Current Guitar Lineup

Jarick said:
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.
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Steinberger-BCRich.jpg


I have a PhatCat in the middle position on the Mockingbird. Sounds ok, but definitely not a true P90 bark & bite.
 
Updated group shot:

52923000174_8db8337b80_h.jpg


Added the Jazzmaster this weekend to cover a gap and because I've always wanted one.

I think if I have any other gap, it's a hollow body. Like a Gretsch 5422 with Filtertrons.

If I were to get rid of anything, it's likely the Les Paul, as I have never loved it and the PRS S2 Standard sounds better in every position for traditional Les Paul tones. Also been fighting the Telecaster a fair amount.
 
Jarick said:
Updated group shot:

52923000174_8db8337b80_h.jpg


Added the Jazzmaster this weekend to cover a gap and because I've always wanted one.

I think if I have any other gap, it's a hollow body. Like a Gretsch 5422 with Filtertrons.

If I were to get rid of anything, it's likely the Les Paul, as I have never loved it and the PRS S2 Standard sounds better in every position for traditional Les Paul tones. Also been fighting the Telecaster a fair amount.
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Magnificent all around! I've always had varying levels of GAS for a jazzmaster. Still would love to own one one day

I really want a prs Hollowbody II one day, but I definitely cannot afford one lol. I know there's the SE available but I don't want the SE because silly reasons and I'm a snob :LOL:

If they ever dropped an S2 HBII I'd probably be all over it in a heartbeat...
 
spawnofthesith said:
Magnificent all around! I've always had varying levels of GAS for a jazzmaster. Still would love to own one one day

I really want a prs Hollowbody II one day, but I definitely cannot afford one lol. I know there's the SE available but I don't want the SE because silly reasons and I'm a snob :LOL:

If they ever dropped an S2 HBII I'd probably be all over it in a heartbeat...
Click to expand...

Oh yeah, that would be really cool. I like the S2 guitars more than the SE for sure. I tried the SE Hollowbody a couple times and just didn't get much out of it. Didn't feel like it was anything special. Then I turned around and played a used S2 McCarty 594 and was just wowed. It had the sound and feel of a high end guitar, where the SE felt like a good import.

There's a part of my OCD brain that wanted to get rid of my Les Paul and replace it with a goldtop DGT SE. I think aesthetically it would be a great fit, like a nicer gold top finish and probably going to play better (I don't like the slim taper neck) and sound better (Gibson LP's are too bassy). But then I play the S2 Standard I have and it sounds like a great Les Paul without the excess harshness in the bridge or mud in the neck.
 
Jarick said:
Oh yeah, that would be really cool. I like the S2 guitars more than the SE for sure. I tried the SE Hollowbody a couple times and just didn't get much out of it. Didn't feel like it was anything special. Then I turned around and played a used S2 McCarty 594 and was just wowed. It had the sound and feel of a high end guitar, where the SE felt like a good import.

There's a part of my OCD brain that wanted to get rid of my Les Paul and replace it with a goldtop DGT SE. I think aesthetically it would be a great fit, like a nicer gold top finish and probably going to play better (I don't like the slim taper neck) and sound better (Gibson LP's are too bassy). But then I play the S2 Standard I have and it sounds like a great Les Paul without the excess harshness in the bridge or mud in the neck.
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Yeah I've been pretty indifferent about all the SEs I've tried, solid good imports like you said. The S2 vela completely knocked my socks off though. and led me to getting that core custom 22 as well. I'm fully in the PRS fold now

I remain a massive Gibson/LP fanboy though so my gut instinct is to yell not to do that, but if you aren't vibing with the LP then you aren't vibing with it haha
 
Alright the "keep it stock" idea stuck for about five days. I got a set of Porter P90's used to try out in the guitar and will re-wire with 500k pots. Granted it already has P90-ish pickups but the Porters are not wound as hot and have A2 magnets where the Squier ones I'm not sure. Also the volume pot isn't great on this guitar, very stiff and super dark if you roll down at all. And the guitar's pretty noisy so I need to check the wiring and grounding.
 
A few days ago, I did some part swaps on my Tele:

Changed the bridge from a more traditional three saddle to a modern six saddle Gotoh bridge
Changed the neck pickup from a single coil K-Line Signature to a Dimarzio Area T neck
Changed the bridge pickup from a single coil K-Line Signature to a Dimarzio Chopper T

I had bought the bridge about six months ago and only installed it for a couple days before swapping it out. It's kind of jarring for a couple reasons...it seems to damped the overtones a bit, and it actually allows me to properly intonate the guitar. The strings were actually a bit flat on the high notes instead of the usual sharpness, so it sounded really dull. But I adjusted and now it is really solidly in tune and plays a lot better.

The pickups are definitely different, but they seem to work together well. I find regular Tele pickups a bit bright in the bridge and warm in the neck. The K-Line has more of a Strat neck which is better but a bit tame. The Dimarzio Area T is similar but a bit louder and more compressed due to the dummy coil, but there's less pull on the strings so I can move it up a bit more. The Area T Hot I normally use lacks low end and sounds flat, so back to the Chopper T. This pickup isn't the most exciting sound, but after tweaking it's kind of cool. It's basically a mini humbucker, not as fat as a PAF, a little more midrange, a little less output. It's not sparkly or like a P90 as some people claim, but it matches well with the Area T neck.

I think I'm going to try putting a 500k tone pot in to bring out a little more sparkle. The 250k pots work fine, but it's not as exciting sounding as other guitars. I think 500k would be too much, so mixing one 250k and one 500k would be sweet.

Also, I put a set of 10's on and strung it in E flat. It's something a little different.

Anyways, I'm always love-hate with this guitar, but right now it's pretty fun.
 
Jarick said:
A few days ago, I did some part swaps on my Tele:

Changed the bridge from a more traditional three saddle to a modern six saddle Gotoh bridge
Changed the neck pickup from a single coil K-Line Signature to a Dimarzio Area T neck
Changed the bridge pickup from a single coil K-Line Signature to a Dimarzio Chopper T

I had bought the bridge about six months ago and only installed it for a couple days before swapping it out. It's kind of jarring for a couple reasons...it seems to damped the overtones a bit, and it actually allows me to properly intonate the guitar. The strings were actually a bit flat on the high notes instead of the usual sharpness, so it sounded really dull. But I adjusted and now it is really solidly in tune and plays a lot better.

The pickups are definitely different, but they seem to work together well. I find regular Tele pickups a bit bright in the bridge and warm in the neck. The K-Line has more of a Strat neck which is better but a bit tame. The Dimarzio Area T is similar but a bit louder and more compressed due to the dummy coil, but there's less pull on the strings so I can move it up a bit more. The Area T Hot I normally use lacks low end and sounds flat, so back to the Chopper T. This pickup isn't the most exciting sound, but after tweaking it's kind of cool. It's basically a mini humbucker, not as fat as a PAF, a little more midrange, a little less output. It's not sparkly or like a P90 as some people claim, but it matches well with the Area T neck.

I think I'm going to try putting a 500k tone pot in to bring out a little more sparkle. The 250k pots work fine, but it's not as exciting sounding as other guitars. I think 500k would be too much, so mixing one 250k and one 500k would be sweet.

Also, I put a set of 10's on and strung it in E flat. It's something a little different.

Anyways, I'm always love-hate with this guitar, but right now it's pretty fun.
Click to expand...
This bridge is traditional tone and intonation without switching to a 6 saddle,
IMG_3213.jpeg

With or without sides.
 
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