Charvel pickup swaps over the weekend..............

troublehead

troublehead

New member
I dug through my parts drawer last weekend to find the best pickup for my San Dimas. I have about 8-10 spare pups, and I decided to try the following:

Stock JB - OK, but I just cant get over the nasal mids and spongy response

JB w/Ceramic 8 magnet - better, but went to the other extreme.........too tight/aggressive. Made my unforgiving Splawn even moreso.

Suhr DSH+ - Sounds great, full response, not spongy (but has a little give).......imagine a JB with a much broader midrange. I would stick here, but the DSH+ has such a full response that it tends to "blur" notes together.........especially in the lower mids. Would be perfect for "fixing" an unbalanced, thin sounding guitar.

Dimarzio Norton (not Air Norton) - very aggressive in the high mids/highs, not much different than the stock JB.......but tighter on the lows. Underrated pickup for sure if you like that JB honk.

JB w/roughcast Alnico 2 - This is a GREAT pickup. I don't understand why, but it takes the "sponge" out of the JB (opposite of what you would expect going from A5 to A2). It is much thicker than the stock JB and has a really warm high end (no fizzies at all). Seems to shift the mid EQ down a notch from the JB. Doesn't blur notes like the Suhr DSH+. Everything is so fluid but still tight enough for choppy rhythm stuff.

Just thought I would put my opinion here since someone recently asked about Charvel pickup swaps. :thumbsup:
 
Good info, thanks. I've been mulling a replacement for the ToneZone in my SoCal, so I'm curious as to other responses. I'd bet a Super3 would work great with the maple neck/alder body.
 
I agree about the Norton being underrated. It really opens up a dull sounding guitar. I don't imagine it would be a good fit in a charvel but sounds great in my explorer. Really takes the "mud" out and gives it some color.
 
That was me who posted about the JB and Charvel.. I happen to like the sponginess though, just not always vibing on the mid hump from day to day. I think it is good for a pickup to have some give.. too tight and you'd better be playing hard metal or thrash.
 
I replaced the Tone Zone in mine with a Duncan Distortion. Its not bad, but I want to try a Duncan Custom in there.
 
Super 3 is a great pickup and Norton is the most overlooked, underrated, versatile pickup I've come across.
 
anyone compared the air zone to the custom custom? They seem to have similar specs. I really like the air zone in a brighter guitar but it was relatively flat in a darker alder strat.
 
Shask":10nvjjxo said:
I replaced the Tone Zone in mine with a Duncan Distortion. Its not bad, but I want to try a Duncan Custom in there.
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I modded a Custom with an Alnico 8 magnet last week and like the Custom 8 even better than the Custom. I also had picked up a Distortion and had it in the same guitar prior. My fave passive Duncan is now the Custom 8 hands down. :rock:
 
troublehead":o6d2y8pd said:
JB w/roughcast Alnico 2 - This is a GREAT pickup. I don't understand why, but it takes the "sponge" out of the JB (opposite of what you would expect going from A5 to A2). It is much thicker than the stock JB and has a really warm high end (no fizzies at all). Seems to shift the mid EQ down a notch from the JB. Doesn't blur notes like the Suhr DSH+. Everything is so fluid but still tight enough for choppy rhythm stuff.
. :thumbsup:
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It is funny that you mentioned this combination, because I just did the same thing 2 weeks ago.

I originally tried the mag swap a few years ago, when the DeMartini pickup was released, and loved it but somehow forgot about it. Fast forward to 2 weeks ago, when I was digging through old pickups to try in an ESP Kamikaze, and I found the JB in its original box (so I was thinking it was stock). The soldering iron was ready, so I tried it, and was blown away......then I remembered that I had swapped out the original magnet a few years ago. NO WONDER IT SOUNDS SO GOOD! Very fluid sounding leads, but with an "edge", if that makes sense. :thumbsup:

By the way, I do remember now that a friend bought one of the Seymour Duncan "RTM" (DeMartini) pickups, when they first came out. He paid a premium price because it was considered a custom order, but it is seriously just a JB with A2 mag. Not just similiar, identical!
 
guitup too":3l8em5ef said:
Thanks for the info. Where can you buy a rough cast A2 magnet?
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Try Ebay, but also do a Google search.

Most of the time you can find them for a few bucks, so buy an assortment because you are going to have to pay shipping anyway. I have had fun swapping 2's, 5's, and 8's around in different pickups, just to experiment. Each mag has its own sort of "flavor" and character. This might not hold true for everyone, but swapping the ceramic mags to Alnicos (and vice versa) has proven a little more difficult, due to the spacers, etc. The ceramics that I have come across are thicker magnets, so a quick swap is not as quick as it should be.
 
Kapo_Polenton":hvtj7rpy said:
How easy is it to swap a mag? You guys have me interested!
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Super easy. It's just a matter of loosening the 4 screws on the back plate, separating the coils from the back plate by pulling on each, sliding out the old mag halfway, orientating the new mag......sliding the new mag in, tighten the screws back up and running a hair dryer on the back plate a few minutes. That's the streamlined approach at least.
 
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