Change pickups in Axis?

[RafRey]

Hey Ballers,

I know that my Axis came with stock custom zebra Dimarzios. I always liked Satch's Fred and PAF Joe combo, and was thinking of installing a set.

Has anyone changed out the pickups in their Axis for any other Dimarzio pickups? Did you have any issues mounting the pickup directly to the body instead of in a pickup ring?

Most importantly, was your tone affected in a postive or negative way?

Any info would be helpful!

Thanks!

RafRey

 

[shredderbetter]

i've put tone zones in one of my 14 axis VERY nice I just got a new axis came with a super distortion,I'm not liking it! the stock p/u are very close to the tone zone but I'm going to replace the super distortion~bottom line you need to base your pickups on what type of response your looking for from your guitar ~ dimarzio has a great site to read p/u characteristics and judge for yourself how they sound and perform for your type of music!

 

[Astrofreq]

I put a humbucker from hell in the neck and I loved the difference. I've never had a problem with mounting and I've done that with several.

Incidentally, I put in Axis bridge in my Ibanez JS6 and it definitely had different characteristics

 

[RafRey]

Thanks for the responses!

Dimarzio does have a great site, and I will check it out again.

 

[muzikman]

How about trying some Duncans? I tried putting Custom-custom(bridge), Jazz(neck) with same capacitors and Pots. plus a coil-tap and Walahhhh! Great Tone!

 

[RafRey]

I would definitely consider duncans. I put a SH-2 Jazz neck and Sh-6 Distortion bridge in my PRS custom 22, and it brought new life to it. I like that combo and the aforementioned Satch set up.

I played last night at rehearsal and realized what a shredder this guitar is. The unfinished neck had me flying up and down the fb with ease!

The stock pickups are not BAD, its just that I would like to drop in some pickups that are tuned with specific characteristics.

(.....Of course there aren't any magnets out there that will do anything for my playing....)

 

[Tim O'Sullivan]

Bare Knuckles always seem to be popular, though they are pretty pricey!

 

[hbucker]

My opinion respectfully differs from that of shredderbetter. I know DiMarzio states that the Tone Zone is the closest production pickup to the bridge pickup in the EVH/Axis but I don't think it's very close at all. Their neck equivalent, the Air Norton, is much closer to the stock Axis neck IMO.

The Axis bridge pickup is clear and a little bright, modern with a vintage influence, great separation, good character with a little or a lot of gain. The Tone Zone is a lot hotter, has a lot more mids, less chime, less character, more mushy and has what I consider to be an over all flabby tone. I've owned two that I tried over the course of 8 years in 3 different guitars and came to the same conclusion every time. Not only was it NOT like the pickup in my EVH, I didn't like it at all.

Keep in mind that I am not a shredder and do not care for that type of tone. So of course your results may vary.

Obviously you should feel free to change out the pickups in your Axis. Just know that I think the stock pickups in the Axis are some of the best stock pickups I've played in an "off the rack" guitar. If you do replace them, you won't have any problems selling them over here on this forum. Just let us know and we'll be with you as soon as we can log onto our Paypal accounts...

 

[RafRey]

Yes, Hbucker, they are great stock pickups! So...

The Ernie Ball web site states that the Axis comes equipped with Dimarzio custom humbucking pickups. Are they really custom made for the Axis, or are they an existing model? Alnico or ceramic? Does anyone know? I've never removed them to see the serial numbers.

I don't need to know, but it would be nice to know.

Thanks!

 

[hbucker]

Yes, Hbucker, they are great stock pickups! So...

The Ernie Ball web site states that the Axis comes equipped with Dimarzio custom humbucking pickups. Are they really custom made for the Axis, or are they an existing model? Alnico or ceramic? Does anyone know? I've never removed them to see the serial numbers.

I don't need to know, but it would be nice to know.

Thanks!

Yes, the Axis and EVH are the only place those pickups are used. For the EVH they were two conductor. For the Axis, they are 4 conductor.

DiMarzio has told me (and others) directly that the Tone Zone-Air Norton combo is their closest production model pickups to the those supplied for the Axis. As stated earlier I find this a bit odd since I don't think the Tone Zone is even slightly close to the Axis bridge pickup. Air Norton is fairly close to the neck though.

I believe they are alnico magnets. Don't know if they are 2,5, or something else.

 

[TonyEVH5150]

I would definitely consider duncans. I put a SH-2 Jazz neck and Sh-6 Distortion bridge in my PRS custom 22, and it brought new life to it. I like that combo and the aforementioned Satch set up.

I played last night at rehearsal and realized what a shredder this guitar is. The unfinished neck had me flying up and down the fb with ease!

The stock pickups are not BAD, its just that I would like to drop in some pickups that are tuned with specific characteristics.

(.....Of course there aren't any magnets out there that will do anything for my playing....)

Duncans are an option, but they will need modification on their baseplates or the pickup rout.

 

[John Denner]

The Axis model has 1 of a kind Humbuckers custom wound from Dimarzio .

It's a well thought out setup and is the heart and soul of the axis.

Your almost better off getting an OLP and your pickups in that?

 

[RafRey]

That's a lot of great feedback from all and I appreciate it. In the end, I will most likely just leave it all alone and practice on my technique instead. John, I do believe you are right about the pickup choice for the Axis. And if it's good enough for EVH, it's good enough for me!

 

[Colin]

if it's good enough for EVH, it's good enough for me!

well said

 

[hbucker]

In all seriousness, I don't think it would be easy to find modern pickups that have more class AND character than the EVH/Axis DiMarzios.

 

[Tim O'Sullivan]

In all seriousness, I don't think it would be easy to find modern pickups that have more class AND character than the EVH/Axis DiMarzios.

I would never change the pickups on my Axis guitars!