Rec. on improving a '94 AS-80?

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Author Message Fiveoclockfriday Username: Fiveoclockfriday Registered: 07-2006 Posted on Wednesday, July 05, 2006 - 11:23 am:    Hello, long time reader but never posted before. I bought an AS80 about 2 months ago off of Ebay. I had it setup with some .11s and I love the way it plays and sounds acoustically. However, I'm a little disappointed when plugged in. First, the volume knobs roll off the treble quite significantly, and I love using the guitar's knobs to control my tone/overdrive. The tone knobs are basically on/off as well. Would new potentiometers fix this? What type would you guys recommend to get these up to speed? Second, the pickups are pretty mediocre. This is from the rare time when they used weird "super 50" (I think) pickups. The pickups are ok, but not as detailed or crisp as I would like. In addition, they are incredibly microphonic. When plugged in and turned up a bit, a pick tap on the pickups pops through loud and clear. Could possibly be fun for some stuff...but small jazz gigs not so fun What pickups do you guys recommend? I don't need high output, I like a warm, but clear tone. Some jazz, and some blues and lighter rock stuff (nothing heavy). I was thinking either Seymour Duncan JB and Jazz set or their '59 Classic set. Funkle Username: Funkle Registered: 12-2001 Posted on Wednesday, July 05, 2006 - 6:59 pm:    Hey 5, I've done a lot of pickup experimentation, and sometimes I feel more confused than I did in the beginning But here are a few thoughts: The AS style guitar is by nature bright and springy sounding. And can get a little twangy at times in the bridge. The neck PU is great for a bright jazz tone. Working with those qualities, I think the JB/Jazz combo would be too bright for me. To many harsh harmonics in the bridge position, and just too bright in neck for jazz - the Duncan Jazz is pretty bright - not really a good jazz pickup IMO. In the neck, I like the Benedetto A6 fro a more compressed dark jazz tone. It works very well with the bright character of my AS200. The Duncan Alnico II is also a super versatile pickup for jazz and other styles. Very warm and clear. Haven't tried it in the AS yet, but damn it sounds good in the neck position of my new ARC300 - a wonderful clear jazz tone. I would like to try the Alnico II bridge PU. For the Bridge, I like the Duncan Custom Custom, for a warm singing overdrive tone. Not very snarly though - a little too neat for some tastes. I also believe the Dimarzio PAF pickups are a good choice. A little fuller, more resonant and "3D" with less quack than the Duncans. The PAF Classics are traditional sounding, but with much better clarity than say a Gibson PAF, or Super 58. The Virtual PAF may be a good choice for a little more resonance and woodiness. Maybe a Duncan Pearly Gates or Dimarzio Hot PAF in the bridge for more vintage snarl? Craig will surely recommend High Order Pickups, so I'll save him the trouble Funkle Username: Funkle Registered: 12-2001 Posted on Wednesday, July 05, 2006 - 7:14 pm:    Oh, as for the wiring, try an Audio taper pot for the volume and tone controls. Heres a description of the difference between linear and audio taper: http://guitarelectronics.zoovy.com/category/wiringresources.1basicwiringfaqs/ Also a good source for parts and wiring diagrams. Here is a solution for the treble loss problem with the volume: http://www.bothner.co.za/articles/volumepot2.shtml Fiveoclockfriday Username: Fiveoclockfriday Registered: 07-2006 Posted on Wednesday, July 05, 2006 - 9:36 pm:    Funkle, Thanks for your quick replies. I'm going to look into the pickups you recommended. I wish there was a way to try out various pickups in your model of guitar, that'd be fantastic! The Benedetto sounds interesting, I've played Duncans and DiMarzios before but not Benedetto. They're a little expensive, but if I they're worth it I can probably swing it. I'm just getting into playing guitar seriously again after being off for awhile because of graduating from college, getting a job, moving etc. I'm looking for an amp too, something small and tubey, I love the Fender Deluxe Reverb but I'm hoping to snag a little better value than that. You don't happen to have any wisdom there do ya? Thanks -Eric Funkle Username: Funkle Registered: 12-2001 Posted on Thursday, July 06, 2006 - 5:34 pm:    Eric, you can try different pickups, SD, and Dimarzio (I think) will let you exchange their pickups. Only problem is there will be a several week time lag between hearing them, and if you decide you liked the first one better, you need to reorder again. I just buy a bunch of pickups and sell the ones I don't like on eBay. There are so many amps out there, and so many opinions. There was a thread a while back called "best amp for jazz" and there were about as many recommendations as there are users on this board. I generally like something more flexible, that I can get great distortion out of without waking the baby. I spent a lot of time considering low power tube amps and attenuators, and looked seriously at the Mojave Coyote and THD Univalve, I really love the Fuchs and Bogner amps, and will probably look more at them if I am gigging at some point. But I'm now happily using a VHT GP3 - this is really the best I've found for getting great tube amp distortion and feel at nearly any volume.

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