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The Pickup Place / Re: On the search for Optimal pickup combo for Low-Tuned Guitars

« on: November 13, 2020, 10:24:58 AM »

Hi guys,

Thanks very much for your input, again!

@Harlow --> I used your guidance to dial in a more focused tone going for clarity and heft in order to make things work better.

Yes, the tone is an E1 - and one has to be a steady hand with the high pass filter.

@Darth --> Sadly, those pickups are no available locally (I am currently half-way around the world) and postal or delivery services are not reliable.

All this has led me down the road to test the Fishman Fluence pickups - the general humbucker, rather than Tosin's signature models.

Even though the wiring is tricky, I've got my local luthier on the job and we'll see how that goes. Maybe that E1 will now stand out even more.

I'll be glad to report results.

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The Pickup Place / Re: On the search for Optimal pickup combo for Low-Tuned Guitars

« on: October 14, 2020, 05:50:53 AM »

Hiya,

Thanks for the ongoing feedback.

My lightweight digi rig is pod hd pro x via power amp to a V30 Celestion 1x12.
A TS-style block is placed before the amp block (Boogie-type); The tweak options within amp, especially toggling the bias and resonance got me where I need to be.
You are very correct to say that, while I can get clarity and punch in this configuration, especially when I put some elbow grease into it (not my style or playing, at all btw)
But any nuance and subtleties with regards to palm muting are simply not there.

I listened to any and all samples with guitars being tuned that low, but I simply couldn't find anything as low as E2, w/o approaching bass territory.
Bright pickup (tremble bump), without a lot of bass, w/o a mid scoop reads like a D-Activator Bridge to me. The D-Activator Neck can also be an option, though I think that treble bump would make is sound like a tight wire rope, instead of a string in the end.

I did look into Bare Knuckle - they are both pricey and reliable. I'll shoot them a quick email maybe to see what their take is.
The band Jinjer plays 6 strings in A tuning, with a low .068. That's as close of a reference as I could find so far.

I will poke around and see what comes out. I would also prefer to wait for DiMarzio to come back in stock, before exploring other avenues.

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The Pickup Place / Re: JP Neck Pickups

« on: October 12, 2020, 08:26:52 PM »

Air Norton
Liquifire
Illuminator
Sonic Ecstasy
Rainmaker

IMHO -->
I have tried the AN, LF, and Illuminators, because they have come with my JP guitars.
If speaking only to the neck pickups (since the AN was the neck on the first JP6 guitars) all of them have potential for a nice creamy tone.
John being a fan of Steve Morse, has always wanted to achieve a similar singable and bubbly tone, especially in the neck position. Something that I am partial to, myself.
Out of those three, the Illuminators have been the most difficult to tame, which was accomplished by dialing their sweet-spot tones on the amp / processor / modeller.

Good tonal hunting folks!

-Bo

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The Pickup Place / Re: On the search for Optimal pickup combo for Low-Tuned Guitars

« on: October 12, 2020, 08:06:34 PM »

Hi Harlow,

I really appreciate the sound board.

Believe it or not, the JP-70's stock pickups over surprising clarity over the LF of the E2 tuning. It did take some tweaking, but brightness can be found even in this situation.
Judging by the one profile of the current pickups, D-Activators would indeed be a little too thin (for my taste anyway), while the Crunch Lab could be too boomey.

One of the wrinkles is that I am stationed in Europe, and Titan's are not sold everywhere. Many of DiMarzio line are currently on backorder as well, so one has to make due with whatever is available.  I looked into other brands as well, anything available, but any 7-string tuned even to a drop A, seems to call for active / glassy pickup tone in order to get any clarity.

Perhaps anything high-output with a High Pass filter and mid focused EQ will get the job done? The current configuration doesn't sound poorly, but is a little one-dimensions when setting multiple patches for less-distorted and cleaner tones.

Cheers,
Bo

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The Pickup Place / On the search for Optimal pickup combo for Low-Tuned Guitars

« on: October 12, 2020, 02:56:13 PM »

Hi guys,

The band I recently joined plays in a very unusual 7-string tuning. It's 1 1/2 steps down, double dropped.
This translates to: C#, G#, E, B, F#, B, E. The lowest string is a whopping .074.

I bought a wonderful JP-70 guitar to handle this hefty tuning and sounds, however the stock pickups can only go so far.

I am considering many options, chief among them being: D-Activator 7 in the Bridge / Liquifire 7 in the Neck.
All my other guitars are DiMarzio-equipped MM guitars, I know how to dial in a tone with that combo.
I have checked out the competition and decided that it's not really my thing.

Any opinions on the D-A 7 Bridge and Liquifire 7 Neck combination?
Am I wrong to think that those two will handle the tuning well?

Any thoughts and opinions welcome.

Thank you,
Bo