Jump to content

guitar issues.... wat do?


guitarbilly74

Recommended Posts

  • Members

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 :confused: The X seems to have more lows and more gain, the Special is brighter and cleaner.

 

Why?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

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

  • Members

 

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

  • Members

 

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

  • Members

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

  • Members

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

  • Members

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

  • Members

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

  • Members

 

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

  • Members

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

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...