Help! Al sss pdn 2014

[Magic Jason]

Hello guys,

After waiting for this guitar for ages, I finally got it!

I like its looks, shape, size, weight, color, neck, playability, craftmanship...

But I'm not crazy about the sound...

I KNEW it wouldn't sound like a strat, because, it isn't a strat...

And I'm a single coil guy.

But the magic that I have with my AL HH and my Luke3 is NOT there....

It is a very good single coil guitar but it lacks "mojo".

Should I wait, swap pickups, convert it to HH, please help.

PS
I wrote to MM and they will NOT sell the Luke 3 electronics separately. Which I understand but deeply regret.

 

[Stratty316]

I would take some time try and bond with the pickups first. Sometimes is as simple as adjusting the settings on your amp or adjusting the pickups themselves. It's taken me a while to get my Silo Spec dialed in since everything else I have is a dual HB guitar. I would also not route it for a HH guitar... Single sized HBs on a 2nd pick guard is the way to go. A tone zone and air Norton are as close as you can get to the stock HHAL pickups.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Siddius]

Can you describe this lack of mojo? lack of body? too shrill? It is possible that the pickups are not tuned to the changes in woods and frets that were changed in the PDN offering. You really need to describe what mojo it is lacking before anyone can really help.

 

[Ricman]

Maybe some stacked single coils? Dimarzio Areas?

 

[jzeijen]

Give it some more time to bond with it. I didn't really bond with my black Sugar Roasted AL HH at first, but now it is my favourite.

But If it's not the right guitar for you, I'll happily trade it with an orange Silhouette Special that I have.

 

[Siddius]

I have to agree across the board with these guys
1) Overdriven, my Silhouette didn't quite have the mojo until I upgraded to a hotter PAF. Now it is my numero uno.
2) Overdriven, I didn't really bond with my PDN Morse until my Silhouette popped a string about a third of the way through an hour long set. I played the Morse for the rest of it and it felt spectacular, and I thought that it sounded great too.

Clean- both of these guitars have major "mojo"

So a pickup change and bonding time may both be in order.
Also, as a far wiser and far better guitar player than myself once said, "Expectations are planned disappointments". Give it time to appreciate it for what it is and what it has, not what it isn't or what it doesn't have.

Good luck

 

[mikeller]

I am with the others - give it some time. I recently bought a AL SSS and think it is very special. It gives me something different from the rest of guitars.

 

[Magic Jason]

I'll sure give it some time. Thanks for your advice.

I'll try to explain though.

My reference was an early Eric Johnson signature that I played for a long time. Which was on the "vintage side".

I never was a humbucker guy untill the AL HH which is revelation to me. I really like the split sounds of the AL HH by the way.

To me, the SSS lacks sparkle when played clean and balls when overdriven.

Although I thought it would never happen I REALLY dig the "modern sounding" single coils of my Luke3.

I play through a hand wired fender princeton, a mesa 5/25 and an eleven rack.

I had an immediate "Wow I love that sound " with the AL HH and the Luke3 that I do not YET have with the SSS.

Any further comments are appreciated, thanks!

PS
Maybe my taste is changing toward higher output pickups!!!!

 

[Siddius]

I actually know the exact sound you are talking about, or should I say lack there of. It seems as though you do know what you are looking for, beyond the abstract concept of mojo.

I am running the Kemper Profiling Amp, and my Fender is gold on some settings, and completely lackluster on others. Conversely, my Silhouette cleans up really nicely on some higher gain profiles, but is missing something on a handful of the clean profiles. Funnily enough, these two tend to be opposite of each other in terms of which gets a good clean tone on an amp setting. So, given that most do not have the convenience of just downloading a new amp, you might prefer to change pickups, given that you seem to have really nice amps.

Maybe after some more noodling with amp settings to double check, a pickup swap might be in order. How about dem Gilmour emg's for that sparkle? Or some hotrails for some Ball busting?

Truthfully, I don't know much about pickups, and even less about single coils, so search elsewhere for that info.

Hopefully I am helping. My bet is that you can find a good use for the guitar. If not, it may shine better in another's fingers.

 

[fbecir]

Hello

Did you try to change the pickups height ?
A boost pedal can also works miracle.

 

[Magic Jason]

Hello

Did you try to change the pickups height ?
A boost pedal can also works miracle.

Yep I've tried but will keep on trying.
I've used an ep booster...
Not satisfied!

 

[Magic Jason]

I actually know the exact sound you are talking about, or should I say lack there of. It seems as though you do know what you are looking for, beyond the abstract concept of mojo.

I am running the Kemper Profiling Amp, and my Fender is gold on some settings, and completely lackluster on others. Conversely, my Silhouette cleans up really nicely on some higher gain profiles, but is missing something on a handful of the clean profiles. Funnily enough, these two tend to be opposite of each other in terms of which gets a good clean tone on an amp setting. So, given that most do not have the convenience of just downloading a new amp, you might prefer to change pickups, given that you seem to have really nice amps.

Maybe after some more noodling with amp settings to double check, a pickup swap might be in order. How about dem Gilmour emg's for that sparkle? Or some hotrails for some Ball busting?

Truthfully, I don't know much about pickups, and even less about single coils, so search elsewhere for that info.

Hopefully I am helping. My bet is that you can find a good use for the guitar. If not, it may shine better in another's fingers.

I'll find pickups I like... The di marzio injectors are supposed to be close to the ones in the Luke 3...But will it sound ok without the preamp...???

PS

I'll never sell that guitar lol!

 

[Siddius]

I can't tell you about the preamp. I have never had a Luke. I think that V-necks might bug my hand, as I havn't jived with a V-neck in a while. I also do not know about the silent circuit, since I don't have a silo special or an al.

I think I have probably exhausted my use on this topic, I hope that I have been at all helpful.

 

[Tollywood]

PS
Maybe my taste is changing toward higher output pickups!!!!

Hi Jason,

I would go with some higher output pickups. I'd go for a stacked single coil-sized humbucker in case you need to sell it some day. If you knew for certain that it was a keeper, I'd say route it for humbuckers.

Good luck!

 

[mikeller]

No one mentioned this: Without pictures it don't exist!!! Lets see some pictures of that AL, please

 

[Magic Jason]

Here you are!

View attachment 26697 View attachment 26698

Only musicman and lowden... I kinda like these brands!

 

[Siddius]

Dat's purdy

 

[Spudmurphy]

Really nice guitar you have. Give the SSS a chance - it's gonna be a lot brighter but you'll surely get your amp dialed in to compensate. Give it a chance because everywhere I play mine, people are so complimentary on it's sound.

 

[Sweat]

Defiantly give it more time, always loved the neck and middle pickup of an SSS AL but never found of the bridge, so I either did not use the bridge or replaced it with something that had more growl and bite less high and twang.

Many pickups out there for the bridge, very sweet looking AL!

 

[Magic Jason]

I have a two weeks holiday that will be dedicated to playing this guitar exclusively.
I'll try to find the ideal pickup height and best amp settings.

If not satisfied, I'll consider a pickup improvement.

What would you guys suggest? (No single coil sized humbuckers)