VinceM
Junior Member
Greetings to all the Guild lovers here! I know this is the right place to get advice for my Guild issues.
I have a 1980ish X500. I got it new and it served me well for many years. The thing is build like a tank! However, in recent years, as I have gotten older and pickier about my tone, I became disgruntled with this instrument due to its boominess. Too much low mids (around 180 hz or so).
I am currently running it into a Henriksen Jazzamp with a 10 inch speaker. The 10 inch helps greatly to tame the boom, but still I need to turn the bass practically off to get a reasonable balance.
Is this boominess inherent to this instrument? My tech said the large size can contribute to such prominant low frequencies.
Or is the issue with the pickups? I think I want this guitar to roughly sound like a 175. You know, classic Joe Pass/Kenny Burrell kind of tone. Warm but clear.
Can anyone recommend pickups to tame this boom? My tech also said Seymour Duncan "rates" their pickups according to how prominant the bass/mids/treble frequencies are. So maybe I can find a pickup that is more compatible for the tone I am looking for.
I've tried messing with eq pedals, but this never really satisfied. Ultimatley I want a better starting point with the tone rather than doing major surgery via drastic eq shaping.
I must say, though, I am in more of a "love" phase right now. I recently put on a set of Gibson L5 roundwound strings and they did alot to increase the clarity, combined with drastically cutting the bass on the amp. Previously I was using TI flats. Once the boom is out of the way, this instrument really has an awesome classic jazz tone.
So any thoughts and experiences are most appreciated! I really want to maximize this instrument. I know the tone is in there! Thanks.
Vince
I have a 1980ish X500. I got it new and it served me well for many years. The thing is build like a tank! However, in recent years, as I have gotten older and pickier about my tone, I became disgruntled with this instrument due to its boominess. Too much low mids (around 180 hz or so).
I am currently running it into a Henriksen Jazzamp with a 10 inch speaker. The 10 inch helps greatly to tame the boom, but still I need to turn the bass practically off to get a reasonable balance.
Is this boominess inherent to this instrument? My tech said the large size can contribute to such prominant low frequencies.
Or is the issue with the pickups? I think I want this guitar to roughly sound like a 175. You know, classic Joe Pass/Kenny Burrell kind of tone. Warm but clear.
Can anyone recommend pickups to tame this boom? My tech also said Seymour Duncan "rates" their pickups according to how prominant the bass/mids/treble frequencies are. So maybe I can find a pickup that is more compatible for the tone I am looking for.
I've tried messing with eq pedals, but this never really satisfied. Ultimatley I want a better starting point with the tone rather than doing major surgery via drastic eq shaping.
I must say, though, I am in more of a "love" phase right now. I recently put on a set of Gibson L5 roundwound strings and they did alot to increase the clarity, combined with drastically cutting the bass on the amp. Previously I was using TI flats. Once the boom is out of the way, this instrument really has an awesome classic jazz tone.
So any thoughts and experiences are most appreciated! I really want to maximize this instrument. I know the tone is in there! Thanks.
Vince