PUPS Help? Calling all Pickup Guru's

Started by Helping Friendly, May 15, 2011, 12:03:15 AM

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Helping Friendly

May 15, 2011, 12:03:15 AM
Hey dudes, I wanted to maybe get some input from you guys on a good set of Pups for my new guitar I just bought. I got a Epiphone Dot 335..  I really want to max this thing out and I know the pickups are a big part in the sound.. So what is everyone using now a days?  Are the Duncans the way to go or do you think there is something else that would suite this particular guitar better?  I am looking for a nice fat warm punchy sound that's not to muddy.  I want to be able to still hear the definition of all the strings crisply, but still with that thick buttery dank punch!  But sometimes just buying what ever Trey uses won't get your tone to sound like Trey's. Considering the Dot is not a DOC!!  Thanks kids  8)

fulltone1989

#1
May 15, 2011, 03:43:40 PM
I like the 59' classics in my ES-339
Guitars: Gibson ES-339 and LP studio w/ grovers and WCR Fillmores. Simon and Patrick Showcase Rosewood CW, PRS SE Semi Hollow w/ mods, modded Ibanez MC300NT
Amps: Groove Tubes Soul-O 45, Fuchs ODS 50 mod - EVM12L, Emi RW&B, and Weber Cali cabs
Ardx20 w/ Amaze0 in the loop.

Brian27

#2
May 15, 2011, 09:28:56 PM
Seymour Duncan JB in the Bridge and a Seymour Duncan 59 in the Neck

IamWILSON

#3
May 16, 2011, 12:01:31 AM
I just dropped off my new used Ebay bought Korean made PRS 24 fret hollowbody ripoff (the brand is Malden guitars) at my guitar tech's place on Friday night for him to install a SD 59 in the bridge and SD jazz pickup for the neck, as well as some fret leveling and then all his other basic setup stuff (filing the edges of the frets down for smoothness, neck adjustment, intonation, fretboard cleaning/polishing, checking all soder pts, and setting up the action for premium tone and then he'll make slight adjustments for the playability that I want/need out of it.  I can't wait to get this puppy back and see how she sounds with the band at our next rehearsal. 

I'll give you a report on my opinion of these pickups after I get to play them. 
Guitars: Fender Clapton Strat, Ibanez AS80, Ibanez AF75, Malden Holly Keyser [SD Jazz (neck), SD '59 (bridge)], Carlo Robelli USH-500HB, Martin DC-1E ('98), and a Peavey Grind 5-string bass.

Effects in chain: Whammy II (dry out to Korg Tuner), RMC6, TS-9 ('82), TS-808 ('81), Ross Compressor, Fulltone SupaTrem, Fulltone DejaVibe2, TC Elec Nova Repeater, Ibanez Digital Modulation Delay III (DML20), Boomerang+, Alesis Microverb I, H&K Rotosphere MkII --> amps.

Amps: Mesa Boogie MkIII Blue Stripe, Egnator Rebel 20 head > Mesa Boogie Road King 2x12 cab, Fender Blues Jr. Humboldt, Marshall VS102R, Fender Champion 600, and Fender Frontman 25R.

Effects currently not in chain: Ross Compressor (MIT), Keeley Compressor (2-knob), Keeley TS-9, and TS-9 ('82).

Duhigg

#4
May 17, 2011, 09:14:38 AM Last Edit: May 17, 2011, 09:31:40 AM by Duhigg
I've been listening to a lot of Larry Carlton, Mr. 335 as of late and that dude has an amazing tone.  I believe he uses 57 Classics which do pretty much what you described below.  I just acquired a Cort CL-1500 (Full Hollow body-no block) on Craig's List not to long ago and was thinking about putting a set in.  I'll keep you posted.

"I want to be able to still hear the definition of all the strings crisply, but still with that thick buttery dank punch!"
Cort CL-1500>Keeley comp>Qtron>Mosfet Fulldrive>808>Boss Phaser>Ibanez AD-9(83')>Boss RC-3>Volume Pedal>J.DiChiara Amp Custom 210 35w Country Bluesman

IamWILSON

#5
May 17, 2011, 09:26:57 PM
So I got my guitar back last night and am soooo blown away about how much better my tone is now.   The Seymour Duncan Jazz in the neck is super clean and very articulate.  I now feel like I can go to my neck pickup much more often, and it really worked well with my wah pedal on too!  The SD '59 in the bridge turned out to be exactly what I am looking for.  I was torn between trying the JB, but chose the '59 because I am looking for the cleanest sound I can get and will use my ts9s & amp's gain to push my tone into overdrive.  My guitar tech also recommended using the '59 over the JB because he says many of the high output pickup's distortions just cover up the tone instead of adding to it.  Anyway, I'm glad I took his advice.  The '59 is very articulate in leads and very tight when playing chords.   Even with the scooped midrange I found myself making very minimal adjustments to my bass, treble, and mids on my amp.  Also, I've never been a fan of using the middle position with both pickups on and I could immediately think of a couple uses now upon hearing how it sounded (almost out of phase, and kinda trippy). 

I am really no pickup guru, but just been playing for 20+ years and have good ears for music and tone.  This is only the 2nd time I've ever switched out pickups in a guitar (the first was when I put EMGs in my Ibanez RG750 in highschool) and now I really wanna experiment with putting in some new pups in my better guitars, as this was a cheapo guitar project that I just finished up.  I really wanna hear Wolfetone's flashback pickups in my Strat, but that $300 expense will have to wait for another time.
Guitars: Fender Clapton Strat, Ibanez AS80, Ibanez AF75, Malden Holly Keyser [SD Jazz (neck), SD '59 (bridge)], Carlo Robelli USH-500HB, Martin DC-1E ('98), and a Peavey Grind 5-string bass.

Effects in chain: Whammy II (dry out to Korg Tuner), RMC6, TS-9 ('82), TS-808 ('81), Ross Compressor, Fulltone SupaTrem, Fulltone DejaVibe2, TC Elec Nova Repeater, Ibanez Digital Modulation Delay III (DML20), Boomerang+, Alesis Microverb I, H&K Rotosphere MkII --> amps.

Amps: Mesa Boogie MkIII Blue Stripe, Egnator Rebel 20 head > Mesa Boogie Road King 2x12 cab, Fender Blues Jr. Humboldt, Marshall VS102R, Fender Champion 600, and Fender Frontman 25R.

Effects currently not in chain: Ross Compressor (MIT), Keeley Compressor (2-knob), Keeley TS-9, and TS-9 ('82).

fulltone1989

#6
May 18, 2011, 08:14:14 PM
Quote from: IamWILSON on May 16, 2011, 12:01:31 AM
I just dropped off my new used Ebay bought Korean made PRS 24 fret hollowbody ripoff (the brand is Malden guitars) at my guitar tech's place on Friday night for him to install a SD 59 in the bridge and SD jazz pickup for the neck, as well as some fret leveling and then all his other basic setup stuff (filing the edges of the frets down for smoothness, neck adjustment, intonation, fretboard cleaning/polishing, checking all soder pts, and setting up the action for premium tone and then he'll make slight adjustments for the playability that I want/need out of it.  I can't wait to get this puppy back and see how she sounds with the band at our next rehearsal. 

I'll give you a report on my opinion of these pickups after I get to play them. 

How do you like your Carlo Robelli? I'm looking at Cheap Hollowbodies to do some projects on, and this seems like it may be a contender.
Guitars: Gibson ES-339 and LP studio w/ grovers and WCR Fillmores. Simon and Patrick Showcase Rosewood CW, PRS SE Semi Hollow w/ mods, modded Ibanez MC300NT
Amps: Groove Tubes Soul-O 45, Fuchs ODS 50 mod - EVM12L, Emi RW&B, and Weber Cali cabs
Ardx20 w/ Amaze0 in the loop.

patrickstefanski

#7
May 18, 2011, 09:08:12 PM
Quote from: tomasmaclennan on May 18, 2011, 08:14:14 PM
How do you like your Carlo Robelli? I'm looking at Cheap Hollowbodies to do some projects on, and this seems like it may be a contender.


Carlo Robelli is great quality for little money.  My first guitar was a CR, and I bought an identical one for AO Guitars to mess around with and do his "Jerrification."
Current Rig:
Ron Kirn Barn Buster Telecaster---->Crybaby-->Ross Compressor--->Analogman King of Tone(just replaced my two TS9-Silver Mods)--->Ernie Ball Volume Pedal---> Fender Deluxe Reverb RI.  All connected using AO Guitars custom cables which are insane.

WOAH! New Blog! Check out my AO Guitars 'Doc Build here: www.patrickstefanski.com/blog *******UPDATED 03/11/11

IamWILSON

#8
May 19, 2011, 02:15:29 AM
"How do you like your Carlo Robelli? I'm looking at Cheap Hollowbodies to do some projects on, and this seems like it may be a contender."

I really like it alot!  However the access to the high frets is just terrible because the lower horn meets the neck at 20th fret, making it harder to access even the 22nd fret, much less the 24th.   That is my only problem with it.  It came out of the factory set up great!  It didn't even need fret leveling.  It's held up nicely over the years, stays in tune great and has a really nice tone.  Some better pickups would probably really make it scream even more.  the CB is what I've been using for my phish cover band until I just got the Malden which really worked perfectly for me tonight in rehearsal, and I can easily move up the fretboard now. 

So its definitely a good prospect for a project guitar, as long as you don't ever want to play too high up on the neck... which I know actually isn't so necessary anyway.
Guitars: Fender Clapton Strat, Ibanez AS80, Ibanez AF75, Malden Holly Keyser [SD Jazz (neck), SD '59 (bridge)], Carlo Robelli USH-500HB, Martin DC-1E ('98), and a Peavey Grind 5-string bass.

Effects in chain: Whammy II (dry out to Korg Tuner), RMC6, TS-9 ('82), TS-808 ('81), Ross Compressor, Fulltone SupaTrem, Fulltone DejaVibe2, TC Elec Nova Repeater, Ibanez Digital Modulation Delay III (DML20), Boomerang+, Alesis Microverb I, H&K Rotosphere MkII --> amps.

Amps: Mesa Boogie MkIII Blue Stripe, Egnator Rebel 20 head > Mesa Boogie Road King 2x12 cab, Fender Blues Jr. Humboldt, Marshall VS102R, Fender Champion 600, and Fender Frontman 25R.

Effects currently not in chain: Ross Compressor (MIT), Keeley Compressor (2-knob), Keeley TS-9, and TS-9 ('82).

Helping Friendly

#9
June 17, 2011, 01:19:24 PM
Kool! Thanks a lot everyone for there help. I think I am going to go with the SD 59's..

GDCSH-1

#10
September 15, 2011, 11:56:53 AM
Good choice. I got 59' sh-1 in the neck and a Jb sh-4 in the bridge of a Schecter CSH-1 semi-hollow (looks like a prs hollowbody but 2500 cheaper) Absolutely love the setup. I recently installed RS pots with Jensen caps and wired it to a vintage setup (schecter pots an caps, crap, also did the jack and switch to switchcraft). The pots and caps improved harmonics, tone and volume control ALOT, these are important components to take into account when swapin your pup's, good luck man.
"Make Your Move To Improve Your Groove" -Magic Hat cap

picture_of_nectar

#11
September 15, 2011, 05:57:02 PM
I'm a big Lollar Imperial phan
Guitars: Paul Languedoc, Matt Atringer, David Myka, Ron Thorn

Amps: '65 Princeton Reverb, Clark '59 Bassman clone

Walker done done

#12
September 16, 2011, 02:58:18 PM
Schaller Golden 50's, and never look back  ;)
Guitars: Resurrection Phishy Hollowbody (koa top/back, cedar sides, Schaller Golden 50 pups, 2 series/single coil/parallel switches), Gibson SG Faded, Dean Evo, Fender Tele, Ovation Acoustic, Fender Acoustic

Signal Path: Garmopat-modded Vox V847 wah > Emma Discumbobulator > TS808 silver > TS9 silver > Ross Compressor (grey) > Alesis Microverb (reverb) > Mesa Boogie Mark III with custom 2x12 AO cabinet (speakers: Tone Tubby & Emminence Commonwealth).

Loop 1: Whammy II > Nova Delay
Loop 2: Alesis Microverb (reverse) > Ibanez DM2000 > CAE Super Trem > Black Cat Vibe
Loop 3 Boomerang+
Tuner: Boss TU-3

Effects not in use:  Voce Spin II (leslie sim), Boss DD6, Digitech RPM-1 (leslie sim), Analogman Orange Squeeze, Keeley 4knob Comp, Ernie Ball Volume Pedal, Super Hard On (boost), Ibanez AW7 (autowah), Denelectro French Fries (autowah) - If interested in any of these PM me.  Always willing to deal.
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