dporto Posted June 28, 2013 Share Posted June 28, 2013 She's a beauty (not sure about the strap though... )! I've got one that's very similar - I think mine's a '02 if IIRC. Anyway, I can't tell from the photo but if the pick-ups are any closer than 1/4" to the strings, drop 'em down to about 1/4" and work back up from there (you shouldn't have to get much closer). Also start with all the pole pieces even with the top surface of the pick-up. If a string sounds weaker than the others bring that pole up 1/4 turn at a time while checking the level. Obviously, the heavier strings are always going to be somewhat stronger than the thin ones but you should be able to balance them out fairly well - you shouldn't need to have any pole pieces wildly out of line with the others. As for the guitar sounding "not so good" through the Vox but good through the Fender...It's not uncommon at all. Regardless of the brand, amps are voiced (tone stack) differently and therefore will react differently to various inputs and playing styles. These differences actually lead to a lot of silly opinions like "such and such guitars or amps suck" or "such and such pick-ups are the best"... The fact that you didn't hear a whole lot of difference between the three guitars you tried bears out the fact that the differences are very subtle and often have much to do with what the listener wants to hear as opposed to what they actually hear. Good luck with the new guitar I hope it works out well for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victek Posted June 28, 2013 Author Share Posted June 28, 2013 She's a beauty (not sure about the strap though... )! I've got one that's very similar - I think mine's a '02 if IIRC. Anyway, I can't tell from the photo but if the pick-ups are any closer than 1/4" to the strings, drop 'em down to about 1/4" and work back up from there (you shouldn't have to get much closer). Also start with all the pole pieces even with the top surface of the pick-up. If a string sounds weaker than the others bring that pole up 1/4 turn at a time while checking the level. Obviously, the heavier strings are always going to be somewhat stronger than the thin ones but you should be able to balance them out fairly well - you shouldn't need to have any pole pieces wildly out of line with the others. As for the guitar sounding "not so good" through the Vox but good through the Fender...It's not uncommon at all. Regardless of the brand, amps are voiced (tone stack) differently and therefore will react differently to various inputs and playing styles. These differences actually lead to a lot of silly opinions like "such and such guitars or amps suck" or "such and such pick-ups are the best"... The fact that you didn't hear a whole lot of difference between the three guitars you tried bears out the fact that the differences are very subtle and often have much to do with what the listener wants to hear as opposed to what they actually hear. Good luck with the new guitar I hope it works out well for you. Yeah, that old strap is a little scary - there's a replacement in the works Thanks for the tip about pickup/pole positioning. I didn't look too closely and need to revisit them. As to what different pickups sound like I don't doubt there are differences, but I find it difficult to assess. For instance all three guitars I tried in the store sounded about the same in the amp I used. It would have been better to bring along my own amp, but if I had brought the Vox instead of the Fender I probably would not have bought the guitar. It seems that there are no consistent standards that all of this audio gear is measured against. When it comes to pickups the only really obvious difference to my ears is between single coils and humbuckers. And by the way, somebody please make a case for coil tapping humbuckers. My PRS SE has this feature and it's showing up in many new guitars, but I don't get - it does not make the guitar sound like a Strat, etc, just seems like some one let the air out of the guitar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dporto Posted June 28, 2013 Share Posted June 28, 2013 "And by the way, somebody please make a case for coil tapping humbuckers. My PRS SE has this feature and it's showing up in many new guitars, but I don't get - it does not make the guitar sound like a Strat, etc, just seems like some one let the air out of the guitar" Yeah, in many instances that is the case. I used to have an Ibanez Blazer series (Strat style with 2 Humbuckers-the humbuckers sounded great)that had a coil tap that was utterly useless to me. It just sounded thin and terrible - not particularly musical in any way (I love the sound of Strat's and Tele's btw). In some cases you can get usable/musical tones(My 339 Pro is a good example)but (and this is a big but...) it does take some work regarding amp set up and volume levels. In other words, it's not a "switch and go" type situation. As far as I'm concerned, it's doesn't often work well within a song - the one exception being using a single coil "tapped" sound for rhythm and the hitting the humbucker mode for a lead/heavier rhythm sound - the volume jump can be problematic though. Hmmm, I don't think I "made a case" Generally speaking I'm not a big fan of coil taps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcgruff Posted June 28, 2013 Share Posted June 28, 2013 Pickup designs vary but you might expect a single-coil pickup to have about 7-8,000 turns of wire. A low-output humbucker has about 5,000 per coil (10,000 total) so a simple split, with just one humbucker coil active, usually doesn't have enough turns of wire to sound good on its own. Heavily-wound humbuckers, around 12k DCR and above, should have enough turns of wire to split well. You can get around this by putting a tap in one coil and then wiring the split option to give one full coil + tapped part of the other. That adds enough turns of wire to fill out the sound. Basically, most humbuckers just aren't designed to split well but I think it is a great option to have if done right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dporto Posted June 28, 2013 Share Posted June 28, 2013 Pickup designs vary but you might expect a single-coil pickup to have about 7-8,000 turns of wire. A low-output humbucker has about 5,000 per coil (10,000 total) so a simple split, with just one humbucker coil active, usually doesn't have enough turns of wire to sound good on its own. Heavily-wound humbuckers, around 12k DCR and above, should have enough turns of wire to split well. You can get around this by putting a tap in one coil and then wiring the split option to give one full coil + tapped part of the other. That adds enough turns of wire to fill out the sound. Basically, most humbuckers just aren't designed to split well but I think it is a great option to have if done right. Makes good sense ^ ! Too bad manufacturers don't make this kind of data readily available to the end user. Thanks for the info! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobbysbackingtracks Posted November 25, 2013 Share Posted November 25, 2013 Hi guys, Just joined here. This thread caught my attention since I am a Epi dot owner. Haven't played it much, I feel the pickups are lacking dynamically.I am very interested in replacing them with some mini humbuckers. My question is if I purchase the standard Gibsons (mini hums) will they fit? The plastic ring is really what concerns me. Will it work ok in your opinions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victek Posted November 25, 2013 Author Share Posted November 25, 2013 Hi guys, Just joined here. This thread caught my attention since I am a Epi dot owner. Haven't played it much, I feel the pickups are lacking dynamically.I am very interested in replacing them with some mini humbuckers. My question is if I purchase the standard Gibsons (mini hums) will they fit? The plastic ring is really what concerns me. Will it work ok in your opinions? I don't see how you could make the mini-humbuckers fit properly in a Dot, however there are many other humbucker type pickups that would fit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcgruff Posted November 25, 2013 Share Posted November 25, 2013 I think Jason Lollar does Firebird-style pickups and mini-hums which can be mounted in a standard humbucker ring. Or maybe you'd like a low-wind Imperial for a brighter sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted November 25, 2013 Share Posted November 25, 2013 The size is different, so it seems obvious to me that there would have to be new pup mounts/rings or whatever you wanna call 'em. Kinda funny, though, I've played electric guitars for more than a cupla years and, except for faulty materials I've never changed out pups or electronics on literally dozens of guitars I've owned. Yes, I had a Washburn semi that might have sounded better with replacement pups and electronics but... I really didn't like the neck either, so it went. I have two relatively recent Dots. I'd play almost any kinda gig with either one of 'em, from country to rock to anything else you might imagine. I do agree too that a lotta times it's technique, strings, amps, pup adjustment, pots and caps... BTW, If I were to modify one of my Dots, it'd be to put on either a "copy" of a P90 or an early Gretsch copy. m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted November 25, 2013 Share Posted November 25, 2013 The size is different, so it seems obvious to me that there would have to be new pup mounts/rings or whatever you wanna call 'em. Kinda funny, though, I've played electric guitars for more than a cupla years and, except for faulty materials I've never changed out pups or electronics on literally dozens of guitars I've owned. Yes, I had a Washburn semi that might have sounded better with replacement pups and electronics but... I really didn't like the neck either, so it went. I have two relatively recent Dots. I'd play almost any kinda gig with either one of 'em, from country to rock to anything else you might imagine. I do agree too that a lotta times it's technique, strings, amps, pup adjustment, pots and caps... BTW, If I were to modify one of my Dots, it'd be to put on either a "copy" of a P90 or an early Gretsch copy. m I've often thought of getting an Epi (Chinese) Sheraton, and putting TV Jones Filtertrons in it! I really don't need another Gibson style humbucker guitar, but it might be nice to "trick out," a Sheri, with TV Jones "Gretsch" pickups! So, if you DO one of your Dot's that way, let me know what you think of the results. CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbachman Posted November 26, 2013 Share Posted November 26, 2013 Victek ... What model VOX amp do you have? I have a Vox Pathfinder 15R and my Dot sounds good with it. Maybe because it is a Lefty !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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