Setup question

[Doadman]

I've just had a setup and fret leveling done on my guitar and it looks like a great job with the action now being super low but I do have a question if anyone can help me. My guitar is mahogany and uses Bare Knuckle 'Cold Sweat' pups that are based on Gibson 'Dirty Fingers. As a result the guitar has always had a very Gibson-like tone to it with a lot of bass. Since I got the guitar back it has changed considerably as it is now far more metallic and cutting in nature, sounding a bit more like a Jackson. Putting it in a way that might make more sense on this forum, it now sounds more like it has 'Miracle Man' pups in it. Could the lowering of the action really do that?

[hunter]

1. New strings = brighter
2. Lower action = closer to pickups = brighter

Play a while with fingers dirty and lower the pickups a tad and it will be like before  8)

[Doadman]

It's not just the new strings as it had a new set on prior to the setup anyway. I'll try lowering the pickups a touch and see what happens.

[Philly Q]

Do you ever play unplugged?  It's just a thought, but I've sometimes noticed this when people favour a very low action and always play through a distorted amp:- they don't notice what their guitar sounds like acoustically.

If the action is very low, unless you pick very softly indeed, there can be a fair amount of fret buzz.  You don't really hear the buzz itself through the amp, but it's choking the strings' vibration slightly and it seems to make the tone a bit thin and tinny.