New pickups, good or bad?

MrFlexx

MrFlexx

Active member
I have a Charvel San Dimas with the stock Seymour Duncan JB/59 set and I want to change them.into a set of Seymour Duncan Saturday Night Specials. My main amp is a Splawn Quick Rod 100 and I never set the gain higher than 11 o'clock. What I'm looking for is a more dynamic and responsive set with less output than the JB. I love the JB, but I want something less aggressive.

I still want to play 80's hardrock but I also want the solo tones to be warmer than the JB. So my question is how the Saturday Night Specials will do in this kind of guitar? I did have this set on my old Gibson Les Paul and I loved it in that guitar. But that a different kind of guitar than the Charvel San Dimas I have in mind.
 
Does your Charvel have a hardtail bridge or tremolo? If it's a trem, what type is it? What wood is the body made out of?
 
MrFlexx said:
Will read up on them.
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It’s been a while since I’ve used them but they’re more of an extra hot PAF that I remember. Duncan combines the 59 screw coil , Custom slug coil and A5 magnet . Would most likely sound great thru a Quick Rod
 
Keep the ‘59 and put a Custom 5 in the bridge- Trust me, it’s very clear and fat. It’s 14k, but doesn’t feel hot.
 
Might want to check some Lollar DB vids for a bridge. It has some elements of the JB but less compressed and probably clearer overall. I dumped a JB for a DB in my Edwards LP.. It has massive magnets and depending on how you set the height can be made to feel pretty hot or cooler set low. It's a bit pricey though but I feel like in the bridge I can cover anything from blues to metal just by height adjustment. Good luck brother.
 
I'd second the Custom Hybrid..just got a Charvel DK24 ProMod...came with Naz/Sentient...hated the Nazgul...dropped the Hybrid in and love it. Got everything you need and is almost reminiscent of the Bare Knuckle sensitivity to volume knob and pick.
 
Lari Basilio's demo is excellent!



Other pickups you may want to consider are the Seymour Duncan Pegasus, the Dimarzio DP192 Air Zone (NOT the Tone Zone) and the DiMarzio DP193 Air Norton (NOT the Norton) Many people use the Air Norton in the neck, but it's a great bridge pickup....that's what it was initially designed for.
 
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@JohnnyGtar I am aware of that set, it sounds really good, but hadn't seen that guy's review, thanks for posting it up. Call me weird but I been wanting to try that bridge humbucker in the neck of my Edwards LP. $160 bucks though, kind of a pricey experiment.
 
MrFlexx said:
I have a Charvel San Dimas with the stock Seymour Duncan JB/59 set and I want to change them.into a set of Seymour Duncan Saturday Night Specials. My main amp is a Splawn Quick Rod 100 and I never set the gain higher than 11 o'clock. What I'm looking for is a more dynamic and responsive set with less output than the JB. I love the JB, but I want something less aggressive.

I still want to play 80's hardrock but I also want the solo tones to be warmer than the JB. So my question is how the Saturday Night Specials will do in this kind of guitar? I did have this set on my old Gibson Les Paul and I loved it in that guitar. But that a different kind of guitar than the Charvel San Dimas I have in mind.
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BKP Holy diver it is. Less mud and less typical upper mid mess which is JB known for. Works great for hotroded strats. I have BKP Rebel Yell in Charvel and it is 80's rock/metal machine.
 
Gotta say, a lot of good recommendations here so far.

First, I’d ask what’s your budget. You want boutique level or mass production. Neither is a bad choice BTW

After that, narrow it down to what gain level you prefer you most. Research the magnet types.
 
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