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Guitar Mods
Making a Jackson less thrash and more doom...
Thu 16 Dec 2010 14:12
Just starting to get into the whole guitar modding thingy and will eventually be looking at replacing the pickups and electronics on my Jackson KVX10 (older version: TOM string-through rather than locking trem)... it currently has Duncan Designed distortion pickups in it which sound alright but I'm eventually going to be looking for alternatives and want to (excuse the management speak) think outside the box a little in terms of getting good tone and output...

Any ideas or recommmendations of what could work? For example would 'bucker-sized P90s or Duncan P-Rails be awesome or just awesomely bad in such a guitar?
Thu 16 Dec 2010 14:28
Reply to Post 72710 by MrDreadful in Guitar Mods Just starting to get into the whole guitar modding thingy and will eventually be looking at replacing the pickups and electronics on my Jackson KVX10 (older version: TOM string-through rather than locking trem)... it currently has Duncan Designed distortion pickups in it which sound alright but I'm eventually going to be looking for alternatives and want to (excuse the management speak) think outside the box a little in terms of getting good tone and output...

Any ideas or recommmendations of what could work? For example would 'bucker-sized P90s or Duncan P-Rails be awesome or just awesomely bad in such a guitar?


What sorta tone you after? P90s are fabulous but are generally quite brash and middly - more suited to punk or rock than doom I'd say. Stick to humbuckers. Generally speaking, the higher the output the "darker" the sound is, and an alnico p/up will have more old school midrange character than a ceramic design, which has a more scooped tonality. If you get one that you can coil tap then you can get more versatilty by flicking a switch and going to singlecoil mode for more bite.
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Thu 16 Dec 2010 14:39
Humbuckers are of course the obvious choice, but P90s are becoming increasingly common in doom. Mostly, I suspect, due to Greg Anderson's use of a '56 Goldtop with Goatsnake and SunnO))).

Tone-wise I want something loud and dirty, which will be able to cope with down tuning and lots of lows without getting too muddy... but also needs a decent mid-high response so it's actually audible in any situation where there's also a bass! Sustain is also important inasmuch as pickups can help with that...
Post last edited by MrDreadful - 16/12/10 - 14:40
Thu 16 Dec 2010 16:11
Reply to Post 72712 by MrDreadful in Guitar Mods Humbuckers are of course the obvious choice, but P90s are becoming increasingly common in doom. Mostly, I suspect, due to Greg Anderson's use of a '56 Goldtop with Goatsnake and SunnO))).

Tone-wise I want something loud and dirty, which will be able to cope with down tuning and lots of lows without getting too muddy... but also needs a decent mid-high response so it's actually audible in any situation where there's also a bass! Sustain is also important inasmuch as pickups can help with that...


Google Bareknuckle Pickups. I've had several pups built to spec from them - give them a call! Not at all expensive as it sounds and you can literally tell him what you want and they'll do it. Great stuff.
__________________________
Musician, audio engineer, producer.
See sambates.co.uk for info - all engineering, mixing, mastering, post-production and foley work welcome!