Hi!
I have a Jackson Kelly XL that I reworking and replacing the pickups on. When I bought it it had an X2N in the bridge and stock neck pickup. The X2N sounded decent...a little bright but the main reason I sold it was the color (black). I am refinishing the guitar and going for a baby blue set of dimarzios. I have been researching and find alot of love for the tone zone /
air norton combo and was thinking about that combo.
My only experience is with my Jem DBK with breeds. The breeds sound nice but at times a little too smooth and reserved. My franken strat with a "hot rail style" carvin single coil in the neck and a Norton in the bridge. The dual coil single carvin sounds nice in the neck position...really fat and jazzy but still has the highs and the norton is a little overpowered as a bridge pickup in this combination but a versityle pickup (a little bass shy though). And a carvin DC127 which I belive has M22s sounds decent but I haven't spent much time with that guitar to comment.
I am worried about the shape of the guitar (wood is poplar btw) affecting the sound and maybe a tone zone / air norton isn't that great for a kelly. I am looking for a nice smooth deep jazzy neck pickup sound and a "hot and ripping, yet a little bassy" bridge sound and the dimarzio sound graphs of the air norton and tone zone seem to support that. I have gone back and forth on the dimarzio site looking at all the sound graphs and still think the tine zone and air norton look nice...again...I am just worried of the body style and wood requiring a different balance.
Err..Does the same pickup (say an
evolution bridge) have more or less bass on a kelly body than a strat style/jem/rg body...anybody have first hnd experience that can tell the difference?
Any thoughts, experiences, recommendations, before I purchase?
Evos, Freds, Breeds, Norton, PAF, Zones, other dimarzios...what do you guys think would match up nicely?
Thanks all.
