Sustainiac & bridge pup... Eeehh....

[ztevie]

Hey guys, hope to get some useful advice here.

I have a Ibanez RG1550, in which I plan to install a Sustainiac. According to their homepage this MUST be installed in the neck and effect the sound coming from the bridge pup...
Whats the problem, you wonder?
Well, I have always liked to use the bridge for rhytm(think tight palm muting riffs), and the neck for cleans and soloing(warmer, soaring solos).

There is a X2N in the bridge and a Paf pro in neck right now, and it works nice. X2N does the tight rhytm work nice, but I don't like it at all in solo mode. Paf Pro in neck is amazing for solo work... So you see my problem here?
What I need now is a bridge pup that will do both, I doubt there are any that manages this, but I'd still like to ask.
Another thing is I kind of planned putting in EMG's, because they are so silent and nowadays I mostly sit at home by the PC recording...
I like the 81 as rhytm PU in bridge and the SA or 85 when soloing... I never tried 85 in bridge position though, could it give me what I'm looking for?

My questions basically:
1. Suggestions on a pup(85?) in bridge position that will give me tight, bitey and NOT MUDDY palm-muting rhytm, and at the same time a solo tone with lots of sustain and warmth.
2. Anyone here tried to install a Sustainiac in middle or bridge position? My ideal would be the Sustainiac in the middle, effecting the neck pickup, and leave the bridge uneffected for rhytm work... Not possible according to Sustainiac homepage...
3. Do you use bridge/neck for rhytm/solo, and what pup do you use for each?

Thanks!

[Crazy_Guitar]

An all-round bridge pickup...
Well, as I posted earlier in another thread, DiMarzio Evo 2 or Seymour Duncan JB are simply amazing pickups.

[HeavyMetal4Ever]

I was under the impression that you could put the (single coil sized) Sustainiac next to another single coil sized pickup in a neck humbucker rout, thus giving you a bridge humbucker, a neck single coil sized humbucker, and the Sustainiac as a third selection.

I have planned to do this on a guitar soon. I was looking to use a five way switch and wire it like this: position 1 - bridge humbucker
position 2 - bridge humbucker parallel
position 3 - bridge and neck humbucker
position 4 - neck humbucker
position 5 - sustainiac

I was also planning to have a push/push pot for volume that coil taps the bridge and neck humbuckers. I want to use a DiMarzio D-Sonic in the bridge, but havn't made my mind up about the single sized humbucker in the neck.

Can anyone see a reason why this wouldn't work?

Any advice appreciated.

Rock on!

[ztevie]

They say this on their website:

"Neck pickup mounted next to a single-coil pickup: Magnetic interaction between driver and pickup causes three of the strings to have reduced output level. If you use a mini humbucker, this tendency is greatly reduced. The best thing is to use the Stealth Plus driver as your neck pickup. It really does sound good.. "

So it seems as if they don't recommend this, but it would at least be better if you use a humbucker in SC-size...

This, however, doesn't solve my problem, I would like to use my bridge humbucker for rhytm, and middle or neck for solo...

[HeavyMetal4Ever]

Oh bugger.

If you want a very versatile bridge pickup, the DiMarzio Evo2 is great, just like Guitar_Crazy said. It works really well with the volume and tone knobs, and you can get alot of different tones out of it.

Rock on!

[ztevie]

Originally Posted by HeavyMetal4Ever

Oh bugger.

If you want a very versatile bridge pickup, the DiMarzio Evo2 is great, just like Guitar_Crazy said. It works really well with the volume and tone knobs, and you can get alot of different tones out of it.

Rock on!

OK, hopefully I'll be able to try it out.... Thanks!

[Crazy_Guitar]

Originally Posted by ztevie

OK, hopefully I'll be able to try it out.... Thanks!

Don't forget to try out the Seymour Duncan JB too!
A bit different from the Evo 2 (closer to the Steve's Special, I think), but a real versatile pickup too!

[HeavyMetal4Ever]

I find that the JB lacks bass, and sounds a bit "twangy" because of the strong mid and treble. Personally I think that the Evo2 is much more flexible when it comes to sculpting your tone.

Just my 2 cents.

Rock on!

[rty13ibz98]

Originally Posted by Crazy_Guitar

Don't forget to try out the Seymour Duncan JB too!
A bit different from the Evo 2 (closer to the Steve's Special, I think), but a real versatile pickup too!

um, i don't think the jb and SS sound anything alike. the SS has lotsa bass, the jb lacks it. the SS has scooped mids and the JB has tons. i have played/owned both and those are 2 totally different pickups. the jb is like an extra spicy paf, raw rocking tone, with more mids and gain(not a ton more). the SS is more of a modern scooped metal pickup. VERY DT from awake. scooped and big, focused lead work, and pretty sweet when played clean. was loud, but didnt overdrive the clean settings i use, where the jb is always on the verge(due to the mids). personally, i don't think duncan has anything that sounds like the SS, closest being the invader, but the invader lacks the high end and has way too much output to have as much character as the SS.
just my opinion.

rich

[rty13ibz98]

for the original poster, i recommend either the super distortion or the super3. i personally love the super3, as it is my favorite pickup in basswood. for more "versatility", the super distortion will blend more in a variety of styles. haven't tried the evo2, so i have no opinion. i have tried the evo in my old rg550 when it was paired with a fred in the neck, but the evo was lame for rhythm work, solos were cutting, but lacked body. i have played them in the bsb and was not that impressed either, and i liked the guitar alot(bsb is just pimp) if your looking at the duncan side, i would go with the distortion or the custom. both are tight and have really cutting leads, but i feel that the custom has a better rhythm tone than the distortion. its just tighter and meaner. the distortion sounds great, but has more of a snarl in the mids than the custom. those are my recommendations.

rich

[losgatosrg350dx]

emg are poor pickups with fake harmonics


any passive pickups cna be as quiet or quieter than any emg made

it all depends on who wired the guitar properly or not
ut back to the emgs...oif u want tone, just select a nice passive set for urself, and wire them up nicely

[ztevie]

Originally Posted by losgatosrg350dx

emg are poor pickups with fake harmonics


any passive pickups cna be as quiet or quieter than any emg made

it all depends on who wired the guitar properly or not
ut back to the emgs...oif u want tone, just select a nice passive set for urself, and wire them up nicely

Haha... well, I think you're a bit harsh. EMG actives works well for me and many others appearantly?
Sure, many passives may have more life or tone in them, but they do their job well for me anyway.
There has been nothing wrong in my wiring before, and EMG's are dead silent, where high power passives will produce unwanted noise due to other electrical equipment...


Anyway, I thank you all for suggestions, I hope I'll be able to check out a few of them. SD Custom seems interesting, as do a few DiMarzios...

[albee1952]

You should be aware that when you turn on the sustainer, you get the bridge pickup by default. That is the way the fernandez circuit is set up. The bridge and middle pickups wire to the circuit board so when the sustainer goes on, the regular 5-way does nothing.

[ztevie]

Yes, i know the bridge pup is activated when the Sustainiac is switched on. That is why i need to find a pup that can give me a nice rhytm as well as solo tone in the bridge.