A coupe pickup replacement questions for my Roswell

[eakinj]

So I've been wanting to play my Roswell but really don't like the duncan designed pickup in it (never have).

So here is my question, the body on the roswell is pretty thin and is made of poplar. How will the affect how a pickup will sound in it? Actually that's not really my question, let me think here..

Say I want to put as an example an EMG 81 in it, I would imagine do to the thickness of the body and the wood type I'm probably going to lose some of the lows and mids that I'd have on say a normal Rhoads made of poplar. Is this correct? I'm hoping it's not as I'd really like to throw a JB in my Roswell since I've really liked it in my KV. Since Alder and Poplar sound the saw I would hope it would carry over despite the guitar being really thin.

And worst case scenario - should the pickup lose some aspects in it's sound, can I change the pot to make up for it, or is there another pickup that put in place of the JB in the Roswell would sound closer to the JB because of the difference in wood. yeah this isn't going so well. sorry lack of sleep - I really hope this made any sense. going to bed now. will check back in later

Here's the beast I'm wanting to play

[ralph]

I would go with what you normally prefer (81, JB etc), thwack it in there and see how it sounds

[DonP]

Which Duncan Designed pickup is in there now? If it's an HB102B, a JB isn't going to make you happy because it's pretty much the same thing.

And then there are those types who say no matter what you throw it in, an EMG will always sound like an EMG

[eakinj]

Then there is a chance this guitar will probably never sound good if that thing in there is basically a JB... I guess that's probably why jackson doesn't make these anymore lol

[DonP]

Make notes about what you don't like about this pickup. Too brite? Too muddy?

Then take a look at the back to see which Duncan Designed it is. You got to know where you are starting from.

Then go and find a pickup that fixes what you don't like. I went from a JB to an Invader. Put a smile on my face.

[jrnic]

The Duncan Designed that's probably in there is probably modeled after the Duncan Distortion pickup. Most Jacksons that come equipped with the 'Designed' pickups have the same pickup. With that being said, I have a Charvel Pro Mod (USA) that I had a Duncan Distortion in it and I hated the sound of it in there. Since the Pro Mod is made of similar wood I would assume it might sound similar in your type guitar. I really didn't like the sound of the Duncan Distortion p/u in mine. I changed out my Duncans with EMG's (81 and 85) and it sounded much better although not much in the way of low freq's. I have since changed the EMG's and put in 2 Dimarzio Super Distortions in it and I am very satisfied now. The Super D's have much more lower end and mids too.

[manu80]

Sell it to me and don't worry about the Pu's problems

[DonP]

The Duncan Designed that's probably in there is probably modeled after the Duncan Distortion pickup. Most Jacksons that come equipped with the 'Designed' pickups have the same pickup.

See, that's where you go wrong. Making asumptions. DK2's all came with the HB102B modelled after the JB. This pickup got replaced by the Invader.

I have a KE3 that came with the HB103 set (modelled after the Jazz and Duncan Distortion) and it sounds so kick ass I'd never swap those out.

[coloradoman25]

i tried 5 pickups in mine then sold it, love the axe hate the sound. did i sell that to you on the bay lol?

[Grim]

Roswells typically sound thin, so I'd say avoid an 81.

[S1I2F3]

I have a Dimarzio Super Distortion in a poplar body (soloist style - maple neck). It has a nice crunch to it, works really well for a lot of different applications, especially for harder rock/metal type stuff. Of course, the body shape dictates how any pickup will sound, but it might be worth a try.

[84sups]

Try a Gibson Iommi pickup in it. That'll thicken the sound up

[Grim]

Try a Bareknuckle Warpig.

[neptoess]

Just listen to the guitar acoustically compared to another with a pup you like in it. My V sounds much darker and less snappy than my RG. You have to balance the pups tone to the guits tone. I love my Air Zone in my RG and my L-500 in my V, but the air zone sounds like shit in the V and the 500 is horrible in the RG. Megatron on the Ibanez forums has a really good thread on pickups