New pickups/guitar?

[torkolort]

Hi,

I've only owned two guitars. An ESP ltd flying V, and now a Music Man JP6. The ESP was horrible, and the JP6 was so much better to play. I never tried the JP6 first, I just ordered online for about $3k. I don't know anything about guitars, I just want them to sound good and be easy to play, and that's why I just insta-bought it without checking out other stuff. I don't know exactly what pickups I have (I've heard that there's been some pickup-changes since it's release?). It's 3 or 4 years since I bought it.

I've been quite happy with the guitar, but I feel like I need moar power! I thought the pickups were pretty hot, but I've heard varying opinions regarding that. I also favor Petrucci's tone from the earlier albums more than his recent tone, so maybe I would be better off with an Ibanez? Or maybe a pickup change would be all I need, I have no idea. Do you have any suggestions for an ignorant soul?

Thanks!

 

[shasha]

Man, this is one of those things that I think is really overthought.

You like your tone. Who cares what other people think about how hot a pickup is? Most people on the internet at 12 years old and are playing a squier value pack that their mom bought them for Christmas

Seriously though, I don't know how many times I've read posts from people; the same people I've been talking to on the internet for years and then I hear a clip and realize that this guy knows a lot about reading about guitars, buying guitars and nothing about playing them.

If the pickups aren't hot enough but you love the guitar I'd say to go with a swap. But to me you lose a lot of your tone when it gets to a certain level. I can always add more gain to the patch, but if a pickup doesn't have 'it' to begin with or it's only good full bore than it's a one trick pony.

I'm not dogging you or giving you a hard time at all. I just think that if you like your guitar that you should probably continue to enjoy it. It's a good one.

 

[torkolort]

Man, this is one of those things that I think is really overthought.

You like your tone. Who cares what other people think about how hot a pickup is? Most people on the internet at 12 years old and are playing a squier value pack that their mom bought them for Christmas

Seriously though, I don't know how many times I've read posts from people; the same people I've been talking to on the internet for years and then I hear a clip and realize that this guy knows a lot about reading about guitars, buying guitars and nothing about playing them.

If the pickups aren't hot enough but you love the guitar I'd say to go with a swap. But to me you lose a lot of your tone when it gets to a certain level. I can always add more gain to the patch, but if a pickup doesn't have 'it' to begin with or it's only good full bore than it's a one trick pony.

I'm not dogging you or giving you a hard time at all. I just think that if you like your guitar that you should probably continue to enjoy it. It's a good one.

I get your point, but this is really not about what others may think, it's about what I want. I think it was Jay Mitchell who replied to my question about not hitting the red LED lamp when level was cranked, that this was normal for relatively low-output pickups. Now, maybe I'm misunderstanding the meaning of pickup output, but when I'm playing, it kinda feels like some of the guitar signal is disappearing. And so I've compensated with higher gain settings on my patches, which makes it sound more muddy. I've always used a drive block before the amp (Usa Lead 1), but recently I've bypassed it and I think it sounds a lot better. But I'm having a hard time getting the tones out there. Yes, I know it's all in the hands etc, but I have to pick hard in order to get separate and clean tones! And I miss the sustain. If I want to hold a high note for a while, it disappears very quickly.

It does feel like the Axe is doing it's job perfectly, but that it's not getting enough signal in to process. That's what it feels like, and that's why I'm asking this question. Maybe there's nothing wrong, maybe there are defect leads, maybe I'm defect I don't know. That's why I would like to hear any relevant experience between the JP6 and other types

 

[guitarmike]

I believe you can use higher gain settings before the amp sim or OD pedal to compensate with out having to buy pickups. In addition, you can pre eq, which is a very powerful tool -try boosting the mids, sweep that boost varying the q to tweak it in. Definitely make sure your cables are good. However, if it is just a psychological thing, do what thou wilt.