Wood choice for Aftermath

[catalin]

Hi guys !

I am ordering a custom guitar that wil be equipped with an aftermath calibrated set. The guitar will be built by Marty Siggery.
Here is what i'm thinking at:
-neck trough maple, bubinga strips
-ebony fretboard
-mahogany body
Do you think this is a good wood combination for the aftermath? I play death/melodic metal and i want tightness and clarity.
I'm also thinking not to use a tone  potentiometer because i don't use it anyway. Do you think it's a good ideea?

Greetings from Romania !
Catalin

[Transcend]

I imagine the aftermath will do exactly what you need in that guitar.

Also about the tone pot i never have them in my guitar either as i find them pretty useless

[mbchepburn]

Sounds perfect to me. And I agree with the tone pot if you never use it. It sucks some of your tone away unless you use a very good capicitor which will set you back another £15

[catalin]

Thank you very much for the replies guys !
I have one 2 more questions:
- is there a capacitor for the volume knob? Because if there is i want to use a good one.
- if i use a covered set the sound will be a little muffled because of the covers or is nothing to worry about ?
The covered pickups are double potted or something? So that means they are less prone to microphony ?
Sorry for these silly questions !
Cheers !

[mbchepburn]

Thank you very much for the replies guys !
I have one 2 more questions:
- is there a capacitor for the volume knob? Because if there is i want to use a good one.
- if i use a covered set the sound will be a little muffled because of the covers or is nothing to worry about ?
The covered pickups are double potted or something? So that means they are less prone to microphony ?
Sorry for these silly questions !
Cheers !

You dont need a capicitor if you only have 1 volume knob. It's there for if you have a tone pot, so you don't need to worry. If you cover the pickups the sound will be warmer, but in my honest opinion, unless you're Steve Vai, you won't know the difference. When people say warmer, the term "warmer" sounds a lot more extreme than it actually sounds. The Aftermath is SOOOOO tight you'd spend the next 100 years trying to work out the difference. Cover or open coil would work with no noticable differences. And the double potting means you wont hear any microphonics. Its a pickup designed for high gain so if you had a pickup proned to feedback microphonically, it'd be pointless. So don't worry about it.

[Loomer]

I like how BKP's are apparently so well-renowned now, that people build custom guitars AROUND the pickups more or less  :P

[BigB]

Sounds perfect to me. And I agree with the tone pot if you never use it. It sucks some of your tone away unless you use a very good capicitor which will set you back another £15

Russian PIO caps work just fine and can be found for about 5€.

As far as I'm concerned, I didn't use tone pots at all for a long time, and find myself using them more and more even on 'buckers guitars since I've switched to BKPs (which tend to provide more top-end details and clarity than your average pup), PIO caps (which don't have the "dulling" effect of the cheapo cr@ppy ceramic caps that come stock with most guitars)  and 50s wiring (which avoids the need for a treble bleed). No "tone loss" with this setup, but a fatter / warmer tone very suitable for lead parts

 (NB  :I tend to use lower values than the standard, think 0.015 instead of 0.022 on buckers and 0.022 or 0.033 instead of 0.047 on SC).

My 2 cents.

[mbchepburn]

Yh I agree. If you get a good pickup and a good capicitor, you'll notice how the tone knob can contribute to your tone more than you realised. I've had pickups where it just seems to act the same way as a noise supressor (not cancel out unwanted noise, but sucks your tone). With Bareknuckle and a good capicitor, it can cut harsh highs when you don't need it under certain settings. I've been advised by Tim for the Aftermath to use .47 for the bridge and .22 for the neck. It's something you really need to hear before you judge. You've probably had the same experience with me with other pickups where it makes the tone sound dull when turning down the tone. A good capicitor and good pickup will make you see the difference.

[BigB]

I've been advised by Tim for the Aftermath to use .47 for the bridge and .22 for the neck.

Also depends on the guitar, amp, strings and your ears I'd say.

It's something you really need to hear before you judge. You've probably had the same experience with me with other pickups where it makes the tone sound dull when turning down the tone. A good capicitor and good pickup will make you see the difference.

My own experience is that even with darker / less defined (but still decent) pickups, just switching from ceramic caps / standard wiring to PIO caps / 50s wiring already make your pots (both volume and tone) much more usable.

[catalin]

Thanks alot for the replies guys !

[nickcoumbe]

I've been advised by Tim for the Aftermath to use .47 for the bridge and .22 for the neck.

Also depends on the guitar, amp, strings and your ears I'd say.

It's something you really need to hear before you judge. You've probably had the same experience with me with other pickups where it makes the tone sound dull when turning down the tone. A good capicitor and good pickup will make you see the difference.

My own experience is that even with darker / less defined (but still decent) pickups, just switching from ceramic caps / standard wiring to PIO caps / 50s wiring already make your pots (both volume and tone) much more usable.

Interesting points.

Any tips on where I can get schematics for this type of wiring (and suppliers for th decent pots)

[darkbluemurder]

I've been advised by Tim for the Aftermath to use .47 for the bridge and .22 for the neck.

Are you sure that it wasn't .047 and .022? Those would be close to standard values. The values you specified would work quite extreme.

Cheers Stephan

[mbchepburn]

I've been advised by Tim for the Aftermath to use .47 for the bridge and .22 for the neck.

Are you sure that it wasn't .047 and .022? Those would be close to standard values. The values you specified would work quite extreme.

Cheers Stephan

Yh thats wot I meant lol. My bad :)