Change of pups for Jackson Dinky XL

[Wayno]

Hi,

I have a Jackson Pro Dinky XL, awesome shred machine but it has the stock Jackson pups in it (HSS). Think they are Duncan designed? Don't know? The middle and neck single coils are much lower output than the bridge humbucker which is very annoying.

Anyhoo, possibly thinking of swapping them out for something better. I need to cover 60's rock, like CCR right up to modern heavy stuff, think QOTSA etc and most stuff inbetween, Guns and Metallica and even Huey Lewis and the News 8) etc. Any ideas for something that will cover the most ground?

I have my Mark V roaring with my other two guitars, a Les Paul with Duncan Alnico ii's and a Schecter with EMG's. They both rock with different flavours. Would be nice to be able to change it up with the Jackson too. At the moment i can't because i change between both neck and bridge pickups a lot with our setlist and the output change is too much to live with on stage.

Any suggestions to work with the Mark V would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Wayno.

 

[kreatorkills]

Duncan Nazgul/Sentient set is an amazing set that i love. It is different than my Alnico II's and Burstbucker Pro's and very versatile in their own right. Their sold as more of a modern metal set but i use them for everything, and tapped they are killer for clean or blues. The bridge is very powerful and dynamic yet not overly distorted. One custom guitar maker which i can't remember has them as their stock preferred pickup set.

 

[Pongo]

Given the wide range of music you play, I'd install a medium output humbucker and medium/medium-hot output single coils* that bring out tones you love, and worry more about how each pickup and combination sounds rather than the fact that the humbucker is slightly louder. It's only going to be really noticeable on clean settings, and you can mitigate on the fly with a slight downturn of your volume knob (humbucker) or clicking on your V's volume boost (single coils). Don't raise/lower your pickups out of their sweet-spots for the sake of perfect balance; that just trades one set of problems for another. Given that you've brought up the imbalance before, I suspect this may have become one of those "pet issues" that annoys you way more than your bandmates or audience.

Short version: get good sounding med output humbucker and med/med-hot single coils. With a proper setup, you'll sound great; minor balance issues will persist, but can be easily dealt with.

HSS is a great combination that will probably cover 90% of the music you want to play; for the heaviest stuff, you have the Schecter.

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* I'm going into this assuming you don't want the fatter tones of higher output single coils, so as to preserve a more "authentic" bright/glassy sound. If that's not a consideration for you, hotter single coils are a good option, too. I just dropped some Texas Specials into a Telecaster... it definitely doesn't have a truly vintage vibe anymore, but it sounds great in its own way (I like hot Teles more than Strats, obviously ymmv)!

 

[Wayno]

Thanks for the replies.

Will defo check out the nazgul/sentinals and the texas specials. I will always gravitate towards the hotter end of the spectrum purely because that's my roots (80's metal) but if they can give a convincing softer tone too i'll be more than happy. Will check em out for sure. That being said, the set list is most important after all, not my 80's guitar hero dreams! 8)

Your probably right Pongo in that i notice it much more than everyone else. I always have been a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to my band and my own tones. Have to hold myself back sometimes if i think one of the other guys could be playing something better or their tone isn't quite right to my ears, especially my guitar, but bass, drums and vocals included. After all we are only a pub band. My perspective is always "if you're gonna do it, do it right". Even watching other pub bands i'm constantly critiquing them in my mind. The last thing i want is to sound like i'm an ******* so i hope none of you think that. i just like to get things right is all. Well as right as they can be within our limited budget that is.

Moneys very tight but if i can find a set of something on Ebay or the like i'll be happy.

How about any of the single sized humbuckers, do they work or is it just a gimmick?

Thanks guys.

Wayno.

 

[Pongo]

How about any of the single sized humbuckers, do they work or is it just a gimmick?

It's a fairly specific sound that, in my experience, never quite sounds like full-size humbuckers. Ultimately, whether they work is a matter of your taste!

Many people who like them think of them as a "tighter, more focused" humbucker; people who don't like them will often grump on and on about how they're too thin and bright to be a good humbucker, yet not chimey enough for a single coil, etc...

It's been years since I've used any, but I recall the JB Jr. bridge with Little 59s in the middle/neck positions had the most "authentic" sound to me. I put a set in a Strat (through a Mark IV, actually!), and really liked them. I've really grown to appreciate single coils since then, however, so not sure if I'd still love the JB/59 combo today.

Here's a demo that goes from cleans to high gain that might interest you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfMLlTytS4I

Hey, if you're into 80's guitar heroics, a JB Jr. in the neck might be right up your alley...

 

[royslead]

I have a Jackson DK2S, it is an HSS model, with the Sustainiac. The bridge pickup is a Seymour Duncan "JB" and the middle was a Seymour Duncan stacked coil. The neck is of course, the Sustainiac. I had a tremendous volume balance between the bridge and the middle, so I replaced the middle with a "Hot Rails" meant for the neck position. I wired it in parallel, and the balance between it and the bridge is significantly close. I play a mix of rock from '60's, through somewhat current; and use a Mark V (90). The biggest drawback I have, is that it really isn't a guitar meant for jangly, clean tones. It seems to lose a bit of articulation. I wouldn't consider it muddy, just darker. Now, if I had a normal, neck pickup, that may make a big difference.

 

[jnoel64]

I also think you also need to take your pick attack into consideration. Mine has always been pretty heavy in most applications. I've been using Hot Rails for years and they are my absolute favorite single-coil sized humbucker. But that is heavily influenced by my approach to the strings. I have Hot Rails in 2 Strats and 2 Teles, all are tapped with either a mini toggle switch or a push-pull pot. I know tone is subjective, but I do not feel my tone is thin by any stretch.

One thing I highly recommend to any Strat player is the Emerson Custom Blender pot.
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/250KBlender--emerson-custom-pro-cts-potentiometer-250k-short-split-shaft-blender

You can also get a full pre-wired kit:
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/S5B250K--emerson-custom-5-way-blender-prewired-kit-for-fender-stratocasters-250kohm-pots

The blender pot replaces one of your tone pots on a Strat and allows you to blend in either the neck or bridge pickup in 4 of the 5 standard selector switch settings. Combine the blender pot with tappable humbuckers, and your tonal spectrum goes off the charts. Another interesting Strat mod is the Fat-O-Caster switch. There are so many options with those, but I settled on the blender pot for what I do.

 

[Wayno]

Thanks guys,

Been watching the vids posted and a few others and i'm leaning towards either a JB Jr or a hot rails for the neck and middle (or one of each) and a JB humbucker for the bridge. I would keep the switching options simple, just probably a coil tap on the volume pot and that would be it. Any more options and i'll be tweaking more than playing again. I have really liked what i've heard from the vids on youtube. I do prefer the humbucker tones over the single coils if i'm honest so reckon this will get me in that ball park with a HSS guitar. Not dead set on Duncans though so other brands definitely considered also.

Thanks,

Wayno.

 

[bandit2013]

I have run several of the single coil humbuckers. Hot rails in the neck is very muddy. Not good for me. That is what came on a Fender Dave Murray guitar. I had bought a lil custom '78 and the STK-S4N and STK-S4M. Not bad but not exactly what I expected. The 78 was weaker than the stacked coils. So I opted to throw that one on the neck position and keep the JB JR in the middle with the hot rails in the bridge. I think the JB Jr sounds better than the hot rails on an Alder body guitar. I did throw on a trembucker pearly gates on my carvin, also loaded it with two of the vintage hot stack STK-S7. I love those even under heavy gain channel, probably the best stack coil I have tried yet. As for the humbucker type for the neck, the Lil 59 strat sounds great. That came in the "everything Axe" set . I like that combination neck and bridge are just right and do not seem over the top in top end and remain aggressive enough for some heavy metal riffs. I am currently waiting on a full size custom '78 trembucker but not sure if it will work for me as I did not like the smaller version. Will see.

After the change in pickguard and pickup install.

Here is what is in the MIM Fender Dave Murray Strat HHH (before I changed the neck pickup)

 

[Wayno]

Those are two beautifull guitars bandit. Love the burst on the Dave Murray strat. Yeah I'm not 100% set on what I'd like yet. Think I'm pretty sure on a JB for the bridge humbucker. Still dunno for the middle and neck singles yet though. Like what I hear of the JB Jr, the Lil 59 and the hotrails too. Can see how the hotrails could get muddy in the neck though. Still, the Jackson is a bright guitar so that might not be an issue. Think I will go with two of those three and experiment.

 

[bandit2013]

That strat is a bright guitar too. Keep in mind that the hot rails have ceramic pickups. I do like the JB JR in the bridge position. I have that in the other bolt that has the "everything Axe" set. Lil 59 is sweet too. However what really works great is the vintage hot stack. At first I thought it would be too dark or warm for the neck and middle. Oh do they sound sweet. Awesome with the TC, JP and Mark V. I also added an emerson blend control kit on two of the guitars. I have a third one waiting to be installed.

https://www.seymourduncan.com/pickup/vintage-hot-stack-plus-strat?__uuid_ref=5ac03b55f0a21

I had ordered some more pickups from Seymore Duncan and will do that all at once. I am playing around with the one with the "everything Axe" set. Since I have an extra pickguard I will assemble that. What is cool about the strat type guitars is you can change the pick guard any time or go back to something different. I have another set up with Lace Hot Golds. not bad but a bit noisy for noiseless pickups. There is something I want to try but have not yet pulled the trigger on it, a P90 or bare knuckle hsp90. I may get another pickguard and have just the bridge or maybe both bridge and neck for the moss green guitar. If you never heard a hot P90 you are definitely missing something. The TC-100 never sounded better when my friend brought over his 62 les paul (early SG) with a dog eared hot P90. That pickup just sounded sic and I want one in a bad way. I figured the Bare Knuckle Mississippi Queen would be a good match as they do the scatter winding just like they did long ago, by hand.

https://www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk/pickup/hsp90/mississippi-queen