New Guitar / Pickups or New Patch?

I have found that the AxeFx has increased my guitar GAS exponentially. I mean amps, cabs and effects are pretty well taken care of so why not try to acquire all the guitars I've always wanted!
 
erockomania said:
Pickups will make a huge difference. Huge.
Click to expand...

I thought so, and changed the PUs on my Ibanez RG from stock Infinity or whatever to Dimarzios Sup Dist/Paf but there was not much change except plain volume......quite a let down
Wonder what was missing:?

Edit: This was after quite a successful achievement tone-wise on a very low end guitar with similar replacements, so I did see it made a remarkable impact on an earlier attempt. Any tips on the current scene may be helpful.
 
Last edited:
Not a big dimarzio fan. I personally find them sterile. I find most Duncans are a little boring with the exception of the custom 5. I personally have good luck with Bareknuckles and Homewrecker pickups. I find them to be less harsh, more articulate and even tempered :)
 
slash07 said:
I thought so, and changed the PUs on my Ibanez RG from stock Infinity or whatever to Dimarzios Sup Dist/Paf but there was not much change except plain volume......quite a let down
Wonder what was missing:?

Edit: This was after quite a successful achievement tone-wise on a very low end guitar with similar replacements, so I did see it made a remarkable impact on an earlier attempt. Any tips on the current scene may be helpful.
Click to expand...

Could be similar windings and magnets etc. between the two sets?

In my experience, the more different in: coil type, windings, magnets, distance from the strings, string type, wiring (pot values, types and tone circuit, active preamp) the more noticable the differences.

So for example, swapping one set of med wound alnico buckers for another set would not necessarily do much; all else being equal.

Richard
 
I don't know, I have tried with a new jp12 , and I just can't get it to sound right. But, it may be due to the fact that my tweaking skills are bad , especially using the front panel. Maybe when the new axe edit arrives, I will be able to dial it in.
The pups that seem to work well with modelers in my situation are stock pups on the les Paul's ( burstbuckers , and burstbucker pros ) as well as a prs SE 245 . I upgraded the pups to a SD JB/59 . But even the stocks sounded ok with the AXE FX. But the crunch lab / liquifire I am struggling in the JP . I know they can sound fantastic though. I hear what solo a week sounds like :)

In my fly mojo, it comes with the SD JB / Jazz which I dialed in for the most part.
 
I felt the same , specially with my transition from 3.01 to the current, some guitars just wont speak to me the same way :)
Most of the Axe Fx stock presets and the presets I try from other users here work incredibly good on my fender (vintage with stock pickups), a few tweaks here and there and It sounds really good to me, almost most of my current band members as well said that I do sound more "defined" when I tried it out in the studio.
My main guitar (or what used to be) is an Epiphone Sheraton II, with a couple of Dimarzio Classic PAF pickups, and it doesn't sound as good now as it used to, not only that but it has a triple shot mounting ring installed on, which should allow more tonal options, still I can't get the sound that I want out of it or at least the sound that I'm used to, therefore I'm considering changing pickups on that one.
It's definitely not a humbucker vs single coil issue though, because it sounds great on my Lawsuit double neck Ibanez SG replica, on both the 6 and the 12 string. So I'm using it and the fender for the time being.
 
slash07 said:
I thought so, and changed the PUs on my Ibanez RG from stock Infinity or whatever to Dimarzios Sup Dist/Paf but there was not much change except plain volume......quite a let down
Wonder what was missing:?

Edit: This was after quite a successful achievement tone-wise on a very low end guitar with similar replacements, so I did see it made a remarkable impact on an earlier attempt. Any tips on the current scene may be helpful.
Click to expand...

The stock pups on the Ibanez RG are made by DiMarzio.

Hawary said:
I felt the same , specially with my transition from 3.01 to the current, some guitars just wont speak to me the same way :)
Most of the Axe Fx stock presets and the presets I try from other users here work incredibly good on my fender (vintage with stock pickups), a few tweaks here and there and It sounds really good to me, almost most of my current band members as well said that I do sound more "defined" when I tried it out in the studio.
My main guitar (or what used to be) is an Epiphone Sheraton II, with a couple of Dimarzio Classic PAF pickups, and it doesn't sound as good now as it used to, not only that but it has a triple shot mounting ring installed on, which should allow more tonal options, still I can't get the sound that I want out of it or at least the sound that I'm used to, therefore I'm considering changing pickups on that one.
It's definitely not a humbucker vs single coil issue though, because it sounds great on my Lawsuit double neck Ibanez SG replica, on both the 6 and the 12 string. So I'm using it and the fender for the time being.
Click to expand...

Have you tried adding / changing capacitor & resistor values to the potentiometers? A Capacitor Substitution Box and Resistor Substitution Box would be helpful for experimenting without having to solder everytime you want to change the value.
 
As said earlier, pickups will make a huge difference. Harmonic content, controllable microphonics, touch sensitivity, pick dynamics, sustain, and all sorts of ooey-gooey goodness.
Dimarzio doesn't come to mind when I think of most of those things.
Since I got my Axe at the beginning of October, I have had no less than 40 different sets of pickups in three different guitars. I swap them several times a week.
 
Womac911 said:
As said earlier, pickups will make a huge difference. Harmonic content, controllable microphonics, touch sensitivity, pick dynamics, sustain, and all sorts of ooey-gooey goodness.
Dimarzio doesn't come to mind when I think of most of those things.
Since I got my Axe at the beginning of October, I have had no less than 40 different sets of pickups in three different guitars. I swap them several times a week.
Click to expand...

WOMA911:

Thats a lot of pick up changes :)

Do you find your pup changes sound dramatically different , depending on the guitar body wood ? Or do find little differences ? I am wondering how much tone or dynamics can differ say on Adler or basswood , vs mahogany and maple caps, etc. also, do you have the Seymour Duncan liberator system ?
 
The body wood, neck wood and fingerboard wood type have a major impact on the sound.

I recommend extensive listening with the guitar unplugged in a quiet room. I can tell a lot about the plugged in tone and sustain by listening to an electric guitar unplugged.

Consider the weight too. I know some players that choose different body woods for live vs. studio just to cut the weight for live gigs.

I think Dimarzios have changed over the years. I've got two Dimarzio buckers, a super distortion and paf, that I bought in the 70's. They play and sound great. Obviously not modern sounding but good pups.

Richard
 
jerryratpack said:
WOMA911:

Thats a lot of pick up changes :)

Do you find your pup changes sound dramatically different , depending on the guitar body wood ? Or do find little differences ? I am wondering how much tone or dynamics can differ say on Adler or basswood , vs mahogany and maple caps, etc. also, do you have the Seymour Duncan liberator system ?
Click to expand...

Since I make them for a living, I'm checking for consistency. One our of every 10 or 15 sets on average gets put into a guitar.
Body wood does make a difference, for sure, but it's hard to test since I don't have same-guitar-different wood setups... except in the case of a custom Swamp ash Tele vs. a Squier Tele. The Squier, whatever wood it might be, is much less focused.
I do know that basswood will be less focused with a less defined low end than Alder. I'm not a big basswood fan, and I assume that's what the Squier is because of it.

What I find makes the most difference is the way the coils are wound. Winding patterns and wire tension play a crucial role in dynamics and response.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom