In guitar clean boosts

[LonePhantom]

I've installed a PAF Pro in the bridge position of my RG550, and I'm loving the tone of it, but problem is I'm too used to the output from hotter pickups.

My other guitars have EMGs and Mighty Mite Motherbuckers, which are real high output pickups. When I use these guitars through my Blackstar HT-5 they really push the dirty channel, and I get great distortion.

The PAF Pro is a bit weaker than the other pickups I have, and I need to turn the gain up completely, although it still doesn't quite reach the sort of gain I get from the other guitars at 3/4 gain.

I was looking at the Black Ice mod, but I think that's not really a solution, as I want a clean boost. Another option I have thought of is the EMG Afterburner, but is there another option I can do similar to the Black Ice mod maybe? I'm happy to change my tone knob to a "boost" knob so to speak, I don't really use the tone anyway.

Thanks in advance.

[crossbones]

There's a few ways to do it.

GFS should ship to you so if there is space something like this maybe?

http://store.guitarfetish.com/modboards.html

Or maybe something like a clapton mid boost? Or any of the ones on here

http://store.guitarfetish.com/activepreamps.html


Or you can buy/build a clean booster pedal, but if i'm honest the best way is a good overdrive pedal. Its a bit of a misconception that they are only made to sound like an overdriven amp, they are also designed to push an amp into overdrive. The two ones I've tried are the Boss SD-1 and the Ibanez Tubescremer. I've also heard that for a different tone the boss blues driver is good too.

I loved the tube screamer but the cheapest decent one I could find was 70 pounds+ so I settled for the cheaper SD-1 and i'm super happy with it. Basically I turn the overdrive right down to about 10 o'clock and the level right up. Then if that hasn't pushed it to the right level yet then I will push the drive up untill it sounds just right.

The great thing about both the pedals I listed above is they aren't like distortion pedals and really bring the tone of the guitar through too.

[LonePhantom]

Yeah I've had a look at the GFS stuff, been thinking about it. It's seemed like options that would affect the tone as well as the gain structure though. That's why I'm curious as to whether or not people have tried the EMG boosters, as they are supposed to be clean boosts.

[LonePhantom]

Well I've sent an email to GFS to see if they can recommend the best option for me.

In the meantime while searching mods to PAF Pros I stumbled upon this thread on Jemsite:
http://www.jemsite.com/forums/f35/pa...wap-72385.html

I read it, and thought why not give it a go. I have a set of old INF pickups, and one of them has a ceramic magnet.

Silly me though managed to pull apart the wrong pickup and replace an alnico 5 magnet with another alnico 5 magnet! Imagine my surprise when I plugged in my guitar, and heard the exact same tone and gain!

After dinner I had another go, and managed to put in the ceramic one. Well plugged in the guitar, and there is definitely a difference.

The pickup seems to be pushing the amp a little harder, although still not as much as I would like. I think I need a stronger ceramic magnet. Can anyone tell me where I could buy a ceramic magnet for pickups? I'm having no luck finding anywhere so far.

The tone is also a little darker. Still sounds quite a bit like a stock PAF Pro, but definitely a little darker. That's good as far as I'm concerned.

I also noticed that when I switched from full humbucker to split coil with middle single that the output dropped a little and the tone thinned out a little. I'm guessing this is a result of the ceramic pickup.

It was an interesting exercise, and I definitely plan on getting myself a stronger magnet to see if the pickup will then push my amp even harder.

[crossbones]

Originally Posted by LonePhantom

Yeah I've had a look at the GFS stuff, been thinking about it. It's seemed like options that would affect the tone as well as the gain structure though. That's why I'm curious as to whether or not people have tried the EMG boosters, as they are supposed to be clean boosts.

If your talking about the afterburner its actually a gain boost. From what I can tell its a 20db gain boost with some eq settings that are supposed to basically be the pre amp that is in an EMG. I actually want to try one and see what they are like. With a PAF pro it will prob boost it to more than an EMG 81 or 85 as they actual output of the non-boosted pickups in said pickups is low so that that there is less noise being boosted and less string pull.

If thats what you want then the AB is probabaly a good bet.

[LonePhantom]

So is what you are saying that the Afterburner would probably push the PAF Pro into standard EMG 81 or 85 territory in terms of gain? That sounds pretty good to me if it still somewhat retains the PAF Pro tone.

[LonePhantom]

Well I'm not going to bother with trying out any Guitar Fetish parts now after my email exchange with the guy there. Pathetic customer service and sheer laziness.

I emailed them asking in the subject line "Best in guitar electronic preamp for my issue" or something along those lines. Stated what I was using in terms of guitar and pickup, and what I was after from my fix. Guys replies back with "So what's your question?"

I reply back apologising that my question was in the subject line, and that I forgot to reiterate it in the message body, and did so in my reply, referring to my issues with tone and gain in the initial email.

He then replied back saying "Sorry, but just ask me a question. I shouldn't have to read subject lines or previous emails".

Jeez is it really that hard to scroll down and simply read what is written? talk about pathetic! I was going to refer one of my students to them for pickups, not anymore.

On another note, I'm getting a more powerful ceramic magnet from a luthier here in Australia. He has been a fantastic help and I can't wait to try out the magnet he's going to send me to see if I get any good gain increase.

I think I may still get an Afterburner too for fun.

[crossbones]

I'd give the afterburner a try. Its not too expensive I don't think and I like the fact you can switch it off so its not all brootz all the time.

I have a strat project that I want to have with coil splits and stuff but I want a nice heavy tone too and i'm quite interested in this

http://www.emginc.com/products/index/135/142/4

[LonePhantom]

Yeah we;; I'm going to try the stronger ceramic magnet first, which I'll hopefully receive next week. I'll post my results with it once installed. If the magnet does all I want then I'll probably leave it at that though.