1

The Pickup Place / Re: NGD - Ibanez JS1000

« on: September 21, 2025, 11:37:39 AM »

Congrats on the JS.

I just got a js2450 a few weeks back. What a guitar! 
It is bright though.  Brighter unplugged and plugged in.  That is by design, as Satch is a strat guy at heart.

Engage the HPF and lower the volume some.  There comes a point where the mo'joe  (Fred too maybe?) gets that driven strat bridge sound with higher gain.


I found the mojoe bright, so I lowered the treble side until I was happy.  This worked nicely as it kept the bright/tightness on the low strings. I might have been a full turn to a turn and a half of the adjusting screw

Funny parallels: I have a mojoe/pafjoe in my rg520qs that sound killer, and much fatter than in the js. This fatness stands in stark contrast to the js, and a testament to the pickups.

Norton is bright
At1 might work.
Breed neck is a good choice.
So is the breed bridge. Its in the paf pro family, but is the fattest and warmest variation.  I like it more than the TZ.

I tweaked the eqs on my modeller to account for the brightness.  It messed with my other guitars sound, so now I have an added block with the JS eq adjustments to all my presets.

The satch track is up there with the paf joe in my eyes/ears

IMO, it is totally worth the eq effort. The JS is capable of alot of tones.

I usually run mine HPF pulled, the volume down to 8/9 (tames the harmonics), and the tone down around 6/7.  To be able to roll up the volume and tone for added craziness is great.

My 2450 is not getting touched. Ever. I like it as is. 

With all the sculpting on the body, the controls, the bridge, the bridge, etc.  Its like a super-superstrat.   Hyperstrat?

Edit: i just tried a dunlop gator 2mm over my usual gravity picks, and that tamed the brightness.

2

The Pickup Place / Re: Air Norton Bridge Position

« on: January 26, 2025, 08:38:38 AM »

The output is on par with that of a PAF. I tried one with an HFH in the neck but couldn’t gel with it. It was really lean and devoid of growl when compared to other pickups with similar output. I found it to be bright, but I think unbalanced is a more apt description. I only tried it in one guitar so take it with a grain of salt. If I were to give it another go it would be in an HSS configuration.

I’m looking forward to your review.

You know, I found the norton the same way. 
I radically lowered the treble side to balance it, and was much happier with it.
It stayed as a bridge pickup for close to 15 years.

When I tried it in another guitar, it was the same unbalanced bright.  Once again radical lowering helped a bunch.

3

The Pickup Place / Re: Pickups for dark guitar

« on: July 06, 2024, 01:01:50 AM »

Full shred set, most definitely.

I bought a set that was useless to me until I tried it in my rg520qs (sapele body), and my ltd ec256.

The fuller and fatter mahogany signature balances with the full shreds nicely. 

You'll not be happy with them until you boost the bass at your amp a bit.  Doing this makes them thump and be super tight as the same time.

This is a great set of pickups.

4

The Pickup Place / Re: DiMarzio Transition A4

« on: May 20, 2024, 08:23:30 PM »

Very cool.

I love these pickups as is.

The bridge is, IMO, is the love child of a super d and a 36th bridge.  I lowered the treble side alot to balance the highs.  It's pretty tilted, but sounds tits.

The neck is another beast.   I love the depth of it.  I like it better than the 36th.

The middle position needs some help though.  I can't seem to get a sound as good as either the neck or bridge by themselves.

5

Everything you wanted to know about .... / Re: Mo'Joe

« on: December 27, 2023, 07:34:45 PM »

Again, late to the party by what,  17 years? Lol.

Again, all the others before me nailed it.

What can I say that hasn't already been?

It's high end and harmonics are very controllable by pickup height.  I was very lukewarm about it until I lowered it down a bit and set to adjusting the tilt and pole heights.  Set properly, this is one HELL of a versatile hot rodded paf type.  I can play anything with this setup.

It not dactivator tight, but it's not loose either.  It's right at the point where I can control that texture with my hands. 

I wonder how a 250k vol pot would do?  Or a 500k with a 250k tone? 

I really like this and it's combo mate, the paf joe.

They work really well together.  It appears that Satch likes the same things in a pickup as I do.  Cool!

6

Everything you wanted to know about .... / Re: PAF Joe

« on: December 27, 2023, 07:21:56 PM »

Okaaaayyyyy, I'm a bit late to the game on this one.

What a freaking neck pickup!

I'll mirror what has been said previously.

1. The attack is somewhat dull.
2. It is a bright pickup
3. It is super sensitive to touch and gain.
4. I've noticed that it has a touch of strat single coil to it.

If you take all of the above points, it works really well for a neck pickup.

The dulled attack offsets and balances the brightness of it. 

It works really well with the mo'joe btw. They are both kinda the same bright, so adjusting eq, tone, gain and guitar volume for one means the other will sound good too.

This is a blues to hard rock pickup without a doubt.
Clean to mid gain, it bright.
With heavy gain, it becomes clear and very smooth/liquidy in that air norton kinda way.

It's not as height sensitive as the mo'joe. That one is interesting.

7

The Pickup Place / Man, I love dimarzios!

« on: December 27, 2023, 07:10:46 PM »

Name another manufacturer that makes such a vast variety of pickups.

Duncan has a ton of vintage stuff, but are limited in the mid and high gain areas.

Nobody else comes close.

Dimarzio has 67 different humbuckers!

All my best sounding guitars are loaded with them.

I run a 36th set, a set of breeds, a set of transitions, and a mo'joe/ paf joe combo.

There is no dead weight there at all. 

I just got the last 2 recently and man, are they all killer!

Between harmonic design, lace pickups, and dimarzio, I can always find something that'll work for me, though it's all dimarzio when it comes to humbuckers.

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The Pickup Place / Re: neck humbucker (or BB) to complement PAF type bridge HB

« on: November 28, 2023, 06:44:11 PM »

The 36ths replaced the vpaf/vhpaf set.

I'd go with the 36th neck.

Paf joe is lighter on bass, and slightly hotter.

9

The Pickup Place / Re: Bridge HB to tame bright Basswood guitar?

« on: November 11, 2023, 08:08:03 PM »

I was in this same situation with an rg921.  Hardtail too!

I went with a set of breeds.  I've heard them described as a vintage version of the an/tz set.  I can see that.

Fat humbucker tones combined with the bright top end equals balanced tone.

Using the ibanez 5 way hh wiring, the neck is decent in parallel,  and excellent in split.

The inner coils parallel is a really nice stratty sound with the 5kish neck coil and 8.4kish bridge coils.

They would be too warm for a non bright guitar. 

They have this aggression to the mids that make gain pop

10

The Pickup Place / Re: The Tone Zone BEST height ? (For once and for all)

« on: September 28, 2022, 01:33:19 PM »

It all depends on your pick attack.
A lighter touch can hold up to a higher height.

It's all about feel....

11

Guitar Lounge / Re: Why do the high e (1st) strings always break first?

« on: March 07, 2022, 01:24:05 AM »

The string manufacturer has something to do with this as well.

I have been an elixir user for more than 15 years now.  The only time I break a string is when I detune and retune them too much.

Under normal use and constant tune, i can go 4 to 6 months between changes.

The low strings can get divots 1/4 the thickness of the wound strings and not break.  The unwound ones stay super clean and never break, even under 2 whole tone bends.

D'addarios and ernies would break on me all the time.

Just my 2 cents and experience.

I think its the anti corrosion thing elixir uses

12

The Pickup Place / Re: Air Zone vs Super Distortion?

« on: March 07, 2022, 01:10:05 AM »

Sd is 425mv
Tz is 375
Az is 323.

Those numbers mean less than how the eq/character of the pickup does.

You guys gotta remember that the BMT ratings matter for EACH string.

The bass doesn't just affect the lower strings, it gives the high e some body up high.

The highs give the lower strings clarity.

Something like a breed smears its mids all over everything. Lol.  It sounds glorious with gain and horrible for cleans as a result.

Aceman said in another thread, buy a pickup for the eq. 
I'll add that you should pick that eq based on what your guitar's unplugged sound is lacking, or what you want to correct/emphasize from it.

13

The Pickup Place / Re: JCustom Bridge Pup Recommendations

« on: March 07, 2022, 12:59:08 AM »

I was gonna make 2 comments:

1. DiMarzio has a lot of mid honk generally.  BMt is DiMarzio.  If this is in a band...let it go when alone.  You'll send great.  But Duncans tend to be more BmT.

2. Do you need a hot bridge?  Try a PAF style.

Get the dirt from the amp.,  Buy the EQ curve in the pickup, not the heat.

You sir, know your stuff.

I have been saying number 2 for years, to myself seemingly

14

The Pickup Place / Re: Difference between The Breed and Dominion?

« on: February 14, 2022, 09:58:20 PM »

I ordered a set of breeds last november.

They are still available.

You gotta call and order direct from them.

Same price as any other retailer.

No shipping , no tax to Florida too!

15

The Pickup Place / Re: Pickups for my guitar?

« on: December 03, 2021, 06:52:21 PM »

I know this will sound weird, but it works. Seymour Duncan Invader Bridge, and 59 Neck. They mesh pretty well, and you would have heavy tones from the bridge and wonderful cleans from the neck.

Not weird at all to me. Nuno Bettencourt of Extreme used a very similar combination, even though he tuned only to Eb.

Cheers Stephan

Nuno used forever, and still uses an l-500xl bridge and 59 neck.

Unless he is using his tele.