Morse Pickups too Dark for me....

[Butch Snyder]

Have you thought about Seymour Duncans?

I was thinking about a Custom/59n combo...

 

[beej]

Definitely try the coil split first and see if you like it. It's very spanky, will likely give you the tele like tone you're looking for. If you like that, you can re-wire the tone control to be a variable split rather than adding in another switch (I did it at Tommy's suggestion, it's pretty killer).

Agree with you on the neck p'up, though, that one is a tad dark. Though I like the way it works with a lot of gain, or for jazz.

 

[Sub1 Zero]

Remember too that it's poplar; IMO that wood is good for anything, it's the pickups you use that are going to do it for you. I say pickup swap your way to what you need, maybe buy a new pickguard and just have an entirely different layout with both guards.

 

[Butch Snyder]

Well, I went ahead and pulled the Morse Humbuckers out and installed a DiMarzio Air Zone (bridge position) and an Air Norton (neck position). I left the 250k volume pot and pulled the 250k tone pot and replaced it with a 500k push/pull pot that splits the bridge pickup.

So far, the results are more than pleasing. We'll see how she fares after a couple of weeks' use.

 

[Butch Snyder]

Sorry to hear about the issues you've had with the Morse Butch!
Yes, the neck HB is a bit dark I guess but I really like it for jazz or for woman tones. I find that rolling off the volume pot a bit gives the HB's a single coil-esque sound. For what it's worth I don't have an issue pulling country tones from the Morse, I usually use the bridge single or both singles with the bridge HB. Nothing does a Tele sound like a real Tele though so if tha's what you're A/Bing it against then I guess you will be a little disappointed.

I appreciate the sentiment; but it's okay. A lot of people love the Morse pickups and hate the switching. Some like everything about it. I just found the pickups weren't for me. I meant what I said about saddling up my Tele and calling it a day. Installing the AZ/AN combo along with a 500k push/pull pot has made a ton of difference.

 

[tommyindelaware]

w/ most hummers.....this mod works fair at best. but because the morse bridge pickup coils are both almost 6k each(alot hotter than most hummer coils).....the single coil sound is very good. most pickups are ALOT weaker when you split them.

butch is wearing me out here !!!!

Definitely try the coil split first and see if you like it. It's very spanky, will likely give you the tele like tone you're looking for. If you like that, you can re-wire the tone control to be a variable split rather than adding in another switch (I did it at Tommy's suggestion, it's pretty killer).

 

[banjoplayer]

I appreciate the sentiment; but it's okay. A lot of people love the Morse pickups and hate the switching. Some like everything about it. I just found the pickups weren't for me. I meant what I said about saddling up my Tele and calling it a day. Installing the AZ/AN combo along with a 500k push/pull pot has made a ton of difference.

I was thinking about this issue lately, too (would not call it a problem). I love the Morse pretty much. With the band we are doing some tunes, that require a punchy Tele bridge Single coil sound which the Morse isn´t able to do (in stock wiring). The straigt Morse-SC has not enough punch, I think because of his position near the middle. I was not very hot for modding so I kept my tele in the live rig for this tunes and I am pretty satisfied. I mean, it´s a good guitar and if you want something with a Tele-sound, the Tele is a good choice!

Though I love the Morse I love it to have reasons to use my other guitars. Otherwise they become jealous!

Maybe i try the hummer splitting oneday. Does someone have a wiring schematic for a push/pull to split both hummers? Does anybody know how the Morse neck hummer sounds splitted???

 

[beej]

The tele single is based on a tele neck pickup. Though it sounds hollow on it's own it really shines in conjunction with the bridge p'up (which is so midrangey). But if you want a more tele-ish sound, I'm sure you could replace it with something more suitable for you! John Czajkowski here replaced his singles with a Dimarzio Area 58 & 61 and is pretty happy with the results.

But first try splitting the bridge p'up and see what you think. Really!

Does someone have a wiring schematic for a push/pull to split both hummers? Does anybody know how the Morse neck hummer sounds splitted???

I tried the split neck for a while. Didn't really do it for me. As Tommy mentioned, it's unusual for a split 'bucker to sound good. The bridge p'up is just a rare gem in that respect.

As for wiring- on both 'buckers you'll see two wires soldered together and covered in shrink wrap. That's the point where both coils join. To split the p'up, just connect that point to ground via a push/pull pot, toggle switch or use the tone pot.

To do both at the same time you'll need a DPDT switch. You can do this with a push/pull pot. Easy to do- PM me if you need a hand.

 

[Butch Snyder]

I think that, for a humbucker to sound good when split, you have to have a higher-output pickup from the start. IMHO, the PAF Pro, even though a medium-output pickup, sounds very nice when split.

Straight single coil pickup - Some say it's modeled after a Tele neck pickup. Some say the bridge position. At any rate, DiMarzio says it most closely resembles the top coil of an HS-3. Go figure....

I'll probably replace my straight single coil with a Red Velvet and see what happens...

 

[fbecir]

Hello

I am not a pro like Tommy or a mad scientist like Butch but I own quite a lot of guitars (too much says my wife ). Each guitar has different pickups. No pickup can do everything.
But we are blessed : we can use PEDALS.

For instance, in order to have a Tele sound (the problem of banjoplayer), the bridge single coil of the Morse is a bit weak. But we a Treble Booster, it can sing. In my case I use a Jacques pedal (a Mercer Box) just for boosting the highs and give more "bite" to the sound. Perhaps, a purist will say it's not a true Tele sound, but I'm not sure this purist will be able to tell the difference in a blind test

So Butch, stop buying pickups .. try to turn the knobs of your amps and of your pedals

My 2 cents ...

 

[Butch Snyder]

I am not a pro like Tommy or a mad scientist like Butch

Hey, I kind of like that....

So Butch, stop buying pickups ..

That's a disease for which I need no cure.....

 

[Butch Snyder]

Well, here goes an "I told ya so"...

I took out the Air Zone and Air Norton pickups and put the stock Morse humbuckers back in. Something a lot of folks told me just started sinking in and gnawing at me. They said, "The guitar and each of the 4 pickups were designed together and to used with each other.

The only thing not stock now is a 250k push/pull tone pot for splitting the bridge pickup...

 

[beej]

Glad you're happy man

Tone is a moving target.

 

[Butch Snyder]

Tone is a moving target.

They're back where they need to be; and yes, you're right about that...

 

[banjoplayer]

Tone is a moving target.

I have to remember this, said very well

Butch, I´m glad you found a solution, Morse PUps are fitting in the guitar so well!
Are you satisfied with the splitting? I think I´m waiting with it because my guitar has still 12 months warranty which I want to keep...

 

[John Czajkowski]

Ah yes...the Morse pickups...

I just LOVE the humbuckers, but ultimately decided to swap the single coils for DiMarzio Area 58/61. Best combination for me. Glad you're getting where you need to be. I wouldn't be too squeamish about modifying stuff - as long as you can get it back to the original state!

 

[Butch Snyder]

Are you satisfied with the splitting?

Yes, I only split the bridge pickup because I like the full sound of the neck pickup. Also, if I really want a thinner neck pickup, I'll just use my Telecaster....

 

[Sub1 Zero]

You sir, are difficult to please

 

[Butch Snyder]

You sir, are difficult to please

You sir, are correct. That's why I chose EBMM as my guitar brand of choice. Can you imagine if I'd bought a Gibson??

 

[Sub1 Zero]

Well, then you would be talking about the pickups AND a back-ache, and that would be no good...