Pickup Help needed... Pros pls help this newbie out!

[NewGuy]

I am currently using a SZ320 black in colour. Still using stock pickups. Plan to upgrade to air norton for neck and tone zone for bridge. I am wondering how will it affect my tone. I am trying to get the rock tone that is smooth and thick. Will this setup be good for cleans?

 

[tany]

ok the sz320 is mahagony body, so that means the sound produced is brighter. i use the tonezone bridge position in my basswood body. the sound is real nice since the tonezone is designed for basswood i think (for Paul Gilbert). so the bass is reduced.

but u may wanna reconsider the tonezone since it's more a modern kind of tone. but the tonezone has the smooth and thick tone ur looking for. it's damn good for harmonics too!

 

[NewGuy]

OIC... What is modern sound?

 

[ShredCow]

Hey tany, you should do some research before you post. You got quite a number of points wrong.

Mahogany has a pronouced lower midrange plus the tone is usually richer. Basswood is more or less a neutral wood.

The Tonezone is uber bass heavy, and super high on lower mids.

Lower mids give you CHUNK, FATNESS. You get the idea.

For the SZ, its generally dark sounding. The Air Norton (AN) and Tonezone (TZ) are dark sounding pups. There WILL be a chance your tone gets muddy, its your personal opinion. On the other hand, you might love the dark, smooth tones both pups give. With heavy distortion, you got thick and dark crushing chugga.

I have a recommendation. A Breed neck in your bridge. If you check out the Dimarzio website, the Breed neck seems to ROCK in a set neck mahogany fixed bridge guitar. I am using a Breed neck in an S series.

For the neck, AN might mud out on the lower bass notes. Consider a PAF Joe (think smooth but a tad hollowish sounding, I have clips of it) or a PAF Pro.

 

[subversion]

the sound is real nice since the tonezone is designed for basswood i think (for Paul Gilbert). so the bass is reduced.

there's no specific pickup which is designed for a specific body wood. if this is the case, then a particular pickup will only work well in a particular guitar & a dud in others, which isn't quite the case. however, it's undeniable that certain pickups sound better in selected guitars of a particular wood type.

Dimarzio's Tone Zone has a healthy dose of lower midrange/ bass. to me, this pickup sounds inherently scooped.

Paul Gilbert's PGM10 (pic below) features a mahogany body but still retains the Tone Zone for his signature tone.

 

[NewGuy]

What about the air norton? What is dark sounding? What is inherently scooped?... Rely appreciate the help given... thanks.

 

[ShredCow]

Dark sound? Drop the treble on your amp, up some more bass. THats dark. Tendency to mud out on lower bass strings.

I already gave my view on the AN on my previous post. It might mud out. But its a MIGHT.

 

[NewGuy]

It is like a risk bro... This is the first time I am going to swap my pickups... How to come to a good decision? There is like no way to judge the outcome, is there?

 

[NewGuy]

What about the seymour duncan jazz and custom? Custom for bridge and jazz for neck.

 

[ShredCow]

it depends on what kind of rig you have.

Pups interact differently with different guitars, even if its the same woods. Thats the magic and pain of it.

You want smooth. Rockish tones.

I would advise something along the lines of...

For a more vintage/classic tone.
Dimarzio Super Distortion/Dual Sound (Same thing) in bridge
Dimarzio PAF Pro/PAF Joe in neck

The PAF Joe sounds more hollow. Think single coil neck tone. Tubular is the word Joe Satriani uses.

For a more modern.
Dimarzio Norton (Same as tonezone but with less & tighter bass) in bridge
Dimarzio Evolution neck (Damn tight and cutting)

Those 2 configs offer less chance of mudding out.

Of course, you can TRY the AN/TZ combi. Just there's a risk lah... thats it. Can resell those pups you know?

 

[NewGuy]

I just went to seymour duncan website and saw the sh1 and sh4, I think they make great rock combination... what's your take on this?

 

[Vaiyen]

I think it's good, but in the end, it's up to you to make the leap.
Pickups can resell one you know!!

 

[thor666]

i'm going to say, if you have no idea but you simply have to upgrade no matter what:

http://www.seymourduncan.com/news/press_archive.shtml#sets

Seymour Duncan matched sets.

and no, a 59-59 combination isn't going to sound boring, despite them being the same.

 

[popeye]

I am currently using a SZ320 black in colour. Still using stock pickups. Plan to upgrade to air norton for neck and tone zone for bridge. I am wondering how will it affect my tone. I am trying to get the rock tone that is smooth and thick. Will this setup be good for cleans?

My choice for SZ:
Duncan Custom Custom on bridge
Duncan Alnico II Pro on neck

Clean or overdriven, it can take it no problem

 

[jony]

I second the custom alnico 2 pro combo.

 

[stars_jy]

sry to hijack.. juz need some info..
thiink abt chgin pickups too. im usin epiphone les paul custom.
im into 80's metal/rock/blues tones.. think skidrow,whitelion,guns and roses,zakk wdye,acdc.

wad pickups do u think suits my style of playin?

 

[ciel21]

You might wanna try a JB bridge and a 59 neck (usign this personally on my LP) . If the JB is too bright change the vol pot to a 250k to roll off the treble a bit. A Custom Custom and jazz neck would be good too for an LP.

 

[whitebrokenriff]

hmm i thinking of chaning to jazz neck and jb in the bridge for my rg321mh a mahogany body too..

 

[Vaiyen]

you can never go wrong with the jazz-jb.

it might not be the best for your guitar or genre, but it won't suck.

 

[jony]

Jazz is a very articulate neck pickup.

JB has a high mid spike good for leads but... For chugging riffs it might not be defined enough.

THose who dislike the JB tend to like the custom alot.