Any tips to tame harsh treble on SE Zach Myers?

[steveoh316]

Hi, I've had a new SE ZM for a few months now and I'm struggling dialing it in. The bridge pickup has a harsh treble attack that I can't seem to tame. I've played with pickup height, but to get a balanced sound (to my ears) the treble side of the pickup needs to be significantly lower than the base side so it has a big angle.

I'm trying to do the setup with Vol and Tone at 10. I understand I can roll off the tone to cut but I haven't had an issue like this on other guitars. Are the 245 pickups that bright or maybe the Semi-hollow body affecting it?

Before swapping out pickups I was curious what you guys may have done...either mods or tone/volume knob settings?

FYI, I'm mostly playing classic and alternative rock.

Thanks in advance...

 

[rbert0005]

That’s why there are 10 numbers on the tone knob. They are there to use.
If they didn’t want you to adjust for taste there would be no adjustment

 

[ChickenRob]

Try rolling the volume down to 8. This works wonders on one of my guitars that needs the treble taming better than rolling off the tone. If it works you could measure the change of resistance it took to get you there, solder in a resistor and then go back to 10.

 

[AP515]

...I'm trying to do the setup with Vol and Tone at 10...

Why make it harder than it needs to be? Just roll back to a spot you like. If there isn't a spot you like then maybe you need another pickup.

 

[alantig]

Hi, I've had a new SE ZM for a few months now and I'm struggling dialing it in. The bridge pickup has a harsh treble attack that I can't seem to tame. I've played with pickup height, but to get a balanced sound (to my ears) the treble side of the pickup needs to be significantly lower than the base side so it has a big angle.

If that gets the sound where you want it, I wouldn't sweat how the pickup is slanted. History is littered with musicians who've done things that aren't "normal" to get their instruments to sound the way they want. I mean, let's face it - if you'd walked into a guitar store in 1976 and saw a Strat-shaped body with one pickup, one volume knob, two empty pickup holes and a quarter screwed to the front of it, you'd probably have turned and walked away from it, but it's what did the job for Eddie.

If you have access to another sample of the guitar (either one someone owns or just in a store), you can always sit down with that one for five minutes and see if it behaves the same. That would at least give you an idea if yours is an outlier.

 

[show_a_little_faith]

Hi, I've had a new SE ZM for a few months now and I'm struggling dialing it in. The bridge pickup has a harsh treble attack that I can't seem to tame. I've played with pickup height, but to get a balanced sound (to my ears) the treble side of the pickup needs to be significantly lower than the base side so it has a big angle.

Don't forget you can raise/lower the individual screws in the pickups too, to further tweak/refine the balance

 

[The Bird]

I think you might benefit from changing to slightly hotter pickups. I remember having a Zach Myers and swapping the pickups to SD Pearly Gates pickups, which are a bit more compressed. A lighter pick might also help, but it might be unfruitful to change the feel of the pick. The 245s pickups are a bit thin and bright. A slightly hotter PAF type might help with balancing feel and sound.

 

[Jo-]

That’s why there are 10 numbers on the tone knob. They are there to use.
If they didn’t want you to adjust for taste there would be no adjustment

I believe this is the way.

So many people just leave their guitar knobs on 10 and then futz with the amp. But there’s such a great range of tones to be found from turning down the volume (great for going to cleaner sounds when using distortion) and the tone knob. It’s pretty amazing how responsive the knobs are. Play with them.