Current Guitar Lineup

[la szum]

My lineup:

For playing at home...

Fender American Deluxe Stratocaster HSS QMT
Gibson Les Paul Classic
Fender American Deluxe Telecaster HH FMT

My partscasters

Fender Pawnshop Offset Special with a 9.5-14" compound radius C-D carve ebony board ebony board American Elite Stratocaster neck
'93 MIJ Fender '52 Reissue Telecaster with a 9.5-14" compound radius C-D carve ebony board American Elite Telecaster neck


Gig guitars

2001 Gibson Memphis Dot Reissue ES-335
Gibson ES-137 Custom

These seven cover all the bases for me. I tend to rotate the first five at home in no particular order based on whatever I feel like playing at the time. For gigs, I start most sets with the ES-137 Custom and switch to the 335 once I feel properly warmed up.

You have the most consistent guitar aesthetic I have ever seen. Tight!

 

[Jarick]

Pickup carousel round 5,000: I decided to ditch the noiseless pickups again (for now). Snagged a couple used pickup sets and a new Tele pickup.

Here's the plan:

PRS CE-24 -> Suhr Thornbuckers (Plus bridge)
PRS S2 Standard 24 -> Suhr SSV's
Les Paul -> Wolfetone Dr Vintage / Marshallhead
Strat -> Suhr V60LP's
Tele -> Suhr Classic T's

I got the SSV's in last week, and the Wolfetones and Classic T bridge in today. Going to try the Classic T along with the K-Line neck (which is more like a Strat style).

For the Ibanez AZ, I swapped out the Dimarzio noiseless for some K-Line 64's that I had sitting around and they sound awesome. The OCD part of my brain is not going to be happy with mismatched pickups though. So I'll probably end up with either a Thornbucker or SSV in the bridge along with V60LP's or ML Standards.

And the Les Paul, I actually pulled out all the electronics and put the Mojotone solderless harness back in there. The CTS pots that I just installed last Fall already are acting up. For now I put the Dimarzio 36th PAF bridge and PAF master neck, but will swap out for the Wolfetones tonight. The Dimarzios are just kind of blah in there.

Also, you know what's kind of fun? Watching pickup readings as they warm up. It's -10 F outside and so far the Dr Vintage has gone from 6.85k up to 7.33k. Marshallhead went from 8.19k to 8.58k. We'll see where it stops!

Update from the last go around:

I put the Classic T bridge pickup in the Tele, which did bump the output and warm up the highs a touch. Surprisingly not as different as expected. I also got a matching Classic T neck pickup and didn't like it at all. Super dark and muffled sounding. I took it back out and put the K-Line neck pickup back in.

Then I decided I wanted to keep a guitar in D standard so I got some 10-48 strings and put on the Tele. Previously I would take one of my humbucker guitars and do that, but I wanted to keep the clarity so used the single coil 25.5" scale guitar. It sounds really big now, darker/duller than expected with the heavy strings and lower tuning. But it's interesting, halfway to being a baritone I guess.

Yesterday I snagged a good deal on a Thornbucker bridge pickup for the Ibanez. Found a standard (non plus) output, 53mm, with raw nickel cover so it will match whatever color pickguard/plastics. I'll swap that when it arrives next week, keeping the K-Line 64 neck and middle pickups.

Other guitars are sounding good. Really like the SSV's in the PRS Standard, really clear sounding for humbuckers. Wolfetones sound good in the Les Paul, more vintage sounding.

Strat really needs a refret, so that should be a priority soon. Jumbo stainless steel frets would be killer.

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

Pickup carousel round 5,000: I decided to ditch the noiseless pickups again (for now). Snagged a couple used pickup sets and a new Tele pickup.

Here's the plan:

PRS CE-24 -> Suhr Thornbuckers (Plus bridge)
PRS S2 Standard 24 -> Suhr SSV's
Les Paul -> Wolfetone Dr Vintage / Marshallhead
Strat -> Suhr V60LP's
Tele -> Suhr Classic T's

I got the SSV's in last week, and the Wolfetones and Classic T bridge in today. Going to try the Classic T along with the K-Line neck (which is more like a Strat style).

For the Ibanez AZ, I swapped out the Dimarzio noiseless for some K-Line 64's that I had sitting around and they sound awesome. The OCD part of my brain is not going to be happy with mismatched pickups though. So I'll probably end up with either a Thornbucker or SSV in the bridge along with V60LP's or ML Standards.

And the Les Paul, I actually pulled out all the electronics and put the Mojotone solderless harness back in there. The CTS pots that I just installed last Fall already are acting up. For now I put the Dimarzio 36th PAF bridge and PAF master neck, but will swap out for the Wolfetones tonight. The Dimarzios are just kind of blah in there.

Also, you know what's kind of fun? Watching pickup readings as they warm up. It's -10 F outside and so far the Dr Vintage has gone from 6.85k up to 7.33k. Marshallhead went from 8.19k to 8.58k. We'll see where it stops!

I went from a tele that had a Fender Twisted tele neck pickup to my K-Line with his sig pickups in it. The Twisted Tele really did sound like a strat pickup. I find the K-Line rides a little bit of a middle ground between strat/tele - not as dark as a traditional tele neck pickup, but not quite as huge sounding as a strat neck pickup. I really like it a lot. I keep thinking about swapping out the bridge for something with a bit more balls...but also just think about getting a second, ballsier tele/possibly esquire.

 

[Jarick]

I went from a tele that had a Fender Twisted tele neck pickup to my K-Line with his sig pickups in it. The Twisted Tele really did sound like a strat pickup. I find the K-Line rides a little bit of a middle ground between strat/tele - not as dark as a traditional tele neck pickup, but not quite as huge sounding as a strat neck pickup. I really like it a lot. I keep thinking about swapping out the bridge for something with a bit more balls...but also just think about getting a second, ballsier tele/possibly esquire.

That's kind of what the Suhr Classic T bridge is, a fatter ballsier bridge pickup. But definitely not like a humbucker, like the Chopper T. I think it has the same "LP" (low peak?) treatment as the V60LP, which I think increases the capacitance kind of like running through a longer cable, shaving off the high end a bit.

 

[Jarick]

I picked up a 3-pack of Elixir Optiweb 10-46 strings on sale last week and put sets on my Ibanez AZ (standard tuning) and PRS CE-24 (half step down). Hoping the coated strings have a good long life to them...the strings on the PRS were completely dead after about a month or so.

Surprisingly with the Ibanez, the 10-46 strings don't feel overly stiff. I normally use 9's on it, even tried 8's, as it feels a bit stiffer than my other guitars. But the 10's feel pretty good. I like the ease of bending 9's but I do like the more solid feel of 10's. Same with the PRS, the 10's seem to be more stable than the 9.5's I was using beforehand.

Also, I put the Thornbucker into the Ibanez bridge spot, along with the K-Line 64's in the neck and middle. I lost some of the clarity and high end but the tone is now more in line with the other guitars. I'll probably eventually put in V60LP's if I find a good deal on them as they are a bit more muted and then it's less of a shock to switch with the humbucker.

 

[TheOrangeChannel]

Hard to beat an Ibanez Prestige...I've been hooked on them for years.

Same here…

 

[Jarick]

As I've been working on my basement the last few weeks, all my guitars are in their cases and I'm only using the Ibanez AZ. Just a really great guitar.

I've been strongly considering trying some different pickups for the neck and middle spot. I'm curious about the Dimarzio Cruisers which I've never properly used. I like the idea of something a little more humbucker sounding but still with clarity. Something that would blend a little better with the bridge humbucker too, but wouldn't kill the quack tones like stacked noiseless (like Areas) seem to do.

This morning I added a couple Cruisers to my shopping cart, then decided to tinker with pickup heights. I ended up dropping all three pickups lower in the guitar, the neck and middle single coils especially, and that seemed to help quite a bit actually. It smoothed out the treble peak a bit and lowered the bass a little. The bridge humbucker is still a little mid heavy but it seems to breathe better for lack of a better word and it's not driving the amp way harder than the others. Ended up bumping up the gain on the amp and now it's just a little more juicy sounding.

 

[Jarick]

And I have some Cruisers incoming. Shot a low offer to someone selling a set on Reverb and they accepted.

I have a feeling I'm going to either love or hate them within 30 seconds of installing.

 

[Eagle]

And I have some Cruisers incoming. Shot a low offer to someone selling a set on Reverb and they accepted.

I have a feeling I'm going to either love or hate them within 30 seconds of installing.

Yes .

 

[la szum]

I have a feeling I'm going to either love or hate them within 30 seconds of installing.

Every pickup install ever.

 

[Jarick]

Every pickup install ever.

Mmm....I'd say 90% of the time it's a marginal change in tone. Unless you're drastically changing the pickup type (like single coil vs humbucker, traditional vs noiseless, passive vs active) or the output/wind (PAF vs JB), it's pretty minor.

So rather than going from one type of early 60's single coil to another, figured I'd try a rail humbucker that I've never used.

It's either going to be glorious like Andy Timmons or sound like ass like a Hot Rail.

 

[Eagle]

I've never liked any rail pickup.

 

[la szum]

Yup. Apart from the tone they are kind of hideous little creatures, too. You ugly too you little JB Jr. bastard.

 

[Jarick]

Bad news, got the Cruisers in and they will not fit in the guitar. The wires are really thick and the pickups are kind of deep, so the wire pushes the pickup up to string height. So that's a no go unfortunately.

 

[Jarick]

After failing to get the Cruisers in the guitar, I decided to put the Dimarzio Areas (neck and middle) and Air Classic (bridge) back in the guitar. That lasted about an hour before I pulled everything out and put the K-Lines and Thornbucker back in.

The Areas just have this weirdness to them that I can't get along with. There's like a fake presence in the top end that's annoying, but the high end presence outside that is non-existent, and the overall EQ just sounds off. The neck pickup by itself sounded good, but the middle pickup sounded kind of weak and tame, and the in between positions really lack the nice natural quack tones.

 

[Eagle]

After failing to get the Cruisers in the guitar, I decided to put the Dimarzio Areas (neck and middle) and Air Classic (bridge) back in the guitar. That lasted about an hour before I pulled everything out and put the K-Lines and Thornbucker back in.

The Areas just have this weirdness to them that I can't get along with. There's like a fake presence in the top end that's annoying, but the high end presence outside that is non-existent, and the overall EQ just sounds off. The neck pickup by itself sounded good, but the middle pickup sounded kind of weak and tame, and the in between positions really lack the nice natural quack tones.

And Areas are some of the best stacked pick ups available. Sounds like you need to stay single coil.

 

[Jarick]

And Areas are some of the best stacked pick ups available. Sounds like you need to stay single coil.

Yeah I was really hoping to try the Cruisers but I'm not willing to mod the guitar that much. I checked and the Cruisers are about 22mm deep plus a few mm for the leads. The Areas are just under 20mm and the leads are super thin ~ 24ga wire. True singles are 15mm.

 

[gearJunkie]

Part 1 ...

 

[gearJunkie]

Part 2 ...

 

[Jarick]

I got some Seymour Duncan Phat Cats which I've wanted to try for a decade now, for my Les Paul. They are interesting pickups. Humbucker sized P90's but a little lower output than expected. They sound pretty dang good but are super noisy and microphonic. The neck pickup gets rid of most of the mud I dislike about Les Pauls and has nice clarity, but still a hefty tone. The bridge pickup has a nice bite to it without being harsh or thin, a lot like a Seth Lover with a touch more clarity. The pickups I got aren't RWRP and were out of phase initially, so I had to flip the magnets in one and that fixed the middle position but still no hum canceling in any position is kind of annoying.

Did another round of pickup carousel too with my other guitars. I put Dimarzio Areas back into my Strat, Tele, and Ibanez, and for whatever reason it's sounding a lot better to me now.

On the Strat, I did the Injector neck and bridge with Area 67 middle and it sounds pretty good, although the bridge is still a little bright and thin. I'll swap it out for the Virtual Solo I have on hand which is supposed to be a little warmer and fatter. But the Area 67 is brighter and more open than the other Area pickups, so it helps the in between positions. They are sensitive to height adjustments so it takes a bit to get dialed in. Also while they are a touch hotter/warmer than single coils, it's still not as high output as true humbuckers, just a little closer in EQ.

With the Ibanez, I put the Area 61 in the neck with Area 67 middle keeping the Thornbucker bridge. The K-Line single coils were too bright in the 2/4 positions and a little too scooped in comparison to the bridge humbucker. With the alnico 2 Areas, it's a little softer in the highs and a little more mids, so the EQ matches better with the bridge humbucker. The 2/4 positions are a little more of a compromise, a little softer than I'd prefer. For now it's okay.

The Tele sounds fine...I haven't been in love with the sound of anything I tried to this point, so at least having them noiseless is a plus.