C8 v Hybrid in SG w/ ebony board

[blueman335]

Re: C8 v Hybrid in SG w/ ebony board

Ive got a C8 im dumping in a les paul. the neck pup is a 59/jazz. dont like the a5 in that one its too boomy and sterile for me. A4 is really nice sounding but a little flat all across. Im contemplating putting an a2 or a3 but not sure how its going to pair with the a8 in the bridge. Would you recommend popping a uoa5 in the neck? I like warm bright neck pickups with lots of character. I really like the hybrid neck pickup its just a matter of fine tuning the eq in it.

C8's are good in LP's (and SG's, 335's, etc). I like the high-end of A5's in the neck slot, but often times there's just as much low-end ('for every action there's an equal and opposite reaction'). That's what's eventually led me to unbalanced coils, either thru hybrids or spin-a-split. I can get even more high-end than an A5 and not have to pay the price with boominess.

A2's are the warmest alnico; A3's are fairly bright, but with a softer, less cutting high-end than an A5. A3's also have a good dose of mids (as do A2's) which give a PU a bigger sound, especially in the neck slot. I'll use A3's in place of A5's in neck HB's when there's too much bass, and I want to preserve as much treble as possible. Because A4's have a flatter EQ, I think they tend to work best if a PU's is wound to have more character.

For A2's and UOA5's (the two warmest alnicos) to work in the neck for me, the coils have to be underwound so the PU doesn't sound muffled. Because hybrids have a certain amount of single coil sound from the unbalanced coils, I can use wamer magnets at higher resistences, and still keep the cut and bite. For me, that's turning out to be the ideal neck HB: unbalanced coils + warm magnet. I can preserve that PU's flavor ('59B + '59N) or mix things up with other models and brands of coils. If I want to keep a neck HB stock, I'll use spin-a-split.

[dvanburen]

Re: C8 v Hybrid in SG w/ ebony board

makes sense. So im going to ask your for your expertise.. Are 59's and jazz considered underwoud or overwound? I only ask becuause I dont have experience with as many neck pickups as you. From your post you seem to suggest toward the A3 for that 59/jazz neck pup. A4 was better than the a5 for sure but the flat response got old after a while. It sounded really good! but didnt have the character i am looking for. I dont want a neck pup to do anything but match up with the bridge pup volume wise and somewhat eq wise. I want it sound sweet, warm, big (without boominess) and clear. A2 is a really good sounding mag but doesnt have that umph or push that im looking for. A5 seems to be boomy as hell and not near as sweet and warm. A4 is close but overall flat in all frequencies, so it seems to get old quick. I guess I'm leaning toward A3 or uoa5. which one in your opinion would match up with that sweet ass C8?

or are you saying that with a hybrid such as the 59/jazz A5 you would get less boominess than with say a stock 59 A5?

[blueman335]

Re: C8 v Hybrid in SG w/ ebony board

makes sense. So im going to ask your for your expertise.. Are 59's and jazz considered underwoud or overwound? I only ask becuause I dont have experience with as many neck pickups as you. From your post you seem to suggest toward the A3 for that 59/jazz neck pup. A4 was better than the a5 for sure but the flat response got old after a while. It sounded really good! but didnt have the character i am looking for. I dont want a neck pup to do anything but match up with the bridge pup volume wise and somewhat eq wise. I want it sound sweet, warm, big (without boominess) and clear. A2 is a really good sounding mag but doesnt have that umph or push that im looking for. A5 seems to be boomy as hell and not near as sweet and warm. A4 is close but overall flat in all frequencies, so it seems to get old quick. I guess I'm leaning toward A3 or uoa5. which one in your opinion would match up with that sweet ass C8?

or are you saying that with a hybrid such as the 59/jazz A5 you would get less boominess than with say a stock 59 A5?

Most neck PU's are underwound; anything 8K or less I consider underwound. For your '59/Jazz, an A3 will be brighter than an A4 and have more mids and character. But it's low output like an A2. UOA5's have a lot of texture and character, and are warmer than an A3 or A4, but not as warm as an A2. Output is close to an A4's. With bright coils (like a hybrid) I'd try an UOA5 first for the richer sound. You may like that better paired with the C8.

When you swap one coil of a '59N, you dial down the mids and low-end, so a hybrid will be brighter and less bassy (with an A5) than a stock '59N. Most of my hybrids have involved a '59B or N, and bassiness hasn't been an issue.

From reading the links of yours (thanks!) most of you guys are working with hot bridge coils in your hybrids. I'm just the opposite, focusing on medium output and PAF coils, with a focus on the neck slot. At this point, that's where I see the most benefits of unbalanced coils. I particularly want neck HB's that have chord clarity and a sharp high-end to solo with.

[dvanburen]

Re: C8 v Hybrid in SG w/ ebony board

From reading the links of yours (thanks!) most of you guys are working with hot bridge coils in your hybrids. I'm just the opposite, focusing on medium output and PAF coils, with a focus on the neck slot. At this point, that's where I see the most benefits of unbalanced coils. I particularly want neck HB's that have a sharp high-end chord clarity and to solo with.

Im just personally into hotter bridge humbuckers for my style of play, but the concept and goal is all the same. I personally have enjoyed playing all the bridge hybrids ive made and wish i had more guitars to put them in but in the end of the day the custom 8 sounds just great for me. But the 59/jazz is just great and was a big difference in tone from either stock variation for me which is why i find your efforts with the neck humbuckers interesting. The A4 mag sounded great clean but on distortion is almost sounded muffled because there was no push or pull really in either direction eq wise. I know there is some love here for the A4/A8 combo, and i can see the appeal, but didnt match up eq wise enough for me. I'm gonna try the uoa5 and see what that does. I may explore the a5 again in the neck paired with the C8. maybe even the A3