imastratoholic
Well-known member
I love my Albert Lee, but I'm finding the pickups to be really muddy. I've adjusted the height with no real change. Has anybody swapped out their pups in an AL? What do you all recommend?
Help! Pickups in AL muddy
- Thread starter imastratoholic
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TNT
Well-known member
what do y'all play??
jbliguori
Active member
what AL do you have? HH, SSS, P90. what woods? what equipment?
imastratoholic
Well-known member
Sorry about not including the essentials. It is the 2011 H/H configuration. African Mahogany/rosewood. I'm playing blues, rock, country.
Sweat
Well-known member
Never considered the HH AL pups muddy pretty high output to me, I am sure someone might have but do not remember seeing a thread on it.
What sound are you looking for??
What sound are you looking for??
Tim O'Sullivan
Well-known member
I find them a little bassier than my Axis guitars, but I would not say they are muddy.
Does adding some more top on your amp not help?
Does adding some more top on your amp not help?
imastratoholic
Well-known member
When I plug different guitars into the same amp, the AL sounds muddy. It's not unbearable, but unusual. The other guitars are Gibsons. SG Standard and 335.
Skoorbdooh
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You could try changing your tone pot for a no-load one- this usually opens things up just a little.
imastratoholic
Well-known member
I haven't pulled the pick guard on my AL yet, so I don't know what pots and caps are in there. Does anybody know what the wiring specs are?
Bassier may be the better description than muddy.
Skoorbdooh
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According to the MM website - you have 2 500k pots in there and a .047uf cap. If the information I am finding on the net is correct then the pickups you have are the same as in the Axis and those pickups IMNHO really don´t sound "right" with a tone control in the circuit - hence my suggestion on the no-load tone pot. I had to do the exact same thing to my ASS when I got it because I could not get the same tone out of it as I do my EVH. Once I had put a no-load tone pot in there - it was as close as it could be between two guitars that are not 100% identical (different bridge, different weight, etc.)
beej
Moderator
The AL HH, Reflex and Super Sport have the same pickups and a 250k load (2 x 500k pots), while the EVH has a 500k load (just the one pot). You'll find a a subtle difference in the resonant peak when you remove the tone control. It's not life-changing but it can open things up a bit.
What's great with those pickups is wiring them in parallel, like on the Reflex
If you find 'em too muddy, though, not the worst idea to try something else out with lower inductance. There have probably never been more pickups to choose from.
What's great with those pickups is wiring them in parallel, like on the Reflex
If you find 'em too muddy, though, not the worst idea to try something else out with lower inductance. There have probably never been more pickups to choose from.
Skoorbdooh
Active member
- Joined
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The AL HH, Reflex and Super Sport have the same pickups and a 250k load (2 x 500k pots), while the EVH has a 500k load (just the one pot). You'll find a a subtle difference in the resonant peak when you remove the tone control. It's not life-changing but it can open things up a bit.
What's great with those pickups is wiring them in parallel, like on the Reflex
If you find 'em too muddy, though, not the worst idea to try something else out with lower inductance. There have probably never been more pickups to choose from.
Great points that you bring up. Very impressive how the fact that reducing the inductance by nearly 75% while having humbuckers wired in parallel vs. series really opens up the sound by nearly doubling the resonant peak. Makes the almost 3dB change between a 250k and 500k load seem not so big except for the fact that those particular pickups have two dissimilar coils making the change more apparent than in a more matched coil humbucker design. I have always been most intrigued with the fact that these changes in wiring and load affect only the resonant peak and really have no effect on any other part of the sound spectrum of the pickup. That, coupled with the fact that the resonant peak really tells our ears how the pickup sounds more than anything else, means that the smallest tweaks can really "make or break" your tone.
Cool stuff.
coldsummer
Well-known member
Does anyone have a wiring diagram that shows how to add parallel option to an AL HH using a mini switch similar to the reflex? Is it possible to do this AND add a coil tap for positions 1 and 5 using a push/pull on the tone pot?
It's something I've been thinking about for a while. (Hope I'm not hijacking this thread but it seems fairly relevant to the OP).
It's something I've been thinking about for a while. (Hope I'm not hijacking this thread but it seems fairly relevant to the OP).
