Pickups for black Korina (help)

[nikosss.b]

I own a warmoth strat with the following specs:

Body: Black Korina HSS
Neck: Pau Ferro on Goncalo alves
Bridge: Wilkinson
Current Pickups: SD JB (bridge), SD Vintage Rails (middle), SD Cool Rails (Neck)
Pots: 500k

My problem is with the tone.

I had a SD Custom SH5 in the bridge and swapped it with a JB. The bridge pickup sounds ok but lacks attack and punch. When I pick a string it sounds as if there's a volume swell, its not punchy.The neck pickup however has the same overall quality but it is really dark and muddy.

I'm using my guitar through a Hughes and Kettner Tubemeister 18 and I'm just wondering if the problem is the guitar itself, the pickups or the rig.

Can you recommend other pickups?

 

[Cagey]

How confident are you that it's wired correctly? Did you do any of the wiring mods to the bridge pickup like try to run it as a single coil, or in parallel, or some other such foolishness? The reason I ask is because a Duncan JB usually kicks ass. That's been a go-to pickup for ages, and for good reason. Any time someone doesn't know what to install, a JB is the answer. It may not be perfect, but it'll be close enough to work well.

 

[nikosss.b]

I am 100% confident about the wiring. I took it to my guitar tech which has done an amazing job and has repaired many of my guitars.

Do you think the wood is too dark? But I doubt that the wood would have such an impact on the tone. Sure it does color the sound a bit but doesn't almost kill the tone.

 

[Cagey]

No, I wouldn't blame the wood.

Is there anything in else the signal chain between the guitar and amp besides the cord? If so, get rid of it and see what happens. No joy? Try a different cord. No joy? A different amp or two. Pickups are a major part of an electric guitar's character, but you've changed that already.

Need to eliminate or change variables and note the response because "tone" is such a subjective thing. It's tough to diagnose problems using it as a symptom. Bright, brittle, rich, resonant, warm, dark... what do any of those things mean? Even if you can guess at generalities, one person's ears are different from another's.

 

[nikosss.b]

Yeah I guess I need to change amps and/or effect unit. Cords are brand new and I've swapped a couple of cords just in case. I guess my problem is the effect unit: digitech RP500 and the fact that I'm running everything through earphones. I am not using a cabinet.

My setup: Guitar to input of H&K tube amp, RP500 goes to FX loop of the H&K, TRS cable goes out of H&K to mixing console and then earphones go out of mixing console.

I will try to use a cabinet and see if i can get hold of a fender amp to see the difference. Also what pickups can I put in the neck position that would give me a punchy bluesy sound (more like an SD alnico II pro sound, or a les paul fat sound)? I find that the rails in my neck do not match the JB, lower output and less punch.

 

[Jesse]

I've not ever owned a black korina guitar, but it seems like it would be similar to mahogany tone-wise.  If this were my guitar, I'd go with a DiMarzio EVO 2 in the bridge.  That is my absolute go to in mahogany guitars.

 

[DocNrock]

I've not ever owned a black korina guitar, but it seems like it would be similar to mahogany tone-wise.  If this were my guitar, I'd go with a DiMarzio EVO 2 in the bridge.  That is my absolute go to in mahogany guitars.

Not too far off from what I was going to say.  I had a Tone Zone in chambered black korina VIP with a zebrawood neck.  That pickup was just too dark in that guitar.  I had a spare Evo lying around and decided to try it.  It is absolutely perfect.  No "ice pick" that pickup is known for, and it really sings!

 

[Jesse]

A lot of people absolutely swear by the mahogany/Tone Zone combo but I've never liked it either.  I had heard good things about the Evolutions in Mahogany but never tried them because I had always been turned off by Steve Vai's tone.  Never tried the original Evolution but am thinking about trying one in the neck on the guitar I have the EVO 2 in.  Currently have a Liquifire there, which I love in basswood, but it doesn't cut it in mahogany.

For a single coil, as long as you're running something powerful in the bridge, you could try a DiMarzio Pro Track.  I found that to be a surprisingly good sounding pickup.

 

[swarfrat]

Except for foam rubber, I'm not sure you could make a body which would be "soft" to the degree you describe (ie, note bloom or swell instead of a normal attack). Your problem lies in your signal chain.

Seriously, we argue and nitpick over tiny gnats when it comes to tone. Unless you're exaggerating the tonal difference, this is not due to a wood / pickup combination.

 

[Cagey]

Yeah, that's my thinking, too. I do know for as magical as they can be, you can do some absolute damage to tone using a thing like an RP500, or any complex sfx/modeller/preamp widget. Not they're Bad Things to use or anything, but they've usually got about a million adjustments that all interact. Get rid of that first before blaming the guitar/amp.

 

[stratamania]

I would also as a first diagnosis remove the effects device out of the loop. When you are going to the mixer via TRS do you mean the red box output via XLR ?

 

[DocNrock]

A lot of people absolutely swear by the mahogany/Tone Zone combo but I've never liked it either.  I had heard good things about the Evolutions in Mahogany but never tried them because I had always been turned off by Steve Vai's tone.  Never tried the original Evolution but am thinking about trying one in the neck on the guitar I have the EVO 2 in.  Currently have a Liquifire there, which I love in basswood, but it doesn't cut it in mahogany.

For a single coil, as long as you're running something powerful in the bridge, you could try a DiMarzio Pro Track.  I found that to be a surprisingly good sounding pickup.

Remember that Vai's guiotars are mostly basswood.

 

[Jesse]

The white one that he's been playing for 20+ years, which is the guitar the Evolutions were designed for, is alder.  You're generally correct that most Jems and all Universes are basswood, but his main guitar has been alder for a long time.

 

[stratamania]

I've had EVO in my hands. I thought it needed a good set up

 

[DocNrock]

The white one that he's been playing for 20+ years, which is the guitar the Evolutions were designed for, is alder.  You're generally correct that most Jems and all Universes are basswood, but his main guitar has been alder for a long time.

I stand corrected.  But still, alder is much brighter than mahogany/black korina.

 

[jmcecil]

Could be caused by the action set to low and pickups too high.  In fact the flat slow tone you d S scribe fits that setup perfectly.

 

[nikosss.b]

I would also as a first diagnosis remove the effects device out of the loop. When you are going to the mixer via TRS do you mean the red box output via XLR ?

Yes I am talking about the red box output.

Yesterday I cranked the volume of the amp and directly plugged my guitar to the amp. I also raised the middle and neck pickups. The tone improved a lot. However, the neck pickup still lacks a bit of attack, anyone has experience with the following pickups:
1. JB Jr.
2. Lil screamin demon
3. Little 59

 

[nikosss.b]

I've not ever owned a black korina guitar, but it seems like it would be similar to mahogany tone-wise.  If this were my guitar, I'd go with a DiMarzio EVO 2 in the bridge.  That is my absolute go to in mahogany guitars.

I have a Cort guitar which came with stock EMG passive pickups (which suck). I replaced the bridge pickup with an EVO and the neck with an alnico ii pro. I absolutely love the alnico ii pro. The EVO sounds ok for my taste but I have come to prefer SD to Dimarzio. As Jesse said, I don't like the Vai tone especially if you lack all the thousands of effects that he uses  :laughing7:

 

[Jesse]

The white one that he's been playing for 20+ years, which is the guitar the Evolutions were designed for, is alder.  You're generally correct that most Jems and all Universes are basswood, but his main guitar has been alder for a long time.

I stand corrected.  But still, alder is much brighter than mahogany/black korina.

Yeah exactly.  The only alder guitar I have has a JB in it.  I guess my only point was that a pickup that sounds great in one kind of wood can sound awful in another.  I had never looked at the Evolution/EVO 2 because I'd only seen it on the wrong side of that equation.

 

[DocNrock]

The white one that he's been playing for 20+ years, which is the guitar the Evolutions were designed for, is alder.  You're generally correct that most Jems and all Universes are basswood, but his main guitar has been alder for a long time.

I stand corrected.  But still, alder is much brighter than mahogany/black korina.

Yeah exactly.  The only alder guitar I have has a JB in it.  I guess my only point was that a pickup that sounds great in one kind of wood can sound awful in another.  I had never looked at the Evolution/EVO 2 because I'd only seen it on the wrong side of that equation.

Just for giggles, I'll say it again.  The Evo I put in my black korina VIP sounds awesome.  It really tames that pickup.  No "ice pick," even up by the 22nd fret high E string.  It still has a sharp attack, though, which is what I wanted.