LucSulla Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 The Charvel I recently picked up sounds kind of like someone threw a wet blanket over the bridge pup. These guitars were a run of 5, and the other I have found lists it having a Tone Zone in the bridge and and Evo in the neck. Sonically, that makes sense because the sound profile is exactly that of the Tone Zone, but it has hex pole pieces, which I can't find a single example of online. Evos have this kind of pole piece, but then it really does have the tonal characteristics of the TZ, as described by the DM website, plus a TZ-neck/Evo-bridge seems weird. Have any of y'all ever seen a TZ with hex poles? It's got to go either way, but I was curious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobB Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 Have you checked the soldering in the control cavity? A long shot, but maybe something's loose or a capacitor is bad? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff R Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 Knowing MIM FMIC uses both Dimarzio and Duncan in different builds, on an assembly line that likely moves like a wildfire ... I'd first confirm the color codes on how the 'buckers are wired and make sure that's right. Check to see if the Dimarzio's "hot" out in the circuit is the red wire, not black, like on a Duncan. Long shot, but a possible explanation of what you describe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JGravelin Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 Check the values of the potentiometers also. If there's 250k pots in there, that could be the issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gtone Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 With the hex poles, I'm wondering if that one's not a Super Distortion. Those can be muddy in some guitars (not sure if that's the "wet blanket" tone you're referring to?). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucSulla Posted March 5, 2018 Author Share Posted March 5, 2018 3 hours ago, Jeff R said: Knowing MIM FMIC uses both Dimarzio and Duncan in different builds, on an assembly line that likely moves like a wildfire ... I'd first confirm the color codes on how the 'buckers are wired and make sure that's right. This is a Custom Shop Charvel. I believe those are made rather slowly in comparison. 1 hour ago, gtone said: With the hex poles, I'm wondering if that one's not a Super Distortion. Those can be muddy in some guitars (not sure if that's the "wet blanket" tone you're referring to?). That's another one they use a lot. Could be. It definitely doesn't sound broken, it's just not a sound I like. Both the TZ and SD have rolled off highs according to DiMarzio's website, so maybe it is an SD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff R Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 11 minutes ago, LucSulla said: This is a Custom Shop Charvel. I believe those are made rather slowly in comparison. Oh, I thought you were talking about a MIM Charvel, that's the only Charvels people around here seem to talk about lately, sorry. You are absolutely correct on the speed of the CS production line. Its lack of it is like watching paint age on a wall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSB0531 Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 On 3/5/2018 at 8:16 AM, JGravelin said: Check the values of the potentiometers also. If there's 250k pots in there, that could be the issue. Everything mentioned to check so far is great. I’d like to add cold solder joints to that list. I’ve had heater elements on my soldering iron fail or just put out lower temps causing cold solder joints. It’s posible that with the volume of guitar wiring done, you’ll get a few down the line that have cold solder joints. The effect is a duller sound, like a lack of upper midrange and highs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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