Which Pup for Alder guitar?

[guitarrob]

Hey guys, I have an old Kramer Vanaguard S440 with Floating bridge and quad rail pups. I would like to try out some Seymour Duncans on this guitar to see if I can get a better tone out of it. I am pretty sure it is Alder with rosewood fretboard. I am not sure which pup would be a good way to go.

I am a rock, hard rock, metal, blues...etc type player.

I love a very powerful sound, with a touch of woodiness, heavy bottom, smooth mids and sizzle in the high end.

Any suggestions for the pup experts?

[Quencho092]

59 with UOA5 in neck, custom 8 bridge

[CTN]

Based on your tonal description, I'd say Custom 8 (that's a SH-5, SH-11 or SH-14 with an Alnico 8 magnet instead of the ceramic, alnico 2 or alnico 5 mags, respectively).

What kind of amp/effects are you playing?

[guitarrob]

I was thinking of the Custom 8.

I have a small Marshall Amp..I use A Zoom 9.2TT for effects.
Generally I just use headphone for now until I get a new amp.

What is your opinion on the classic SH2 at the neck and TB4 at the bridge combo?

@Convoy, I live a few hundred miles from Toronto. It is cool to see others from Ontario around here.

[metalmachine]

custom with a ceramic. if that dont work try the c8. but i dont think people listenedd to the part about high end sizzle. seems like ppl recommend the c8 without reading the thread first. thats just my opinion though and you know what opinions are like.
also the alt-8 may do it but may not have enough sizzle. i have never tried the c8 but from that i read the c-8 has smoother highs than the alt8. the alt 8 has everything you want but you have to work to get the high end sizzle (but not too hard) however it will never gett fizzy. it will get brittle before fizzy. but it has a big bottom and smooth mids to boot

[Ed Hunter]

.
What is your opinion on the classic SH2 at the neck and TB4 at the bridge combo?
.

Hard to make these sound bad,a tried and true set by many pro's for years!

[Jessie's ghost]

Hard to make these sound bad,a tried and true set by many pro's for years!

Yep. If you don't like one or both of them, you can always sell it off, or swap magnets and get something that sounds very different.

[CTN]

from my personal experience, I don't feel like the normal SH-5 has much sizzle in the high end. or at least, I wouldn't call it sizzle. It can sing, yes, but it's a sharp, cutting sound, not a gentle alnico sizzle.

also, Rob: hey dude! there's a small handful of us from around Southern Ontario. We should have a meetup sometime! Perhaps once summer rolls around and people are more likely to travel.

[Varg]

JB FFS!

[guitarrob]

Yeah, I mentioned that unit already. The Jazz, JB combo comes in a few of the Jackson RR models.

Another question, I know this isn't considered a high end guitar, is it even worth my time to swap out the pups or should I wait until I get a better axe?

[CTN]

The nice thing about pickups is that nothing is permanent. If you don't like it, you can quite easily mod them, take em out, sell em or trade em for something else (PS, this is a good place to learn/do exactly that).

[guitarrob]

Yeah, I have been reading and asking questions.
What Buckers have you tried?

[Ed Hunter]

Another question, I know this isn't considered a high end guitar, is it even worth my time to swap out the pups or should I wait until I get a better axe?

If you will own the guitar for a while yet it is a good idea to upgrade the pu's just be sure to keep the stock pu's around for when you get rid of the guitar why lose the duncans

[dominus]

Another question, I know this isn't considered a high end guitar, is it even worth my time to swap out the pups or should I wait until I get a better axe?

Your guitar is worth more than any of my guitars, and all of my guitars have replacement pickups in them.

Also, it's the 440 with a bridge and middle pickup, no neck pickup, right?

[CTN]

Yeah, I have been reading and asking questions.
What Buckers have you tried?

Custom5, Custom, JB, Full Shred, JazzN,
DMZ Super Distortion, Paf Pro, D-Activators, X2N
Dean DMT Baker Act, Time Capsule
EMG 89, 81, 81-X, 707.

Not a whole lot, but I'm learning.

Funnily enough, I haven't tried any of those SD buckers in a strat-type guitar. Only in my mahogany Ibanez, which is fat and heavy and sounds more like an LP than a strat.

[guitarrob]

Your guitar is worth more than any of my guitars, and all of my guitars have replacement pickups in them.

Also, it's the 440 with a bridge and middle pickup, no neck pickup, right?

That looks pretty close. Different color though...same pups.
Those quad rails...like dual humbuckers. They are fairly loud but I just want to try something new. The bottom pot is also push pull for coil tap/dual tap.

I have seen models with the neck pups also, is there a difference aside from just pup placement?

Custom5, Custom, JB, Full Shred, JazzN,
DMZ Super Distortion, Paf Pro, D-Activators, X2N
Dean DMT Baker Act, Time Capsule
EMG 89, 81, 81-X, 707.

Not a whole lot, but I'm learning.

Funnily enough, I haven't tried any of those SD buckers in a strat-type guitar. Only in my mahogany Ibanez, which is fat and heavy and sounds more like an LP than a strat.

I have never used an aftermarket pup but I am impressed with the sounds I have heard from Seymours. So, whichever units I go with will be my first aftermarket pups.

[dominus]

That looks pretty close. Different color though...same pups.
Those quad rails...like dual humbuckers. They are fairly loud but I just want to try something new. The bottom pot is also push pull for coil tap/dual tap.

I have seen models with the neck pups also, is there a difference aside from just pup placement?

Those are the 404 models with standard neck/bridge pickup placement. The only thing is that with the positioning you may have a little more lee-way/freedom in choosing a "neck" pickup. You may also be able to get away with an F-Spaced/TB-Spaced pickup in that position as well. For the bridge and the sound you're looking for, TB-5 Duncan Custom for sure. Probably go with a 59B (Bridge model) in the "neck" position. Grab the TB-5 first, and stick it in the middle position to see how the strings line up. If the strings still line up there, get the TB-Spaced 59 bridge model to go in the middle.

[dominus]

What Buckers have you tried?

Seymour Duncans - 59 (neck), Jazz (Neck), JB, Custom, Distortion, Invader, Full Shred, Custom Custom, Screamin' Demon, Dimebucker, Custom 5, Alt-8, Blackout Neck, Blackout Bridge, and Custom 8.

Duncan Designed -

HB102 (Jazz/JB), HB103 (59/Distortion), HB108 (Detonator), HB108 with A8 magnet.

Dimarzio -

http://www.dimarzio.com/pickups/humb...ower?view=grid

Everything on that page except for Morse Neck, Breed Neck, D-X Neck, and Norton.

http://www.dimarzio.com/pickups/humb...ower?view=grid

Everything on that page except for D-Act Neck, and Super 2

EMG -

60, 81, 85, 89, HZ-4, HZ-4a

GFS -

59, Fat PAT, Crunchy PAT, Power Rails, Crunchy Rails, Power Rails Neck, Crunchy Rails Neck, VEH, Crunchy PAT with A8 magnet, VEH with A8 magnet.

Dragonfire -

81a

[zenmindbeginner]

Alder is the magic body wood for the JB. If the guitar is 25.5" scale length I would not hesitate for a second in putting an SH or TB-4 in the bridge. I've always been the fan of JBs in the bridge and Seths in the neck.