Am I crazy

[Morgray]

Ive decided that I think the EMG-HZ stock pickups in my LTD sound better than the Warpig in my Ibanez RG....the EMG sounds heavier, brighter, louder, crunchier, has fuller palm mutes, and pinches WAY easier than the Warpig...Is there something wrong with my Warpig that a cheap pickup like a passive EMG sounds heavier and louder than it? or is it just that the basswood in my RG sucks compared the the mahogany in my LTD? I dont know but the Warpig is REALLY not living up to my expectations...was I supposed to shorten the leads on the warpigs wires before soldering it?

[MDV]

Well, guitars vary....

That said, the other guitarist in my band has an EMG HZ equiped all-mahogany ESP and my pigged basswood.maple jackson crushes it underfoot. My-c-pigged legra completely rips it a new one.

Pickup heights similar?

Setups optimised to get finest tone?

What do the two instruments sound like acoustically?

And dont forget, if you increase the height of the allen poles on the coil nearest the nek you can increase the bass response, and vice versa with the bridge-wards coils.

But of course it all boils down to taste in the end. Statistically it makes you very strange  :P  but not wrong....per se ;)

[ericsabbath]

possible problems:
1. you've chosen the wrong pickup
2. you've chosen the wrong guitar

solutions:
1. put the warpig on the ltd and the hz on the ibanez
2. sell the ibanez and buy one in mahogany

if you still like the emg hz better:
1. buy a miracle man
2. buy a painkiller

my friend bought a warpig and liked his 500t better and found his stock ibanez pickups hotter and punchier, so he bought a painkiller and now he's happy  :lol:
the truth is he likes ceramic pickups and compares everything to his 500t (in terms of tightness and output)

[MDV]

my friend bought a warpig and liked his 500t better and found his stock ibanez pickups hotter and punchier, so he bought a painkiller and now he's happy  :lol:

Weird: I have a painkiller set too, and I find the WP to be hotter and punchier.

The hot-punch king is the ceramic pig. Perhaps Tim could stick a ceramic magnet in it for (quite a lot less) than a new pickup? If the wind isnt changed (C-Pigs are wound a shade cooler than A5 pigs because of ceramic 8 being more a powerfull magnet) then it will be pretty much as powerfull as its gonna get (on a par with my 23k miracle man: as far as I know the most powerfull BK sold to date  :twisted: ). That level of power puts active EMGs in their place (I know this from A/B comparison!)

[hunter]

Am I crazy

Yes.

Next question...







 :twisted:

[ericsabbath]

my friend bought a warpig and liked his 500t better and found his stock ibanez pickups hotter and punchier, so he bought a painkiller and now he's happy  :lol:

Weird: I have a painkiller set too, and I find the WP to be hotter and punchier.

The hot-punch king is the ceramic pig. Perhaps Tim could stick a ceramic magnet in it for (quite a lot less) than a new pickup? If the wind isnt changed (C-Pigs are wound a shade cooler than A5 pigs because of ceramic 8 being more a powerfull magnet) then it will be pretty much as powerfull as its gonna get (on a par with my 23k miracle man: as far as I know the most powerfull BK sold to date  :twisted: ). That level of power puts active EMGs in their place (I know this from A/B comparison!)

his warpig is the regular alnico without cover
it sounded very fat, like a hotter version of holy diver with more midrange grind, but it didn't sound tight and aggressive like the painkiller
i wouldn't swap it, as he said he wanted nevermore and arch enemy tones (they only use alnico pickups), but the truth is that he was searching for a pickup with ceramic edge, cause he's been using ceramics for 10+ years

[ailean]

I'd definately play around with my setup. BK's do seem to be sensitive to setup, there have been quite a few posts where people have said 'it's not what I expected' and then changed their pup height or something and suddenly the pup comes to life.

I'd certainly fire off an email to Tim and ask his advice, maybe post some picks of your setup so people can offer adivce?

Have you compared your sound to the sound clips posted here? If you are way off maybe there is something wrong?

[Simon D]

Well, I wouldn't say you're crazy, but I had an ESP M302 with EMG HZs in it, which I replaced with Warpigs, and the difference was very noticeable - the tone from the Warpigs was far better.

Is there any possiblity the Warpigs aren't wired in correctly? I only ask because this is exactly what I did - ballsed it up completely if I'm honest, and they didn't sound right. Once they were sorted out, they sounded great.

[Morgray]

I have tried adjusting pickup hieght, but thats about all Ive tried. I really think the warpig must be installed wrong or has no defect, ill post sound clips of the HZ and the Warpig sometime to show you. And acoustically the LTD is very loud and reverby and basswood RG is quiet and sounds dead....maybe Basswood just sucks and thats the end of it

Oh and Simon, the LTD is an M302 :P

[Simon D]

Acoustic tone is ususally quite a good indicator of how good a guitar is going to sound when amplified, at least in my experience. When I bought my Strat I tried four or five until I found one which sung unplugged.

If the acoustic soud of the RG is quite dead, that can often carry across and affect the amplified sound, no matter how good the pickups.

[_tom_]

Yeah its probably the guitar thats cr@p then. I had the same thing with my basswood Charvel - couldnt get a bridge humbucker tone I was happy with, it always seemed too fizzy and scooped. I ended up selling it and I havent regretted it since :D

[WezV]

maybe Basswood just sucks and thats the end of it

Thats pretty much it!!

[MDV]

I have tried adjusting pickup hieght, but thats about all Ive tried. I really think the warpig must be installed wrong or has no defect, ill post sound clips of the HZ and the Warpig sometime to show you. And acoustically the LTD is very loud and reverby and basswood RG is quiet and sounds dead....maybe Basswood just sucks and thats the end of it

Oh and Simon, the LTD is an M302 :P

I have 2 basswood guitars, and they both have plenty of spank.

It depends on the quality of that particular bit of wood, and the SETUP.

Very important.

Action and neck relief have certain 'sweet spots', different for every guitar, that allow the guitar to resonate more. As a general rule, higher action and flatter necks does it, but vibrational modes of a complex system like a guitar can be a black art and there are other points that can work really well.

Try changing that and see of you can wake your guitar up. It'll do it good no matter what pickups in it  PDT_003

[CJ]

my friend bought a warpig and liked his 500t better and found his stock ibanez pickups hotter and punchier, so he bought a painkiller and now he's happy  :lol:

Weird: I have a painkiller set too, and I find the WP to be hotter and punchier.

The hot-punch king is the ceramic pig. Perhaps Tim could stick a ceramic magnet in it for (quite a lot less) than a new pickup? If the wind isnt changed (C-Pigs are wound a shade cooler than A5 pigs because of ceramic 8 being more a powerfull magnet) then it will be pretty much as powerfull as its gonna get (on a par with my 23k miracle man: as far as I know the most powerfull BK sold to date  :twisted: ). That level of power puts active EMGs in their place (I know this from A/B comparison!)

do you think its possible tim would wind my pickup hotter if i sent it to him? i don't know how pickups work so i don't know if thats still a possibility...

[MDV]

my friend bought a warpig and liked his 500t better and found his stock ibanez pickups hotter and punchier, so he bought a painkiller and now he's happy  :lol:

Weird: I have a painkiller set too, and I find the WP to be hotter and punchier.

The hot-punch king is the ceramic pig. Perhaps Tim could stick a ceramic magnet in it for (quite a lot less) than a new pickup? If the wind isnt changed (C-Pigs are wound a shade cooler than A5 pigs because of ceramic 8 being more a powerfull magnet) then it will be pretty much as powerfull as its gonna get (on a par with my 23k miracle man: as far as I know the most powerfull BK sold to date  :twisted: ). That level of power puts active EMGs in their place (I know this from A/B comparison!)

do you think its possible tim would wind my pickup hotter if i sent it to him? i don't know how pickups work so i don't know if thats still a possibility...

Yes, he will. Thats how I got mine done: rewind