Should i Upgrade my guitar?

[ongwj]

Hello fellow softies,

I have a LTD M-100fm guitar with basswood body, maple neck with rosewood fingerboard and a Floyd rose special bridge. I've thought of upgrading the pups to SD jazz or 59 in the neck and SD distortion in the bridge.

Is the guitar worth the upgrade??

And hope you guys can give me other pickups choices too! ^^ I play rock to metal, not a big fan of active pickups

Thanks!!

 

[Ikko]

Dimarzio Crunchlab and Liquifire.

Works wonders with a basswood body

 

[mightyboy88]

Yes yes, +1 for crunchlab and liquifire for a basswood body

Do remember to get the F spaced models though

LTD's are worth the upgrade, at least from my experience of the viper-50, as the fretwork and play-ability are of great standards

You can also look into acquiring a tremolo-no to give you the option of locking the bridge up

 

[ongwj]

seems like a JP guitar setup haha, do you know where can i get these two pickups?

 

[J.custom]

SV Guitars! I think the Crunch Lab's 145, not sure bout LF

 

[ongwj]

ok thanks!!

 

[ongwj]

but is there any SD pickups suitable?

 

[LadyInTears]

I second the dimarzios.

I used to go with the classic 59/jb combo on all my basswood bodied guitars but somehow it sounded too... thin

 

[relinquish69]

LTD makes good guitars. Look at their fret ends and you know how good the QC is. It's definitely worth the time and money to upgrade an LTD guitar.

For SDs, I like the Jazz JB config on Basswood bodies. A little too common but it's a formula that works.

 

[ongwj]

but will it sound thin like what ladyintears mention? cos i wish for a thick and real heavy and big sound~

 

[relinquish69]

I think the heavy big sound comes more from the amp plus pedals. Pickups more for character IMO.

 

[Ikko]

what relinquish said ^^

also, for a fatter sound try something like a 11 gauge hehe. fatness can be solved with eq-ing/a fat boost/bass knobs

Can also try davis for dimarzios hehe.

 

[ongwj]

woah 11 gauges?? haha okok thanks all for the help!!

 

[mightyboy88]

the sd jazz is one very very clean and sparkling humbucker,

very nice cleans but if you looking for something shreddy IMO maybe something like air norton/liquifire would be better because of the higher mids and power

The sd jazz is known to be "scooped" slightly, with lower mids and more highs i think. Maybe it can sit in well with the inherently midrangy basswood?

I think 11s for electric maybe abit hard to play hahah, maybe u can go for 10s with heavy bottoms, like a 10-52 set, then you can get playability of the high strings for your leads and the fatness and control for your tight rhythm chugging in the lower strings

 

[ongwj]

woo thanks! i'm still thinking of SD cos not really heard much on dimazios :x

now left the bridge and i'm good!!
do you have any options for the bridge positions? i'm thinking of the JB tb-4, duncan custom tb-5, duncan distortion tb-6 and dimebucker hahas

 

[J.custom]

You should seriously consider the Dimarzios bro.

Don't bother with the dimebucker, it's super scooped. If i were you i'd pick the JB, because it has lots of midrange and you can always tone that down via your amp, and the SD distortion.

I have the Dimarzio Tone Zone on my ibby and I like it a lot. Should also try the Super Distortion and the Evolution.

I used to only like Dimarzio stuff and never bothered looking at SD, but I gave them a try and they're really good as well!

 

[ongwj]

so you recommend the JB and duncan distortion?

 

[subversion]

Don't bother with the dimebucker, it's super scooped.

SD's Dimebucker has a spiked treble response at the expense of the other frequencies. a 'scooped' character would manifest heightened treble and bass- the Dimebucker doesn't do this.

 

[Ikko]

woo thanks! i'm still thinking of SD cos not really heard much on dimazios :xnow left the bridge and i'm good!! do you have any options for the bridge positions? i'm thinking of the JB tb-4, duncan custom tb-5, duncan distortion tb-6 and dimebucker hahas

Dont limit yourself to duncans bro. Dimarzio is a extremely well known brand too. Prolly as famous as them duncans.Imo the dimebucker sounds very raw and dry, and somewhat scooped sounding. I dont like that but you may.Again I cant emphasize enough on the john petrucci combo. Works like magic on a basswood bodied guitar!!

 

[ShredAddict]

I would say Dimarzio humbuckers are good (brings a cheap guitar back to life, harmonically rich etc) but most of them have this certain scooped character which I really don't like. SDs for me. I like the custom 5 for heavier stuff but if you are the versatile guy, the Jazz JB config would work well.