I'm a relatively new user and have a question regarding guitar pickups and the Axe Fx II XL. Several years ago I replaced the stock pickups in my Strat with Seymour Duncan Hot Rails (high output with DCR 16.6K in the bridge where I mostly play) to punch up my sound. Playing through an old Fender Tweed amp (non-modeling) it definitely changed my sound on the high gain side.
Now that I've moved up to the Axe Fx II XL which is a robust modeler (Fractal may object to the word modeler) I'm wondering if these pickups might be working against me. I watched some of the Axe Fx videos on YouTube dealing with the presets and I notice that some of the presets sound a little different than I'm experiencing. I know there are many factors which contribute to the output sound (actual amp, actual cab, etc) but I'm currently running the Axe FX II XL through a powered FFFR speaker that should minimize that factor. I wondering if these high output Seymour Duncans are adding their own ingredients to the sound and perhaps I should replace them with more of a standard pickup (someone recommended Fender Samarium Cobalt Noiseless). I guess what I'm looking for are some users with a lot more knowledge and experience to weigh in on the subject and make some recommendations. If in fact I'm right in my assumption and the Hot Rails are "coloring" the output, maybe you can recommend some good pickup solutions. I'd appreciate any help/advice you're willing to offer. I haven't been able to find anything on this subject on the web.
Now that I've moved up to the Axe Fx II XL which is a robust modeler (Fractal may object to the word modeler) I'm wondering if these pickups might be working against me. I watched some of the Axe Fx videos on YouTube dealing with the presets and I notice that some of the presets sound a little different than I'm experiencing. I know there are many factors which contribute to the output sound (actual amp, actual cab, etc) but I'm currently running the Axe FX II XL through a powered FFFR speaker that should minimize that factor. I wondering if these high output Seymour Duncans are adding their own ingredients to the sound and perhaps I should replace them with more of a standard pickup (someone recommended Fender Samarium Cobalt Noiseless). I guess what I'm looking for are some users with a lot more knowledge and experience to weigh in on the subject and make some recommendations. If in fact I'm right in my assumption and the Hot Rails are "coloring" the output, maybe you can recommend some good pickup solutions. I'd appreciate any help/advice you're willing to offer. I haven't been able to find anything on this subject on the web.