Sizzle edge of my pickups

Recon

Recon

Member
Hi,

I am an 'almost' happy owner of Dimarzio Transition pickups with ceramic magnets. Almost, cause i really love voicing and character of those pups, but im not a fan of sizzling edge charactersitic for this kind of magnets - especially when playing on higain amps, when those frequencies are hardly amplified.

To fight with this problem i am using -2.5db low pass filter at 15.5 kHz with rather wide Q in my HX Effects procesor placed in fx loop of my amp. So signal is filtered after preamp and whole timeline effects chain, just before loop return. Result is pretty good, sizzles are on acceptable for me lvl.

What do you think about this guys? Is it a good solution, or i shouldn't care about it, cause it will be filtered out anyway on mixing board?
 
Unfortunately the “sizzle” is all part of the characteristics of ceramic magnet pickups. The best alternative I’ve found is swapping the the ceramic magnets for Alnico 8 magnets.
 
Recon":3n2o0lld said:
Hi,

I am an 'almost' happy owner of Dimarzio Transition pickups with ceramic magnets. Almost, cause i really love voicing and character of those pups, but im not a fan of sizzling edge charactersitic for this kind of magnets - especially when playing on higain amps, when those frequencies are hardly amplified.

To fight with this problem i am using -2.5db low pass filter at 15.5 kHz with rather wide Q in my HX Effects procesor placed in fx loop of my amp. So signal is filtered after preamp and whole timeline effects chain, just before loop return. Result is pretty good, sizzles are on acceptable for me lvl.

What do you think about this guys? Is it a good solution, or i shouldn't care about it, cause it will be filtered out anyway on mixing board?
Click to expand...

If you don't like something about your pickups..there are too many good pickups out there not to switch them. You can easily find something you like.
 
I would try different magnets before getting rid of them.

But I also agree with sutepaj that there are so many options maybe you should get something more tailored to your needs.

Also dimarzio offers a free one time swap. Send them, they send you what you want. That is another thought.
 
Thanks for answers guys!

Like i mentioned, i actually really like them, very fat, and yet super-responsive, it is just this sizzle. With this gentle 15.5kHz filter in fx loop almost all sizzle disappeared, but i am only worried about some other possible side effects like worse cut through mix etc.
 
Recon":32ya9szu said:
Thanks for answers guys!

Like i mentioned, i actually really like them, very fat, and yet super-responsive, it is just this sizzle. With this gentle 15.5kHz filter in fx loop almost all sizzle disappeared, but i am only worried about some other possible side effects like worse cut through mix etc.
Click to expand...

With just about anything, try them in the mix, you will know then!
 
Yep, next rehearsals will show.

Is it a common practice to filter sound in fx loop, or it should be performed rather in front of an amp? Basically i like to plug in my guitar directly to my amp without any front, having only timeline effects in fx loop, and now this tiny eq.
 
Maybe it's just not the right fit for the amp/tones/guitar you are aiming for. What amp and cab is this?
 
It is a Bogner xtc based diy amp with 2xV30 cab. And I stress it again - I love my tone, high freq fizz is the only thing to change. And this 15,5kHz filter is really doing good job, especially with little boost on 4kHz for soloing.

I noticed a lot of reports with 10 band MXR EQ, that equing 16kHz by -6db in fx loop elimitates problem.

Here is the quick sample of bridge sound with full gain (actually first half of it:) https://soundcloud.com/pawe-kapli-ski/hiss captured by sm57, but unfortunately recorded in my room, so i added quite a lot of gain on 2i2 Focusrite.

On the less gainy channel sound is epic, no sign of fizz :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFfYZU5X-1Y
 
you could try a 250k pot if you are using a 500k. you can also use a tone knob. much tone shaping can be done using a 250k or 500k pot and .022 or .047 cap. i usually fine tune a pickup to what i like and hardwire a tone circuit.
 
dstroud":3hoqo69z said:
you could try a 250k pot if you are using a 500k. you can also use a tone knob. much tone shaping can be done using a 250k or 500k pot and .022 or .047 cap. i usually fine tune a pickup to what i like and hardwire a tone circuit.
Click to expand...

You have a really good point. Maybe OP can work his way around that. Or magnets. Whatever works.
 
Actually, i was playing with different volume pots, now i have 500k for Bridge, and 500k + 500k (so basically 250k) parallel resistor for singles.

Just a while ago i tried MXR 10-band eq in my fx loop and results were pretty good! Settings were: -5db for 16kHz and +2.5db for 4kHz. Here is a quick sample recorded by my phone, but difference is noticeable (first attempt with eq on, second with eq off:) https://drive.google.com/open?id=1EldUf ... XzbjkCDVOb Sorry for only Lukather stuff, but i am currently playing in Toto cover band :D
 
You can also use an eq out front, but the clips sound fine to me. I have had two dead mxr 10 bands. Keep a back up around if you are gigging.
 
Have you tried the Mojotone Black Magic pickup? It has both Ceramic and Alnico mags. I have one in a superstrat and love it! It has the tight lows of a ceramic pickup and the sweet highs of an alnico pickup.
 
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