[Josh]

GFS stuff, in my limited experience (three different types of pickups) are marginally better than cheap stock pickups, but I have yet to find anything that sounds and feels like the Suhr Aldrich.

 

[Leon]

I was just wondering when you have a HH guitar in the middle position where both HBs are selected if it sounds like the guitar is using a middle pickup. Not raw and raunchy like the bridge but not warm and fuzzy like the neck. An in between sound just like a middle HB. Maybe something like parallel or series wiring does this? I don't know what either of those it is that would get me what I want. Can someone clarify?

A parallel HB will sound more like a single, definitely. I had a config on another guitar where the tone and volume knobs were push/pull. They activated a series/parallel switch. The tone switched the bridge, and the volume switched the neck. It was pretty killer, especially in the middle position, because you could mix a series neck and parallel bridge, two parallel HB's, etc, etc.

Or, you could go with the Petrucci wiring. His was kinda like this:

\ = bridge
| = inner coils of the HB's
/ = neck

He claims that just running the inner coils of the HB's makes a very strat-like tone, or something :lol:

 

[ohio_eric]

You could wire it so the middle position is both pickups split in series. My Blackjack had that setting on it's five way switch and it was a pretty cool sound. Paul Reed Smiths use this to. It might be worth checking out.

 

[RockQ]

I'm gonna do it guys. I really think I'm gonna do it. Now what all do I need.
Here's what I'm going to do with all of this.

Step #1: Get 2 humbucker-sized rail pickups and a middle single-coil sized rail pickup for in between.

Step #2: Buy a black HSH pickguard (ya know, black, for METAL!!! LOL)

Step #3: I'm also going to get 3 toggle switches for each pickup to coil-split them.

Step #4: I'm going to need to upgrade the pots to 500k also. Can I wire all of my pickups to one "master" tone control or do I need individual ones for each? I want to be able control the tone of each pickup selection.

I could get 3 push/pull pots for each pickup that would coil-split it and control it's tone. Maybe that would be a good option.

Is there anything else I should do or get? I can get the pickups in black or black on black. What would be best?

 

[RockQ]

Can you wire a 5-way switch so it goes like this?
Position 1 - Bridge pickup split
Position 2 - Middle pickup split
Position 3 - Neck pickup split
Position 4 - nothing
Position 5 - No pickups split

 

[MFB]

Why would you want them automatically split? If you're gonna do that just go with single coils straight from the get-go and use the 2 and 4 positions for something like Bridge/Middle and then Middle/Neck.

 

[eleven59]

Why would you want them automatically split? If you're gonna do that just go with single coils straight from the get-go and use the 2 and 4 positions for something like Bridge/Middle and then Middle/Neck.

I'm not sure he's getting what "split" means. Or, he's talking about using two 5-way switches, one for pickup selection and one for splitting the pickups as detailed above.

 

[RockQ]

I'm not sure he's getting what "split" means. Or, he's talking about using two 5-way switches, one for pickup selection and one for splitting the pickups as detailed above.

Yeah. That's what I was thinking about doing. Just using two 5-way switches. One for pickup selection and one for coil-splitting. The one for coil-splitting should work like this right?

Position 1 - Bridge split, 2 - Bridge & Middle split, 3 - Middle split, 4 - Middle & Neck split, and 5 - Neck split. Using a 5-way switch would make it where there always has to be one pickup that's split but it would be cheaper to do. What do you guys think?

 

[Reverend 7 Strings of Hate]

Look, this is the best advice you can get early on in your playing life.

Get good gear. Save for it, wait for it, but dont by crappy pickups, buy good pickups. Dont buy crappy amps or guitars. Do it right the first time and you wont have to resell tons of stuff at a loss to eventually get what you want.

 

[Edroz]

I'm not going to buy anything Dimarzio or Seymour Duncan. GFS or GuitarHeads is what I would buy. Most people who have tried the X2N said it was not as good as GFS's Power Rails for $35 instead of $70 or whatever the X2Ns are. Pickups are not that expensive material wise. It's nuts, for me anyways, to pay that much for some magnets and wire.

you're not just paying for magnets and wire though. you're paying for R&D, and a certain sound and design.

by your line of thinking, buying a Tom Anderson or a Suhr over an SX or Agile is nonsense because after all, it's just wood :lol:

not saying that GFS or Guitarheads aren't good pickups. i've been impressed with all the Guitarheads pickups i've tried so far, and you can't beat them for the money. but i personally haven't found any that rival my favorite Dimarzio, Duncan or BKPs.

 

[RockQ]

Ok. I'm closing this thread and starting one about wiring.

 

[Leon]

Closing it? :lol:

 

[RockQ]

Closing it? :lol:

Well, I thought I could. I'm a newb here but the other forums I have been allow closing threads. I guess this one doesn't! LOL

 

[Leon]

I can, because I'm a mod, but later on down the road someone else might have a similar problem, and will want to chime in.