Axis Pickups...Just Not that Impressed

[boogieslide]

So I picked up an Axis about 2 weeks ago. Its the 3rd one I have owned, but I have not had one in a few years.
My rig has changed a lot in the few years since my last Axis. I now have a modified Marshall DSL and a few Les Pauls have been my main guitars.
I recently got into trying some boutique pickups and through my experience I have found they are much nicer than the stock Gibson humbuckers that came in my LPs.
I know a lot of folks here really like the stock pups in the Axis, but I am just not feeling it with them. I played the guitar on my gig last week and I found my tone to be a bit muddy on the low end. I backed off the gain quite a bit from where I normally have it, which makes sense as these pups are hotter than the others I use. I also lowered the bass a bit thinking that might be it, but the power and clarity just isn't there.
I think I am going to have one of the winders I have spoken with a bit build me something on a base plate with the triangular feet so I don't have to cut anything or modify the guitar. Right now I do believe I can get this thing sounding better for what I want to hear by replacing the pups.
Flame me, agree with me, share your opinions.....discuss

 

[Astrofreq]

No need to flame you. If you want to sell the Axis pickups and they are still unmodded or whatever, let me know.

 

[brasco68]

It's all subjective...what's good for me may not be good for the next guy. As BP has said many many times...at least we have choices.

 

[Eilif]

To each his own. Some people dig it, others don't.

EVH obviously thought they were great.

JP, on the other hand, found they weren't his cup of tea.

I've got a love-hate relationship with them, myself. Some days, they are the greatest thing since frets were invented. Other days, give me my 20th!

 

[Big Poppa]

I love em....

 

[JoeDogInKC]

I love em....

Me too, I much prefer them to the pre-crunchlab/liquifire pups on my JP6. I've noticed however, that with the maple neck/board that they are much brighter and I have to adjust the bass and treble a bit on my rig to get it where I want.

Try backing off the treble a bit and see if that doesn't make 'em work for ya. They are reaaallllly hot and bright and I've found that balances them out from my usual settings.

 

[ily]

Ilove axis guitar
for all but especially for his pickups
the bridge pickup is the best never made
you can't find it Somewhere else

 

[parker1963]

Not into flamming people.....i thought you put forward a valid obsevation owing to your recent tastes in pups and amps.

I don't agree with you about the axis pickups.I was noticing yesterday just how balanced i thought they were in handling overdrive and holding sustained notes when bending and digging into a solo.I have tried some botique pups and been disapointed such as the Bareknuckle pups i put into my Les paul,,so in the end i think it boils down to how you feel at the time and what your goals are playing the material you are at the time.

As a matter of fact i was going to post a thread asking where i could buy another exact duplicate set of axis pups to put into a Campbell American guitar i am worrking on.

Parker

 

[Stevie]

I love the pups in the axis, if you don't want them i too would be happy to take the bridge pup off your hands...

 

[spkirby]

I prefer flame on my maple and stock pups in my axis

 

[GuitaRasmus]

I have a Prs McCarty with the tonezone/air norton combo, and the tonezone used to be my "go-to" pickup - it just worked great for me. Punchy, without being shrill. But when I got my Axis, it just gave me even more of the same. Agreed, I don't think crunchy/semi cleans are it's forte, but pile on some gain and play some rock, and it just doesn't get any better - it is by far my favourite pickup I've ever tried.

It punches it's way through any mix, great harmonics, great mids, clear, punchy and with great note separation. I'm still on the lookout for an extra Axis bridge pickup to put in my McCarty, so I can have a backup that sounds a bit more like my axis. I love it.

 

[koogie2k]

It's your axe. Do what you want. I changed out the pups on a JP once. I did not regret it. Your other guitars have different pups. That is what you hear and you know what you want. Gotta love choices.

 

[lenny]

Its in the mix where you hear the difference ....the Axis pups actually cut through!....i dig em!

 

[Tim O'Sullivan]

The Axis pickups are my favourite pickups of all time. I think every twin humbucker guitar should be fitted with them!

That said, its your axe, customise it as you feel fit!

 

[boogieslide]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I play with my DSL on the Red Channel with the gain pretty high for 98% of the night. We do a lot of 80s and 90s rock. I wouldn't say that my tone wasn't cutting through in the mix, it just wasn't as clear and snappy as I would like on the low end. I probably do need to spend more time tweaking a bit with this guitar because it is so different than my LPs that I am used to.
My other guitarist actually said he thought my solo on Sweet Child really cut through that night and said he liked it better than my LP...and he is a die hard LP guy! So there are some positive sides, but I am just not sure its getting me all the way to where I want to be and I was just thinking trying some other pups might be a way to experiment with the tones I get from it. It plays awesome and was a lot of fun to jam on.

And I appreciate all the offers to buy the stock pickups, but even if I put some other pickups in it I will be hanging on to the stock set. It appears these are hard to get on the after market and should I ever need to sell this thing it seems the majority of folks want to see those stock pups in there.
I'll give em another go tonight to see if I can jive more with them.

 

[grumpyoldman]

It's early in the morning (for me at least) and I read through the posts twice and can't find it - is your axe an Axis, an Axis Sport or an Axis Super Sport?

I find the pickups on my Axis guitars are excellent - cut through the best of any humbuckers I have ever used (and I was a die-hard G-man before I found EBMMs - all humbuckers).

I have a couple of Axis Sports, and I find that the tone control in the wiring harness tends to take some of that aggressiveness away - don't get me wrong, the Sports sound deadly as well, but not as aggressive. If you have either the Sport or Super Sport, maybe it's that tone control in the circuit that is taking that 'edge' you are expecting away?

 

[Tim O'Sullivan]

It's early in the morning (for me at least) and I read through the posts twice and can't find it - is your axe an Axis, an Axis Sport or an Axis Super Sport?

I find the pickups on my Axis guitars are excellent - cut through the best of any humbuckers I have ever used (and I was a die-hard G-man before I found EBMMs - all humbuckers).

I have a couple of Axis Sports, and I find that the tone control in the wiring harness tends to take some of that aggressiveness away - don't get me wrong, the Sports sound deadly as well, but not as aggressive. If you have either the Sport or Super Sport, maybe it's that tone control in the circuit that is taking that 'edge' you are expecting away?

+1 on this. The ASS sounds much better with the tone knob removed.

 

[boogieslide]

I have an Axis

 

[bkrumme]

Aren't the pickups in the 25th the same as the ones in the Axis, just with chrome covers?

If that's the case those pickups are smokin' hot!

 

[boogieslide]

I'm still on the lookout for an extra Axis bridge pickup to put in my McCarty, so I can have a backup that sounds a bit more like my axis. I love it.

Would that work? The Axis bridge pickup is F spaced and I think the McCarty is not.