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Hello all..... I have been playing now for 25 years (yeah Im old) And just recently took the Duncan plunge in my strat (70's reissue) and my 82 Les Paul standard. I put a scorcher in the strat and a set of the buckshots in the paul..... Although they are the cheaper Duncans they REALLY sounded ALOT better then the stocks. Now because these arent cheap guitars I decided to get off my wallet and ordered a hot rails for the strat and a hot rodded humbucker set for the LP. (sh-4 amp; sh-2)

I am worried after reading tons of reviews that the sh-4 might be a bit bright for my taste though.

I temporarly installed a screemin demon I aquired in a deal in the rear of the paul and it was thin and bright and horrible. I then took the SAME pickup and installed it into his Ibanez S-470 wired exactly the same and it is one of the BEST sounds I have ever heard....(the sole inspiration in me ordering the big dog Duncans) Could it be the pots or the tone caps? I know the wood is different and such but this was a WAY beyond that difference.

The pots in the Paul are stock 25 year old pots and the pots in the Ibanez are stock as well.....

Welcome aboard! I am not the best person for describing tone, but welcome aboard. As far as pots and such go, the CTS pots are highly recommended here. sells kits for les pauls that are HIGHLY recommended. Orange drop cap or hovelands can be selected with these kits. Lew, and Blackrose sell these kits also I think. i have purchased kits parts from blackrose in the past. there is a lot of discussion about fine tuning tone with pots and caps here.

As far as pups go you may want to describe the tone you are looking for. Many people will chime in on how to get that tone. I have not used the screamin demons. The sh-4 or JB has always been one of my favorite pups. As far as alnico V pups go I like the JB (sh-4) and the '59 (sh-1). I wouldn't characterize the SH-4 as bright. I would say that it is an agressive sounding pup when paired with a high gain amp and a mahogony bodied guitar. Cleans up well though with a simple roll off. Otherwise I kind of stick to the alnico II pups. I just seem to gravitate towards the tone they create. You can always order a custom shop pup with aged magnets and such. The options are limitless. (which can be a problem for those of us that have a hard time making decisions.

Thank you for your response.....

I used to have a major scooped tone (before it was the in thing), But I fell in love with Alex Lifesons heavy sound on the Vapor Trails amp; 30th anniversary tour.... It was real heavy distorted but clear with alot of punch. I hate shrill highs... I want them crisp and cutting without the trash noise. Good tight bottom without the woffyness and punchy mids without the goose honk in them.

I am plugging into a Mesa Maverick 35w class A amp with all stock tubes. I tried JJ's in the preamp but ithey took out some of the GOOD brightness the amp has.

I didn't find the JB too bright, but it had an upper midrange spike that I didn't like. Some may percieve that as brightness. The JB isn't one of SD's top selling pups of all time for no reason. The JB definately has the ability to cut well, especially with it's lead voice.

The cool thing to remember about buying SD's is that if you don't like the one you buy, you have a 21 day exchange policy. Try it out, and if it's not for you, send it back. If your retailer won't comply, contact SD customer service directly and they will make it right....that's one of the great things about this company.

If you don't like the JB, we can recommend some other choices for you. Welcome.

I think the JB could do Alex Lifeson easily enough. I use it in my guitar that I do more progressive rock with. King's X and such.

In all honesty, I'd say leave the buckshot set.
I like the Designed line.


Originally Posted by SongRiderThank you for your response.....

I used to have a major scooped tone (before it was the in thing), But I fell in love with Alex Lifesons heavy sound on the Vapor Trails amp; 30th anniversary tour.... It was real heavy distorted but clear with alot of punch. I hate shrill highs... I want them crisp and cutting without the trash noise. Good tight bottom without the woffyness and punchy mids without the goose honk in them.

I am plugging into a Mesa Maverick 35w class A amp with all stock tubes. I tried JJ's in the preamp but ithey took out some of the GOOD brightness the amp has.

Kind of a tall order.
I'd say, and I've done my research, korean actives.
They pop up on ebay by various sellers, but they're all the same.Cheap, too.
The ones in a Washburn prototype were the best pickups I've ever heard.
I mananged to schmooze a set that came out of an 'Agile' baritone. Same pickups.
Won the gamble. Looking at the ones on ebay with these in my hands, htey've all been the same.

The JB is a Love/ Hate pickup for a lot of people, I can´t really say it sounds bad anywhere I´ve tried it so far..... quot;Too brightquot;, quot;Too nasalquot; and quot;Too loose around the bottomquot; seem to be the most common opinions of people that aren´t in love with it.....

I´m not 100% sure, but I think also with the sets the 21-Day exchange policy applies, so you would be able to switch the JB out for a Custom / C-5/ CC/ 59....I think you might very much like the Custom

And interesting side not on Pickups and guitars: I had a PATB-2 in my Fusion and a Dimebucker in my Rhoads last week...both were too thick, and too dark....i switched the pickups, and now they´re damn near perfect.... I didn´t expect much difference at all, and definitely not one that big

Welcome to the forum SongRider!

I find the JB to work well in an LP, being that LPs generally have nice warm, thick tones on account of their design and wood. The JB contrasts the LP very well. Prestated comments are on the mark: it cuts through a mix very well, has an upper mid range spike that some love and some hate, and it's a hot pickup that really drives the amp yet will provide usable clean tones with a volume roll back.

In my LP, I ended up putting the stock Gibson 300k pots back in the guitar after trying 500K CTS. cranked to quot;10quot;, the 500k were too bright for my tastes. Rolled back didn't carry the same tone as the 300k cranked to 10. So, my suggestion is to try the set in your LP with the stock pots. Then, if you think you need a little more punch out of the JB, try the 500k pots.

Welcome to the forum SR.

I'm no expert on LP pups, but I do love the HR in LesStrat

lt;--------------

HR/CR/HR with push/pull pots for splitting the coils.

Thanks everyone for the welcome and the replies.....

My new Duncans will arrive today and you have all given me alot of ideas for quot;fine tuningquot; them to my guitar.

I never knew they had a 21 day exchange policy so that was nice to learn as well.

I have had several guitars over the years with the quot;Duncan designedquot; pickups in them and they always sounded good but this is my first time replacing my Les Pauls stock pickups with upgrades..... Like I said before, I already put the less expensive Duncans in it and it blows the stock ones away, So I am really looking forward to these new ones.....

Thanks again for all the advice and knowledge..... Ill let you know what happens in a few hours with them!!!

welcome ... yeah, it's funny to me how one pickup sounds great in one guitar and less than great in another in a way that one wouldnt predict ... dont discount the differences between the ibanez and the les paul though ... makes sense that one reacts differently than the other based on wood type and mass and bridge type, etc ... and yeah, the pots/cap quality make a big difference too ... upgrading them is a relatively inexpensive way to improve things .. i couldnt believe how much more useful the tone control on my ibanez became when i switched to audio taper and a good cap ...

let us know how things go
cheers
t4d

Welcome!You might want to go to the Duncan website and check out the samples of each pup. If you're worried about the LP bridge being too bright, this might save you a few headaches. The SH-4 is nice, but it sounds better with an alnico-2 magnet in it. Other options would be the CC; Seth Lover; or Antiquity.Good luck,

Jeff