Getting desperate... which bridge humbucker into a strat for clear, full sound...

[saTa]

Hey there, nice to see the forums back.

Anyways, I recently bought an ESP Strat which can be seen here:
http://sata.zyc-page.de/images/guitar/strat2/index.html

To accompany my ESP Tele which can be seen here:
http://sata.zyc-page.de/images/guitar/tele/index.html

As you can see I put a DiMarzio ToneZone-T into the bridge position of my telecaster. I really love the sound it makes, has about the right amount of punch while you still hear mids and it doesn't lack definition. I already have a ToneZone in another Strat ('86 Japan Squier one) and therefore I'm not gonna put yet another ToneZone into this strat.


What I need is a rich, full sound with loads of sustain when playing chords but also the neccessary definition for soloing and playing open chords in light distortion and high gain. My amp is an ENGL Screamer50 with a Marshall cab with 2 T75 and 2 V30 Speakers. The Hotrail at the neck is fine, the middle singlecoil is okay aswell. The stock ESP humbucker is kind of okay but too muddy, it makes me want to put the tone poti to 12 or 13...


I'm currently favouring the Steve's Special but the X2N has come into consideration aswell, though I think it's dead ugly... Only other DiMarzio PUs I have experience with are the Paf Pro and the Fred of my JS90th but I'd like a DiMarzio for they've never let me down before.


Anyways, here's an mp3 basically summing up how I want my guitar to sound:
http://sata.zyc-page.de/files/satass...literation.mp3

[bachle7]

Sweet looking Strat! What is that, an ash body? I hear that ESPs play like butter.

I know you're looking for a DiMarzio pup, but I think that the Seymour Duncan JB (SH-4) model would be close to what you want. Or even their Distortion (SH-5) model. I think the JB has much more clear sounds than the ToneZone and sounds a little fuller yet brighter.

[dex]

These ESP's are uber sweet, congrats.

ilia

[saTa]

I have no experience at all with Duncans (except for the Pearly Gates in my Dad's LP Custom and the SH-4 in the LP of my co-guitarist...). But I'll have a look at them.

Thought about putting something different this time... well, let's see.

[kennydoe]

I have a Fast Track 2 in the bridge of my strat and it sounds relaly nice and balanced. When i kick on the distortion, it's total rock.

~K

[saTa]

It's a Fatstrat, though... so I'm looking for regular humbuckers, no Hotrails or Minibuckers.

[Drew]

Steer clear of the X2N for what you're looking for - that's a super-high gain pickup, so if you want clarity, it's probably best to gow with something with quite a lot less gain, especially if you'll be balancing with those singlecoils.

(sweet guitar, by the way! )

Um... Hmm. Listened to the clip, and I recognized the tune in the middle (blanking on the name, the "So she told me she's got a gun..." song. Who the hell is that, anyway, I liked that single), but couldn't place the rest of 'em - is that the same band, or is that a few different ones?

Anyway, it sounds like you're looking for a fairly bright medium-to-high gain humbucker. The Steve's Special might be a pretty good match, but I've never heard it in ash before. It's a slightly scooped pickup, but to my ears (going from a Blaze II, which is the pickup the SS is based on - I guess the story goes Petrucci liked the Blaze bridge so much he asked dimarzio to build him a 6-string version, can anyone confirm this?) it's the lower mids they scoop, and there's still some decent upper midrange. Then again, through a Nomad mids are never a problem anyway... But I could see the Steve's Special working fairly well with ash - it'd give you the brighter tone you're looking for, and good upper-midrange definition while still having full bass.

Worth a shot, at least.

-D

[the.godfather]

Awesome strat dude! That is exactly what I am after at this moment! A decent strat is something that everyone needs. The body on that thing looks goregous too, lovely guitar!

[saTa]

the.godfather: Yeah, am so glad I found it after 3 years of looking for it. Look how it matches the tele! I'm so happy right now... those are my two main guitars with the band right now, despite the '86 Japan Squier and the Ibanez JS90th HAM I have.

Drew: Thanks for your input, I think I'll go with the Steve's Special, trying a Duncan is too fancy for me right now, especially since I'm quite satisfied with all my DiMarzios so far. The songs within this mp3 are (in order):

Matchbook Romance - Stay Tonight (Stories And Alibis)
American HiFi - Flavor of the Week (American HiFi)
Seether - Driven Under (Disclaimer II) - this is the one you mentioned
Brand New - The Quiet Things That Noone Ever Knows (Deja Entendu)


So I think I'll give Steve's Special a shot, thanks guys.

[saTa]

Well, although I came to the decision to get Steve's Special I ran out of money, lol... bought a PA with the band, too many guitars and amps recently and now I just shouldn't spend the money I have left on more equipment for a while...

Should I wait a month or two or should I take the ToneZone out of my Squier Strat, put it into the ESP and lead the Squier Japan back to it's roots as a low-distortion strat? Won't the ESP Tele and Strat sound too similiar then?

mmmh..

[saTa]

Just thought I'd let you guys know I put in Steve's Special at last and I like it very much, it matches the ToneZone-T in the Tele and still sounds different, which I like very much.

Thanks!

[Drew]

Cool. Glad it worked for you.

[guitarshredder7]

nice nice

[JohnnyGuitarCA]

Originally Posted by saTa

Hey there, nice to see the forums back.

Anyways, I recently bought an ESP Strat which can be seen here:
http://sata.zyc-page.de/images/guitar/strat2/index.html

To accompany my ESP Tele which can be seen here:
http://sata.zyc-page.de/images/guitar/tele/index.html

As you can see I put a DiMarzio ToneZone-T into the bridge position of my telecaster. I really love the sound it makes, has about the right amount of punch while you still hear mids and it doesn't lack definition. I already have a ToneZone in another Strat ('86 Japan Squier one) and therefore I'm not gonna put yet another ToneZone into this strat.


What I need is a rich, full sound with loads of sustain when playing chords but also the neccessary definition for soloing and playing open chords in light distortion and high gain. My amp is an ENGL Screamer50 with a Marshall cab with 2 T75 and 2 V30 Speakers. The Hotrail at the neck is fine, the middle singlecoil is okay aswell. The stock ESP humbucker is kind of okay but too muddy, it makes me want to put the tone poti to 12 or 13...


I'm currently favouring the Steve's Special but the X2N has come into consideration aswell, though I think it's dead ugly... Only other DiMarzio PUs I have experience with are the Paf Pro and the Fred of my JS90th but I'd like a DiMarzio for they've never let me down before.


Anyways, here's an mp3 basically summing up how I want my guitar to sound:
http://sata.zyc-page.de/files/satass...literation.mp3

AIR ZONE :-)