Pick up swap for my Charvel DK24 HSS

CaptainChunky77

Hi guys!!

Long time reader,first time poster.

I recently got a Charvel DK24 HSS (shell pink) for my 21st birthday, I am in love with the guitar and it sound awesome at the 3/4 rehersals i've taken it to.

I'm not quite sold on the SD TB-10(full shred) in the bridge position. Its a little to scoopy and hot for what I'm looking for, can anyone recommend a humbucker and 2 singles for this guitar? Im playing rock/punk originals, going through a british voiced amp. The tonewoods on the axe are Alder & Maple! Thanks

Bowks

Congratulations on such an awesome 21st bday pressie!

What sort of sounds are you after and what are you playing through? Do you have a preference in pickup brands already>

CaptainChunky77

Hey dude!!

I'm after a good, low to mid gain rock tone. I play through a Laney IRT SLS that goes into 2 1x12 cabs, one with a v30 and another with a 70/80(looking to upgrade the 70/80 also) I always play on the crunch channel with a fairly balanced EQ (small bump to bass and treble and a small dip to the mids), rolling down the volume for cleanish sounds.

I have my lead channel EQd with a little dip in the bass, pushing up the mids and highs just past half way.

So far I have only tried the full shred and a JB from good ol' Seymour Duncan but I do not have any brand loyalties. My Gibson LP came stock with Burstbuckers and I reeeeeeeally dont like those.

gazrichards

I had one of those for a while. Came with the bridge HB already changed to an iron gear blues. It was great. 

I made a sales video with tones. I’ll find it and post it. 

Edit
here it is
https://youtu.be/hM1cgwBlFUs
I this the amps may just be garage band sims so maybe not great

CaptainChunky77

gazrichards said:

I had one of those for a while. Came with the bridge HB already changed to an iron gear blues. It was great. 

I made a sales video with tones. I’ll find it and post it. 

Edit
here it is
https://youtu.be/hM1cgwBlFUs
I this the amps may just be garage band sims so maybe not great

I was actually looking at Iron Gears Overwound Rolling Mill for the bride of this one. I'm looking to do the exact same thing with having one raw nickel cover at the back, looks great man!

How did you find the IG pup?

gazrichards

I never got to do a comparison as the iron gear was in it when I acquired it but on paper I preferred it to the SD. I had no problems with the iron gear at all. It sounded real good to me. 

I only sold the charvel as it was part of an on going attempt to get into strat (or strat type) that I’ve since realised is not working for me. 

CaptainChunky77

gazrichards said:

I never got to do a comparison as the iron gear was in it when I acquired it but on paper I preferred it to the SD. I had no problems with the iron gear at all. It sounded real good to me. 

I only sold the charvel as it was part of an on going attempt to get into strat (or strat type) that I’ve since realised is not working for me. 

Thanks for your help dude! Been looking into Iron Gears stuff for a while. All the pups i've been looking at get awesome reviews but they all seem to be in LP type guitars.

skullfunkerry

I’ll second what Gaz has said: I’ve had Irongear pickups in several guitars, and they’ve always been an improvement, no matter what they were replacing. I replaced the JB/59 set in a Charvel with a pair of Irongears last year actually

TTBZ

skullfunkerry said:

I’ll second what Gaz has said: I’ve had Irongear pickups in several guitars, and they’ve always been an improvement, no matter what they were replacing. I replaced the JB/59 set in a Charvel with a pair of Irongears last year actually

Do you reckon that overall they're an improvement over Duncans, what are the differences? Been thinking of going for some SDs for my SG but thinking of an overwound Rolling Mill + Blues Engine neck as an alternative to the Custom 5/59 pairing.

skullfunkerry

TTBZ said:

skullfunkerry said:

I’ll second what Gaz has said: I’ve had Irongear pickups in several guitars, and they’ve always been an improvement, no matter what they were replacing. I replaced the JB/59 set in a Charvel with a pair of Irongears last year actually

Do you reckon that overall they're an improvement over Duncans, what are the differences? Been thinking of going for some SDs for my SG but thinking of an overwound Rolling Mill + Blues Engine neck as an alternative to the Custom 5/59 pairing.

A while back I'd have said yes, I havent found a Duncan pickup that I like, but I'd pretty much only ever used JB/59 sets, which are far too woolly for me. I did have a Custom 5 for a while which I liked, but I don't have anything to compare it to other than the standard Fender humbucker that it replaced in a Modern Player Tele.

The PRS SE Holcomb that I recently sold had an Alpha & Omega set in it and they were absolutely beastly, I loved them!

From what I've read of the Rolling Mill/Blues Engine set I wouldn't think there would be too much difference in sound between that and the SDs, but the Irongears would save you a load of money

PonchoGreg

I put an Iron Gear Hot Slag (uuurgh on that name) in the bridge of a Charvel San Dimas. It was very good - to me, right in the ballpark of an SD or DiMarzio. Might be a bit too hot/middy for what you need, a Rolling Mills overwound would probably better fit the bill, but in terms of quality I wouldn't worry much if I were you.

You could conceivably get a couple of different models, see which one you prefer and sell the other one at no great loss, all for a touch under what a new SD pickup would cost you. Worth a punt I would say.

Otherwise I would heartily recommend an Airship Trooper from @OilCityPickups - ideal for classic/hard rock and not too hot.

As for single coils, my own experience would direct you to Tonerider, probably their Classic Blues if you want something a touch on the more powerful side than vintage to not have a huge imbalance with the bridge humbucker. Again, £30 a pop so not a big outlay. For a bit more moolah have a look at the Triple Blues or Stonetones from Oil City, or the Texan Hailstorms from @Alegree ; perhaps

Do bear in mind the potential phase issues when mixing manufacturers though

CaptainChunky77

skullfunkerry said:

I’ll second what Gaz has said: I’ve had Irongear pickups in several guitars, and they’ve always been an improvement, no matter what they were replacing. I replaced the JB/59 set in a Charvel with a pair of Irongears last year actually

Thank you dude! Any experience with the Overwound Rolling mill?,

noisepolluter

Great swag! I bought a San Dimas recently and am hoping to get an HH DK24 at some point. 

One thing I’d recommend (I don’t know if yours has this already) is a coil split on the bridge pickup. The Duncan JB and 59 in my San Dimas both do surprisingly good single coil sounds when split. 

Oh, and a treble bypass network across the volume control to keep high end when you turn the volume down, especially with the single coils. It also helps smooth out the perceived taper of the volume control.

I’ve used this one in my San Dimas, and also a Fender Tele:

https://www.northwestguitars.co.uk/sprague-orange-drop-treble-bleed-kit/

skullfunkerry

CaptainChunky77 said:

skullfunkerry said:

I’ll second what Gaz has said: I’ve had Irongear pickups in several guitars, and they’ve always been an improvement, no matter what they were replacing. I replaced the JB/59 set in a Charvel with a pair of Irongears last year actually

Thank you dude! Any experience with the Overwound Rolling mill?,

I haven't used that one: I've had Metal Machines, Hot Slags and (I think) Dirty Torque. I've also used Tonerider Generators in an Ibanez RG450 about 10 years ago and they were very nice sounding pickups too...

I've just had a look at the Axetec page and the overwound Rolling Mill is pretty hot, with fairly flat bass & mids and a slight treble peak, so it should sound nice and tight, and it will drive an amp nicely

Lestratcaster

The only SD pickup I have got currently is the JB and it'll do most rock and punk stuff well provided you ain't tuning lower than c#. I have one in my strat and its chunky and ballsy. Its quite hot though but I only put one in there to play Green Day songs haha.

I have an HSS set up two and have 2 Oil City Stonetone single coils which are great. Again, will do most rock and pop stuff, has great output and in mine it retains the sound of the strat. Quite affordable too. 

Not tried the Iron Gears so can't comment on those but there's a lot of upcoming UK pick up winders now who can pretty much make a good version (and better) of existing well-known brands.

elusivelight

Seen a lot of people putting the thornbucker in as a replacement. I have a love hate relationship with the Full Shred, I keep going to buy something else then I end up keeping it in. 

CaptainChunky77

Thanks for all the awesome feed back guys! I'm getting paid next week so I'm gonna pull the trigger on the OW Rolling mills pick up. Have it dropped in my Charvel by a tech and test it out!