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The Pickup Place / Re: Reply Help me choose next pickup HSH set.

« on: March 30, 2025, 09:06:28 AM »

Hi again,
I think I will transfer the existing EMG 85/S/81 over to the new one, maybe. And just put an old FLEOR-loaded (similar to WAAAH), single coil alnicos, and just reassess.
Or just wait to get the guitar in my hands, and see !

thank you guys!

@gregr it is great that you commented in favor of some duncan pups, just proves that this forum is truly exceptional . I will have everything in mind!

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The Pickup Place / Re: Reply Help me choose next pickup HSH set.

« on: March 27, 2025, 01:02:49 PM »

Great suggestions I'll keep coming back to this thread as the thing progresses!

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The Pickup Place / Re: Reply Help me choose next pickup HSH set.

« on: March 26, 2025, 03:36:23 PM »

How do you plan on using the middle pickup? If you use it by itself is it in stark contrast with either of the humbuckers, or would you like it to work in harmony with the humbuckers?

Thanks! just some quack in positions 2 and 4 , with the HBs in either split or parallel, i'd expect equal output with the HB in parallel or split mode! But also in live performances I use the middle as a quick and predictable volume cut.

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The Pickup Place / Re: Reply Help me choose next pickup HSH set.

« on: March 26, 2025, 11:05:08 AM »

So so true, and thank you for your fine suggestions.

I will try to feel the guitar in my hands for quite some adequate period and then re-assess !

Dimarzio rules, so I'd prefer Dimarzio !

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The Pickup Place / Reply Help me choose next pickup HSH set.

« on: March 26, 2025, 07:40:33 AM »

Dear friends,
I got this new strat (partscaster), asian mahogany body, all maple scalloped neck, floyd rose trem (schaller).  At first this will be equipped by an old pair of ancient Seymour Duncan Livewires , the normal on the neck, the metal on the bridge, those are the ones with the 100k pots. So, I am looking for a nice HSH set that will replace the livewires, which are temporary. I already got :
1) A kramer 210, with original Seymour Duncan livewires (the regular ones, non-metal) , again with 100k pots
2) Ibanez ARZ800 with EMG81/60
3) Ibanez UV70p with Dimarzio Blazes
4) Aria Strat with Dimarzio Fast Track 2, Fast Track 1, The chopper, I have series/parallel push pull on both neck / bridge, + an "add bridge" switch which can produce a nice Telecaster tone (bridge + neck), especially on parallel mode.
5) Carvin DC135 with Dimarzio Super Distortion, original middle, Air Norton S , again neck and bridge have series/parallel push/pull
6) a partscaster with EMG 85/S/81 (85 in the bridge)

So this new one 7) will also be a partscaster , all maple scalloped neck, double locking, with some other goodies, such as nice heel access.

I would like to have standard strat tones + plus all the classic shred. I am not sure what to put in there. I don't want active again, not practical with a standard strat. What would you guys recommend ? any brand ? Just a nice balanced yet powerful HSH set.

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The Pickup Place / Re: pup recommendation for new strat build

« on: December 14, 2022, 12:36:08 AM »

The Chopper makes for an excellent neck pickup, though it sounds nothing like a PAF.

I agree with you on the LiquiFire. It’s probably one of my favorite neck pickups, but I don’t like the style of bridge pickup that can keep up with it. I don’t care for the FT2 either for a similar reason. I like the BC2 though. I kinda wish I still had mine but I’d rather get that kind of tone from a full-sized humbucker. That guitar now has the Chopper in the bridge. Though that is somewhat tangential.

thank you, would gravity storm set work better you think, why not! Vai is cool!

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The Pickup Place / Re: pup recommendation for new strat build

« on: December 14, 2022, 12:34:02 AM »

I never played a Chopper in the neck position but I played tons of PAF style pickups in various guitars, and the Liquifire does not sound like that. While the lows are fat but still somewhat tight and the midrange is strong, the high end is a bit muted, and that is something I never found with any PAF style pickup.

Cheers Stephan

Thank you Stephan. I will keep searching. I'd like something "malmsteen"-y just hotter. Believe it or not, the current Seymour Duncan livewire neck does fantastic clean/distorted tones.

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The Pickup Place / Re: pup recommendation for new strat build

« on: December 12, 2022, 11:49:46 AM »

I love the LiquiFire but I think the Gravity Storm neck is closer to the Chopper. It has a similar EQ and also has a single coil quality to it as well.

Not the most comprehensive demo but I think it’s worth checking out:

https://youtu.be/D-PAFIjf21A

tough call!! thanks both for your suggestions!

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The Pickup Place / Re: pup recommendation for new strat build

« on: December 12, 2022, 11:45:29 AM »

I would consider crunch lab and liquifire set.

exactly my thoughts as well!

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The Pickup Place / Re: pup recommendation for new strat build

« on: December 11, 2022, 11:49:05 AM »

I would consider crunch lab and liquifire set.

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The Pickup Place / Re: pup recommendation for new strat build

« on: December 11, 2022, 11:46:03 AM »

I have an FT2 and a Chopper. 

While I don’t own Gravity Storm set, I’m familiar with the tone and think it might work for you.

Thank you! this seems like a great set!

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The Pickup Place / pup recommendation for new strat build

« on: December 09, 2022, 02:49:18 PM »

Dear All
my new strat build (HH) is currently wearing a SD livewires set, first generation 18V, 100k pots, classic in the neck, modded metal in the bridge, I added a 100k mini pot in the bridge output at about 25% of the volume. As is now it sounds balanced and nice overall. However compared to my other strat HSH (Dimarzio fast track 2, fast track 1, the chopper) it sounds poor.

So, what the closest DMZ set to Dimarzio Fast Track2 / Chopper , but in full humbucker size? I play rock/metal.  I dont want torching high output, I want nice balanced tone, close to the Fast Track 2 / Chopper, I remember when I had Fast track 1 in the neck it was even nicer, but not too balanced with the bridge.

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The Pickup Place / Re: Disagreement with my tech : very simple question : is HB ground wiring needed?

« on: December 22, 2020, 02:11:36 AM »

Hello Budd!
the question is theoretical, I have no noise issues any more, I have been struggling with this for 10 years.
Without bridge ground, there are times, like when approaching the wall or the laptop that I get severe hiss (especially with Dimarzio Super Distortion). Also by having the bridge grounded but without the me-25 output plugged into the amp I get the same effects.

So the question is : if the noise in case of no bridge grounding comes from strings/bridge/body how can a humbucker cancel low freq EMI coming from the mains (50Hz in Greece, 60Hz in USA), but *not* EMI/EFI coming for the strings/bridge/body? Shouldn't the humbucker principal work in this case as well?

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The Pickup Place / Disagreement with my tech : very simple question : is HB ground wiring needed?

« on: December 21, 2020, 04:15:18 AM »

Yesterday for no reason, (yes in Athens you have to have a reason) I paid the tech a visit to his shop, as I was around the block spying on my Son and his behavior (long story).

The tech's work is perfect, however we got into a debate . He claims that humbuckers dont need no bridge grounding. When he did my Carvin, transformation from left --> right and he did an absolutely fantastic job beyond belief, he didn't ground the bridge. The guitar has HSS : dimarzio super-distortion bridge/generic carvin middle/air norton S neck. I realized this right away. My rig basically consists of :
guitar --> boss me-25 --> headphones, so this was pretty audible. I tried with other DMZ guitars I have and they were dead silent.
So I conencted the bridge ground and I noticed that :
a) when playing via the me-25 with the amp unplugged the noise was there : not hum, more like a high freq bzzzz / hiss
b) when playing via the me-25 with the amp plugged (regardless of the amp being on) the noise was gone

I know there have been ages since I moded any guitar, but according to the theory should HB also cancel high freq hiss besides regular hum? Why does grounding the bridge actually works?
Again sorry for forgetting all the old classic original GN theory ... I am getting old, can you pls shed some light to this question?

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The Pickup Place / Re: An Injector Bridge model for an Yngwie tone?

« on: January 20, 2019, 01:55:38 AM »

imho yngwies tone is nothing hard to get. Just a plain good classic alnico single coil in the neck would do the trick. And with the appropriate shielding/correct direction, being a little lean on distortion, noise gate, would help deal with the noise.
I got some cheap pups set from aliexpress, and I managed to get better tones than with the HS-3. Depends also on the rig heavily.