Kind of a newbie question here but, here goes:
I just did a string change and setup -by the manual- (checked neck curvature, string height, pickup height, intonation).
Suddenly it sounds kind of muddy - not sharp or clear, or at least as much as I want. It's worse with the bridge or neck pickups selected; the center one isn't so bad.
I've played with pickup height some more, without much difference, and reset my amp to factory original. No luck.

Any ideas?

Thanks.

Ummm, did you by chance accidently turn the tone controls down while changing srings?

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Bill

Nope. I've checked those through the full range as well.

Did you change the string brand & or type? Some strings are brighter sounding than others.

I know it's a PITA, but I would double-check your setup. Does it sound like someone put a pillow over your amp, or is there other stuff going on? Do open chords sound bright, but barre chords sound "dead"? If your intonation is out of wack, the overtones will be fighting with each other and the chords will just sound murky. Also I would check your pickup height again. I know conventional wisdom says the higher they are, the brighter they'll be, but if they're too high you'll lose sustain and they'll actually pull the strings out of tune, making it impossible to intonate the guitar. Factory specs are a good place to start; I actually usually start with them almost flush and then gradually pull them up a bit to where they sound right.

What kind of pick-ups are in your guitar? If you have Lace Sensor or EMG pick ups your batt may need to be replaced. Could also be dead strings. How old are the strings. I've put new strings on a guitar once and they sounded dead. Once I installed another set of strings everything was okay. Also check your amp settings and effect pedals (dead/weak batt.)

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You dig?

You gotta ask all the questions. I was going to ask the same thing. If someone says "newbie here" I tend to treat them like a toddler when it comes to guitars. Lord knows I've been there and needed it myself.

Do a search on the Forum for "Nickel Method" to adjust your pickups. Then check back here with your results.

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Chet Feathers

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I didn't Lose my mind, I traded it for this guitar.

Well it looks like I've found the culprit by eliminating everything else. Setup was redone by a proper tech.
It turns out that somehow my headphones are shot. Not sure if they were dropped, or got blown out by something getting turned to 10. When I tried a pair of ear buds I got the opposite problem: tinny, too much high end. The amp speaker alone sounds just fine.

So the problem was at the back end of the process, not the front.

Hey! I was close!

Good job.

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Bill