I am about 99% of where I want to be for my personal ultimate tone....BUT WAIT:

For solos I like to roll the volume to 10 (keepin' it simple) but it sounds muddy, flat, rounded...yuk....but at 9 it sounds much better clearer, etc. I know---why not just do that....

So I spent the better part of the afternoon adjusting the pickup height---no luck-lost tone and volume.....I have a Suhr with V-60's into a Marshall 2061x (runs at 7 for best tone).

My thought was to get the new Suhr Landau pickups with the lower ohm rating (the classics) OR should I spend more time on the pickup height...other suggestions????

Set up is simple...vibe/wah/blues pro/ad-9....

What do you guys think.....Thanks....Roger

Approach it scientifically. Record the sound you like with the volume rolled back. Then mess with the pickup height and make some more recordings. You will lose some volume from lowering the pickups and the tone will change. It should get clearer and airier sounding. Mess around with your amp to compensate for the different sound and see if you can get close to the original recording. You might have to mess around with pedal settings too. I bet you can get close if not right on.

Get more scientific. Set your volume control where you like the tone best. Take the pot out and measure it, then buy a pot of that same resistance. Altrenately you could put resistors in parallel with the pot to bring the resistance down to where you want it.

Just out of simplicity, what happens when you just lower your amp's input volume or that of your drive pedal? Could be an impedance issue I guess?

quote:

Originally posted by NJlo:
Just out of simplicity, what happens when you just lower your amp's input volume or that of your drive pedal? Could be an impedance issue I guess?

Tried that too....I like to 90% of my distortion from my amp so running the amp at 6 is out of it's sweet spot so some the natural distortion is lost....I run the drive pedal slightly above unity (mostly just for leads to add thickness and sustain) so it is basically enhancing an already "muddy" sound.

I'm going with a pickup change primarily because this is a lingering problem (had a deluxe amp a while back---same issue)....at low volumes thier great but at practice/gig volume they actually seem to be too powerful and lack definition (for the tones I'm looking for anyway).

Thanks NJlo for the response...Tomorrow, it's off to Toyz I go!!

Yeah, some lower output PUs will allow for a more "open" and "airy" sound. Better clarity, too.

Fine tuning the PU heights is an art. I suggest that if you really like the overall tone, then adjusting your PUs will help you dial in the slight variations you're looking for. If you think your tones are too "amped up", then you may do better with new PUs.

Also, where is the Preamp Gain set at? Too much of that, and you can get muddy (and thin) real quick.

Speaker Distortion is another factor. Maybe a more effecient, or differently voiced speaker would clear things up?

Those are 3 things that could cause a lack of clarity.

Here's an older thread, with some info you might find useful:

http://forums.musictoyz.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/40660660...201038434#6201038434

Thanks Swain...I picked up some bare knuckles mother milk pickups from Teddy today.

I'm hoping the lowered ohms on the front and middle pickup (these are the 2 I use 90% of the time) will eliminate the problem.

Basically I have tried everything....but my tech actually mentioned this change a while back and as usual I think he's right!!

Thanks again for everyones suggestions!!

Roger