BigBellyRocker":2zaibif4 said:
Speeddemon":2zaibif4 said:
AmpliFIRE":2zaibif4 said:
threadkiller":2zaibif4 said:
I recently changed out the pickups and the pots in my Les Paul. Now, I absolutely love the Dimarzio Norton (not Air Norton) in the bridge on my Explorer so I figured with both guitars being mahogony why not. I put a PAF Pro in the neck and Norton in the bridge. The neck pickup sounds great. The bridge sounds a little thin and weak. It is wired correctly. I find myself looking for more low end and more output/sustain. Took it to practice last night and it sounded mosquito thin at times. I have experimented with pickup height. Minimal help there. I was wondering if the Tone Zone or possibly Illuminator might be the solution to my problem. Any thing I can do to help my existing pickup? Any suggestions. Most of the Tone Zone clips I find are modern metal and I'm playing classic rock mostly. I like a medium hot pickup with lots of overtones generally and about the heaviest I get is old metallica. I generally like a pickup with output a little hotter than vintage. Funny how you can love a pickup in one guitar and not in another. I'm thinking it might be because the LP is weight relieved.
Tone Zone in a LP...? Pure mud IMO
Sounds like you need a Super Distortion
What he said.
The Tone Zone even showed some muddiness in my Charvel So-Cal Pro Mod
Yup, I have a USA So-Cal and the Tone Zone does sound a little bit muddy or on the low end. Somebody recommended the Dimarzio Super Distortion but this pickup has a higher bass rating than the treble rating. I don't know if this combination will sound good in a mahogany body guitar. I have a ash body Charvel guitar and the Super Distortion sound perfect. Obviously, everyone knows that ash body wood has a brighter sound so it should balance out the high bass rating from the Super Distortion.
Trust me, I *had* the Super D in that alder-bodied Charvel So-Cal! It had a good big chunky low-end, but no mud!
In the end, I wanted the guitar to be a bit more classic 80's "Maiden"/allround classic metal sounding, given the fact that it was basically my "Adrian"*, I opted for the Norton, with a slightly leaner and even tighter low-end, yet more low-end than the Duncan Distortion I tried too.
The Duncan Distortion would make things super tight and aggressive, slight loss of the Norton's alnico character. the DD would be perfect if I only would stick to speed/thrash metal.
Anyway, long story short; the Super D will NOT muddy things up! Not in a Les Paul either; I mean...Ace and Adrian can't be wrong, can they?!
*I know that A.S. had the Super D in his white Jackson too, but for me, the Norton was a tad more versatile. I love me some alnico character. By the way, I'm pretty sure that the Duncan SH-14 Custom 5 would have worked well too in that guitar. That one is now the mainstay in my ESP Horizon NT-II.