Thornbucker pickups - odd high end?

unix-guy

Master of RTFM
Does anyone here with Thornbucker pickups find them to have an unusual high end response?

I've been spending a lot of time with my new Charvel DK-24 USA HSS guitar and when I started playing my Suhr Modern HSH I found the top end to be very unpleasant to my ears.

I tend to be sensitive to high end and find it can be really annoying to my ears but I also suck with EQs...

In any case, the Suhr has a Thornbucker in the neck, a V63 in the middle and a Thornbucker+ in the bridge. The Charvel has Duncan Flat Strat SSL-6 in neck and middle (RWRP) and Duncan Full Shred in the bridge.

I feel like any pickup combo on the Suhr has more high end than the brightest setting on the Charvel... Seems odd that HBs would out-bright a single coil.

This is particularly noticable when using IEMs.

There is another thread here where someone mentioned having a guitar that had an annoying high end even thru pickup changes and finally resolved the problem after replacing a "bad" tone pot capacitor. I've done some googling and from what I can tell the type of also used in that application can't really go bad...

I don't recall hearing this before I sent the guitar back to Suhr to work on fixing some dead notes as well as rewiring it to change the pickup switching. It now has push pots on volume and tone for switching the HBs from series to parallel, and the middle position is neck+bridge.

Overall I like the Thornbucker pickups in series aside from this. The parallel mode or any setting that splits with the middle pickup is way too thin for my tastes.

Anyway, I'm not really sure how to tackle this. I've tried using the Input EQ in the Amp block and also the tone knob on the guitar to tame it but I don't like the results.

Appreciate any input.
 
My Suhr Modern is very bright. I always roll the tone control off on it a bit. When I first got the guitar I thought something was wrong because it was so bright but now I think it's designed so that you actually use the tone control rather than just leaving it all the way up.
Tone knob FTW.
 
Every Suhr pickup I've tried has WAY more high end than I'm used to. That being said, I've been wanting to try a thorn+, so if you decide to part with it, please shoot me a PM.
 
I’ve actually found the opposite with Thornbuckers. I have them in 2 of my PRS guitars and also in my Les Paul Standard. I find them to have great clarity but without any shrill or harshness at all. I too have ears like Eric Johnson ;) and am sensitive to harsh bright guitar tones. I specifically put in Thornbuckers in all 3 guitars to replace pickups that I did not like the high end of.

Bottom line, these are my favorite humbucking pickups and will put them in any future guitars.
 
My Suhr Modern is very bright. I always roll the tone control off on it a bit. When I first got the guitar I thought something was wrong because it was so bright but now I think it's designed so that you actually use the tone control rather than just leaving it all the way up.
I was actually wondering that myself... I'm mostly a volume/tone on full as my starting point although the Charvel has a no-load tone pot so I usually have it just barely engaged.

I do adjust both for certain tones, though.

I'll try giving the tone knob more exploration.
 
I’ve actually found the opposite with Thornbuckers. I have them in 2 of my PRS guitars and also in my Les Paul Standard. I find them to have great clarity but without any shrill or harshness at all. I too have ears like Eric Johnson ;) and am sensitive to harsh bright guitar tones. I specifically put in Thornbuckers in all 3 guitars to replace pickups that I did not like the high end of.

Bottom line, these are my favorite humbucking pickups and will put them in any future guitars.
Curious, how do you have the height adjusted?

Could maybe also be the woods since PRS and Les Paul are Mahogany with Maple top? The Suhr is roasted swamp Ash with Maple top...
 
My advice would be to adjust the pickup height until it sounds right. If you can’t find a sweet spot that satisfies you it may be time to try something else.
FWIW, I really like the Thornbucker+. I also really like the SSH+ if your looking for a higher gain humbucker.
 
Curious, how do you have the height adjusted?

Could maybe also be the woods since PRS and Les Paul are Mahogany with Maple top? The Suhr is roasted swamp Ash with Maple top...

I‘ve got them set “flat” (no tilt or angle from low to high side) and maybe 1/8” from the strings for the bridge and lower for the neck.

That’s a fair call out on the guitar wood. Pete’s signature guitar is a mahogany body and I’ve only tried them in mahogany guitars as well. My Suhr classic has a SSV in the bridge, thought about putting a Thornbucker in there but I’m reluctant to mess with that guitar.

This may open up a sh!t storm but while I agree that Suhr guitars in general maybe sound brighter, I 100% believe it has to do with the stainless frets. I definitely can hear a tonal difference and a bright “ping” to the note that I don’t hear on any of my other guitars. I love the feel of them though!
 
I‘ve got them set “flat” (no tilt or angle from low to high side) and maybe 1/8” from the strings for the bridge and lower for the neck.

That’s a fair call out on the guitar wood. Pete’s signature guitar is a mahogany body and I’ve only tried them in mahogany guitars as well. My Suhr classic has a SSV in the bridge, thought about putting a Thornbucker in there but I’m reluctant to mess with that guitar.

This may open up a sh!t storm but while I agree that Suhr guitars in general maybe sound brighter, I 100% believe it has to do with the stainless frets. I definitely can hear a tonal difference and a bright “ping” to the note that I don’t hear on any of my other guitars. I love the feel of them though!
The Suhr was my first guitar with SS frets. I also thought about that... But both my Charvels also have them and they don't have the same issue.
 
I once put a bridge Thornbucker+ at my RG550LTD and I didn't like it for that reason. It was too open and sharp on the high frequencies. Difficult to tame a pleasant and rounded lead tone. I replaced it with a Suhr Aldrich, and I couldn't be more happy with the change
 
I have a Suhr Modern HSH and also find to bright. I have to turn down the tone control to tame it. I don’t think it is the SS frets. Other SS fret guitars I have owned art not that sizzle harsh. I have Thornbuckers in a Gibson Les Paul. Sound like PAFs. Not harsh like the Suhr Modern.

Maybe it’s the pickups circuit/pots.
 
The Suhr was my first guitar with SS frets. I also thought about that... But both my Charvels also have them and they don't have the same issue.
I have to agree. I’ve converted several guitars to stainless steel frets, and I don’t hear a change in tone.
 
Like mentioned, every Suhr I've owned has been a very bright, present guitar. The Thornbuckers are quality pickups and relatively balanced in their frequency response. IME, they tend to being out the tonal qualities of the guitar they are in. In an HSH Suhr, to my ears they are bright. In an LP, they are warm. In a Fender strat, the Thornbuckers sounded much warmer than the Suhr. Just transplanted the loaded pick guard from one to the other. IMO I think its the guitar, and the pickups are just amplifying those tonalities.
 
There's two things I learned in regards to too much treble/highs. First that when you go to a concert and you find the sound to be exceedingly shrill, chances are the soundguy is losing his hearing. And secondly that one man's ice pick is one man's clarity and one man's warmth is another man's mud.
 
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