Clear, Non-muddy NECK HB for Blues to Hard Rock: Go

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Junk Yard Dog
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I'm putting a new pickup set in a John 5 Squier I purchased for a stage beater. I have 59's in my Charvels to go with my Duncan Customs in the bridge and was thinking to try something a little different. I find a lot of neck pups 'woofy', including the 59's, so looking for something less woofy, more precise, but not 'thin'.

Ideas? Thx.
 
Title is confusing? You want a new bridge pickup or a new neck pickup that isn't muddy?

if neck, Scott's A2 neck is the only neck hb i've ever played that had the definition I was looking for

If bridge, there are a million options
 
Junk Yard Dog said:
I'm putting a new pickup set in a John 5 Squier I purchased for a stage beater. I have 59's in my Charvels to go with my Duncan Customs in the bridge and was thinking to try something a little different. I find a lot of neck pups 'woofy', including the 59's, so looking for something less woofy, more precise, but not 'thin'.

Ideas? Thx.
Click to expand...
Jazz.
 
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As much as I hate to give props to Suhr, the Thornbucker neck is real nice, and make sure you are using a good pot like the RS Guitarworks Superpot.

Otherwise it really doesn't matter what pickup you have.
 
DanTravis62 said:
Title is confusing? You want a new bridge pickup or a new neck pickup that isn't muddy?

if neck, Scott's A2 neck is the only neck hb i've ever played that had the definition I was looking for

If bridge, there are a million options
Click to expand...

Yeah, I fixed the title. Looking for a next suggestion. I really like slashes neck tone.
 
Duncan Sentient...it's not a '59 and its not a Jazz but its around the same output and 'just right' sometimes to quote Goldilocks.
 
Junk Yard Dog said:
Yeah, I fixed the title. Looking for a next suggestion. I really like slashes neck tone.
Click to expand...

I would have Scott make you one of the A2 ones he made me.

My Carlino Impulse is shorter scale, like 24.66 or something, and every humbucker I put in the neck sounded like mud city. It was actually fucking terrible - pearly gates, 57 classics, the output didn't matter, they all sounded like boomy trash with that guitar

You'd have to get @scottosan to explain the specs but it was literally a GAME CHANGER in that guitar, it sounds so bright and alive

That guitar was collecting dust in my closet and now it's my main gigging guitar for my punk band - with Scott's Psykes in the bridge I can basically cover anything I need to
 
I love the SD Saturday Night Special neck and bridge
 
59 BRIDGE position in the NECK position like Dimebag !!!
 
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Duncan Jazz neck model or Duncan Full Shred neck model.
 
I've spent most of my time on guitar looking for neck pickups that aren't glassy, warm, rounded, whatever. Always looking for something articulate, cutting, etc.. It's hard in that position, but I've fallen on these humbuckers; Bare Knuckle Cold Sweat, Seymour Duncan Alpha, and Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates.

I've tried a metric ton and those 3 are the best for articulate neck positions that aren't woofy. Cold Sweat is Alnico V, Alpha is Ceramic and Pearly Gates is Alnico II. Pick your poison, they're all very similar output.
 
The PRS 57/08 is a great sounding neck PAF.

No mud and very articulate , which makes it a good choice for a neck humbucker.
 
Thanks, all. I'll look at a Custom SH-5 in the bridge and the new Slash 2.0 in the neck. Or, maybe just the Slash 2.0 set, which if I went that route would be new for me, and haven't had a 'lower' output pickup like that before in the bridge, but could be worth trying.
 
All the passive neck hbs I've had were muddy to me. EMG 60X and 66 are the only neck hbs that aren't muddy in my LP. Anotger EMG offering that really helps a woofy pickup is the VMC (variable mid control) active EQ concentric pot. 100Hz-1kHz and boost/cut. Cutting ~180-250Hz really clears the mud out of a neck pickup.
 
I totally get what you're looking for as I also tend to prefer brighter neck pickups, especially in Les Pauls. Anyhow, here are the ones I've found that work well especially with the Emerson Treble Bleed Capacitor on the volume pot(s) :
  • Lollar Imperial (A2)
  • Seymour Duncan '78 (A2)
  • Alnico Pro II Neck (A2)
  • Suhr Thornbucker (A5)
  • Friedman Classic (A5)
Some other things you can do that have been helpful to clean up a muddy neck humbucker:
  • Make sure the pickups aren't too close to the strings
    • Measure and set to factory default: usually 2/64" on the treble side and 3/64" on the treble side
    • Lower the neck to pickup taste; then, adjust the bridge pickup heigh to match the output/power
  • Lower the bass side of the pickup 2/64" lower than the treble side
  • Lower the pickup's overall height and then unscrew the pole pieces so they match the radius of the fretboard
  • Flip the neck pickup backwards (works surprisingly well, especially in an LP or Tele)
  • Set your bridge's tone control at 7 and your neck's tone control at 10, then adjust your amp's treble and bass to taste
 
Duncan Sentient
Duncan Parallel Axis
Cold Sweat
Black Dog
Emerald
Illuminator
 
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