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Racerxrated
Well-known member
Duncan Custom. Don't care for most DiMarzios. The Distortion always sounds flat, boring to me. They come out quick if a Guitar comes with one.
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milin_im
Member
Sounds like you're looking for a Dimarzio Tone Zone.
skoora
Well-known member
He said his guitar is already low end heavy. Isn’t the Tone Zone a bass heavy pickup?
JohnnyGtar
Well-known member
That was an old Gibson Dirty Fingers. It's what he used on the Whitesnake album.
JohnnyGtar
Well-known member
Very much so.
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harddriver
Well-known member
I've never cared for Dimarzios either Racer no matter how many times I've had them and tried to like them...I've always come back to Seymour Duncans and I have tried Duncan Distortions as well and they kinda disappointed me. I find there seems to be more mojo, ie articulation, output, just enough mids push, nicer crunch in the 12-13K region. Even at 14K there is noticeably more compression(which you may like), loss of some of the crunch and of course more mids at least to my ears.
The only Dimarzios that I played that I didn't feel like ripping out of the guitar was my EBMM Axis pickups. I did try the Tone Zone because everyone said it was close to the Axis pickups but it just wasn't for me.
Like someone suggested don't overlook a 9K PAFish pickup they always seem to play and feel alot hotter for whatever reason and they are very articulate. But if you want some mids then you're going to have to look at the overwound higher output pickups 12K-16K. Maybe look into the Seymour Duncan Wes Hauch Jupiter blade pickup....it seems to be take on the BL L500XL for modern metal. I have one that I haven't installed yet so I can't say from experience what it sounds like but I liked the clip of it on Wes Hauch's site.
Rex Rocker
Well-known member
I would say the Tone Zone is more low-mid heavy than actual bass-heavy. Kinda like a JB, but with the emphasis inverted to the low mids rather than high-mids.
Zado
Well-known member
I do have the original EMGs the guitar came with, but it didn't shine with them... or maybe I wasn't a fan of the lack of dynamics at the time. Funny enough EMGs are still strong and you see plenty of pros using them no matter how unpopular are in forums. Gotta give em another chance someday, I'll need to buy the 25k pots again but whatever.
The Distortion is definitely on my list atm, maybe it's a lil too hot, but it's a classic for a reason I guess.
Maybe so, but honestly want to keep the pedalboard the smallest possible. Also, I guess I kinda "need" a slightly hotter bridge pickup, the Demon is so uncompressed that, while chords sound (and "feel") beautiful, leads are not as fun as other guitars I have.
A friend of mine has a Strat loaded with a Suhr Aldrich, and he loves it to death. Plays in a Whitesnake tribute, with an hot rodded '59, really great tones. Do you think it'd behave just as well in a set neck/mahogany combo?
You mean Super Distortion or Duncan Distortion? The Duncan Custom is tempting me hard, as the distortion is, I just can't understand why is described both as mid prominent AND scooped. BTW how accurate is this comparison video? The guitar should be similar to my Schecter spec wise
I'm gathering some infos with the DMZ site, but I'm not sure I can trust the EQ chart (I hardly trust Duncan's), as all humbuckers have almost inexistent treble value and exceptional low end. The guitar is filled with lowend already (and the amp is as well), so I guess I need something that can handle all the fat ass the rest of the gear delivers, without increasing it even more and get into flubcity.
I've always been a Duncan fan, or better said, a fan of their sonic character, so I guess DiMarzios might not be my best option considering their peculiar tonal spectrum... I might be wrong of course.
In recent years I've always been into hot PAFs (my Strat-style guitar is loaded with a Schecter Pasadena, which is an amazing sounding hot PAF - not very hot, around 11-12k, but plenty aggro when pushed), and the Demon was apparently a safe choice spec wise, cause it's described as super articulate (which is) and very bitey (which absolutely is), something I wanted in that guitar... problem is you never know how the guitar-pickup combo will sound til you have it assembled, no matter what your previous experiences with that pickups are or what its the tone features are. Maybe sometimes the wrong choice is trying to balance the whole thing, like putting bright pickups on a dark guitar, or scooped pickups in a middy guitar. I guess there's a reason why, for example, Lynch signature guitar is built with brightness upon brightess, and still delivers.
Rex Rocker
Well-known member
I would say the Custom is more on the scoopy side. Big bottom-end, raspy treble (note "raspy" rathern than "airy" like a PAF), with a slight hint of upper-mid bite, just not as much as the JB/Distortion.
Shask
Well-known member
I have always thought of the Custom as being scooped in the lower mids, but more boosted in the upper mids, and then big lows and big presence.
mchn13
Well-known member
dimarzio fred. i friend gave me one that had a bad ground wire, and i cleaned it up and put in one of my old dinkys and im shocked at how much i like it. smooth, barks, and its tight.
GuitarGuy08
Well-known member
I know you are focusing on the pickups but as soon as I heard your setup, that oversized cabinet with V30s is adding a bunch of boomy, unarticulated bass end. Also, those speakers scoop the mids out and accent the high and low register.
As far as Pup replacements, BKP silos have a lot of mids if you are trying to reign in your setup but the low end can be very extended on the neck pickup, bridge can be a tad smooth for some rigs.
Planet Tone has given me good experiences when trying out their single coils, so I would def reach out to them and see if they have a Hum that you would dig, you never know.
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Racerxrated
Well-known member
Duncan Distortion ^^^ is the pup I don’t care for. The Super D is the one DiMarzio I can deal with.
skoora
Well-known member
It’s not that the Demon isn’t hot enough for leads. It’s the design of the pickup. There are people playing metal and other heavy music with Tele’s and Strats that have no problem with leads sustaining and ringing out. I tried a Demon many years ago in a Les Paul and it came right out. Just had a neutered tone. Sounded dry and constricted. Hated it. A 57 classic (supposedly “weaker”), which replaced it, was so much more alive. You said you have another guitar player? Play your rig through his speaker cab and see what difference that makes. But almost anything will be better than that Demon in a set neck guitar..IMO of course.
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harddriver
Well-known member
I have already recommended the Custom and the SH-6N so the Jupiter is different from the normal pickup recommendation. It's a Metal pickup but it's not a strident as the Dimebucker. Jupiter definitely sounds more focused and well balanced. The low end is something that seems to be more prominent over the dimebucker. The Dimebucker is 16.25K ohms resitance and the Jupiter is 14K ohms.
FourT6and2
Well-known member
First, Nazgul. 100%. Fantastic pickup with a great mid-range growl. Lows are tight but not bloated. Highs chime but aren't spiky.
Second, it might actually be the amp. The Yeti is a scooooooped circuit and to get more bite you gotta run those bright switches which makes the amp spiky. The super simple and CHEAP solution is to spend about $0.65 on a 33K resistor to replace the 47K in the tone stack. It takes about 5 minutes to do, it's totally reversable, and it will come closer to solving your problems over spending $100+ on a pickup swap. The next step I would recommend is raising the NFB resistor value to at least 47K. That will also give you more raunchy growl but it won't be so over the top that it changes the amp too much. It'll be closer to the awesome growl from the clips @firejack shared. He's always had great tone with his Peters amps. That GNL has an amazing growl that's also very musical and pleasant in nature.
Then how are you running the bright switches? Are you using both of them or only one?
Second, it might actually be the amp. The Yeti is a scooooooped circuit and to get more bite you gotta run those bright switches which makes the amp spiky. The super simple and CHEAP solution is to spend about $0.65 on a 33K resistor to replace the 47K in the tone stack. It takes about 5 minutes to do, it's totally reversable, and it will come closer to solving your problems over spending $100+ on a pickup swap. The next step I would recommend is raising the NFB resistor value to at least 47K. That will also give you more raunchy growl but it won't be so over the top that it changes the amp too much. It'll be closer to the awesome growl from the clips @firejack shared. He's always had great tone with his Peters amps. That GNL has an amazing growl that's also very musical and pleasant in nature.
Then how are you running the bright switches? Are you using both of them or only one?
jchrisf
Well-known member
I love mine!
eclecticsynergy
Well-known member
One of mine's an old SEY too: 12.65K.
Zado
Well-known member
The whole DiMarzio thing is sort of a mystery for me, I'm watching a shitload of vids and comparison clips (with duncans too) and they all sound quite good, I guess my ears are gettin oversaturated somehow.
I don't mind some scoop in the lower mids, might help a lil keeping the low end together and tight. I dig some bite in my sound, tho, that's why I don't gel with the Invader, which I love for some chugga stuff, but not for leads and shredding due to the smooth biteless treble. And that's the reason I somehow dig the Demon when I'm not in a dual guitar scenario.
You are definitely right, the rehearsal cab isn't helping as it's quite short, but deeper than the EVH212 which makes it also laser directional most of the time. I was not aware of Planet Tone pickups honestly, prices seem quite fair too, definitely checking, thanks!
At this point I might even trying to swap the 59 for the demon and viceversa and see what happens with the band, if the Demon is the culprit the 59 might work slightly better - hard to think it could make worse, even if it's the neck version so the output is minimal. I might as well try, as suggested, to play thru the other guitarist's rig and see what happens. Kinda comforts me that every choice I'm making will be for the better
The Jupiter sounds total badass there. It's pricey here, but who knows if a used ones shows up.
Another added to the list! One of my top 3 choices at the moment. Maybe I have a friend selling one, he hates it in his bolt-on superstrat as it sounds "anemic" and annoying, but might be the guitar being too bright to begin with.
About the amp: considering that playing thru that cab does not make things easier as said, I honestly like how the amp sounds with greenbacks and other cabs in general, granted I haven't used such cabs with the band. The switches position depends on the song and the general mood, but I often run the brite 2 left and the brite 1 right, with the Ptrimmer at 75%. It gets nice, airy and articulate with quite some mids without going too extreme with EQ setting, which is something I don't like as I want some treble and mids spared in case of need.
FourT6and2
Well-known member
As someone who has owned, built, and modded like 50 of these amps with the same or similar circuits, I'm urging you to try swapping out the slope resistor first. Then possibly the NFB resistor. The Yeti sounds great with Greenbacks or Creambacks for sure.
If you can swap out a pickup, you can swap out a resistor. It's even faster than doing a pickup swap honestly. Just a suggestion...
The Yeti is comparatively dark, smooth, and scooped. You're chasing a ghost here with pickup and speaker changes because the amp itself is the biggest contributor. It's a good circuit, but with about 15 minutes of work and about $1.00 in parts, you can re-voice it to do exactly what you want. And if you don't like it, all it takes is another 15 minutes to convert it back and then you can continue focusing on pickups and speakers. It might just save you a lot of time, headache, and money in the long run.