and JP was using them in 2005-2009 era) on an Ibanez Prestige with basswood body which tuned to C standard without problem as well. They're aggressive and warm (Bass heavy) pickups for sure, But not in a bad way, at least not on my setup. if lowering the pickup didn't help, did you try to swapping it other way around? as much as I know it can be done on pickups like D Sonic and Crunch Lab and you can install them both ways. (Blade on the neck side or bridge side).
 
soheil said:
I am using Crunch Lab / Liquifire on EBMM JP6 BFR without problems, if it helps, I am using a Di Marzio Drop Sonic (Which is close to Crunch lab in many ways and JP was using them in 2005-2009 era) on an Ibanez Prestige with basswood body which tuned to C standard without problem as well. They're aggressive and warm (Bass heavy) pickups for sure, But not in a bad way, at least not on my setup. if lowering the pickup didn't help, did you try to swapping it other way around? as much as I know it can be done on pickups like D Sonic and Crunch Lab and you can install them both ways. (Blade on the neck side or bridge side).
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Thank you buddy, but to my ears it's too much bassy and flabby , I'm talking about playing riffs on lowest string and palm muting in particular, it's something bothering even with so much tweaking and using low cut in Cab block...etc
 
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