Same set of pickups in two different guitars. What the

[Wallaby]

You could try swapping the pickup sets between the guitars and see if the phenomena follows the pickups, or the guitars.

 

[11 Gauge]

Are you 100 percent certain the electronic circuits are identical in both guitars? Even relatively small differences in, say, the resistances of the pots could be enough to make a difference. But could be something as straightforward as 1M vs. 500K pots, etc.

Most likely this, would be my guess.

And even though it's possible that both guitars might have four 500K pots installed, I wouldn't be surprised if the ones in the Ibanez simply spec'ed out a little lower than the ones in the LP copy.

It's also possible that the tone cap(s) in the Ibanez might spec out to a higher value, as well.

 

[Billy3]

Okay, I understand there will be some tonal differences. One of the guitars is a Les Paul copy, and the other is a 335-ish Ibanez AS-73. The Les Paul copy is more aggressive sounding and the Ibanez sounds a bit darker, which I get. But the Ibanez also seems to have lower output when hitting the front end of the amp. More preamp overdrive from the Les Paul copy. Theoretically, could different guitar materials/construction/type actually affect signal amplitude when leaving the guitar?

One theory I have is that since the high-end seems to be tamed a bit on the Ibanez, that's less signal overall hitting the amp. I don't know. Is this how it works?

Pickup set in both guitars is the Guitar Madness '57 Alnico II Special.

Have you measured the resistance of the pups and pots? Fwiw,I put those exact pups in a Lp special knockoff and am quite impressed. The neck is really nice. The bridge is a little nasally, but still an upgrade from what was in there before. Not bad for a $35 set.

 

[standup]

I love TV Jones Filtertron style pickups. I have a hollow body Gretsch and a partscaster Tele/Cabronita with the same TV Jones pickups, and the neck pickups sound worlds apart. The Tele is brighter and more compressed sounding. The hollow body is more midrangey and “looser” sounding. It verges on jazz guitar tones. The partscaster solidbody never gets close.

the construction and materials of the bodies make a big difference.

 

[11 Gauge]

I love TV Jones Filtertron style pickups. I have a hollow body Gretsch and a partscaster Tele/Cabronita with the same TV Jones pickups, and the neck pickups sound worlds apart. The Tele is brighter and more compressed sounding. The hollow body is more midrangey and “looser” sounding. It verges on jazz guitar tones. The partscaster solidbody never gets close.

the construction and materials of the bodies make a big difference.

I'd argue that in your instance, probably what's causing the differences might mainly have to do with:
- a different scale length for those two guitars (24.6" for the Gretsch and 25.5" for the Cabrio)
- where the neck pickup is located, WRT its point between the nut and bridge

...Just visually looking at many Gretsch hollowbodies, you'd be lucky to even get another Filtertron in between the pair that's in there, while with a Cabrio, you could possibly fit two more in between.

 

[TheCheapGuitarist]

Have you measured the resistance of the pups and pots? Fwiw,I put those exact pups in a Lp special knockoff and am quite impressed. The neck is really nice. The bridge is a little nasally, but still an upgrade from what was in there before. Not bad for a $35 set.

Yeah, that's the thing - in my Les Paul copy, they sound great (to my ears). In the Ibanez 335 copy they sound great too but the output difference is what's confusing me.

 

[hopdybob]

almost simple method is changing the pups and hear if the same sound is there like before changing.
than you could rule one thing out, that the pickups could be not the same.
then wiring is the next suspect like if the pickups go first to the switch and then to the pots, ore after the volume the pots to the output.

value of pots (measured because of the tolerance) and with caps there are tolerances to.
so a lot to explore to know for sure it is the building construction that changes things