Want to Ditch PUPs on Morse Guitar?

[Snailtone]

Hi all,

I'm a newbie to this forum, though a veteran user of MM guitars.

I have owned a Steve Morse guitar since 1999 (vintage sunburst with Floyd Rose trem). The guitar is fabulous and has been one of my main axes of choice for gigs. I just had it retrofitted with the Buzz Feiten Tuning System(http://www.buzzfeiten.com), along with some other adjustments from an excellent tech I go to for all my guitar work, and the guitar plays and feels better than ever.

Only problem is -- and I know some folks here will consider this utterly blasphemous -- I can't stand Dimarzio pickups. I've always hated Dimarzios, and have installed either Seymour Duncans or Suhr pickups on my other MMs (Silhouette and 2 Swamp Ash Axis Sports) and those guitars sound dynamite. The Morse is my fave in terms of feel, shape, tonal variety etc, but I've never been more that 60% satisfied with the PUPs. The Morse pups may be an advancement over the rest of the Dimarzio line, but I think they and Dimarzios in general are harsh and often lifeless sounding. I do a lot of extra tweaking with my amp and pedal settings to get the sounds I want out of this guitar, but I know it could be much more (I mostly play Jazz Fusion and funk).

So, to make an already long story/post short, I'd like to ditch the pickups and replace them with probably Suhrs or otherwise Seymours, but I'm intimidated by the relative complexity of this guitar's pickup configuration and wiring setup, and cognizant of the fact that the stock pups are well-matched for each other in terms of the combination options.

I'd just like to know if any of you folks have replaced the pups on your Morse, and if so what did you replace them with, and are you happier now with the change? Also, any possible recommendations?

I'm really not interested in getting into flame wars over the pickups -- I just know Dimarzios have never been my thing and I'd really be interested in folks' thoughful feedback.

Cheers,

-- Sunil

 

[koogie2k]

Welcome to the addiction! I don't believe you will get into flame wars here over pick ups.....this is a really cool forum and we (forumites) don't tolerate that kind of behavior here.

My take on it....it's your axe....do what you want to it. Several guys here have modded their guitar(s) to their liking. Nothing wrong with that.

I don't own a Morse (yet), but I am sure some of the fellas here who do will chime in and give you some opinions.

Tommyindelaware is our resident Morse expert as well as kbaim and NorM. They should be able to help you out.....good luck and again, welcome.

 

[kbaim]

Actually, I'm no expert on the Morse. Rarely play it due to Luke fever.

Tommy is certainly the one to ask. He's got, played and worked on a bunch for years now.

 

[SteveLINY]

I'd highly recommend

JST SSH+ in the bridge
JST DSV in the neck
and a pair of v60LP's in the middle positions...
You'll crap your pants when you hear the difference...
Steve

PS- I just got a new Suhr this week with this config, minus one single of course....

 

[Snailtone]

Thanks everyone for the nice replies thus far. And thanks, Steve for the suggestion. That sounds like a winning combo. The V60LPs are my favorite single coils and the DSV neck is nice too (I have the latter in my 2-humbucker Suhr Classic, and the V60LPs in a Suhr Classic T and in one of my MM Axises).

My question is what position V60LPS would you get for the Morse?
Two Mid position ones; or neck and mid position; or Mid and Bridge position, etc.?

It's those two middle singles that confuse me.

Thanks Again,

-- Sunil

 

[beej]

I'm no Suhr expert (I preferer Lawrences), but since that single closest to the bridge is a tele-style pickup, I'd probably look for a Suhr equivalent. That is, if you still want to keep the "twang" that it's got.

Of course, having two strat-ish pickups in there would be cool- you could dial in a good quack sound really easily - that's something that's tough to get from the Morse. So I guess it depends what kind of sound you prefer.

 

[SteveLINY]

Thanks everyone for the nice replies thus far. And thanks, Steve for the suggestion. That sounds like a winning combo. The V60LPs are my favorite single coils and the DSV neck is nice too (I have the latter in my 2-humbucker Suhr Classic, and the V60LPs in a Suhr Classic T and in one of my MM Axises).

My question is what position V60LPS would you get for the Morse?
Two Mid position ones; or neck and mid position; or Mid and Bridge position, etc.?

It's those two middle singles that confuse me.

Thanks Again,

-- Sunil

I'd suggest a neck and middle....

By the way, here is a little teaser clip of the SSH+ into a VHT GP3 preamp...
It's double tracked, but you'll hear it's bite....
http://www.mp3lizard.com/download.cfm?id=17703

 

[Snailtone]

Thanks Beej,

That's worth some thought. I tend to lean more towards the strat side in general, and my Suhr T covers the Tele ground beautifully, but having some twang in the Morse would also be a good thing for its all-around versatility.

The thing I'm still wondering is, would you use two middle position single coils, or neck and middle position pups, or middle and bridge position pups for the replacement, or does it really matter in this particular case?

Thanks,

-- Sunil

 

[Snailtone]

I'd suggest a neck and middle....

By the way, here is a little teaser clip of the SSH+ into a VHT GP3 preamp...
It's double tracked, but you'll hear it's bite....
http://www.mp3lizard.com/download.cfm?id=17703

Nice playing Steve. That melody really sings beautifully. I think for the stuff I do, your pup position suggestion makes the most sense. I happen to have all the pickups available except for the SSH+. I have a DSH+ bridge laying around. Are you familiar with it, and if so what difference do you hear between it and the SSH+.

Thanks for all the good feedback, it's much appreciated!

-- Sunil

 

[beej]

Call Suhr and tell them what you want to do- I'd guess there's a different inductance/output rating on the different position pickups and they might have a good suggestion.

My guess would probably be a bridge/middle combo- then you'd also have a great bridge single sound as well!

 

[Adwex]

I'd suggest a neck and middle....

By the way, here is a little teaser clip of the SSH+ into a VHT GP3 preamp...
It's double tracked, but you'll hear it's bite....
http://www.mp3lizard.com/download.cfm?id=17703

Great clip Steve! Either your last name is Vai, or you listen to him alot.

 

[Snailtone]

Yeah, that clip had me wanting to revisit the first Vai solo CD, which I haven't listened to in years. Really great stuff.

BTW, Steve, are you "SteveVHT" on the Suhr forum list?

Cheers,

-- Sunil

 

[SteveLINY]

Great clip Steve! Either your last name is Vai, or you listen to him alot.

LOL....
The intro is actually stryper, then into Vaiesque...LOL
You can't avoid that with Locrian and a whammy bar....

 

[SteveLINY]

Yeah, that clip had me wanting to revisit the first Vai solo CD, which I haven't listened to in years. Really great stuff.

BTW, Steve, are you "SteveVHT" on the Suhr forum list?

Cheers,

-- Sunil

Yes, that's me....
I'm SUHR you have seen it, but this is the guitar that clip was recorded with....
Just got it Monday...

 

[Snailtone]

Suhhweet! Thanks for the porn, Steve, that guitar is really stunning. What are the specs on that?

I just picked up a couple of Suhrs in the last three weeks: a new Classic T from Overland Express out in Kansas, with a gorgeous Honeyburst flame maple top on alder body, and a nice and more subdued looking Classic with Black Cherry sparkle finish on Basswood body. Suhrs are in a class by themselves. No disrespect for MMs; the two are IMHO pretty different animals. I'll post pics of my MMs and Suhrs soon.

It would be great if MM started offering the Buzz Feiten Tuning System on their guitars. Once you play a guitar with BFTS, it's hard to play anything else.

Speaking of guitar porn, the pics on another thread of the Deep Purple Morse Y2D are fabulous. That just may have to be an Xmas gift to myself.

Well, time to practice.

-- Sunil

 

[SteveB]

It would be great if MM started offering the Buzz Feiten Tuning System on their guitars. Once you play a guitar with BFTS, it's hard to play anything else.

Actually, all of the new MM guitars *are* shipping with a compensated nut. Not Buzz Feiten's though... one designed by Dudley Gimpel.

 

[tommyindelaware]

It would be great if MM started offering the Buzz Feiten Tuning System on their guitars. Once you play a guitar with BFTS, it's hard to play anything else.


-- Sunil

dudley's new nut is used on ebmm non floyd guitars now. it is even tempered ........w/out having to tune w/ a special tuner. just use a stardard tuner w/ standard pitch settings.


as far as pickups go..........................................................................................................................................................................................well nevermind...........

 

[Colin]

Hi all,

I'm a newbie to this forum, though a veteran user of MM guitars.

So, to make an already long story/post short, I'd like to ditch the pickups and replace them with probably Suhrs or otherwise Seymours, but I'm intimidated by the relative complexity of this guitar's pickup configuration and wiring setup, and cognizant of the fact that the stock pups are well-matched for each other in terms of the combination options.

Cheers,

-- Sunil

If you want to sell the Morse pickups, let me know.

Colin

 

[earthmamab]

steve...

nice suhr! great top. good advice too!