Picked up a 18' SG Update!

[Emg77]

So again I got a little GASSY perusing through the online catalogue at Sweetwater. Ended up pulling the trigger on an Ebony 2018 SG Standard. I thought it looked quite slick.

Had the new 61R and 61T pickups. I generally dig vintage hot style pickups through a high gain amp. But, Im not jiving with these 61 pickups. Hard to describe but they have a fussy kind of mid range and a bit muddy. I set it up in Drop c with 56-11. The neck is nice a slim and the action sits nice and low. Still has the tinkyness of a new guitar and string before broken in but I think I dig the way it plays so far.

The dilemma. I'm not sure what impact the Gibson PCB and pots play into the tone I'm getting out of the guitar. Ive got a 45 day return window and want to check out some different pickups in it. But if I go hacking away at it, then its mine! Maybe I get a new wiring harness and pull out all the stock components to experiment. And if I don't find any pickup combo that makes me love the guitar, I can slap the stock stuff back in it! Im open to ideas!

https://imgur.com/gallery/3yure
via Imgur for iOS

 

[reilly]

IMO if you do not like the sound of a guitar with stock pickups (assuming it’s not a cheap or off brand) then it’s probably not the Guitar for you (how did it sound before down tuning?).

For me swapping pickups is more of a tweak to the tone giving you the little extra of what you are lacking or needing. When down tuning certain pickups don’t work well or fall apart.

A good sounding guitar should still sound good regardless of the pickups. That being said I generally do not like most Gibson pickups and I hate the pcb board wiring in the new Gibson’s. If I kept the guitar I would rip out the pcb and rewire the whole guitar.

 

[sg guy]

---Drop the bridge pup to ring hieght, play some chords & slowly raise the low E side of the pup until they're balanced-(you may end up dropping the high E side of the pup below the pup ring)-rock that bitch

-(if its a keeper remove the entire wiring harness put it aside & with better quality components-
wire it up old school with no tone control or coil/phase switching... Just a volume pot...

 

[sg guy]

---ooops!---

-seems I stutter, the dreaded double post-

 

[RedPlated]

IMO if you do not like the sound of a guitar with stock pickups (assuming it’s not a cheap or off brand) then it’s probably not the Guitar for you (how did it sound before down tuning?).

For me swapping pickups is more of a tweak to the tone giving you the little extra of what you are lacking or needing. When down tuning certain pickups don’t work well or fall apart.

A good sounding guitar should still sound good regardless of the pickups. That being said I generally do not like most Gibson pickups and I hate the pcb board wiring in the new Gibson’s. If I kept the guitar I would rip out the pcb and rewire the whole guitar.

I'd have to somewhat disagree with this. I've had a lot of guitars over the years and I'm a notorious pickup swapper. I'll swap 3 or 4 different pickups in a guitar in a matter of an hour or so, just to see what I like best in each guitar.

I've had several Gibsons that sounded like a "bad" guitar, but the truth was that some pieces of wood are just way more picky about which pickup sounds good in them. I have two Les Pauls in particular that just never sounded right until I swapped enough pickups that I was able to find the right combination. It was like night and day and just "clicked." I love the way they look and play, so it was worth the effort to find the right pickups.

If you really dig the look, feel and playability of the guitar, that's sometimes hard to find. I'm confident you'll make it sound right with the right pickups, it's just up to you to decide whether or not you want to invest the time and energy to do so. The pay off will be worth it though, in my opinion.

As far as stock wiring etc... Get a full re-wire kit from The Art of Tone with matched 500k pots, good capacitors and wire. I recently pulled the stock pots from my 2008 Les Paul Custom. They measured 256k ! New, 5% tolerance matched CTS 500k pots and capacitors woke it up big time. I would even just start with the wiring and see if that takes care of your issue alone.

 

[RedPlated]

.

 

[ChurchHill]

I've had several Gibsons that sounded like a "bad" guitar, but the truth was that some pieces of wood are just way more picky about which pickup sounds good in them. I have two Les Pauls in particular that just never sounded right until I swapped enough pickups that I was able to find the right combination. It was like night and day and just "clicked." I love the way they look and play, so it was worth the effort to find the right pickups.

If you really dig the look, feel and playability of the guitar, that's sometimes hard to find. I'm confident you'll make it sound right with the right pickups, it's just up to you to decide whether or not you want to invest the time and energy to do so. The pay off will be worth it though, in my opinion.

As far as stock wiring etc... Get a full re-wire kit from The Art of Tone with matched 500k pots, good capacitors and wire. I recently pulled the stock pots from my 2008 Les Paul Custom. They measured 256k ! New, 5% tolerance matched CTS 500k pots and capacitors woke it up big time. I would even just start with the wiring and see if that takes care of your issue alone.

I agree... I have one Les Paul that I literally went through at least 10 sets of pickups before I found the right set. It's a beautiful guitar and I love the way it plays. It sounds good unplugged, too. Just didn't agree with almost everything I tried with it. It's just about taking the time to find the combination that works best with the wood, the fingers, and the rest of the rig. Absolutely worth the time in my case.

I also agree that pots, caps, and wiring make a huge difference. Even with great sounding pickups, the way they're wired in can make or break the sound.

 

[peckhart]

I'm in the pickups can make a huge difference camp. I have done the swap out tone testing to know.

 

[Racerxrated]

I've had several Gibsons that sounded like a "bad" guitar, but the truth was that some pieces of wood are just way more picky about which pickup sounds good in them. I have two Les Pauls in particular that just never sounded right until I swapped enough pickups that I was able to find the right combination. It was like night and day and just "clicked." I love the way they look and play, so it was worth the effort to find the right pickups.

If you really dig the look, feel and playability of the guitar, that's sometimes hard to find. I'm confident you'll make it sound right with the right pickups, it's just up to you to decide whether or not you want to invest the time and energy to do so. The pay off will be worth it though, in my opinion.

As far as stock wiring etc... Get a full re-wire kit from The Art of Tone with matched 500k pots, good capacitors and wire. I recently pulled the stock pots from my 2008 Les Paul Custom. They measured 256k ! New, 5% tolerance matched CTS 500k pots and capacitors woke it up big time. I would even just start with the wiring and see if that takes care of your issue alone.

I agree... I have one Les Paul that I literally went through at least 10 sets of pickups before I found the right set. It's a beautiful guitar and I love the way it plays. It sounds good unplugged, too. Just didn't agree with almost everything I tried with it. It's just about taking the time to find the combination that works best with the wood, the fingers, and the rest of the rig. Absolutely worth the time in my case.

I also agree that pots, caps, and wiring make a huge difference. Even with great sounding pickups, the way they're wired in can make or break the sound.

Agree 1000%. Get the guitar, pick it up and play it...how does it resonate acoustically? How does the neck feel? If it has these 2 things going for it I can make it perfect by swapping pups, electronics, bridge, adjusting the action etc. So many things you can do to improve it. I just bought as 87 Jackson and the first thing to go was the J50 pup. Major improvement. This weekend the JT6 bridge goes in favor of a Schaller. That will also improve the tone, and it'll sound huge.

 

[Emg77]

Yes, the guitar has a wonderful resonance! It is settling in as far as the play-ability. It setup quite easy, which I like. I'm pretty sure its a keeper. So, I have placed an order for all components necessary to replace the electronics. FWIW, buying all part separately only cost me about $30. Which is quite a bit cheaper than the pre-organized kits.

Also, I think some of the tone problems I was experiencing was, it was out of intonation. It cleaned it up a bit. But the mid range peak from the bridge pickup is just out of this world!

I will report back my findings.

 

[splatter]

swap the pups. I haven't owned a guitar yet that I liked the pups in .

As far as the pcb. Its not hurting the tone and the pots are probably 500k cts . The caps don't even come into play unless you turn the tone knob.

 

[romanianreaper]

I wonder if Gibson did this as part of the "vintage and modern" vibe so basically having a classic sounding, mid-heavy pickup in the one and a modern pickup in the HP ones?

It is funny you mention this because I nearly bought an 2018 SG without even trying it. Probably need to try one before I pull a stunt like that. LOL

 

[Emg77]

I wonder if Gibson did this as part of the "vintage and modern" vibe so basically having a classic sounding, mid-heavy pickup in the one and a modern pickup in the HP ones?

It is funny you mention this because I nearly bought an 2018 SG without even trying it. Probably need to try one before I pull a stunt like that. LOL

You should check one out. This one is growing on me. I’m going swap out the pickups here in the next couple days. The 61’s are kind of growing on me too. I just have to scoop the shit of the amp!

 

[romanianreaper]

I wonder if Gibson did this as part of the "vintage and modern" vibe so basically having a classic sounding, mid-heavy pickup in the one and a modern pickup in the HP ones?

It is funny you mention this because I nearly bought an 2018 SG without even trying it. Probably need to try one before I pull a stunt like that. LOL

You should check one out. This one is growing on me. I’m going swap out the pickups here in the next couple days. The 61’s are kind of growing on me too. I just have to scoop the shit of the amp!

LOL!

 

[barnesjd]

+1 for the pickup and wiring changes. I’ve never bought a Gibson that I kept stock, and I’ve never had a Gibson that I didn’t eventually love once I got what I liked in it.

Another strong recommendation: Callaham abr bridge. Best upgrade that I put on all my gibbies.

 

[Emg77]

Well, this is my first experience with Arcane pickups. This was my first and last swap for the SG . The Arcane Ultratron’s ! Man this things are so clear and articulate, in your face . Very responsive to your dynamics. Certainly made the SG a keeper! I’m stoked. Maybe I will do a quick video showcasing these things. I like the way they look in this guitar too!

 

[RedPlated]

See, I knew it!

Congrats man.....

 

[barnesjd]

Hell yeah! And now it’s YOUR SG!