Vigier Excalibur Ultra pickup change

[StevieK]

Firstly hello to all Vigier players! I'm new to the forum so my first post.

Basically I have a Vigier Excalibur Ultra and I love the guitar. I went for this model as it has no pickguard. My only gripe is that it has emg pickups. I have been trying to get used to them but I just can't do it.

I'm basically just seeing if anyone else has ever changed their pickups out of an Ultra before?

I'm looking to put the following in place:

Bridge - Dimarzio Evo2,  Middle - Dimarzio Heavy Blues,  Neck - Dimarzio PAF Pro

What do you think of this combo??

I also was thinking as I need to change the pots I might get push pull ones and split the humbuckers to single coil for versatility. Let me know what you guys think.

Cheers

Steve

[Ben]

Hi Steve,

           It is possible to swap out pickups in any of our guitars...you may want to give our UK repair centre a shout about this (www.smartguitars.co.uk).

 

  For the choice, it is very subjective - I have 2 Ultra's with passive pickups and love the sound. Like you I do not enjoy the EMG's...saying that the Vigier Ultra is hands down the very best sounding EMG guitar I have heard / played.

 

  Good luck with what you choose, I am sure it will sound great!! 

[StevieK]

Hi, thanks for that I'll check them out! I usually use a fella in Leigh that sells me Dimarzio pickups usually at a good price and installs them for free.

I take it there is a Dimarzio diagram for the Schaller 105s switch?

Just out of interest what passive pickups do you have in your ultras and what sort of style do you use them for?

Cheers

Steve

[nickeroo]

I think Vigier use Megaswitch E's. Here are the schems I use. http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electronics,_pickups/Components:_Switches_and_knobs/Megaswitches/Megaswitch_E-Model.html?tab=InstructionsI think your pickup combo sounds awesome. Good luck!

[StevieK]

Hi nickeroo,

Cheers dude!

I think the Schaller 105s is very similar and I'm pretty sure that on an earlier post that it was mentioned thats what Vigier use.

I think that pickup combo is what I'm going to go for. I think that it would be pretty versatile and sound awesome in the Ultra!

[Ben]

Hi Steve, 

My Ultra's are HH with Vol only (no tone), I use SD p/ups in both.

For my Rosewood version I have JB and Jazz (this is my fave guitar to play), though as the p/ups have no height adjustment it can be a little 'hot' at the bridge position (JB). Perfect for high-gain applications though.

For the Maple board version I use a Custom-Custom and Pearly Gates. This guitar records really well and has a very sweet tone for the bridge. Although I prefer playing the Rosewood Ultra, if I am honest, the Maple board Ultra is a better 'all-rounder'...though, for that really sweet and warm neck p/up sound the Jazz is untouchable IMHO.

Both guitars are very versitaile, though as I mentioned the Rosewood Ultra can be a tad 'hot' and not as great for really crystal clear clean tones.

 

For the electronics, yes, it is a selection of DiMarzio and Switchcarft parts.

[StevieK]

Hi Ben, they sound amazing!

Is it possible to order different types of Ultras to a spec of choice? I'd be quite interested in looking into that.

CheersSteve

[Ben]

Hi Steve,

I got these between in 2004 and 2005 and at that time yes, it was possible...but it did cost. Vigier still has a lot of options available to 'pimp' your guitar, have a look at the vRef program to see what is / is not possible on each model (http://www.vigierguitars.com/vprog/ use code HTD-UK01 for UK prices).

They did about 3 or 4 HH Ultra's as spot production at the start of this year, but that was it...all of these have now been long since sold - as this has never been a production model, HH Ultra's are rare as rocking horse !! ;-)

The only HH Excalibur guitars currently available are the Kaos or Indus. 

[Fredrik Pihl]

Being a DiMarzio artist I think it's a good choice of pickup brand to use ;) The EVO2 and the PafPro are both very nice pick ups. Haven't tried the Virtual Vintage heavy blues, but looking at the EQ chart I would have chosen a single coil with less bass to it. That's however just a personal opinion. I like the middle single coils to be quite treble-ish to get some nice crystal clean sounds, especially when blending with your bridge humbucker. I use the DiMarzio Area 61 pickup in my custom HSS guitar and it sounds great.

As for the wiring diagrams, there are plenty of them on the DiMarzio website. I'm sure you'll find the right one. Best of luck and have fun playing your Vigier!

 

/Fredrik