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The Pickup Place / I need help with an HSS ESP 24 fret guitar!
« on: January 24, 2016, 12:50:21 PM »
I have an ESP LTD Elite ST-1.
It's a great guitar, but I'm still searching for the right pickups.
Up until yesterday, I was using a Chopper in the neck and a Tone Zone in the bridge.
Chopper was just a hair too hot and dark
Tone Zone sounded great, nice and thick with lots of power.....but the mid range hump always sounded like my Wah pedal was on.
I re-installed the factory pickups yesterday and once again, they are a huge disappointment.
Duncan STK-S4 in the neck and middle
Duncan Custom in the bridge
I swapped the bridge magnet with an Alnico II and like the Custom Custom much better!
The neck and middle pickups just have no personality though....
I love the way this guitar plays. It also has tons of sustain, which I like, plus the Floyd (even though it's an FR1000) is amazing.
I tried the "Pickup Picker," but it always comes up with Injector neck (which I absolutely did not like in any guitar I tried it in) and Tone Zone.
Here are the guitar specs:
24 fret maple neck
Maple fretboard
Alder body with 1/4" thick maple cap (might be a thin laminate, I can't tell)
Floyd Rose trem
25.5" scale
My setup:
Guitar --> Fractal FX-8 --> Mesa Triaxis --> Mesa 20/20 power amp --> 2 1x12 cabinets loaded with Cannabis Rex speakers
What I'm looking for:
Great all around tone with lots of versatility. I'm not trying to nail anyone's tone.
I play in a cover band. We play everything from James Brown to Chili Peppers to Rage Against the Machine.
I have a Cruiser Bridge in the neck position of a Strat and it is freaking wonderful! I did not like it in this guitar though due to the 24 fret position........
I fully understand that this guitar will not sound like my Strat, but I'd like to get as Strat like neck and middle tone as I can with a semi-hot humbucker bridge pickup that can handle high gain as well as mid gain tones.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
It's a great guitar, but I'm still searching for the right pickups.
Up until yesterday, I was using a Chopper in the neck and a Tone Zone in the bridge.
Chopper was just a hair too hot and dark
Tone Zone sounded great, nice and thick with lots of power.....but the mid range hump always sounded like my Wah pedal was on.
I re-installed the factory pickups yesterday and once again, they are a huge disappointment.
Duncan STK-S4 in the neck and middle
Duncan Custom in the bridge
I swapped the bridge magnet with an Alnico II and like the Custom Custom much better!
The neck and middle pickups just have no personality though....
I love the way this guitar plays. It also has tons of sustain, which I like, plus the Floyd (even though it's an FR1000) is amazing.
I tried the "Pickup Picker," but it always comes up with Injector neck (which I absolutely did not like in any guitar I tried it in) and Tone Zone.
Here are the guitar specs:
24 fret maple neck
Maple fretboard
Alder body with 1/4" thick maple cap (might be a thin laminate, I can't tell)
Floyd Rose trem
25.5" scale
My setup:
Guitar --> Fractal FX-8 --> Mesa Triaxis --> Mesa 20/20 power amp --> 2 1x12 cabinets loaded with Cannabis Rex speakers
What I'm looking for:
Great all around tone with lots of versatility. I'm not trying to nail anyone's tone.
I play in a cover band. We play everything from James Brown to Chili Peppers to Rage Against the Machine.
I have a Cruiser Bridge in the neck position of a Strat and it is freaking wonderful! I did not like it in this guitar though due to the 24 fret position........
I fully understand that this guitar will not sound like my Strat, but I'd like to get as Strat like neck and middle tone as I can with a semi-hot humbucker bridge pickup that can handle high gain as well as mid gain tones.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!