SG upgrade ?

RJN

Hi Guys

I have the following issues with my "Stock" SG special :

1. my Neck pickup is too "muddy/BAssy" to my taste , it doesnt sound "open" enough , so I always roll back the volume on the neck pickup, but then its almost like i loose the little bit of treble i have on that neck pickup.

2. When i roll back my tone and volume knobs, especially my tone knobs, Its like I loose Warmth , difficult to explain.

I was thinking of upgrading the Wiring of my 98' SG Special with something like this : http://store.rsguitarworks.net/premium-vintage-sg-reg-electronics-upgrade-kit/dp/143

The RS Guitar Works kits are extremely expensive , would something like this not be similar for alot less moola : http://bcsguitars.com/?page_id=1717.

Can anyone tell me if these wiring upgrades are really worth the money and effort ?

Also, i would like to swap out my neck pickup for something more "fitting". I am into Blues / Hard Rock but dont really know where to start looking for a replcament Pickup. What pickup(s) would you recommend for an SG ?

guidothepimmp

Pup wise

I reckon a .sd59 or jazz, otherwise... definitely bareknuckle mule or blackdog

Wiring will definitely improve things , although i have never used those kits I'm afraid

RJN

guidothepimmp wrote: Pup wise

I reckon a .sd59 or jazz, otherwise... definitely bareknuckle mule or blackdog

Wiring will definitely improve things , although i have never used those kits I'm afraid

Funny you should Mention the BK pups , i have been looking at their site this morning . I am wondering if should just swap out both stock pup's for a set of Mule's. They are Frightfully expensive though.

Tokai-SA

Before you waste money, check that your pots are 500k and that your guitar is 50s wiring.

AlanRatcliffe

Tokai SA wrote: Before you waste money, check that your pots are 500k and that your guitar is 50s wiring.

+1. Spot on. Many Gibbys come stock with 300K pots and modern wiring. '50s wiring (caps connected to wiper of volume pots, rather than lugs) is not for everyone as it makes volume and tone very interactive, but it does brighten up things a little - especially when turning down the volume a little. Still, it's simple enough to test - just requiring you to move two wires. The other option is to keep it modern and add a treble bleed cap (.001mf) across the volume controls (that's how I ended up with my Singlecut).

Having said all that, I find most neck humbuckers are way too dark (for my tastes at least - but I'm more a SC man anyway), especially for clean tones - driven, a fat neck pickup takes on a life of its own. So I usually go for low wound (7.0 - 7.5K) and a degaussed A5 or A2 magnet.

RJN

Thanks for the tips guys ,

Here is what it looks like , all stock accept for the Bridge volume Pot , which was replaced at the last service:

it doesnt look like 50's wiring ? sorry im a complete noob ?

AlanRatcliffe

That's modern. To change to '50s, move the cap wires (with yellow sleeves) on the volumes from the outer lug to the middle lug (same ones as the brown wires).

Check your pot values too, as that can make a huge difference to the overall tone (while the '50s tone wiring is more about what happens when you turn down the volume).

selbydoodl

I put a set of bare knuckles into my SG and never looked back..
They are the dogs danglers and worth every cent.

If you are in Cape Town you are welcome to come try.

singemonkey

Tokai SA wrote: Before you waste money, check that your pots are 500k and that your guitar is 50s wiring.

+2. I've got a larney Angus Young signature SG. It's very frustrating that I can't control it like my Tokai. My Tokai has 500k CTS pots and is wired '50s. I can clean up the amp with a quarter turn of the volume knob without losing any treble. The SG, in contrast, I have to turn the volume down to like 2 to get it to clean up (which happens all at once, very hard to control) and it gets muddy.

When I have some money I'm going to get a wiring harness for the thing to bring it up to the same spec as my Tokai. No problem with the pickups though. The SG has '57 classics which are fantastic units.

Sneaky-Pete

Just wondering about the caps in there.
If they're .047, a switch to .022 ones will brighten everything up a little...maybe enough...and costs peanuts...

Chocklit_Thunda

If the wiring doesn't work you should really try a magnet swap before blowing cash on a new set of pups.
Usually stock pickups are wound similarly and uniformly by machine and then stuck with an a5 magnet which scoops mids while tightening treble and accentuating bass. If you want more warmth you can look at an A2 or A3 mag or if you need more output and cut you can look at an A4 magnet which sounds like a toned down A5 adding some mids and looser treble

AlanRatcliffe

singemonkey wrote: No problem with the pickups though. The SG has '57 classics which are fantastic units.

Good point. The '57 Classics are a nice match for an SG, plus have the advantage of keeping it Gibson...