Pickup advice - T386

[JohnnyH]

Hi all,

Hopefully someone might have some experience here that can help me.

I bought a T386 back in July 2022, and I have played it almosr exclusively since then. My Gibson ES135 and Strats and Teles have all taken a back seat. 
I love the neck, the look, the ebony fretboard, the frets... well I just love it

Anyhow, the only issue I have is when I use it with my BLues Cube Stage. Basically it flubs out, I tend to use the neck pickup for 80% of what I play, and it is soooo muddy and flubby. It's not so bad if I grab my little Pro Junor to run it through, but still a bit.

It has the original Kent Armstrong pickups in, and I measured them to approx 8.6 neck and 8.58 bridge, so I am wondering if a nice set of lower output, better quality pickups might be the answer.

So, what recommendations do folk have, I have looked at Lollar Imperials, Seth Lovers, Antiquities etc... they all seem slightly lower output, not massively, but slightly.

Any help appreciated.

Cheers

Johnny

[Wildfield]

Have you tried lowering the pickup height?  Might be worth a try.  Good luck!

[JohnnyH]

Have you tried lowering the pickup height?  Might be worth a try.  Good luck!

Hi,

Yes I've set them lower today, and it is a slight improvement, about 50% of the way there.
I'm wondering if the Lollar Low Winds (or similar) might be the answer.

Thanks for the suggestion though, it has at least improved sustain higher up the neck.

[Jozie]

Hi Johnny - I put Seth Lovers in mine - they sound great. 

Here's something to try though - I only discovered this a couple of weeks ago and it was a game changer for me with a Roland Blues Cube.
Forgive me if I'm telling you how to suck eggs here - but its a classic set up for a Fender type amp with a mid control - the magic 6. Bass at 2, Mid at 3, Treble at 6 - with the gain at a md-ish point. See if it cleans up at all - this was a revelation for me with the Blues Cube - always sounded flabby or hard somehow. 

Let me know what you want to know about the Seths in the 386.

Cheers