I decided to build a 2nd pickgaurd for my AL HH. I love the the stock pickups, and I have the GC coil split, and those pickups split really well. BUT those pickups certainly don't work for everything and I wanted to try some different flavors and have an alternative for different gigs/sessions/moods. So got a pair of Stingray RS pickups for pretty cheap, wired up a new pickguard for a 3 way blade selector and 50's wiring, Dimarzio pots, and a 47 cap. Much clearer, more percussive overall, especially on the neck pickup which is where I live most of the time (clean to somewhat dirty. Not high gain too often). I can cop much closer tones to Wes Montgomery, John Abercrombie (third quartet stuff) and Pat Metheny, while kind of losing those thicker Radiohead-type cleans (like on Weird/Fishes, which the Dimarzios did much better). Overall I like the pickups quite a bit-people seem to complain about them more than others but that could just be internet/people tend to complain more than talk about things they like. Interesting vowel sounds on the lower strings I don't know how I quite feel about. Haven't played with 50's wiring before. There are some things about it I like but it takes a lot more riding of both knobs to find the spots I want. Not sure if the pot tapers are the best with this setup or if it's just the quirks of 50's wiring. Gonna try a Duncan Seth Lover in the neck as well. And yes, I'm keeping the the original pickups! They'll be back in at some point. Just figured I'd kinda turn one guitar into two.
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