Bassilisk Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 Glad to hear you like the Model 1. I ordered one today from MF for my SG. I love the sound of the stock TB humbucker, but because the TB's have an annoying 60 cycle hum in a couple of the rooms that I play, I have to use something different. I've replaced the pups in 2 of my Les Paul basses with Lace Alumitones, and I love 'em; hope I'm as happy with the DiMarzio in the SG. Most of the reviews I've seen look good, so we'll see. I had a '76 EB-3 for some years and after a while I decided to go with a Model 1. I don't know what the new pickup in the SG sounds like now, but back then I was trying to clean up a real mudbucker, and I must say it did that. Almost to a fault - it was certainly cleaner, but I thought of it as getting more like a P than a clear Gibson. That was the tradeoff for me - the EB-3 lost some of its character. After a while I decided to go back to the original and I stayed there. As much as I wanted the clean/clear I decided it wasn't the nature of the beast. I imagine the new SG pickup has been modernized and already cleaned up to some extent. In that case the Model 1 should serve well, not so drastic a change. It's a different flavor though, that's for sure. One thing - in dropping it into the old EB the pole spacing wasn't quite right, close but not quite. The pickup location was off by just a hair and there was no moving it and no string adjustment. Hope yours is centered better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelvinator Posted September 19, 2012 Share Posted September 19, 2012 I had a '76 EB-3 for some years and after a while I decided to go with a Model 1. I don't know what the new pickup in the SG sounds like now, but back then I was trying to clean up a real mudbucker, and I must say it did that. Almost to a fault - it was certainly cleaner, but I thought of it as getting more like a P than a clear Gibson. That was the tradeoff for me - the EB-3 lost some of its character. After a while I decided to go back to the original and I stayed there. As much as I wanted the clean/clear I decided it wasn't the nature of the beast. I imagine the new SG pickup has been modernized and already cleaned up to some extent. In that case the Model 1 should serve well, not so drastic a change. It's a different flavor though, that's for sure. One thing - in dropping it into the old EB the pole spacing wasn't quite right, close but not quite. The pickup location was off by just a hair and there was no moving it and no string adjustment. Hope yours is centered better. I'm hoping to get the Model 1 by Friday so I can use it Saturday; I'll let you know how it works out. The TB humbucker is a very good sounding pup - nice and deep, but defined; I don't expect the DiMarzio to sound just like the TB, but I hope it doesn't change the "character' of the bass too much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelvinator Posted October 1, 2012 Share Posted October 1, 2012 I had a '76 EB-3 for some years and after a while I decided to go with a Model 1. I don't know what the new pickup in the SG sounds like now, but back then I was trying to clean up a real mudbucker, and I must say it did that. Almost to a fault - it was certainly cleaner, but I thought of it as getting more like a P than a clear Gibson. That was the tradeoff for me - the EB-3 lost some of its character. After a while I decided to go back to the original and I stayed there. As much as I wanted the clean/clear I decided it wasn't the nature of the beast. I imagine the new SG pickup has been modernized and already cleaned up to some extent. In that case the Model 1 should serve well, not so drastic a change. It's a different flavor though, that's for sure. One thing - in dropping it into the old EB the pole spacing wasn't quite right, close but not quite. The pickup location was off by just a hair and there was no moving it and no string adjustment. Hope yours is centered better. I put the Model-1 in the '05 SG-RI last week, but it wasn't a drop-in replacement. I had to shave the sides of the cavity and the pickguard a bit to get it in there, so it was slightly more work than I'd imagined. The string spacing is perfect. I am a little disappointed in the sound of the Model-1, and I'd have to say It's not a good replacement for the new TB+ humbucker as a stand-alone pup. The DiMarzio is only an improvement in that it allows me to actually use the bass anywhere - the noise problem is solved. The Model-1 puts out tons of lows & low-mids, but is not very defined. With that said, I am happy with the sound of the Lace Alumitone and the Model-1 blended together. The Lace has a great tone all by itself, and adds the much needed clarity and punch to the DiMarzio's big bottom-end. All in all I'm happy with the results. It's a lot of fun to play, and I got quite a few compliments on the sound of the little bass Saturday night. Bottom line: The Dimarzio works very well with the Alumitone, but is disappointing by itself. Too bad it's black. The TB+ is an excellent pickup - If you don't have a noise problem, leave it alone. Mods to date on this one: 1) replaced the Mini-humbucker with a full-size Lace Alumitone humbucker. 2) added Hipshot Super-Tone bridge. 3) added bone nut. 4) replaced the TB+ with the DiMarzio Model-1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lungimsam Posted October 10, 2012 Author Share Posted October 10, 2012 For the record: I wasn't trying to get it to sound like a Pbass. I was hoping that I could get it to have as much presence as a Pbass. All I get from it is mud and boom. No clarity at all. Not for me. I am trying to sell on Clist these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrNylon Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 That's to bad, you went through a lot to get that SG Std. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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