Guitar Gear Forum

So, I've been getting a little bored with the sound of my g-400 (specially now that I have a half decent sounding amp). being a bit of a tinkerer I enjoy modifying things and trying out lots of different setups/ideas.

Where should I start?

Magnet swaps? What do all the different magnets sound like?

Will changing pole pieces change the sound?

Howe can I tell if my pickups are 2 conductor or 4 conductor?

Is it even worth modifying these or should I just buy new ones?

What do you all think of the "jimmy page" or "full boat" wiring scheme? Worth the effort? (http://www.thefret.net/showthread.php/1 ... Wiring-Mod)

These are the pickups that I'm pretty sure are in my guitar (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Original-Epipho ... 0995050332). It does say Alnico magnets however it doesn't say what number. Is there any way to tell? Also, I'm actually pretty happy with the sound of the neck pickup. It's the bridge that leaves a little to be desired. It's not what I would call defined.

Appreciate any info

Thanks,
beech

Perhaps I should of put this in the general forum...

Hard to say what the magnets will sound like as the the winding of the pickups will affect the sound as well. Some people have their pickups overwound.

From my knowledge, Alnico II magnets will sound the sweetest (think Slash from G n R). Ceramics will be the harshest. Alnico V's are somewhere inbetween and I think Gibson uses II, III, IV, and V in their PAF pickups.

4 conductor pickups have 4 wires. 2 conductor only have two. Most modern and commercial pickups are 4 conductor.

If there's a particular sound you're looking for, i'd say find out what gear that artist uses and go for that. Otherwise, experiment away.

I didn't see "half-airbucker" mod on here, so i'd say look into that. Rumor has it that Eddie Van Halen had a Dimarzio Tone Zone modified this way to be halfway between a Tone Zone and an Air Zone in his Ernie Ball guitar.

If you want to experiment on a set of pickups, buy a set of Duncan 59s and do some swapping. Those pickups take to magnet swaps very well, are easily available and just sound good in general. I don't think you can find a bad combination. For more info, check out the Seymour Duncan user forum and look for posts by Blueman335. He has lots of mag swapping experience.

Otherwise, what kind of tones are you looking for?