solacematt Posted November 3, 2008 Share Posted November 3, 2008 So I just recently purchased one of Gibson's Guitars of the Month, the RD. I always liked the shape, feel, and weight of the instrument but never liked the way the Moog electronics sounded in the original, so I was pretty excited about the RD because it didn't have the electronics. Unfortunatly no store near me would get one in for me to try, so I just splurged and ordered one. I never used a guitar with Dirty Fingers pickups before but I read in reviews that they were the hottest pickups that the company made, so I was wondering how much hotter than what's in my Les Paul DC. Saturday I brought the RD into practice and found to match the volume of my Les Paul I had to turn the volume down to 3 and had absolutley no clarity out of high strings; like you didn't even hear them at all. I love the way the RD feels, it's so comfortable and much better balanced than my Firebird, so I'm thinking about maybe putting in a 490/498 like my DC has, or even Alnico's. I was wondering if anyone knew if this was a common problem/issue with these pickups, or if it was just mine? Any input's muchly appreciated. Thanks :D -matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ALIEN8 Posted November 4, 2008 Share Posted November 4, 2008 You will probably have to have different settings on your amp / fx for the dirty fingers, since they are so hot. Try lowering the bass, and give it some more treble, and turn the gain down a little. Don't expect to get pristine vintage tone (like your DC) out of them, they are hot and growly pick-ups, and you will loose some high end due to that. Try also lowering the p/u height if you haven't yet. I always recommend the '57 / '57 plus combination as a replacement, they are clear, powerful (enough), and always satisfy my ear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solacematt Posted November 4, 2008 Author Share Posted November 4, 2008 You will probably have to have different settings on your amp / fx for the dirty fingers' date=' since they are so hot. Try lowering the bass, and give it some more treble, and turn the gain down a little. Don't expect to get pristine vintage tone (like your DC) out of them, they are hot and growly pick-ups, and you will loose some high end due to that. Try also lowering the p/u height if you haven't yet. I always recommend the '57 / '57 plus combination as a replacement, they are clear, powerful (enough), and always satisfy my ear. [/quote'] Yea, changing settings is a good idea, but I can't do that for performing, that's the problem. My guitar sound is very thick to begin with as I use a sound very similar to that of Smashing Pumpkins. I plug into the low sensitivity of my 800 head and use a EHX Big Muff for my distortion. Forget losing some high end, there's absolutly none. I'll definatly call up my local GC though and ask them if they have anything in with 57's in them though to see how they sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ALIEN8 Posted November 4, 2008 Share Posted November 4, 2008 Dirty fingers and Big Muffs don't mix, you end up with mud. Try your amp for gain, or an EQ pedal after your RD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solacematt Posted November 4, 2008 Author Share Posted November 4, 2008 Dirty fingers and Big Muffs don't mix' date=' you end up with mud. Try your amp for gain, or an EQ pedal after your RD.[/quote'] The 800 is a single channel head, you either plug into the clean or the dirty channel, hence the Big Muff for distortion. It's the only pedal that'll give me the distorted sound that I want. Most of my band's songs have the whole switch from clean to dirty a lot in the same song thing. being Being the singer too means I can't do the whole switch pickups or mess with the volume thing. So it looks like I'll probably end up switching the pickups out. If only one of the local Gibson dealers would have been nice and ordered one for me so I could try it out first I wouldn't have to deal with this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dynadude Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 I had a Spirit many years ago, that had a single Dirty Fingers. Never did like the sound of that pickup, and don't understand the appeal. At the time, it was pretty sought after too. You just can't seem to get a good tone out of it. The best I could get was with no added distortion at all, and it was still too raw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
e/2 Explorer Posted November 12, 2008 Share Posted November 12, 2008 I personally like the sound of the original Dirty Fingers pups. The only other passive pups I have used that are close or exceeds them for output are the Dimarzio X2N and the SD Invader. The Dimebucker is close but a very shrill sounding pup I have no problem dialing in any tone I want with my Marshalls (I have several other then what is listed in my sig which is my primary setup) whether it be old AC/DC to modern day metal. I suppose they could be a problem for other styles like blues or jazz and that is solely an output issue. You really need to dial these down for a clean sound Only issue I have ever noted with them is a microphonics problem on some, especially through a 50w JCM800 head for some reason and that is only with some, not all. As for losing some high end, that is what the screw poles are for As for setting pup height, I go by Bill Lawrence recommendations; two nickels (a US 5 cent coin for International members scratching their heads LOL) space between strings when fretted at the 22nd fret on the bass side and a single nickel width when fretted at the 22nd fret for the treble side. Any other adjustments are made with the pole screws for individual string output. Works for me, try it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solacematt Posted November 18, 2008 Author Share Posted November 18, 2008 I decided I'm going to replace my pickups in my RD wit a 490/498 combo like my Les Paul Doublecut has, so if anyone wants to buy these dirty fingers off of me or wants to trade a 490... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K5 Posted November 20, 2008 Share Posted November 20, 2008 I agree with Alien8. You never want to put Dirty Fingers into a Big Muff. Perhaps try an A/B amp selector stomp box. I have original Dirty Fingers pups in my 1990 ES335 Studio, one of my favorite axes They sound great into all my amps: Dual Rectifier, '66 Bassman, '57 Deluxe, Tiny Terror and Emery Sound Microbaby. I'm also a singer just use the volume control to go from dirty to REALLY dirty. No distortion pedals needed. K5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elessar820 Posted November 20, 2008 Share Posted November 20, 2008 I have one of the new ones in my BFG and I like it a lot. I find it pretty clear when I play it distorted, but I'm starting to miss the Burstbucker 3 that was stock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig10119 Posted November 21, 2008 Share Posted November 21, 2008 Those are the pickups that John Sykes uses. They sound great, but I guess it takes a bit of work. I'm gonna put them in my 4th les paul... Currently working on getting my third... Why dont you put colour coded stickers on your amp eq panel? Y'know, find good settings for your new guitar, and put a little red sticker as to where the dial should point, and put an orange sticker where it should point for your other guitars. For example, if you like the gain at 3 for your dirty fingers, put the stick over 3, and put the other sticker at 5 (or whatever) for your other guitars. Takes two seconds to change. I use them when switching between the burstbuckers on my standard and the p90s on my goldtop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ninety1vee Posted November 21, 2008 Share Posted November 21, 2008 the gibby 500T is hotter and clearer. rings like a bell and screams like a demono:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solacematt Posted November 21, 2008 Author Share Posted November 21, 2008 Why dont you put colour coded stickers on your amp eq panel? Y'know' date=' find good settings for your new guitar, and put a little red sticker as to where the dial should point, and put an orange sticker where it should point for your other guitars. For example, if you like the gain at 3 for your dirty fingers, put the stick over 3, and put the other sticker at 5 (or whatever) for your other guitars. Takes two seconds to change. I use them when switching between the burstbuckers on my standard and the p90s on my goldtop. [/quote'] Check my third reply in this thread. I answer pretty much everything as to way these pickups just won't work with my setup. If I was a bedroom musician, I probably wouldn't care and would change my settings around on my amp, but for playing out, as the singer and sole guitar player I don't have the luxury of going up to my amp and changing my amp settings, or turning my volume knob up and down on my guitar. When you only have 25-30 min set you want to make the set flow as best as possible while you have them standing there. For one, I have to keep the volume on the instrument at like 2 to match the volume of my Les Paul, 2 I play through my amp's clean channel (it's a Marshall JCM800 amp). The Marshall distorted sound is good, but I don't use it because it's not the distorted sound I use (closer to Smashing Pumpkins and My Bloody Valentine is what I am for, not the classic 'metal' sound). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DamienAzrael Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 I personally like the sound of the original Dirty Fingers pups. The only other passive pups I have used that are close or exceeds them for output are the Dimarzio X2N and the SD Invader. The Dimebucker is close but a very shrill sounding pup I have no problem dialing in any tone I want with my Marshalls (I have several other then what is listed in my sig which is my primary setup) whether it be old AC/DC to modern day metal. I suppose they could be a problem for other styles like blues or jazz and that is solely an output issue. You really need to dial these down for a clean sound Only issue I have ever noted with them is a microphonics problem on some' date=' especially through a 50w JCM800 head for some reason and that is only with some, not all. As for losing some high end, that is what the screw poles are for As for setting pup height, I go by Bill Lawrence recommendations; two nickels (a US 5 cent coin for International members scratching their heads LOL) space between strings when fretted at the 22nd fret on the bass side and a single nickel width when fretted at the 22nd fret for the treble side. Any other adjustments are made with the pole screws for individual string output. Works for me, try it[/quote'] People still use those shitty X2N's....Wow....Haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DamienAzrael Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 Actually....What you need to do is start using a Les Paul Standard with a Seymour Duncan JB and a Jazz in there...I mean....I already sold you my old 800....LoL -Damien Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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