Members guitarbilly74 Posted November 7, 2012 Members Share Posted November 7, 2012 so here is my dilemma: I have a Gibson SG Special and a Gibson SG-X. My idea is to set up these guitars to have the same basic bridge pickup tone, so one will back the other one up. Of course the Special also has a neck pickup for extra tones and the SG-X has a 24-fret neck, so each guitar is unique, but I want them to have the same basic bridge pickup tone. Now, both guitars have: Mahogany neck/body (same shape) Tune o matic bridge / Tailpiece 24 3/4" scale same action and neck relief (forgot the actual numbers but I checked them last night and they're the same). same neck shape DiMarzio Super Distortion in the bridge. 500k CTS volume pots with the tone controls disconnected. Switchcraft jack Yet they do NOT sound the same or even similar The X seems to have more lows and more gain, the Special is brighter and cleaner. Why? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ShaneV2 Posted November 7, 2012 Members Share Posted November 7, 2012 My two Charvels have Duncan TB5s at the bridge and sound very different also. Just boils down to individual chunks of wood having their own tone I guess. One of mine is also substantially heavier than the other and I do think wood density plays a role in tone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members diddlybo Posted November 7, 2012 Members Share Posted November 7, 2012 Did you put your meter to the pickups to find out if they are reading the same? Maybe its just the character of each guitar coming thru. No two sound the same but I would think those two would be at least similar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarbilly74 Posted November 7, 2012 Author Members Share Posted November 7, 2012 Did you put your meter to the pickups to find out if they are reading the same?Maybe its just the character of each guitar coming thru. No two sound the dsame but I would think those two would be at least similar. No. I forgot to check that. Good call. I will check them today, it does sound like the SD on the Special is considerably weaker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarbilly74 Posted November 7, 2012 Author Members Share Posted November 7, 2012 My two Charvels have Duncan TB5s at the bridge and sound very different also. Just boils down to individual chunks of wood having their own tone I guess. One of mine is also substantially heavier than the other and I do think wood density plays a role in tone. Yeah I guess that could be it. They weight about the same though. I mean, the Special weights a bit more but I am guessing it's because of the weight of the extra pickup and hardware. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ShaneV2 Posted November 7, 2012 Members Share Posted November 7, 2012 Oh, I'm sure you did this, but just in the interest of ruling everything out are the pickups adjusted to the same height on both? Individual pole pieces adjusted the same and all that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarbilly74 Posted November 7, 2012 Author Members Share Posted November 7, 2012 Oh, I'm sure you did this, but just in the interest of ruling everything out are the pickups adjusted to the same height on both? Individual pole pieces adjusted the same and all that? yep, same exact height and polepiece adjustment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rock Hardness Posted November 7, 2012 Members Share Posted November 7, 2012 Which do you prefer? If you happen to prefer the X, perhaps you should reconnect the Special's tone pot, adjust to taste, measure it, disconnect the pot, then install the appropriate components? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ej Posted November 7, 2012 Members Share Posted November 7, 2012 hows the pickup mounted in the SG-X? Its pickguard mounted on the special, no? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bigmark Posted November 7, 2012 Members Share Posted November 7, 2012 Have 2 identical specials that are a year apart in age. Same complete setup on both, sound nothing alike. Nature of the beast I guess... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members soundgardener75 Posted November 7, 2012 Members Share Posted November 7, 2012 Doesn't the SG-X have only one pickup? Could be the fact that since it still has more mass considering that the bridge is the only one hacked for a pickup? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wrongnote85 Posted November 7, 2012 Members Share Posted November 7, 2012 Doesn't the SG-X have only one pickup? Could be the fact that since it still has more mass considering that the bridge is the only one hacked for a pickup? came here to post this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Shellshock Posted November 7, 2012 Members Share Posted November 7, 2012 oops... should have read the entire post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members diocide Posted November 7, 2012 Members Share Posted November 7, 2012 What's the tone/volume pot situation on the SGX? Isn't it a single pot, for volume only? Not having the cap and extra pot for tone effects the sound of a pup a lot. The only other thing I can think of is the age of the pickups. If one is significantly older than the other, than that would effect the sounds as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members chrispsullivan Posted November 7, 2012 Members Share Posted November 7, 2012 If I were you, I would just embrace the fact that the guitars sound different. Trying to get two guitars to sound exactly the same isn't really possible in my experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bumhucker Posted November 7, 2012 Members Share Posted November 7, 2012 Pot values can vary wildly too... I've seen some 500k pots read well below 400k Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sinnerx96 Posted November 7, 2012 Members Share Posted November 7, 2012 Bill, I've seen this happen so many times that I scratch my head when so many guitar players have no concept of it. Every guitar, even the same exact model, can and will sound different. It probably has something to do with the inconsistencies and moisture content in the wood. Different pieces from the same tree could sound different. It can be subtle, or it can be huge. I haven't bought a guitar online in years for this reason. Best way to approach pickups with guitars, is to go with the guitars' natural sound and what compliments it. Hopefully the natural sound is something you actually like and can work with. Otherwise, maybe consider selling it if you can't find a pickup to suit it. I've spent way too much time and money "chasing my tail" trying to get a guitar that I didn't like to sound how I wanted by trying multiple pickups. Not saying this applies to your situation, but it's something to keep in mind. It'll be tough to get two different sounding guitars to sound similar, in my experience. A boost pedal can help "even out" the differences if you're interested in that route. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members yourguitarhero Posted November 7, 2012 Members Share Posted November 7, 2012 Lol, just turn up the gain and they all sound the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members NinjaRaf Posted November 7, 2012 Members Share Posted November 7, 2012 Put a breed in the SG. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members charveldan Posted November 7, 2012 Members Share Posted November 7, 2012 SH-5 Duncan Custom [brdg] is the only answer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members atrox Posted November 7, 2012 Members Share Posted November 7, 2012 I have built too many similar guitars with similar parts for me to not realize that everything makes a difference. People will fight with you all day and tell you that wood and all that {censored} doesn't make a difference. Most of those people have no real world reasoning to assume that or they play with so much gain that it's not noticeable. Every single diversion from one guitar to another makes a difference in some way. My suggestion when buying, as already mentioned here, is to learn what sounds good to you acoustically (meaning, when you like a guitar through your rig, learn that guitars acoustic sound). Find a guitar with those properties and then put the pickups you like in there. even then... good luck getting them exact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarbilly74 Posted November 7, 2012 Author Members Share Posted November 7, 2012 Yeah the funny thing is that acoustically, they sound very similar. Not exactly the same, the Special is a bit louder and brighter when played acoustically, but they sound a lot more alike than when they're plugged in. I think there is something going on with the electronics, I need to take some measurements (pickup, pots etc...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tech21man Posted November 7, 2012 Members Share Posted November 7, 2012 I have built too many similar guitars with similar parts for me to not realize that everything makes a difference. People will fight with you all day and tell you that wood and all that {censored} doesn't make a difference. Most of those people have no real world reasoning to assume that or they play with so much gain that it's not noticeable. Every single diversion from one guitar to another makes a difference in some way. My suggestion when buying, as already mentioned here, is to learn what sounds good to you acoustically (meaning, when you like a guitar through your rig, learn that guitars acoustic sound). Find a guitar with those properties and then put the pickups you like in there. even then... good luck getting them exact. I have had similar experience, especially with SGs and the funny thing is, the simple concept of the guitar (slab mahogany thin body mahogany neck, not a lot of species in various percentage involved in their construction etc) should homogenize them but they sounded very different from bright and bouncy to warm and dead to in between. Thing is, it is the wood that makes the difference (between two identical speced guitars) and therefore, it is why you can't relly on it as a tone tab for each guitar, meaning, "oh yeah! It is a mahogany only guitar so it will be warm!" or "add that maple top to les pauls to get the extra bite" and all that stuff people love to read on internet or magazines. Go figure... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarbilly74 Posted November 7, 2012 Author Members Share Posted November 7, 2012 Put a breed in the SG. If I can work out a trade for one of my pickups, I will. I think my next step will be to try the PAF Pro in the bridge, with the stock neck. At least there is no money involved with that change Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Blakkwater Posted November 8, 2012 Members Share Posted November 8, 2012 Bill,I've seen this happen so many times that I scratch my head when so many guitar players have no concept of it. Every guitar, even the same exact model, can and will sound different. It probably has something to do with the inconsistencies and moisture content in the wood. Different pieces from the same tree could sound different. It can be subtle, or it can be huge. I haven't bought a guitar online in years for this reason. Best way to approach pickups with guitars, is to go with the guitars' natural sound and what compliments it. Hopefully the natural sound is something you actually like and can work with. Otherwise, maybe consider selling it if you can't find a pickup to suit it. I've spent way too much time and money "chasing my tail" trying to get a guitar that I didn't like to sound how I wanted by trying multiple pickups. Not saying this applies to your situation, but it's something to keep in mind. It'll be tough to get two different sounding guitars to sound similar, in my experience. A boost pedal can help "even out" the differences if you're interested in that route. ^ correct answer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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