Schecter C-1 Classic - Black Hawks

[Jeengy]

I don't have any solder braid or a solder sucker to clean it up, but that is what the ground joint looks like. There was more than enough from before and I didn't really need to add any more, but everything didn't exactly look spotless before I got to it.

[Dave Sloven]

Although you probably didn't do any soldering there, all that tugging around and stuff might have loosened up a weak joint somewhere else.  Check the all the connections on the pots, and drop out the jack and check the connections on the back of it.  Also, make sure that none of your connections are touching the walls of the cavity and that there are no solder blobs around that might be causing shorts when you hold the guitar a certain way (there might be some scope for wires to 'flap about' when you move).

I had some kind of solder blob somewhere once that cleared itself out.  I pulled the guitar apart a couple of times but I'm sure all of my tests had less effect than the fact that I opened the back and shook things around a bit

[Jeengy]

I re-did the ground solder joint once again and it is a lot better. I would have to use an amp to rule out the other half of the setup here.

Anyhow, I have been playing around for a while and am ready to give a final followup on the upgrade.

Surprisingly, I like the cleans better than my old pickups. I didn't think this would be the case, but I guess the older ones had a twangy quality that struck me the wrong way. The cleans are very clear and crisp, and I absolutely love it. I am really surprised because I wanted pickups that were more suited to heavy stuff like opeth or btbam that I have really been into lately. I like to play mainly in the bridge under heavy stuff but both pickups on clean really sounds phenomenal now. These pickups make me regret doubting the quality of my guitar; clean sounds are just so beautiful.

The heavies are definitely better. Again, crisp and tight, and palm mutes actually have power to them now! No muddiness on the lower side and long open opeth chords sounds clear and defined even under ridiculous gain.

Overall, I think these pickups are perfect for me. I don't excel at any one style and really enjoy having an instrument that I love sound good at most applications. I have been converted to BKP for sure.

I cannot express how grateful I am for all your help, I couldn't have done it without you guys and I really appreciate it.


One question though, can anyone out there enlighten me on pickup height for these kinds of pickups? I have mine almost flush with the black plastic pickup cover and they sound great, are they too hot to bring up closer to the strings?

[Dave Sloven]

Just wind them up high until they sound awful and woofy, then lower then by half a turn until they sound really good, then lower them a bit more so they don't sound so good, and then raise back up to where you liked them.

That's how I do it.

Some people take notes and stuff but I get too confused by all that.  What I've said above is good enough for an initial setup.  When you have the low string side set up right then tweak the high string side, checking it by playing open chords (G major, C, major, E minor, etc) on clean.  Check that both pickups sound roughly the same volume, if the neck sounds a lot quieter or louder move it up or down a bit more.  Set the bridge up first as that's the one you'll use most.