AXIS SS pickup replacement

[Basil]

Hi guys

Let me first inroduce myself .
I am Basil ,i come from Greece and i bought a slightly used AXIS SS (no piezo) with soapbars.
I have a couple of questions about the pickups.
1) Does the silent circuit work all the time even if the battery is not in? And how would u describe the sound of the guitar without it? I kinda miss the humbuckers sound sometimes .Any tips or special setups for this?
2) I was thinking of replacing the soapbars with AirNorton or PAF Pro and Tone Zone . Is this going to give me a heavier chord sound (when i need it ) ?What is the difference in sound between the SS with the humbuckers and the soapbars?
I am using a Marschal JCM2000 triple lead .
I know these are probably to many questions but i feel so comfortable with this masterpiece i would like to set it up in a perfect way to fit most of my needs .

thx in advance
regards

Basil

 

[PurpleSport]

Hi Basil -

Welcome to the forum - opa!!

I've got an Axis Sport with MM90s and love them! It's my first guitar with soapbars, I think they sound better than my other guitars with humbuckers or single coils (I've been playing both kinds for over 20 years now). I have guitars with PAF Pros and Tone Zones, and the MM90s are much better, in my opinion - far more versatile. I've become so addicted I honestly don't think I'll be going back to any other pickups anytime soon.

I've found the silent circuit a fantastic invention that does not have an effect on the tone of the guitar, which is really cool - because if you take that battery out, it WILL hum like a single coil (because that what a soapbar is). Try it for yourself by taking the battery out then putting it back in with the guitar plugged in and turned up and you'll see what I mean...buzz buzz buzz!

The whole idea of the circuit is to do what the second coil on a humbucking pickup does, to counteract that buzz. What a humbucking pickup also does is make the sound lose highs and make the bottom end lose note definition, especially on those lower strings which can get really mushy if the humbucker is high output. Soapbars don't do this, but will still sound fat if you put a lot of distortion on them; what I like is that they have a wiry, "piano-like" sound on the low strings and notes sound consistently strong all the way up the neck on all strings with great sustain. Something else that's really cool is that when you switch to a clean channel they immediately sound a lot like good Strat or Tele pickups, and you usually don't have to make any adjustments on the amp...just use the guitar's volume knob.

The MM90s in your guitar are not high output pickups, so they may not overdrive your amp as easily like a guitar with humbuckers - but I've found that they sound really good if you use a lot of distortion to boost them, either from a pedal or an amp channel. The sound is really balanced, although you might have to dial in a little more bottom end than with a humbucker. I've never tried them with your Marshall model, but I'm sure it has plenty of gain and will work fine. Soapbars aren't known for being heavy metal pickups, but it can be done with the MM90s and a high gain amp, thanks to the silent circuit (otherwise the hum would be unbearable).

Standard humbuckers will probably not fit in the MM90's hole without some routing to the guitar which may not be repairable if done incorrectly (a previous owner of my guitar tried this, but I don't know if it worked or not). Dimarzio does make a replacement humbucking soapbar called the DLX and the hotter DLX Plus which both sound really good (the DLX was in the acclaimed Yamaha AES 1500 hollowbody). I hear the Plus model is designed to be a lot more like their famous Steve's Special humbucker sound than a soapbar sound.

Before you do any upgrading, you should really experiment with the MM90s and different settings on your amp - they are different pickups with different characteristics so you will probably have to rethink your normal settings a bit. Believe me, it's worth it, and once you figure it out all your friends will be jealous at how good you sound...

Good luck!

 

[Basil]

man was that a detailed and fast reply !!

thx very much Purple .

I fuess i will experiment a bit from now on until my new set of questions will come

regards

Basil