Tonerider Classic Blues (neck)

humps.b

I've had the Classic Blues set in a CV Strat before, and the neck tone was full, chimney, and had a bit of bite... perfect!

I put a set in my Schecter Traditional Standard last night (alder body and rosewood fingerboard, vs pine/maple of the CV) and the neck feels hollow and tame. There's no bite and I'm having to add a lot of mids (mostly high mid) to get close to the tone I'm after. Solder joints seem fine and no volume issues.

Has anyone else had this experience with the classic blues? I'm a bit surprised based on my previous experience. Could it be explained by the difference in woods? 

timmypix

I've experienced pickups responding very differently in different guitars and clearly preferring to be in one guitar over another. 

Firstly, lets assume you've set the heights the same as heights will be a factor.

How different are the bridges? The bridge tends to play a bigger role than the woods, in my experience, although everything impacts to some degree. I changed the pot metal trem block on one of my strats and it drastically transformed its natural acoustic voice.

That said, I think wood plays its part, too. My alder/rosewood and ash/maple Strats are completely different acoustically: the former warm and full and chimey, the latter snappy and twangy, and these characteristics come through a) regardless of what pickups are in there and b) through the same pickups. Yes the ash/maple has a thinner pot metal trem block, so that is a factor, but I think it would always be snappier and twangier. That's just how it is as a guitar - a thicker block would just add more body.

Even swapping pickups between Les Pauls with the same construction, each guitar has its own voice and differences and these affect how pickups respond in them.

humps.b

Thanks for the response, it makes me feel a little more confident that it is normal. Whilst I have installed a lot of pickups over time, I've never directly compared the same in different bodies of similar style.

I have tried adjusting height, but overall feeling was similar through the range. The bridge situation is similar in both - the Schecter has a full-size trem block (currently decked) with Highwood bent saddles, and the CV had a similar setup but stock saddles. 

The thing I find odd is that the middle pickup sounded similar in both guitars, but the neck sounds different! Would you expect that? I should probably double check they sent me the correct model!

timmypix

It could just be a weird combination of that pickup in that position just vibed better with the CV and whatever the frequency response of the Schecter is, it's just not the same and that's where it's impacting the most. You say you're adding a lot of mids, is it scooped or thin sounding acoustically?

I'm looking at the neck pickup placement - I've pulled up quick pictures of both and I think the neck pickup on the Schecter looks like it's a little closer to the middle/further from the end of the fretboard? I've seen Nolly speak at length about how small changes in distance from the bridge can really change a bridge pickup's response, so I'd imagine it's not a dissimilar situation, though without getting callipers out and a whole lot more knowledge about pickup placement and design, I'm not sure I could say that's responsible for the change by itself..

But yeah, probably can't hurt to check they've a) sent the right pickup and b) has the Classic Blues spec changed at all since you last had it in the CV? Or could it be faulty if it's sounding a bit hollow and lifeless? Although I'd expect a volume difference in the latter situation and you've said there isn't one.

Funkfingers

Wood varies. 

Shifting the neck position pickup half an inch closer to the bridge - e.g. Gibson SG and LP DC Special - changes the overtones that it senses.

Mounting directly into the body wood can sound different to suspension on screws, through a pickguard or mounting surround.


Sometimes, we chance upon a combination that just works. For me, one of these is the SD Antiquity P90 in a PRS SE One. I have tested other, higher output pickups in that guitar but I always return to the Duncan P90.

humps.b

Acoustically, I'd say the guitar actually sounds noticeably fuller and more resonant than the CV! That said, it has a huge swimming pool route under the pickguard and it's pretty echoey if you bang on the pickguard. 

I do think the positioning is slightly different in this guitar too - I hadn't thought of that, thanks. I guess there are just so many variables going on, it is to be expected. 

OilCityPickups

humps.b said:

The thing I find odd is that the middle pickup sounded similar in both guitars, but the neck sounds different! Would you expect that? I should probably double check they sent me the correct model!

hummmm that's a little suspicious