software

Jazz Lil 59 and DD.

All sound pretty much the same.

Bummed out about that. Really dissapointed in .

I have to really strain my ears to hear any difference.

Anyone else have this problem? Is there a solution?

What guitars are you useing each in? whats the body wood of each guitar? And the Neck woods? And finger board woods?

Also, what amp are you useing? Solidstate, or Tube? Are you going through effects? and if so what effects?

I find it odd that all your pickups sound the same. But sumtimes if you use alotta effects, or a cheesy distortion pedal it kinda removes the character of your pickups. Certain setups can make everything sound the same. I know when I used to go through a whole bunch of effects, and use a Big muff, it used to make all my guitars sound the same.

Your really gonna have to give us (the forum bros) more info on your setup for us to suggest remedys.
Ed


Originally Posted by Low_fidelity2100What guitars are you useing each in? whats the body wood of each guitar? And the Neck woods? And finger board woods?

Also, what amp are you useing? Solidstate, or Tube? Are you going through effects? and if so what effects?

I find it odd that all your pickups sound the same. But sumtimes if you use alotta effects, or a cheesy distortion pedal it kinda removes the character of your pickups. Certain setups can make everything sound the same. I know when I used to go through a whole bunch of effects, and use a Big muff, it used to make all my guitars sound the same.

Your really gonna have to give us (the forum bros) more info on your setup for us to suggest remedys.
Ed

All Three are in the same guitar. The Jazz is in the NEck, the Lil 59 is in the Middle, and the DD is in the Bridge. It's an Ibanez S470FM, mahogany body I think and rosewood fretboard.

I can hear the difference of the three, but it isn't very pronounced. I double checked the wiring, and I don't think that's the problem, however, it might be.

The DD and the Lil 59 are slightly different. I mean, the 59 has more mids and bass, but not enough of the PAF punch I was looking for. THe DD is solid. Loud, and clear.

The Jazz was by far the most disappointing of the pickups. It's just not very clean! I mean, I was hoping for a really great clean sounding pickup. It is cleaner than the other two, but only by a little bit.

I am playing a Digitech 2101 which is Tube and Solid state preamp, through a Marshall 9100 which is an all tube Power Amp. I mean, don't get me wrong, the guitar friggin screams, my complaint is there isn't as much shift as I thought I would get between pickups.

I was thinking, with 1 click of the switch, It would be like quot;BAMquot; new sound. That's the way it is with my EMG's. The SA and the 81 are totally different sounding at two different ends of the spectrum.

When I click the switch on the Ibanez, it's like, hmmmmmmm. did that do anything? Well. . .. .let me listen again. . . yeah. . . there is a subtle difference but nothing that pronounced. I was hoping for 3 distinct sounds, Metal, PAF, and CLEAN. But it's like the Metal does have a PAF twang to it, and the Lil 59 does have some mids, but not shockingly different, and the Clean is just a tad cleaner than the 59.

So of course, I may have messed up the wiring. But it sounds pretty good. I am going to play with the PUP heights, and maybe even mess around with the little silver dots on the pickups, the quot;poles?quot; is that right?

Anyways, let me know if I'm just *****ing about nothing, or if there is a way to get a little more distinction betweeen the pickups. Thanks Ed.

maybe u are just too used to the changes in active EMG pickups as compared to the changes in passives ?

Yeah you don't sound like you were looking to let alot of character of the guitar through.

I sa go with Evolution, Fast Track, Humbucker From Hell.
These will be increasingly more colored as you move towards the bridge.


Originally Posted by briankouJazz Lil 59 and DD.
All sound pretty much the same.
Bummed out about that. Really dissapointed in .
I have to really strain my ears to hear any difference.
Anyone else have this problem? Is there a solution?

Seems like it's your ears, not the pickups.
I do not know how long you have played. Let's assume that you have played about 10 years. If you don't hear the different beteween lil 59 and DD, I don't know what to day ... good luck.

Sounds like the Digitech, I've played through them and sometimes they make different guitars sound the same. Try your guitar through a different amp and see if all the pups sound the same. Good luck.....Joe

Thats quiet odd that you can't hear any difference. I mean the harmonic overtones just switching from the neck to bridge would be enough to make even two Identical pickups sound different (with one in neck and one in bridge).
I think perhaps the problem might be the digitech Preamp your useing. Alot of those little quot;amp in a pedalquot; deals tend to color your tone soo much that if you were to play a walmart guitar, and a Les paul through it, you wouldn't hear any difference.
For the most part those things are built (and sold) for people that don't have access to (or the cash for) Good guitars. And don't have the money for a quot;goodquot; real amp. They're made to colour your sound in such a way as to make even a cheesy guitar sound good.
But as a result of that, they make every guitar (and all possitions) sound nearly Identical.
So I think the problem is the Pedal (preamp whatever ya wanna call it).

Take the guitar sumwhere where you can try it out on a good, real amp. A guitar shop, friends house, whatever. And just plug the guitar straight into the amp. And if your able to hear the differences (and they should be really clear). Then we'll know the problem is the amp. And I'm really fairly sure it is.

Ed

p.s.
I'm pretty possitive this isn't a wireing issue. Being as theres no wireing I know of that can make every pickup sound the same. Hah. But maybe sumone else knows sumthing I don't.

I can't imagine these guys won't come up with a solution or suggestion that doesn't work for you. But...should that happen, feel free to call Scott at . He's a wiring wizard, can recommend a different combo of pickups that might achieve your goal, and if you've only had the pickups for 21 days or less he can arrange an exchange for you.

I hope you find a way to keep those Duncans in your guitar. We know we can't please everyone all of the time. But, dang it, we'll keep trying!


Originally Posted by briskSeems like it's your ears, not the pickups.

It's gotta be that or the Digitech. Processors tend to neuter other parts of the signal chain.

I don't know, though... I'm sitting here with an Ibanez loaded with a Custom in the bridge and Lil'59 (bridge) in the middle, going through a V-Amp2 into a 10 watt practice amp, and they're VERY different.

when i used to use an ada mp-1 preamp i would stick the gain all the way up.and even my vintage rails would sound alike the JB.at insane amouts of gain anyways

Either your ears haven't quite developed enough to hear the difference (beginning guitarists have this problem), or your Digitech is causing it.

throw the digitech away.
sorry to be so blunt, but it will make any guitar sound the same. digitech colors the sound SO MUCH it's unbeliveable. it's not natural anymore.

it's not the pickups, probably not even your guitar. you have to know how to listen to diferent pups cos at first i didnt hear the diference as i do now.

digitech sucks. all their stuff is overly processed. you might have a fault in the wireing too. double check it and consult some of the wizards here, then get a diferent preamp.


Originally Posted by Sabina MacDonaldI can't imagine these guys won't come up with a solution or suggestion that doesn't work for you. But...should that happen, feel free to call Scott at . He's a wiring wizard, can recommend a different combo of pickups that might achieve your goal, and if you've only had the pickups for 21 days or less he can arrange an exchange for you.

I hope you find a way to keep those Duncans in your guitar. We know we can't please everyone all of the time. But, dang it, we'll keep trying!

/\More proof that SD Rules!/\

I second the suggestion to plug directly into an amp(s) to test the axe. As with any other troubleshooting, begin with the simplest setup/connection chain to narrow down the possible problems.

Whip out the multimeter.

Measure the resistance of the guitar in each position of the switch.
Each pickup resistance should correspond with what's posted on the Semour Duncan chart on the site - Just to make sure you wired it right.

Then try playing through an expensive amplifier like a Fender Twin - really loud and clean. Or a marshall JCM2000 halfstack really loud.

If the sound is still not there for ya, then sell the SD pickups - peaople will buy them! And get some Dimarzios.


Originally Posted by Daveythrow the digitech away.
Some of you guys are telling him to plug directly into the amp, and to throw the pedal away... I´m sorry to say this, but if you don´t know what your talking about, don´t talk.

The Digitech 2101 is a rackmount Preamp / MIDI Effects processing unit, not a 50-100$ pedal doohickey. And the Marshall 9100 is a DUal Mono Bloc Power amp. He IS plugging directly into the amp... No pedals ...you don´t really want to plug a guitar directly into a power amp most of the time...

This will conclude today´s lesson on how not to make a fool of yourself
__________________________________________________ ____________Now, back to the topic:

I´m sorry to plug this this way, but DOD/ Digitech equipment is unfortunately notorious for coloring the sound and quot;deletingquot; personalilty.... A friend of mine grabbed the new GNX4 (which I myself was interested in until yesterday), and 3 guitars that ysound totally different over any amp all sounded practically the same on anything with quot;gritquot;, not to mention on searing Hi-gain. This is the same reason I threw away my rack years ago with a 2101 Artist in it....I miss the effects, but I was missing the tone back then

I lost all interest in that board yesterday...too bad, because otherwise it would have been a godsend....But if something stifle´s my guitar´s voice that much, what´s it going to do to the nuances of my playing?

One more thing, I am using a 500 Tone pot, which may be making everything brighter, and hence, more similar?


Originally Posted by ZerberusSome of you guys are telling him to plug directly into the amp, and to throw the pedal away... I´m sorry to say this, but if you don´t know what your talking about, don´t talk.

The Digitech 2101 is a rackmount Preamp / MIDI Effects processing unit, not a 50-100$ pedal doohickey. And the Marshall 9100 is a DUal Mono Bloc Power amp. He IS plugging directly into the amp... No pedals ...you don´t really want to plug a guitar directly into a power amp most of the time...

This will conclude today´s lesson on how not to make a fool of yourself
__________________________________________________ ____________Now, back to the topic:

I´m sorry to plug this this way, but DOD/ Digitech equipment is unfortunately notorious for coloring the sound and quot;deletingquot; personalilty.... A friend of mine grabbed the new GNX4 (which I myself was interested in until yesterday), and 3 guitars that ysound totally different over any amp all sounded practically the same on anything with quot;gritquot;, not to mention on searing Hi-gain. This is the same reason I threw away my rack years ago with a 2101 Artist in it....I miss the effects, but I was missing the tone back then

I lost all interest in that board yesterday...too bad, because otherwise it would have been a godsend....But if something stifle´s my guitar´s voice that much, what´s it going to do to the nuances of my playing? I actually love my 2101 Artist and I highly doubt it's my Amp set up because MY EMG'S SOUND TOTALLY DIFFERENT through the exact same set up. And if I set the Preamp on bypass, or on a clean channel, the tones still aren't as different as I'd like them to be. I think the fact that I am using a 500 tone pot may be part of the problem. I'll rewire and test.

But it is a good excuse to go get a JMP-1 ASAP.

But thanks for your reply. I think I'm just spoiled with my EMG's.


Originally Posted by Daveythrow the digitech away.
sorry to be so blunt, but it will make any guitar sound the same. digitech colors the sound SO MUCH it's unbeliveable. it's not natural anymore.

it's not the pickups, probably not even your guitar. you have to know how to listen to diferent pups cos at first i didnt hear the diference as i do now.

digitech sucks. all their stuff is overly processed. you might have a fault in the wireing too. double check it and consult some of the wizards here, then get a diferent preamp.

Even if the digitech is on bypass? Or on a clean channel? I don't think you know what a GSP 2101 is. It's a rackmount preamp. They don't make them anymore. And if it is the preamp, then why do my EMG's sound totally different through the exact same setup?

Have you ever played a 2101? It's not a junky floor pedal unit.

I definitely, HEAR the difference. I am just saying it's very subtle. But the good news is that the pickups sound great, just too similar to one another.