Punkavenger Posted September 15, 2005 Posted September 15, 2005 In the past I've dealt with a music shop in the midwest and I really like the people working there . They know a lot about guitars and helped me pick out the Lindy Fralin P-92's for my SG which I love.When I approached them with the "what pickups for my 82 Blitz" question they asked me if the guitar was "dark, rich, bright, midrangy..." I said "I dunno, it just sounds kinda flat to me"How do you determine which of these things the guitar sounds like?The amp and guitar can be adjusted many ways... Would you set the controls at a certain postion? Play the guitar "unplugged" perhaps?Does the 82 Blitz (with khaler locking tremelo) have a specific or stereotypical sound? Pardon my stupidity but I've only been playing for a couple of years and don't have enough knowledge to be able to say "this guitar sounds dark" etc.Thanks!
BadJaxx Posted September 15, 2005 Posted September 15, 2005 well, i've been playing for 30 years and still have problems with other guys' description of tone....you have to take each person's word choices into perspective....find out what kinda music they play and their amp, etc....then get more opinions...with pickups, there are many variables....a Duncan JB will sound different in an alder strat body than it will a mahogany LP style....
Nuclear Wessel Posted September 15, 2005 Posted September 15, 2005 With a mahogany body and neck, and rosewood fretboard, I'd expect it to sound warm and midrangey. Not overly bright but not dull either. But that's just going by the guitar's materials. What you really need to be able to answer that question is what you said you haven't got yet - time to play and get familiar with the sound of a bunch of different guitars. The Blitzes with Kahlers that I've played (2 of them) both sounded hot, crunchy and aggresive. I think that was accentuated by the hot bridge pickups Hamer put in them at the factory. Some guitars do immediately strike you as having no bass or no high end. I've owned a few like that. If your Blitz sounds "kinda flat", what are you looking to hear more of?
BTMN Posted September 16, 2005 Posted September 16, 2005 I can agree with what both of the guys before me have said. One of my 2 Blitzes has had a Dimarzio X2N put in the bridge and truth be told I hate it. Way to loud and squealy. THe other one has the original gear in it and needs pots and rewring. So the guitars see little playing time. You and your Blitz are making me want to get at least one of my two up and running. I have a '97 Hamer Standard made of all Mahogany and it has the Duncan 59 in the neck and a Custom 5 in the Bridge position. That is a fantastic sounding pickup, the C5 that is. Check out Seymour Duncans website. Hamer uses them as stock pickups. Must mean something. Keep your old pickups though in case you decide to sell later. http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/humbuckers.shtml These are only my unschooled 44 year old ears telling me to tell you to do this, so proceed at your our risk of sonic tourture! I missed what your amp setup and style of music are? The pickups I mentioned cover a great spectrum from subtle tones with clean amp and nice crunch with some gain.
Punkavenger Posted September 16, 2005 Author Posted September 16, 2005 Hey thanks you guys, for responding and taking interest...I'm a artist and craftsman (pine furniture / murals etc.) But I have never been musically inclined although I own about a million records, been to thousands of shows and was a college radio DJ.Mostly alt. rock ... Kyuss, Sonic Youth, Iggy Pop... That sort of thingAbout 5 years ago a friend of mine told me if I wanted to learn how to play hard rock I should buy a 68 SG special, So I found one on ebay and started to learn a few chords. Although it was in pretty good shape it had a few issues and I would have a thing or two done, practice about once or twice a month and that was about it.I then ran into a guy at a pawnshop with a almost brand new Hamer korean standard. I thought it was really cool, bought it cheap and put some Seymour Duncan pickups in it (59/distortion)I actually liked it better than my SG ... I think its the explorer shape which I really like, It seems to fit my body or playing style or whatever.The "made in korea" stigma kinda bothered me and I looked into buying one of the USA Korina standards, but no way in hell am I going to pay $3000.00 for a guitar when all I know is a few chords and some basic blues progressions.So I found this Blitz and I really, really like it. The neck is amazing and I can actually play a few things that sound like something.To me it sounds like it is dark and muddy but I have just been playing it through my 64 fender champ.The strings on it although new were on the (very) thin side... also the strings seemed to be rather far away from the pickups, about a quarter inch.I took the strings off and took out the pickups to see what was up. The neck pick up (black) seemed original ... it had some foam rubber backing that was deteriated. Dimarzio pickups... made in USA was stamped on the back of each pickup. The bridge pickup was a cream color and looked like it might have been added at a later date although it still looked rather old. Probaly added in the 80's.I don't know could be original ... just seemed weird to me that the neck was black and the bridge cream.By sounding "flat" I meant A. The pickups didn't sound like they were very hot. B. They sounded "muddy" not bright.The guitar itself, methinks, has a nice dark, rich tone to it... but really I am just guessingAlso the neck pickup sounded a little bit louder than the bridge and when the switch was in the middle position it just sounded... a little weird and even flatter ... not something you would really want your guitar to sound like.Maybe this guitar is supposed to be played loud through marshall stacks ... But I don't really have that ability. I think more likely someone put a different bridge pickup in sometime in the 80's to suit a their playing style, whatever that is, and it's not a sound that I'm totally happy with. I could also be completely wrong ... maybe this guitar is all stock and sounds exactly like it should.I see on the internet where the jazz/JB combo is really common in hamers... But I also heard that Kurt Cobain used that a lot and although I like Nirvana I don't really want to sound like that.I like the Duncan distortion I have in my Korean standard and if push comes to shove I will have no problem installing one of thoseI play at home through my 64 champ and sometimes in a friends garage band through my crate vintage 50.I only have one pedal, a 80's RATI would like to sound HEAVY dark, rich and clear, Some of my favorite guitar sounds come from stoner bands such as Kyuss and Electric Wizard... Black Sabbath is great also and I want to experiment with tuning my guitar down a step or two but I haven't done that yetThanks for making it through this long and boring post.
kurtsstuff Posted September 16, 2005 Posted September 16, 2005 In my experience...I listen to a guitar acoustically...in fact...when in a store..I don't even bother to plug them in cuz...I'm gonna perform surgery on it anyways..I you have a "flat" or "dead" sounding guitar when it's not even plugged in...most likely that no matter what pickups you install won't make any difference..It will still be flat or dead sounding ....but only louder flat and dead sounding
Nuclear Wessel Posted September 16, 2005 Posted September 16, 2005 Yeah that bridge pickup is probably a replacement. If it's got hexagonal screw pole pieces then it's a Super Distortion. A popular replacement bridge pickup back in the 80's. Not bad sounding. Heavy, loud, and a little dark but still chunky.If you haven't yet, I'd try adjusting the pickups closer to the strings. That may be part of your problem. If they're adjusted farther from the strings, you'll start to lose tone. The bridge pickup being weaker than the neck pickup sorta makes me wonder. A lot of do it yourself guitar techs in the 80s screwed up the wiring for their pickups when they replaced them. You might want to check to see if the bridge pickup is connected right. The previous owner might have wired the coils in parallel or not even connected one coil by mistake. Instructions for correctly wiring Dimarzio pickups should be on their web site somewhere.A JB/Jazz combo would probably sound great. I think a lot of Curt Cobain's sound was what effects and amps he played through, because there are plenty of players who use the JB at the bridge and sound nothing like Cobain.OTOH, if you're after a heavy but darker tone while still retaining clarity, the Duncan Custom Custom would be my choice for bridge pickup.
straightblues Posted September 16, 2005 Posted September 16, 2005 First of all tone is completely subjective. Use your own ears to test it. It is your ears that we are trying to satsify not mine. Play it unplugged. Describe what you hear to the person you are getting pickups from. Tell him in detailed terms what you are going for. Pickups color the sound. If your guitar itself tends to amplify the high frequencies, you want pickups with more lows to balance it out. Every guitar is different. In general though, a mahagony guitar is warm and mid rangy.
Punkavenger Posted September 17, 2005 Author Posted September 17, 2005 My buddy at the music shop rec. the Lindy Fralin PAF's I'm sure they are fine, but I'm not sure if I want to spend that kind of money ... plus I have to wait a while to get them and I want to get this Blitz back togetherI was looking around the net and found that a lot of the folks playing my kind o music used the SD CustomWhat do you guys think of the SD 59/neck Custom/bridge?I could pick those up in town and have my rig back together in a couple of days...Or do you think it's worth the extra $100 for the Lindy Fralin?Also the guitar tech said I would get better sound if I "blocked" the shaller tremelo(make it un-movable)I don't really plan on using the tremelo so that's fine with me ...Any ideas on how that would be done?Thanks!
Punkavenger Posted September 17, 2005 Author Posted September 17, 2005 Oh Hey ...BTMN ... Are you talking bout the SD SH-5 Custom?If so I think we are on the same page!ding ding ding .... winner, winner, winner!
Punkavenger Posted September 17, 2005 Author Posted September 17, 2005 Oh I see you're talking about the Custom 5 which is the SH-14 ...The reg "custom" SH-5 is the pickup that SD recommends for drop tuning which is something I want to try
BTMN Posted September 18, 2005 Posted September 18, 2005 I love the 59/C5(SH-14) It makes my '97 Mahogany Standard sing prettier than any guitar I have ever owned. I am thinking of putting a set in my Blitz. BTW your bridge is a Kahler. I cant belive the shop told you differant. You have to decide what will flip your switch. I have dropped the E to D on that guitar and it still sounds great with the C5.
Punkavenger Posted September 18, 2005 Author Posted September 18, 2005 Ok...This what I did.Bought the the 59/custom combo and some heavier Ernie Ball strings...Got a a really good price at this cheesy guitar shop in town (they price match with almost anything you can find on the internet)(hate being cheap but I have no choice at this time period)Going to bring everything over to my buddy working at the high price shop and have him install the pups, strings and check everything to make sure its perfect.I should be back in business by tues. night.Sorry, didn't receive your last post in time BTMN, I was out shopping.If I had known you felt so strongly about the SH-14 I would have gone with those.My novice opinion of the whole situation is thatA. Pick ups were too far away from strings causing a big part of the problemB. Strings were much too thinC. The neck pup was probaly fine and possibly even the bridge, but they didn't work well together and since I have no way of knowing what Dimarzios they are, its best to start out with a known factorD. The guitar tech from the midwest (He is actually is really bright, I'm probaly the one that screwed up on that kahler/schaller thing. Too many paint fumes...) that recommended the Lindy Fralins determined that for the sound I was looking for PAF's would be best and essentially thats what I am doing with the 59/custom combo...E. I'm going to also purchase a MXR dyna comp compressor and Maxon overdrive to help me get that sound I'm looking forI'm sure it's going to sound great ... Now I need to practice!speaking of which...Hey! Anyone have any tips (books, tapes, internet sites etc.) they could recommend for a guy thats been playing for a couple of years (hard rock) but still pretty much sucks?Thanks again!
BTMN Posted September 18, 2005 Posted September 18, 2005 I should have remembered to pass this link on to you too. http://www.billlawrence.com/Pages/Pickupology/Contents.htmEssential reading. I like his lesson on pickup heigth adjustment in it.http://www.guitarnoise.com
BTMN Posted September 18, 2005 Posted September 18, 2005 That's cool, I think you will like it. I'm shooting for having the Black one up and singing by mid October.
Punkavenger Posted September 19, 2005 Author Posted September 19, 2005 Good luck with that ... that black blitz is badass!
Punkavenger Posted September 20, 2005 Author Posted September 20, 2005 Got the Blitz back already and its beautiful and sounds terrific ...My guitar tech buddy spent 3 hours on it getting everything perfect...Best $80.00 I've ever spent!
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