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The Pickup Place / Neck pickup options for HS superstrat

« on: Today at 02:20:45 PM »

Hey guys,

I'm looking for opinions on a good neck pick up to put in my HS superstrat. I currently have a Tone Zone in the bridge. Really, I'm just looking for something that's powerful enough to keep up with it, that isn't too bright, and has great sustain. I play mostly distorted tones, but occasionally I'll play cleans similar to Andy Timmons (nothing too clean, as I usually have 'some' gain on it). I love my other guitar that has a full size Air Norton in the neck. Would the S version work here? What about the BC1 (supposedly a modified Air Norton S). Any other suggestions?

Thanks in advance! 

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The Pickup Place / Re: Tone Zone Air Norton combo

« on: October 01, 2022, 11:42:42 AM »

Many woods are marketed as "mahogany" but they are not the same species. You will find

- Swietennia macrophylla, which is equivalent to the original Honduras mahogany
- Khaya ivoriensis, which comes from Africa and looks similar to mahogany
- I think there is also an Asian variant but I forgot how it is called

Even among the same species the wood varies wildly. As a result, it is almost impossible to say "mahogany sounds like ...".

Cheers Stephan

Well said!

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The Pickup Place / Re: Tone Zone Air Norton combo

« on: September 28, 2022, 04:01:43 PM »

TZ/AN works in a ton of wood combos. It excels is just about everything including alder, basswood, poplar, ash, etc. Also, the whole "TZ is mud in mahogany" thing is definitely a massive blanket statement (usually plagued by user error) and should not be taken as dogma. Sure, in some pieces of wood it sounds bloated/muddy, but a lot of mahogany guitars work just fine with it.

It really depends on whether your particular piece of wood is dark or not. I have a few mahogany axes that sound awesome with that combo (alder as well).

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The Pickup Place / Re: Titan in Bridge of Les Paul?

« on: July 22, 2020, 04:45:47 PM »

Good stuff. Thanks for the replies, guys.

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The Pickup Place / Re: Titan in Bridge of Les Paul?

« on: July 22, 2020, 11:57:25 AM »

what is this Titan supposed to do exactly?  I am not hip to the latest cool DMZ pups.  But I do dig a righteous Les Paul.  speaking of which, exactly what sort of Les Paul are we talking about?  Year, neck size, etc...

Well, it's marketed as a high output pick up with a tight low end. The guitar it would go in is actually more of a LP style. It's a Warmoth Regal body (mahogany/maple top) with a Rosewood neck and Ebony fretboard.

What I want out of a bridge pickup, is a tight low end with a sweet/warm high end for leads. One thing I have noticed a lot with modern pickups, is that it's often hard to find those mutual attributes. It's either tight in the low end and shrill in the high end OR it's warm/smooth in the high end and flabby in the bass.

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The Pickup Place / Titan in Bridge of Les Paul?

« on: July 22, 2020, 09:50:04 AM »

Anyone try a Titan in the bridge of a Les Paul? Thoughts? How is the low end, high end, overly dark, bright, etc?

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The Pickup Place / Re: Tone Zone/PAF Master Neck combo (video run through)

« on: May 25, 2016, 01:36:20 PM »

Yup. Been saying it for years. The Tone Zone is killer. My favorite pickup of all time. A ton of user-error surrounds the stigma of this pickup, so take any negative opinions with a grain of salt.

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The Pickup Place / Re: Does the AT-1 sit between the Norton and the 36th Bridge?

« on: November 10, 2015, 01:43:50 PM »

Tone Zone.

/thread.

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Everything you wanted to know about .... / Re: Virtual Vintage Heavy Blues 2 (DP 409)

« on: October 24, 2014, 03:45:31 PM »

Great pickup!  Sounds amazing in the neck position of a bright guitar! (I call it the Tone Zone for the neck)