Pickup advice needed! (guitar too bright)

[MrDan666]

Hey guys,

I'm thinking of swapping in a new bridge pickup in my main guitar. It's a GMW Superstrat with an Alder body, Maple neck and Ebony board. The guitar is naturally very bright and clear. It's one of those guitars that is very articulate and snappy sounding.

I should add that I play a variety of different musical styles, but 90% of the time I'm using high gain tones with modded Marshalls. I like the bridge pickup tone to be fat and warm, but with enough clarity that the low end isn't muddy.

Currently i have a Tom Anderson H3 in the bridge and that pickup was an improvement over various other pickups i tried previously. However, it still has a too much upper mid/top end bite in this guitar.

A few guys have told me that maybe a Dimarzio Tone Zone would be a good choice for this guitar, as it has bigger low end and low mids.

I went to the Dimarzio site and used their online Pickup Picker to find some suitable choices for this guitar. They recommended either the ToneZone, the Super 3 or the D-Activator X.

What do you guys think of those choices? Any one in particular you would pick over the others for this guitar?

 

[killertone]

I had a Tone Zone in an Ibanez RG 3120 that I thought sounded great. Had lots of bottom end and was really clear sounding.

I would also recommend a BKP Holy Diver. Deep bottom with a sweet top end but not scooped. An excellent pickup for a bright bolt on guitar.

 

[Random Hero]

Have you considered a 250k vol pot? Although, that could end up being too muddy.

 

[veji]

I had the same problem with an all maple body/maple neck/board guitar that was very bright and thin sounding.
I had a Duncan JB/Dimarzio Super 3/Suhr Aldrich... all sounded bright.
I wanted to try the tone zone but then i found motor city Afwayu. That pickup literally bought life to my guitar.
Now there's lows/low mids and not much of the squeaking piercing highs.

 

[chunktone]

You may want to try a MCP Afwayu or a Rio Grande BBQ bucker. I have these in different guitars and am very happy with them both.

 

[fuzzyguitars]

Afwayu

 

[glip22]

A Suhr Aldrich may work very well. It's allot different than the H3. Much less upper mid bite. Not as bright. Very articualte. Priced nicely. Great low end without being too much. I would definitely give it a try.

 

[headlessdeadguy]

I would also recommend the Afwayu. It may be a bit dark in a LP but would probably kick ass in a bright bolt on guitar.

 

[MrDan666]

Thanks for the suggestions so far keep em coming guys!

 

[Lord Toneking]

I'd also say a Tone Zone

I have an Afwayu that I sent back to Wade for 'tweaking'. It was too bright in my Wolfgang and I havent had a chance to try it again yet

 

[MrDan666]

A Suhr Aldrich may work very well. It's allot different than the H3. Much less upper mid bite. Not as bright. Very articualte. Priced nicely. Great low end without being too much. I would definitely give it a try.

Believe it or not, i actually had an Aldrich in the guitar right before the H3, and the Aldrich was brighter with more upper mids and less low mids. Great pickup but it just didn't work well in this guitar at all.. In other guitars i tried it with, it was killer!

The H3 warmed the guitar up in comparison and got me closer to what i wanted.. But i still would prefer something a little smoother/darker sounding than what i have now.

 

[rupe]

Tone Zone and Super 3 were what came to mind when I saw the thread title.

 

[thiswaythatway]

Try a DiMarzio Air Norton, those pickups roll the high end off a little.

 

[Capulin Overdrive]

a hot a A2, so something like the Warren DeMartini Custom, the new EVH pickup, whatever Duncans hotter A2 is (Custom or Custom Custom?)?

 

[SFW]

The Rio Grande BBQ is pretty dark. It has a nice low mid growl. You may also try the Tone Zone. I find it to have a pretty big bottom end. In the wrong guitar it will be muddy as hell though. I also really like the Duncan Custom Custom in bright guitars. I find them to sound really good in strats.

 

[rokker]

I will throw in the BKP Holy Diver...read on the BKP Forum that it has tamed a few bright superstrats.

 

[MrDan666]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys!

I'm thinking i will try out the Tone Zone first and see where it gets me. Then if that's no good, i'll try some of the other suggested pickups from this thread

 

[glip22]

A Suhr Aldrich may work very well. It's allot different than the H3. Much less upper mid bite. Not as bright. Very articualte. Priced nicely. Great low end without being too much. I would definitely give it a try.

Believe it or not, i actually had an Aldrich in the guitar right before the H3, and the Aldrich was brighter with more upper mids and less low mids. Great pickup but it just didn't work well in this guitar at all.. In other guitars i tried it with, it was killer!

The H3 warmed the guitar up in comparison and got me closer to what i wanted.. But i still would prefer something a little smoother/darker sounding than what i have now.

Bareknuckle Nailbomb.

 

[Gainzilla]

A Suhr Aldrich may work very well. It's allot different than the H3. Much less upper mid bite. Not as bright. Very articualte. Priced nicely. Great low end without being too much. I would definitely give it a try.

Im thinking this or the Tone Zone....

 

[threadkiller]

is your guitar neck through or bolt on? Not that it effects the pickup, just curious. I was thinking about a maple neck GMW but he will only build a 24 fretter in a neck through and I hear that with neck through construction, the entire guitar tends to sound like the neck wood. Might explain why your guitar is bright