Need pickup advice to "darken" guitar

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tonesfoyobones

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Hey guy's thanks for your input. :rock:

I picked up this great Custom Shop Jackson King V.
specs:
Maple neck
Mahogany body
Ebony board
25.5 scale
Single hum Dimarzio Super Distortion - direct mount
1 volume knob

After giving the guitar a good set up I found the tone to be too bright for my liking. I installed a set of D'addario's 11-49's in E flat. I gave it some time but did not care to the string gauge/ maker or both so I pulled them off and installed a set of D'addario 10-46's and took it up to standard E tuning. The string's sound and feel just right but the tone is still too bright. I play mostly rhythm. Anything from Iced Earth to TooL and from 80's hair to the Blues. Usually I can match a guitar with the right set up and pickup. This one however is throwing me an early curve ball.

1- Is the D. Super Distortion on the brighter side?

This is the first mahogany bodied guitar that seems bright to me.

I'm not opposed to changing the pickup and I'm not opposed to adding a pickup ring. Actually I prefer the pickup ring for finer height adjustments and look.

So any thoughts on how to tone this one down? Haven't opened it up yet but I'm sure it's a 500k pot and I'm not looking to change that if it can be avoided.

Suggestions or thoughts would be greatly appreciated. :thumbsup:

Thanks in advance RT!

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I have a bright guitar that sounds awesome. Just lower your amp's treble, presence, and maybe the mids. Adjust your amp for each guitar you plug in.
 
glip22":1hvocvl0 said:
I have a bright guitar that sounds awesome. Just lower your amp's treble, presence, and maybe the mids. Adjust your amp for each guitar you plug in.
Click to expand...

Yeah did consider that as well but I think that I want just a little something more out of the D.Super Distortion. I'm usually a S. Duncan kinda guy.

I usually keep the amp pretty neutral when testing pickups and new guitars. It's at least one variable that I can control.

Wondering if the D. Super Distortion is inherit-ably on the brighter side? In mahogany I usually go for a Duncan Distorion 6. Wondering if I should throw in an old school Invader. Might have to ad a pickup ring though hence why I am trying to get a solid idea before altering the guitar. Would like to avoid it if I can.
 
As far as pickup recommendations go, the one that seems to almost always get mentioned when the subject of how to tame a bright sounding guitar comes up, is the Dimarzio Tone Zone.
 
tonesfoyobones":3ego617s said:
glip22":3ego617s said:
I have a bright guitar that sounds awesome. Just lower your amp's treble, presence, and maybe the mids. Adjust your amp for each guitar you plug in.
Click to expand...

Yeah did consider that as well but I think that I want just a little something more out of the D.Super Distortion. I'm usually a S. Duncan kinda guy.

I usually keep the amp pretty neutral when testing pickups and new guitars. It's at least one variable that I can control.

Wondering if the D. Super Distortion is inherit-ably on the brighter side? In mahogany I usually go for a Duncan Distorion 6. Wondering if I should throw in an old school Invader. Might have to ad a pickup ring though hence why I am trying to get a solid idea before altering the guitar. Would like to avoid it if I can.
Click to expand...
Solder or first clip in a 500K resistor across the pot to lower the pot's resistance to 250K. The Super D can be different in different guitars. I recently tried one and found the JB sounded less harsh in that guitar. You could spend allot and go nuts swapping pickups. Tone Zone might work but it's hit or miss.
 
First off, that is a cool guitar, nice score. Try a Motor City Afwayu. It's on the dark side with a huge low end, and it kills. I've got a few, and whenever I score a guitar on the bright side, in goes the Afwayu.
 
Beyond Black":24hzsv8w said:
First off, that is a cool guitar, nice score. Try a Motor City Afwayu. It's on the dark side with a huge low end, and it kills. I've got a few, and whenever I score a guitar on the bright side, in goes the Afwayu.
Click to expand...

This is what I came here to say. +1
 
Love the guitar. Is it a neck through ? I ask because you mention it has maple neck. If its a neck through, as most upper end Jacksons are, then the body can be largely considered to be maple as well, because the wing wood on neck through construction is negligible.
 
Bxlxaxkxe":2cyo0xiy said:
Beyond Black":2cyo0xiy said:
First off, that is a cool guitar, nice score. Try a Motor City Afwayu. It's on the dark side with a huge low end, and it kills. I've got a few, and whenever I score a guitar on the bright side, in goes the Afwayu.
Click to expand...

This is what I came here to say. +1
Click to expand...

X3. Im about to order a afwayu for my les paul custom. I love detroiter in my other paul, but want a darker thicker pup for my metal b.s. Mines a custom lite and tends to be a little brighter like an SG. The highs on the mcp' always seem sweeter and a little les strident than the duncans i like and normally use.
 
Try a Duncan Custom ;)

What I miss when I have an overly bright guitar with a single volume knob....a tone knob ;) Seriously you could back the tone off 20-30's and be good to go then you could also try different tone caps vs swapping pickups until you fond one that sticks.
 
All solid suggestions. Have had the Motor City on my short list for a while now. Gonna have to pick one up when I see one.

After some consideration I decided to go with my gut and decided to throw caution to the wind and try a mid 80's Duncan Invader. This was my favorite pickup in my San Dimas RR. I threw it in, direct mount, and it smokes! Been over a year since I've heard it. I've had 2 other guitars since with newer versions of the Invader but they lacked what these older ones have. I am lucky enough to have 2. A black one and a red one. Glad I kept them over the years!

I will give the Invader a run for a day or 2 and see how I feel. As of now it rips. It took the right amount of high out of the tone. I will fine tune it and see if I am needing something more or less somewhere.

Thanks RT for your input. I will look back in and see what others have to add.
 
Super distortion is definitely darker than the Duncan distortion and fatter too. Tamed my bright alder STRAT. Another good one is the dimarzio air zone which is on the path to the tonezone but less gain.
 
I wouldn't discount the the effectiveness of changing the pot value. I would measure what you currently have in there. Maybe it's way above 500K. You could buy some 250's and 500's and measure them out and then start swapping. You don't have a tone control, but the idea mentioned earlier of a tone cap is a good option.

Check your local music store that does any repairs. The one by me has a box of 250K and 500K CTS pots. I go in there with my multimeter and sort them and pick out the ones I want for whatever project I have going on. You would be surprised how much they vary regardless of that 20% tolerance they claim.
 
I'll second that Air Zone recommendation, nice balanced, not too toothy or bright pickup, great for overall rhythm and lead, clean to crunch tones. Also, the DiMarzio "Transition" (better known as the Steve Lukather model), they're killer in Mahogany (I have them in a mahogany/maple axe, sound incred), they're 4.5, 7, 6 (treb, mid bass) on the DiMarzio guide.
 
That is a nice guitar! Did you also post on JCFonline website or Facebook? They may have some suggestions too.

Anyway, if you don't dig the invader anymore, then consider the JB with a 250k volume pot. I have this combo in a Charvel with koa body. Sounds amazing. The Dimarzio Tone Zone is an option too. I have one in a bright Charvel with alder body/maple neck & fretboard. The Tone Zone surprised me as I expected a mud fest, but it is balanced in that particular guitar. And hot enough for some metal. In the end you have to experiment a bit.
 
3rd vote for a dimarzio air zone. I have an all maple strat that had a super D in and something always sounded "off" to me so put an air zone in and it made a world of difference. Really well balanced when used with maple
 
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