Dead sounding guitar- help to tone

[Guitarist]

Hi,

I made a custom axe: RG shape, with Edge/Floyd w. copper block, lacquer sprayed sides and back, nitro on top (for looks in iced-tea burst), one single coil and one HB, maple neck (not the greatest), poplar body.

It is now 3 years old and isn't sounding any better compared to my other, albeit amazing, few electrics. So just wondering if some lengthwise drilling in the body may be in order to liven it up. Another idea, might be to mount a transducer/shaker to it and hum it out in hopes to awaken it. I was almost desperate enough to install active pickups but they don't come low output/vintage-toned just high-gain units.

any thoughts/successes?

[big_teee]

If no mechanical problems with the guitar, perhaps ugrade the electronics?
I've had volume pots that are dead sounding.
Try temporarily for testing, hooking the bridge pickup direct to the jack.
If it sounds better, replace pots, probably with 500k pots.
If it still sounds dead, wired direct to jack, try another pickup.
T

[guitician]

Is Poplar a tonewood? I know some Fenders are basswood and some alder, but the poplar may be why it is dead sounding. I used some really light swamp ash for a strat I made and it sings.

[Jazz P Bass]

Poplar body?

That is one soft hardwood.

[Steve A.]

So how does it sound unamplified? That is the first thing I check on a guitar in a store... if the neck and body don't talk to each other I move on to the next guitar. So is your neck bolt-on? If so you might want to make another body out of a better tonewood... and make sure that it sounds good before going ahead with the time-consuming shaping and finishing.

Steve A.

[Guitarist]

Sorry brainfart there, is is Alder. It doesn't really sound good unplugged. It does have much going on all, yet. The wiring is pretty good so it may just need more playing but it is being compared to my other two fine machines too; one a neck-tru old Vantage and the other desert aged Koa

As I built it, it can't be resold, so if I drilled horizontally into the wood I ain't got much to lose!

thanks guys.

[eschertron]

As I built it, it can't be resold, so if I drilled horizontally into the wood I ain't got much to lose!

Stuff carbon-composite tubes into the holes you drill. That aughta raise the resonant frequency!
...only half kidding...

[John_H]

By dead do you mean that there is little sustain? If all of the screws are tight, The FR is your culprit.

[eschertron]

By dead do you mean that there is little sustain? If all of the screws are tight, The FR is your culprit.

Of course, you are referring to the Ffestiniog Railway

[Guitarist]

No, that Floyd isn't helping. I may pump energy into the wood and try and get it sympathetic to sound, so will by a Kicker type transducer and figure out the best way to drill in...

thanks.

[somebodyelseuk]

Does the guitar sustain okay? If so, the wood's fine. Forget all the 'tonewoods' bollox, you won't find the word in a dictionary, it's just 'wood'. Fender have used poplar at various points throughout their history, especially the solid coloured Mexican models and love 'em or hate 'em, they're rarely 'dead'. Why do mahogany guitars sound 'darker' than ash ones??? Mostly because ash ones usually have single coils, and a synchronised trem screwed to them, whereas mahogany ones usually have a tunomatic and humbuckers... For years, Tokai sold Les Paul clones made with alder and maple and still all the reviews said they were as good as the real thing.

My first instinct would be to change the trem unit/block material to steel, and/or change the pickups.

It really depends what you actually want from the guitar - more low-end, more mids, more top-end??? It's a case of tailoring the electronics to suit your needs. I'd recommend doing some reading up on how the construction/specs of pickup change the frequency response before randomly swapping pickup.

[Guitarist]

Thanks for the insights. It sounds OK when plugged in especially now that I found better settings and upgrade some Elna Silmic II, 1uF caps in a couple old DOD pedals and lifted some highs-shunting ceramic caps. I'll try and post a sound sample after sorting another issue...

Also, I get more amp hum when I partly turn down the volume pot for some reason. The Carvin power transformer radiates like crazy which may be the problem.

[SpareRibs]

Hello,
Try putting a single coil size humbucker in place of the single coil. You can still use a coil split to somewhat replicate the single coil sound. As you well know the single coil is best set up with a 250 pot .047 cap, humbucker 500 pot .022 cap. The circuit is having internal conflict. Set up either way (250, .047,) or (500, .022) one of the pickups is not functioning to its full potential.

[somebodyelseuk]

Hello,
Try putting a single coil size humbucker in place of the single coil. You can still use a coil split to somewhat replicate the single coil sound. As you well know the single coil is best set up with a 250 pot .047 cap, humbucker 500 pot .022 cap. The circuit is having internal conflict. Set up either way (250, .047,) or (500, .022) one of the pickups is not functioning to its full potential.

...then when tapped you'll be running a single coil with 500k...etc. Same result and you wasted money on a pickup.
You're not using any pickup to it's "full potential" once you include pots and caps into the circuit.
What values to use is completely dependant on what results you require from the guitar. The earliest Strats - the ones people swoon over - had 250/0.1 combo. Jags and Jazzmasters have 1 meg/0.3.
Best thing to do before you get the soldering iron out is to read up on what tone pots actually do to your signal, and how pots and caps work together to achieve it. It'll save a lot of time and guesswork.

[guitician]

Forget all the electronics bollox, the tone is in the strings and how they vibrate. Like I've heard many guitar shopping guides say "If it doesn't sound good acoustically, then it probably won't sound good plugged in."