Going to ditch the S2 Mira.

[NomadMike]

Yesterday my wife asked me why the Mira is never sitting out on a guitar stand like my LP was, didn't I like it? Considering the Mira was a gift from her she was worried what she was hearing me play all the time wasn't her's.
I realized that pretty much the daily routine after dinner is take the Mira from it's case, plug into an amp or AI, practice or record something, notice an hour or two or three has flown by, curse that I missed a show I wanted to see, unplug, put the Mira back in it's case, hang out with my wife. The one thing I don't do with the guitar is look at it, if it's out, it's being played, and that is just unacceptable. I need to stare at the thing, appreciate the binding, consider mods, look for dents; anything but just play it. That was the nice thing about my other guitars, I had to put them down and uncramp my hand, let the blood get back into my arm, and stretch my shoulders and back, which gave me time to appreciate their looks.
So, off you go little Mira with your playability and lack of flaws... I mean mojo, to someplace else, so I can get back to watching TV and looking at guitars instead of playing them.

Just a bit of afternoon silliness.

 

[HANGAR18]

hahahahaha!!!

 

[NomadMike]

Oddly enough the majority of it's true, except for the ditching part.

 

[Michael B]

Nice!!! LOL

 

[maggior]

Pretty funny. I can relate a bit since a couple of weeks ago I went to a Guitar Center nearby to try out a Mira S2 and a LP Studio Pro. I fully expected the LP to blow the Mira away, but it didn't. I sat there for an hour playing each one alternatively trying to figure out why I would want the LP over the Mira.

In the end I bought a Custom 24 S2, but the feel and playability of the Mira stuck with me. I also like it's quirky look!

 

[GS1]

I think the S2 Mira's are beautiful! I can't stop looking at the antique white.

 

[NomadMike]

I wouldn't know, I don't even know the color of mine. Maybe it's not even a Mira.

 

[gball]

I hear ya man. My Mira has become my total go-to guitar lately - its been weeks since I even looked at one of my others.
I did decide to go over to the dark side with it though: just picked up a DiMarzio Super Distortion and a PAF Pro for it, nickel covers. Decided I wanted to go full-bore '70's rock vibe with it since it has so much of that sauce already. Will report back when i get them installed.

 

[NomadMike]

With the SDs you're really going old school. I finally ditched the bridge SD that was in my LP for decades as I wanted to go the P-90 route.
Last night I played my old Ibanez SSS Strat type which was always comfortable to play. Well it still is but the body was so thick and high that it felt like I was wearing a chest protector. LOL
The Mira's body is just so elegant for a great rock and roll guitar that you forget it's there.

 

[gball]

No doubt. It's such a great feeling, great playing guitar and I feel like it just wants to rock (although it is a great blues guitar also) so I thought "why not go all the way?" and got the DiMarzios. Should be face-melting, but you never know - maybe I won't like it and will put the original pickups back in.

 

[NomadMike]

I wouldn't mind hearing what you think with the SD in there. When I went with a P-90 in my LP I used a Duncan P-Rail and have to say in humbucker mode it's the thickest sounding HB I've ever had. If I ever get another Mira (I need a white one now) I'll likely try the P-Rail in the bridge slot and the old PAF in the neck. I might even give that old SD dual sound in the bridge, but I'll keep one stock. Yeah, that'd be cool.

 

[gball]

Will let you know if it has the desired effect. Hoping to find time this weekend to install them.
Funny you mention getting another as I was just thinking the other day that I should get another one (probably white also!) and drop some P-90's into it. Or if this experiment works out keep it stock.

 

[NomadMike]

My wife picked out the cherry finish, which would have been my first choice anyway, but the white ones look damn fine. The Mira's just scream old school and a nice set of P-90s would look right at home.
So I need three more S2s, a blue SC, a Starla and a white Mira. That way I can play one while looking at the others. Problem solved!

 

[gball]

So I need three more S2s, a blue SC, a Starla and a white Mira. That way I can play one while looking at the others. Problem solved!

That would be a nice setup!

 

[maggior]

When the day comes that I have some extra cash burning a hole in my pocket, a Mira S2 will be on the top of my list to look at again. When I bought the Custom 24 S2, I told my wife how much I liked the Mira also. She said "you're only buying the one, right?". So I COULD buy both......hhhmmmmm I did the responsible thing and only bought one.

 

[gball]

Got 'em in. Wow! I expected a difference, but not like this. First, the stock pickups are very good, but I gotta say these S2's (at least the Mira) deserve a bit better because the thing really came to life with the pickup swap. The Super Distortion is a great bridge pickup in this guitar - just perfect, classic rock tones all day long. Very responsive and fills out the bottom end that was lacking with the stock pickup. Been so long since I played one I forgot how good SD's are - really nicely detailed an articulate in the Mira. And a nice surprise is that split the single-coil sound is a lot more powerful and throaty than the stock pickup. Really, really nice.
But the big surprise is the PAF Pro in the neck. I'm shocked I don't hear people talking more about these pickups, because it may be the best neck pickup I have ever heard. I admit, I chose it based on the specs and info on the Dimarzio website, and very glad I did. Killer neck tones by itself, and the two pickups together are perfectly balanced and turned out to be a great pairing. Single-coil mode is more "strat-like" than the stocker. It's worth mentioning also that these Dimarzios are the most dead-quiet pickups I've used too.

If any of you guys are thinking about putting covered pickups in your Mira, take note that they won't drop right in. I had to file the corners of the pickup cutouts in the pickguard to get them in, but once there it worked out great, and although visually it's a big change from stock I think I like it better.

Here's how she looks (sorry for the crappy cell-phone pic):

 

[NomadMike]

I wonder what the differences in specs are between the stocks and the SD/PAF combo? Was the change dramatic or more like fine tuning?

 

[gball]

I wonder what the differences in specs are between the stocks and the SD/PAF combo? Was the change dramatic or more like fine tuning?

Seems the stock pickups are the same output as the US versions, which are listed at 8.6 and 9.6. I should have put them to the meter after I took them out but forgot. The Dimarzios are 8.4 for the PAF Pro, and 13.68 for the Super Distortion. The output of the neck pickup is basically identical and the bridge is definitely capable of more hair and grunt but not as huge a jump in output as you might think.

I'd say the change is more of a fine-tuning thing for sure. The Dimarzios just bring out more of what it already great about the guitar. The neck has a lot more clarity and note definition than the stock, and doesn't muddy up at the bottom end as much (As I mentioned, that PAF Pro is just sick, Incredible neck tone). The SD does what they've always done - bring the rock. It sounds very similar to the stock pickup but with more detail and harmonics. The higher output definitely doesn't hurt the Mira and the bigger bottom end from the pickup gives it some girth it didn't have with the stock. Mess with the volume and you have the tones from 2/3 of the rock records made in the '70's.

I'm very happy with the results of this swap and I really think dropping these new pickups in has made the tone of an already great sounding guitar as good as anything I have ever played.

 

[NomadMike]

Nice! If I was going to change I'd probably drop the old PAF from my LP into the neck, it's just so clear, warm and maybe it's aged to just right being 35 or so years old. The SD dual sound was my workhorse pickup for about the same time, 35 years, but I realized back in the 80's that I was using it a little more in parallel or single coil than it's full series humbucker sound. That may just because of the amps I switched to and type of music I was playing towards the end of my band days. I may have to give the old fella a shot in the Mira one of these days.

 

[gball]

That's not too much of a surprise. The split sound of the Super Distortion is really great (the PAF Pro as well) and I was finding ingle-coil sounds with it yesterday that were very satisfying. It is a much better split pickup than the stock one was, but I have to give the caveat here that i have not tried it through a proper "clean" amp yet - just through my Rivera with a pretty healthy dose of gain. I'll let you know how it sounds after I try it through a Twin.

I say drop it in there - you can always go back if you don't like the results.