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

  • Thread starter Thread starter Junk Yard Dog
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I recently swapped the JB/59 combo in my eclipse for a set of Thornbuckers, and have been really happy with the swap, in both positions.

The neck pickup has a little bit of what I liked about the 59, but definitely clearer and less boomy.
 
My two favorites:

Suhr SSV neck

Dimarzio EJ neck

These two pickups never cease to impress me. No mud in my shorter scale guitars...
 
From the ones I tried, the ones that left an impression for openness and handling varying levels of gain were:
70s Gibson T-Top.
Thornbucker
DM Transition
Duncan 59
EMG 66 (you need to go full active and have the 57 in the bridge unless there's a trick I'm not aware of)
Suhr Aldrich (i think..)

Make sure you have the recommended spec pots for whichever pickup you chose
 
UPDATE: went with a DZ PAF Pro in the neck of my Squier John 5 Tele and its pretty bassy despite trying a few things. So I’m looking to go a different direction. I definitely a neck pick up that is very light on the bass.
 
Junk Yard Dog said:
UPDATE: went with a DZ PAF Pro in the neck of my Squier John 5 Tele and its pretty bassy despite trying a few things. So I’m looking to go a different direction. I definitely a neck pick up that is very light on the bass.
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Yeah kind of figured that was gonna happen. I would ask Scott to make you one of his custom A2s.

I had the same problem in one of my guitars - and went through 14 different neck pickups, and that was the only pickup that solved it.
 
I’ve got a Rewind Bloomfield in the neck of one LP Standard and a Rewind A4 in another. Both great. That said, for neck pickups I’ll always spend a number of days (to allow the ears to recalibrate) just playing around with pickup and pole piece heights to get everything in the spot I like them. Takes time and patience, but it’s well worth it.
 
No one seems to talk about it, but I actually really like the Lundgren M6 neck and its cleans are just as good. Of course it wasn’t at all aimed at blues lol, but it’s a great neck pickup imo

Really the very best I’ve tried for this criteria are rare and somewhat pricy: ‘60’s Gretsch Supertron and ‘60’s Gibson Mini-Humbucker. My favorites lower output neck pickups
 
Junk Yard Dog said:
UPDATE: went with a DZ PAF Pro in the neck of my Squier John 5 Tele and its pretty bassy despite trying a few things. So I’m looking to go a different direction. I definitely a neck pick up that is very light on the bass.
Click to expand...

Question -- how close to the strings is your neck pickup? Most neck pickups I drop down to about the height of the pickup ring or maybe slightly lower. The bass side is also a little lower than the treble side. They sit pretty low in the guitar
 
Junk Yard Dog said:
UPDATE: went with a DZ PAF Pro in the neck of my Squier John 5 Tele and its pretty bassy despite trying a few things. So I’m looking to go a different direction. I definitely a neck pick up that is very light on the bass.
Click to expand...

Duncan Jazz neck SH-2n or Duncan Full Shred neck SH-10n.
 
I threw a Dimarzio Breed into my Ibanez neck spot.....fucked around with pole heights and ended up screwing poles to stock and dropping the pickup pretty low....damn......pretty awesome now!

No mud. Almost sounds like the JB in the bridge.
 
Junk Yard Dog said:
UPDATE: went with a DZ PAF Pro in the neck of my Squier John 5 Tele and its pretty bassy despite trying a few things. So I’m looking to go a different direction. I definitely a neck pick up that is very light on the bass.
Click to expand...
Active ceramic. And that opens up the possibility of putting in active EQ pots that can cut the bass.
Pickups in the neck position will naturally be more bass-heavy, because of the position under the strings. Active ceramic has more focused and controlled lows, and much more detail and definition. The least muddy neck pickups I've ever heard.
 
DiMarzio EVH from the Music Man guitars, or the closest available which I believe is the Air Norton.
 
Im mostly happy with my Duncan Jazz but bc i can never leave well enough alone i just got of the new Duncan Phat Cat Silencers but have yet to install it.
 
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