Pacifica pickup impedences

What's Hot
WolfetoneWolfetone Frets: 1479
Hi All -

I have a new to me Pacifica 604w. I'm not really that happy with the overly bright and brittle sounding pickups. Does anyone know what the impededences are to give me an idea of where to go with this?

I usually play with really low output at about 6 to 7ohms and play laid back stuff.

Tia
0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom

Comments

  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71951
    It’s not the impedance which is the problem or which determines the sound of the pickup.

    They’re just not very good quality, unfortunately - they’ve always been the weak point of the otherwise excellent Pacificas on all bar the high-end models which I think come with Duncans. Almost any decent pickups will be an improvement - most of the good makers do vintage-style low-output ones now. I would go for a set from the same maker, that seems to give a more consistent result than mixing and matching, to me.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14320
    edited October 2021
    ICBM said:
    … the high-end models which I think come with Duncans. 
    I very specifically recommend the Seymour Duncan TB-14 Custom Five humbucker. 

    My Pacifica 311H was hamstrung by its "in-house" humbucker. It occurred to me that whatever Yamaha installed in the upmarket 611H had to be a good bet. That turned out to be the SD TB-14. 

    Yamaha was right! The TB-14 drives well. It responds well to rolling down the volume pot. (THINKS: You might want to upgrade the 604W's pots.) It splits well to combine with a middle pickup. 

    Given the Pacifica's relatively flat fingerboard radius, it requires single coil-sized pickups with either flush or gently arched polepieces. In the SD range, that limits your true single coil options to the SSL-2 Vintage Flat or APS-2 Alnico II Pro Flat. The STK-4N Stack Plus for Stratocaster is noise-cancelling. So is the SCR-1N Cool Rails but it looks unconventional. 
    Be seeing you.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • WolfetoneWolfetone Frets: 1479
    ICBM said:
    It’s not the impedance which is the problem or which determines the sound of the pickup.

    They’re just not very good quality, unfortunately - they’ve always been the weak point of the otherwise excellent Pacificas on all bar the high-end models which I think come with Duncans. Almost any decent pickups will be an improvement - most of the good makers do vintage-style low-output ones now. I would go for a set from the same maker, that seems to give a more consistent result than mixing and matching, to me.



    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • JeremiahJeremiah Frets: 629
    One thing about the 604w is that the bridge humbucker is actually 2 single coils; you might not be able to put a standard humbucker in there without modifying the body, as I don't think the rout has the spaces at the sides for the mounting lugs and screws.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 1reaction image Wisdom
  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71951
    In that demo it's noticeable on the clean sounds that the cheap pickups have a scratchy harsh high-end which the good ones don't. It gets buried by the overdrive but that doesn't mean it isn't there.

    I've always found that with those ceramic-magnet-on-the-bottom type - they can sound not bad overall, but there's always something a bit rough in the top-end, where proper rod-magnet pickups sound clear and clean. The ceramics seem to lack the deep bass of the rod-magnet ones too. The higher-wound ones somehow manage to sound muddy *and* harsh at the same time!

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 1reaction image Wisdom
Sign In or Register to comment.