Axis Pickups...Just Not that Impressed

[grumpyoldman]

I have an Axis

Have you tried it through a different amp?

 

[boogieslide]

Have you tried it through a different amp?

Well, besides a Pignose and a little Crate practice amp the Marshall is all I have.
Not sure those little guys would do it much justice

I do have a Guitarport and a pocket POD that I use for home practice, but every guitar I plug into those sounds pretty much the same....fake, but good enough to practice.

 

[boogieslide]

Can we post Youtube links on this board?
I could post one of my modified Marshall with my Goldtop loaded with WB Habaneros to give ya'll a reference of what I shoot for. Not saying this guitar has to sound exactly like that LP as I know it won't and don't want it to. But it would show you the crunch tone and gain level I run on.

 

[boogieslide]

Well I did not see in the forum rules where we can't post links so here it is:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXXbrpUpZmo&feature=related"]YouTube - FJA modded Marshall DSL 50 new mod 2[/ame]

 

[Smellybum]

If you're attempting to asses Axis pickups in the same vein as les paul pickups - you'll go mental -

Totally differnet, I was a solid les paul player for 15 years, there's no way an axis is in the same field....

Not saying either is better, just different, but if you're not impresed by axis pickups - try casing your les paul for a while and hitting the tone reset switch in your head....

 

[boogieslide]

If you're attempting to asses Axis pickups in the same vein as les paul pickups - you'll go mental -

Totally differnet, I was a solid les paul player for 15 years, there's no way an axis is in the same field....

Not saying either is better, just different, but if you're not impresed by axis pickups - try casing your les paul for a while and hitting the tone reset switch in your head....

I think you have a very good point. Just for the hell of it I just measured the DC resistance of the Axis bridge pup and it measured at 17.16K
Now I know the resistance is not a direct way to know exactly how hot a pickup is and what kind of power its putting out into the preamp, but that is way higher than the other pups I have. We all know these pickups are hot and I did back off my gain, but I am thinking probably not enough.
I will try to reset everything tonight and see what I can make out of it.

 

[beej]

Ok, I'm not sure where we're going with this ... are you asking for opinions or just saying you don't like the p'ups?

You don't like your Axis p'ups, that's totally cool. They're great but not for everybody. Feel free to try some others out and see what you think. But everything in your signal chain contributes to your sound ... wood, p'ups, cables, etc.

Not sure that posting the video of your LP is really going to help with the process tho ... keep in mind this is an EBMM specific board.

 

[grumpyoldman]

I haven't done it with either of mine, but I know some of the Knuckleheads and Canuckleheads on here have shimmed their Axis humbuckers up a bit closer to the strings - maybe that simple adjustment could give you a sound closer to the one you are trying to find?

 

[Jack FFR1846]

The Axis pickups shine where you want over the top high gain. Sweet Child with the neck.......yah. Most any EVH song with the bridge....yah. I sometimes have both my Axis and Axis Supersport MM90 on stage (one as a backup). The MM90 is set to full volume, the Axis set to 2. Although the tone is different, the outputs are on par with each other. So if you're set at a 5, thinking that you're backed way down......you're not. The tone does change significantly with the volume setting (even though there's no tone knob or cap). I've found some amazing, mellow.....almost bell tones running into a simple effects pedal. Is it going to react differently with the same pedal settings than my MM90 or an LP or my Ovation acoustic? Well....yah. If it were the same sound as the LP.....I'd be thinking "why do I need 2 guitars that sound the same?".

As has been said, they're all good....just different.

 

[boogieslide]

Ok, I'm not sure where we're going with this ... are you asking for opinions or just saying you don't like the p'ups?

You don't like your Axis p'ups, that's totally cool. They're great but not for everybody. Feel free to try some others out and see what you think. But everything in your signal chain contributes to your sound ... wood, p'ups, cables, etc.

Not sure that posting the video of your LP is really going to help with the process tho ... keep in mind this is an EBMM specific board.

I am asking for opinions and any insight on the subject. Some comments may help me make the right adjustments to get results I like better.
The point of posting the video is to give people an idea of the tone I shoot for. Some folks use Fenders, some use other amps with slight drive, some use metal monsters with over the top gain. I use what you hear in that clip...just a reference. If it is against forum rules I have no problem pulling it.

 

[brokenvail]

I have a love hate relationship with mine. Overall I think they are really good. I have had to adjust my way of tweaking around them but that is all good. They do get some killer tone once you can get that amp dialed in right.

 

[parker1963]

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.

Here is the best and cheapest way to give your guitar tone a boost that won't break the bank.
I use the BBE sonic Stomp all the time and leave it on durring all my playing.

here is a post i made using the sonic stomp and play solo's through out with this unit on.
http://www.ernieball.com/forums/music-man-guitars/39618-got-my-albert-lee-ball-family-reserve.html

 

[GuitaRasmus]

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

It sure will - all Prs are F-spaced at the bridge.

 

[JoeDogInKC]

Based on your clip and my experience with my own Axis, I think you're going to want to lower the highs a bit and boost the midrange a bit to get where you want. If it's too muddy, you might dial the bass down a bit too.

This is just my opinion, but I think the Axis pups are some of the clearest, most articulate pickups I've ever heard. I think if you play around a little bit, you'll find that the note separation and clarity will surprise you. It's just going to require a bit of tweaking to adjust to them compared to what you're used to with the LP.

 

[robelinda2]

I guess it depends on what sounds you are after. I like low output humbuckers, like in a 335, I dont do metal or even hard rock and love a Larry Carlton/Matt Schofield kind of output, even Slash. I have experimented in the past with changing the pups in my various Axis', and found some nice ones with a bnit of patience. The stock pups sure are good for the 80's rock/Van Halen thing, if thats what you are in to, but there sure are a lot more types of humbucker tones that a high output humbucker just cant do.

 

[odur]

I dont own Axis but I have tested one that my friend owns and it sounds amazing...Axis is on my wishlist

 

[VAiN]

OK, silly question...

I own an EBMM EVH - are those pick-ups the same as the Axis? If so, I agree, the bridge pick-up is fantastic.

 

[Scandalous]

I've got a 2005 Rosewood Axis and I just love the sound of the custom Dimarzio stock pups. Can't see replacing them with anything else!

 

[boogieslide]

Ok, so I had much better results last night.
I dropped the presence and treble all the way down (we were in a super bright room) and lowered both my mids and bass (I usually run the mids pretty high). I also backed off the gain even more. If anything, I wasn't getting quite the saturation I like, but the clarity was much better. Still had great sustain too.
Still a work in progress, but I am feeling better about making the stock pups work for me. Thanks to everyone that threw out some ideas.

 

[bbake1]

For me the Axis is perfect as is. I wouldn't think about swapping the pu's out.