What kind of guitar do you use?

Philéas wrote: rileydog22 wrote: Fender Jazz Bass V, but tuned EADGC instead of BEADG.   That's cool. I've been considering getting a five-string and tuning it that way. - I have a Fender Classic Series Jazz Bass. Very good intstrument in its price range, and as of today I haven't found a bass I like better (and I've played a lot of fancy high end stuff). I also have an old Ibanez Roadstar II which plays beautifully but sounds pretty bad. I'm going to get some new electronics for it some day to improve the sound.

Yeah,, used to have one years ago, along with a Fender Champ 12. Thought the gain channel sucked. I sold the amp to a buddy of mine, and the guitar to a neighbor's kid. Tried the Champ 12 last week with a Fender Strat. And you're right the electronics in the Ibanez suck, but the Roadstar II did play great.

Edited by HughesJB4 - June 01 2008 at 22:26

Have you considered the Seymour Duncan Blackouts? They have even more meat than the EMG actives in terms of output, but are more organic and passive sounding, and since their release even some hardcore EMG loving people have made the switch to Blackouts. Plus they are even quieter, so you can use more gain before getting bad hum levels and feedback.

^Woa, what string guage are you using for the Epi, and also what kinda music do you play with it?

 

The way it kinda works with Seymour Duncan is (which is something I know both from first hand experience and spending lots of time on the Seymour Duncan User Groups forums), in terms of the active pickup range they offer. is that the Livewire Metal LW-HMET is the highest output offering they have, with serious mids, I'm talking mids to the point where even with a Mesa Boogie Rectifier with the mids scooped you still have mids, lots of low end too with the Metal. Some people liken it to an Invader, but with more output and far better clarity. These pickups make the EMG 81s/85s look weak, it is virtually impossible to get a clean tone from the Livewire Metals. They came with an 18 volt preamp and 100k pots, compared to the EMGs 9 volt stock preamp and 25k pots.

The Dave Mustaine Model Livewires, come with a 9 volt pre amp, and I have used these in person. They don't sound at all sterile and the bridge pickup is essentially an active pickup version of the JB and the neck an active version of the Jazz (if you recall, for years the JB/Jazz set was a pickup combination Mustaine loved). Are you sure you don't have a '59 model or Jazz in your neck Mike? JB's only really come stock with guitars in the bridge. so I'm guessing you might have meant the Jazz or the '59. The Mustaine Livewires are a touch more compressed than the passive versions, and offer about 6-10 dB more output and of course less hum to boot.

Yes unfortunately, Seymour Duncan only offer the Dave Mustaine in the pair, which obviously means you have to buy both. Bear in mind, where I said "more passive" in reference to the Blackouts, meaning while they are not as sterile sounding as the EMGs, they still possess a certain active sound to them.

^ the neck scale plays an important role here ... the longer the neck, the higher the tension will be. For example, AFAIK a Gibson Les Paul has a shorter neck than a Fender Strat so the same string gauge will have a higher tension on the Strat than on the Les Paul.

As for me: on my ESP (which is comparable to the Strat) I use 09-46.

^ agreed - 7 strings are cool. I'd probably tune the 7th string to A though instead of B.

HughesJB4 wrote: Gibson neck scale lengths are 24.75, strats/teles etc, 25.5 inch. My Brian Moore Guitars I1 and your ESP have the 25.5 inch scale. Personally I find a 7 string more appealing to use for low notes given the extended range rather than a drop tuned 6. I know that once I get a 7, I probably won't ever go back to a 6.

MisterProg2112 wrote: HughesJB4 wrote: Gibson neck scale lengths are 24.75, strats/teles etc, 25.5 inch. My Brian Moore Guitars I1 and your ESP have the 25.5 inch scale. Personally I find a 7 string more appealing to use for low notes given the extended range rather than a drop tuned 6. I know that once I get a 7, I probably won't ever go back to a 6.   I agree. I don't have a 7 string, but every time I go into Guitar Center I always pick one up   I reallly want to get the Signature Petrucci 7 string, thatd be sick

The Petrucci model is not the best bang for your buck to be honest. I know you really like Petrucci, but unless you really do want a guitar without a locking trem, an Ibanez Rg1527 is much better value for money, plus you can even change the pickups to whatever you want and still have money left over compared to the price of a stock Petrucci. The Ibby neck is actually a little bit faster too.