What color neck pickup?

[Rex_Rocker]

This is my Les Paul. I recently put the nickel hardware back on. I kinda like switching up my guitars from time to time. I'll probably get the black hardware on at some point in the future, but for now, I dig it.

I'm dead set on puting a Fishman Fluence Classic Neck in there. The one I have right now in there has the cosmo black/black nickel polepieces that don't match the look. I'm moving that pickup into my Epi and getting a matching bridge pickup for the Gibson.

I was just going to buy just a matching plain black one... but how about switching it up a bit and giving it a bit of that mismatched boomer rock hot rod look?

I was thinking zebra, reverse zebra, shiny nickel, or brushed steel.

I'm leaning 40% towards plain black, maybe 30% towards shiny nickel, and 30% toward the rest... but can you guys show me examples of how it would look with the other colors? Please help me decide!

Thanks!

[Rex_Rocker]

This is the guitar:

[Seashore]

Zebra, for best neck tone.

[Securb]

Keep in mind that reverse Zebra has more compression than regular Zebra pickups.

[Seashore]

Keep in mind that reverse Zebra has more compression than regular Zebra pickups.

So that's why regular Zebra sounds more plump while remaining lithe. The creamy part is farther away from the bridge. Makes sense.

[Rex_Rocker]

I found this pic. The reverse of what I was thinking of. Yeah... no, LOL.

[Rex_Rocker]

Yeah... no. Not digging this either.

[Seashore]

True Zebra is with the cream coils on the outside. Can't have high expectations for False Zebra.

I think a nickel or chrome cover on the bridge and black coils at the neck would look cool too.

[Rex_Rocker]

The thing for me about a mismatched neck/bridge pickup is what it speaks for the guitar. I want the focus to be on the bridge pickup. For it to be like the one that looks "out of place". The one that looks like it's going to blow your socks off. The one that if I were in the 60's or 70's or whatever would look like Seymour Duncan gave it to me to replace my flimsy-sounding low-output pickup. Like being the guy with a Les Paul where you want the bridge pickup to sound heavy. So, while I do like how covered pickups look, that's certainly not the rhethoric I want this guitar to have.

So.... that's why I cant a more laid-back classic-looking pickup. But honestly, on that last pic, I think what gets me the most is that the cream coil looks like it doesn't match the rest of the plastics. So that's why it looks it's that one that looks out of place like it doesn't belong.

And on the first guitar, it looks like the black neck pickup is the one that's going to be tough and aggressive sounding because of the black coils...

But maybe, like you said, a "true" Zebra with the screw coil in cream would look better as long as it matched the cream plastics of the guitar and didn't look like a slightly off-white coil.

Hmmm...

[Top-L]

The problem is youre ignoring color of bridge and inlays.

Shiny nickle is the right answer and put the knobs back to original.

Any other color pickup wont match bridge. The silver bridge, silver pickups, silver inlays ties whole guitar together.

[Rex_Rocker]

The problem is youre ignoring color of bridge and inlays.

Shiny nickle is the right answer and put the knobs back to original.

Any other color pickup wont match bridge. The silver bridge, silver pickups, silver inlays ties whole guitar together.

The pic doesn't show it, but the inlays are actually kinda yellow-ish. At least moreso than on the Epi. But not green-ish like the 90's Classics. But not bright white like the Epi.

The tuner tips are also snot green and I hate that, LOL. But I REALLY like the look of those dated Kluson-style tuners on Gibson Headstocks. Too bad they make them in horrible colors only. It came stock with chicken-fat yellow buttons. Those were slightly less disgusting, but they weren't very good. But I switched them out for Grover Deluxe tuners. Those are more stable, but the snot green button is kinda gross, LOL. But they're far from the rest of the cream plastics that I don't have so much trouble with them visually unless I look at the guitar as a whole. I'm still on the look for either black tip or cream tip Kluson-types. But they're kinda hard to fin.

But good point on the bridge. Agreed. No brushed steel, then.

And the knobs... yeah... I dunno. I've never liked gold knobs. I feel like they match nothing in the guitar. And golden plastic is kinda... cheap/sorta distasteful, IMO. Amber knobs are better, but then, those don't match anything else in the guitar, so no go to me.

[Rex_Rocker]

Ended up grabbing the Zebra Classic Neck. I hope I don't regret my decision. It'll be here in one week.



I wish the Classic Neck had a better Voice 2. I love Fishmans in general, but I find Voice 2 in the Classic Neck is just plain... strange to the point of being unusable. It sounds very dark under gain, and clean, it has a weird unnatural chime that for some reason disappears as soon as you drop gain on it. The Classic Neck is honestly my least favorite Fishman I've ever tried, but Voice 1 does work well with Voice 1 on the Classic Bridge. I do wish it was a bit more A2-ish, though.

[Rex_Rocker]

Well... it looks... different, LOL.

I kinda like it for now. It does kinda look like I was in the 70s, and I went and told Seymour Duncan, "Hey, my 7K-ish lousy bridge pickup is not cutting it". And he went, "Throw that girly **** away, and here, have this 16K-ish monster instead".

But at the same time, it does look kinda stupid, hahaha. Kinda like my grandpa found out I'm into music with distorted guitars, and he gifted me a cheap guitar that reminded him of his favorite band before he went all fat and bald. And then, all I could afford to do is switch out the bridge pickup to something heavy, LOL.

Oh, well I guess I'll keep it for now.

[nienturi]

I'd say double cream

[Top-L]

Well... it looks... different, LOL.

I kinda like it for now. It does kinda look like I was in the 70s, and I went and told Seymour Duncan, "Hey, my 7K-ish lousy bridge pickup is not cutting it". And he went, "Throw that girly **** away, and here, have this 16K-ish monster instead".

But at the same time, it does look kinda stupid, hahaha. Kinda like my grandpa found out I'm into music with distorted guitars, and he gifted me a cheap guitar that reminded him of his favorite band before he went all fat and bald. And then, all I could afford to do is switch out the bridge pickup to something heavy, LOL.

Oh, well I guess I'll keep it for now.

Back in the day, if you wanted custom colors, you had to place an order and that took many months. Instead you would just buy the black pickup the store had in stock.

This is that look.