Members bengerm77 Posted October 15, 2008 Members Share Posted October 15, 2008 I am now becoming angry with my otherwise beautiful guitar that I built from parts. I have a duncan JB in a mexican strat body with Floyd Rose that sounds muffled and uninteresting. This is when compared to y Kramer baretta which sounds bright and beautiful. I'm thinking that the tone mufflage may be due to the pickup and electronics. I've got a cheap tiny little 500k volume pot in as the only pot in the signal path (it came from a squier that my friend smashed). between this and the JB in a big vacuous strat body, my sound comes out all muffled and dumb. Halp? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BindingNut Posted October 15, 2008 Members Share Posted October 15, 2008 The JB is the problem. Adjust height, volume at 7ish, until ideal tone is accomplished. 10 is solo/slide setting, anything lower may get muddy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Highway_61 Posted October 15, 2008 Members Share Posted October 15, 2008 http://www.aphex.com/demo1403.htm http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/aug03/articles/aphexxciter.htm 139.00 list, but one can get them for a lot less on eBay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bengerm77 Posted October 15, 2008 Author Members Share Posted October 15, 2008 The JB is the problem.Adjust height, volume at 7ish, until ideal tone is accomplished. 10 is solo/slide setting, anything lower may get muddy. What's my solution?I'd like to go with a Gibson 490T Zebra, but I'd also like to be the worlds most eligible jet-setting millionare with a huge dong and clearly I can't do both. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BindingNut Posted October 15, 2008 Members Share Posted October 15, 2008 What's my solution?I'd like to go with a Gibson 490T Zebra, but I'd also like to be the worlds most eligible jet-setting millionare with a huge dong and clearly I can't do both. 490Ts aren't great pickups, IMO. burstbuckers are the real deal. But, play with the height, everything has a sweet spot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members inkblot Posted October 15, 2008 Members Share Posted October 15, 2008 JB is big on the upper mids/treble, I don't think you'll find anything much brighter. A quality 500k volume pot isn't a bad idea for sure. Could be that it's just a bassier body/neck. Try adjusting the pole pieces and slanting the pickup so that the treble side is closer to the strings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members docjeffrey Posted October 15, 2008 Members Share Posted October 15, 2008 Is the JB a full sized humbucker or a Jr? Some guitars are like that--dark sounding. I own two of them, and nothing, including trying various pickups, solved the problem. I think that we underestimate the impact of the wood on the tone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ashtray Posted October 15, 2008 Members Share Posted October 15, 2008 I was actually kinda hoping to see a picture of a guitar with socks coming out the cavities. Oh well.... Here's my honest addition to the thread: How does the guitar sound unplugged? If it sounds "alive", or as alive as your other guitar you are comparing it to, then it's the pickup. If it sounds dead, or too woody, or mellow, or whatnot - then it's something in the guitar itself (bridge connection, body density, etc). Oh - if you built this yourself, check to make sure you didn't mount the pickup in a "weird" location relative to common nodes of natural harmonics. That can sometimes cause odd tones - but that's usually more subtle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mesa/Kramer Posted October 15, 2008 Members Share Posted October 15, 2008 It's not the pickup. It's possibly an issue with the wiring/pots. Could also be the difference in wood between the two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Brendan Posted October 15, 2008 Members Share Posted October 15, 2008 How does it play unplugged? Does it ring out or is it muffled too. Some necks and bodies don't like each other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mr Songwriter Posted October 15, 2008 Members Share Posted October 15, 2008 I had a JB in my Strat for a while, I wasn't particularly into the sound, but it certainly didn't sound muffled, I'd guess it's a wiring problem, i.e. the treble in the signal is being bled to ground somewhere - wood does make a difference to your tone, but not enough to ruin the sound of a good pickup like a JB. It'd help if you told us exactly how you've wired all the pickups in there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cold Gin Posted October 15, 2008 Members Share Posted October 15, 2008 Some guitars, in all price ranges, are just POS and no mods can make it better IME. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cold Gin Posted October 15, 2008 Members Share Posted October 15, 2008 maybe your strings are too heavy lol that wouldn't make his guitar sound muffled..it would just make it sound better, louder, ballsier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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