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I have a Dean Hardtail Select and im almost positive Im sticking these pickups in my guitar, I just wanted to ask a few questions before making the purchase.
Id like this guitar to be able to handle a few things.

a) Jazz - a nice clean tone - in the style of Jim Hall or Wes Montgomery

b) Nice Clean blues with the neck and with a bit of distortion in the style of Warren Haynes

c) Quick Pick Attack - fast jazz runs (also neck)

d) Smooth high gain lead sound for some fusiony shred (Gambale style and a little Petrucci)

e) A tight bottom for heavy rhthym on the treble pickup and not to ear piercing.

I like to play with my mids pretty high at around 8.

I know all the players i mentioned are gods in their own right and its impossible to get all of their sounds, let alone one of em. But I just wanted to let you all know where im coming from in terms of styles and influences.
Any help would be greatly appreciated, even if its only telling me the pros and cons of hte pickups and ignoring the rest of my post.
THanks

Well, I love that pickup combo in one of my guitars. I wouldn't really say that the pick attack is all that quick with the APH-1. It is definitely smooth, though. It's really difficult to get a pickup that does both, of the two I prefer smooth. Having said that, it should still work well for fast Jazz runs as I do most of my soloing with the neck pickup and it does quite well. The C/C doesn't really have all that tight of a low end, either. It works great for heavy rhythms in my Charvel 750xl, but it's no where near as tight as the Distortion or regular Custom. I boost my mids quite a bit also, and these two pickups handle that kind of spike very well.

Im thinking of the same pickup combination in my Hardtain Select aswell (awesome guitar!). I just bought the A2Pn today and am awaiting the arrival of a CC. I talked about it with Evan at UGD UK and he thought with the thick maple cap (half inch or so) that a CC would be good. Ill tell you how it sounds when i have both in there. Im not so much for the fast jazz runs and petrucci/gambale fusion stuff, more hard rockin. Anyways ill just let you know how i get on when its all done and in the guitar!

Question to CC users... How does it handle pinched harmonics? I hear pickups like the JB are good for them. I know technique is most important for them to sound good anyway, but its not as if the CC is bad with them in comparison the the JB right?

You'll find yourself adjusting the tone and volume of your amp a little differantly than you do now...but I think you'll be able to get the tones you're after with the A2Pro neck/CC combo. It's a great combo! I use the CC myself in two guitars: one Strat and one semi-hollowbody Hamer Monoco Super Pro. Sounds wonderful (but differant) in both! If you're looking for smooth, fat, warm, versatile tone, I don't think you can do better than the CC, and A2Pro is a terrific neck pickup. Lew

I have no problems whatsoever getting pinch harmonics out of the CC. It's not quite as easy as with my Distortions, but still very manageable.


Originally Posted by TravisI have no problems whatsoever getting pinch harmonics out of the CC. It's not quite as easy as with my Distortions, but still very manageable.

I agree. And being an alnico 2 pickup, you can adjust the CC closer to the strings than you would your Distortion...that'll give the CC more treble and bite. Alot of guys set the CC to far from the strings. Lew

its a good combo. but i think you will want to lower the mids on your amp a bit


Originally Posted by flankits a good combo. but i think you will want to lower the mids on your amp a bit

Yep...that's exactly what I was thinking.

The overdriven lead tone I am aspiring to get is what i and other refer to as quot;liquid.quot; I know thats a strange word to use in describing tone but ill give some examples. Early Petrucci records have that tone, along with recent Greg Howe stuff. Slash has that tone, and so does recent Santana.
The tone is super smooth, yet must have a decent pick attack because all these guys can pull off monster licks.
In terms of cleans, I play a lot of jazz, and just want good sound with the treble rolled down.
I play some pop too for artists in the studio, so I need a good pop sound too, although i know thats a different sound for each artist.
I realized that metal rhythms arent really too important for me on this guitar.
Does the APH-1 and CC stil sound good for those requirements, or should I maybe go with the APH-1 neck and bridge?
Any other suggestions would be great.

Anyone?

Safeman, I think I'm going to try that coombo eventually (I have an APHn and an A2 and A5 mag for my Custom). Those would have to be THE choice for liquid tone.

I have a Alnico II Pro neck and Custom bridge combo in my SG and it sounds great. Im sure the Custom Custom would probably sound good too.
These pickups sound really nice when you use them together.They complement each other and they give you a nice range of sounds to work with.


Originally Posted by SafemanThe overdriven lead tone I am aspiring to get is what i and other refer to as quot;liquid.quot; I know thats a strange word to use in describing tone but ill give some examples. Early Petrucci records have that tone, along with recent Greg Howe stuff. Slash has that tone, and so does recent Santana.
The tone is super smooth, yet must have a decent pick attack because all these guys can pull off monster licks.
In terms of cleans, I play a lot of jazz, and just want good sound with the treble rolled down.
I play some pop too for artists in the studio, so I need a good pop sound too, although i know thats a different sound for each artist.
I realized that metal rhythms arent really too important for me on this guitar.
Does the APH-1 and CC stil sound good for those requirements, or should I maybe go with the APH-1 neck and bridge?
Any other suggestions would be great.

Heck yeah. I'm not a Jazz player by any means but if you want to hear what the CC sounds like in a mahogany body, check out my clips. Link in my sig, quot;hear thisquot;.

Like said, you'll want to lower the mids on your amp quite a bit with the CC. I set mine to around 3 or 4. The bottom end is there, just not a super tight bottom end like the Custom or the Distortion would have. It's there though. Like Lew, I have two myself and love it in both guitars. I will soon have three.

You can't go wrong with that combo! Its great.

I think it's a really good starting point -- but don't be afraid to try magnet swaps with them. I really recommend a Custom 8 (Custom Custom with Alnico 8 magnet).

Straight out of the factory, the CC is the smoothest sounding bridge pickup ever created.

I would go with a Pearly Gates neck. Push pull volume pots for parallel/series. I would think a custom custom and a pearly gates would have a cool out of phase tone. I would also do the peter green mod. That would make the out of phase tone more versatile.

Snowdog