Les Paul neck pickups

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Fiesta Red

Fiesta Red

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What are you using for you neck pickup in your Les Paul or other Gibsons? I'm going to try a Motor City BB2 in the bridge and not sure what to pair with it. I've got an Antiquity in one LP and a BK Cold Sweat in the other LP. I know a Duncan Jazz can be good. I don't like a 59 neck because there's too much bass and it gets too flubby.

I've kicked around the idea of a Pariah T-Top clone or a Duncan Green Magic for something a little different.
 
Lollar Low Peak Imperial. I've only used one with a matching bridge though.
Doesn't get much more classic PAF than those.
Had the JB + Jazz set in a McNaught LP and didn't like the Jazz in the neck very much.
 
Right now it's the Wagner Crossroads or the stock Gibson Custombucker in the R8 I just got. Love both.

Great 'bargain' option DiMarzio PAF 59 neck
 
If you are sensitive to 'flub', go with a more underwound option. The Jazz isn't bad but a Seth Lover is better IME
 
You can get a 59 to sound brighter if you make sure your pots are actually 500k. Most Les Pauls come with 300k pots which make just about all neck humbuckers sound about as bright as old mud.

If you want to make it even brighter, you could solder a wire direct to ground to the copper wire connecting both coils, and put a large resistor between the pickup wiring and the ground wire. This will send just a bit of one of the coils to ground, making it slightly quieter than the other coil, which will have the effect of bringing the pickup slightly closer to being a single coil.

I did this with a 59 neck pickup in a Les Paul once and it brightened it right up. Something to note though, the more you cancel out one of the coils in a humbucker, the closer you bring it to behaving like a single coil in both sound and noise.
 
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TheGreatGreen said:
You can get a 59 to sound brighter if you make sure your pots are actually 500k. Most Les Pauls come with 300k pots which make the neck pickup sound about as bright as old mud.

If you want to make it even brighter, you could solder a wire direct to ground to the copper wire connecting both coils, and put a large resistor between the pickup wiring and the ground wire. This will send just a bit of one of the coils to ground, making it slightly quieter than the other coil. This will have the effect of bringing the pickup slightly closer to being a single coil.

I did this with a 59 neck pickup in a Les Paul once and it brightened it right up. Something to note though, the more you cancel out one of the coils in a humbucker, the closer you bring it to behaving like a single coil in both sound and noise.
Click to expand...
You could also use a 1 MEG volume pot.
 
I HATE low output neck pickups in the 7K range matched with the usual mid/higher output pickups that I use.

Even with the JB in the bridge, I always thought the Jazz sounds so weak and plinky, and no matter how close I got it to the strings, it just wouldn't balance.

Duncan Distortion SH-6N and the Duncan Black Winter Neck as far as passives go. But I always preferred something like the EMG 60 or the Fishman Fluence Alnico in there.

As far as I'm concerned, you don't really need a low output, anemic, super bright neck pickup to still sound clear and not overly boomy in there. While it's not my preference, plenty of people use the EMG 85 in there and do just fine.
 
I put in a Seymour Duncan Screamin Demon pickup in my 1974 Les Paul Custom and man, it screams and it sounds great when I split the coil with a SD Triple Shot to use my acoustic simulator.
 
It depends it you lean on it more for clean sounds, or liquidy high gain leads. If it's the former you really need something quite cool (not trendy cool, opposite of hot cool!). The Lollar low wind is nice for this. The latter is much easier to achieve, a basic Duncan almost always works with some height experimentation. If you want boutique, I really rate Wolfetones - and they're reasonably priced.
 
I was very surprised by the Dragonfire Modbucker pickup for the neck, like a Seymore Duncan Screamin Demon but more muscular with Distortion, but cleans up great for clean sounds or acoustic simulators .

GFS, Dragonfire, Guitar Heads and Guitar Madness pickups surprised the hell out of me.
 
ZEN Amps said:
It depends it you lean on it more for clean sounds, or liquidy high gain leads. If it's the former you really need something quite cool (not trendy cool, opposite of hot cool!). The Lollar low wind is nice for this. The latter is much easier to achieve, a basic Duncan almost always works with some height experimentation. If you want boutique, I really rate Wolfetones - and they're reasonably priced.
Click to expand...
Great point, I've chased my tail going back and forth between 'good clean' and 'good lead tone' with neck humbuckers. I don't play much lead with the neck pickup so I tend to like low wind PAF types.
 
Easy to forget, but EVH created the greatest tones just using an old vintage output PAF.
I never got on with high output humbuckers. It's so much easier to add gain to a vintage pup
than trying to clean up a hot one.
 
Although, I don't like John Suhr or Pete Thorn, his Thornbucker in the neck of my 02 Classic LP has been there for years and is not leaving anytime soon.
 
I know the guitar isn’t a Les Paul, but it’s in the same camp: I had a PRS stoptail Tremonti, and while I hate Alter Bridge and all that crap, the stock Tremonti neck pickup was one of the best I’ve tried in terms of balancing good cleans that aren’t plinky and distorted tones that aren’t muddy.
 
I agree with you on the Duncan 59.
Have it in my blues boy
Never bonded with it.
Was always bassy and full.

I wired it in parreral. Now it's sweet and chimney. May want to try that.

I used Super D's in the neck B4. Always clear and never any mud. Back off the volume and it's a lot like a paf

I also have a BB pro in my 02 that is very nice. All around it's just nice.
 
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