PUP help for my new guitar; 2 humbuckers

[JeffB]

Got a Wolfgang and love it, but through my MESA they sound a bit dark. I need a pup with more presence/highs without adding tons of mids (like a JB does) or getting "thin". The MESA is already a fairly "middy" amp.

For the bridge, I was thinking maybe a custom, but that may be too middy. I would prefer something custom (C5) output or lower as the amp has tons of gain already, but something that will retain clarity under high gain. Demon maybe?

For the neck I was thinking Full Shred (?)

[Benjy_26]

Re: PUP help for my new guitar; 2 humbuckers

Personally, I would go with either a C5 in the bridge and a Pearly Gates in the neck, or a Screamin Demon in the bridge and a Jazz at the neck.

[JeffB]

Re: PUP help for my new guitar; 2 humbuckers

Thanx for the advice. After some thot I think the Custom is a def, and I was thinking Pearly gates may be a good combo with it for the neck. I was even thinking of going 59's

PAF type tones overall with some "oomph"

[Benjy_26]

Re: PUP help for my new guitar; 2 humbuckers

The 59 would also match well with a C5. That being said, I had the 59n in my LP (I know, very different guitars) and I found the bass frequencies to be overly prominent (i.e. "boomy").

I switched to the Pearly Gates and it solved that problem and gave me more mids to play with. Besides, the PG is all over the Gary Moore and Frampton sound.

[St_Genesius]

Re: PUP help for my new guitar; 2 humbuckers

One of my favorite pickups for the neck in a Wolfgang-style guitar is the Distortion. With a high gain amp, you get nearly endles sustain and a great, singing tone for leads.

[JeffB]

Re: PUP help for my new guitar; 2 humbuckers

The 59 would also match well with a C5. That being said, I had the 59n in my LP (I know, very different guitars) and I found the bass frequencies to be overly prominent (i.e. "boomy").

I switched to the Pearly Gates and it solved that problem and gave me more mids to play with. Besides, the PG is all over the Gary Moore and Frampton sound.

Good to know. Thank you. Actually I should have been more clear, I meant 59's for bridge and neck. I think with the bolt on neck's snap, and added snap/brightness from the maple board, the 59 may not get as muddy as it would in a les paul or similar with shorter scale, mahogany, etc. My Amp has so much gain, I think I'd rather go for a lowe output. At the same time though, I love the Custom.

[JeffB]

Re: PUP help for my new guitar; 2 humbuckers

One of my favorite pickups for the neck in a Wolfgang-style guitar is the Distortion. With a high gain amp, you get nearly endles sustain and a great, singing tone for leads.

Oh great...now I just about had made my decison, and somethin else gets thrown in the mix

Seriously thanx for the comments on the Distortion, how would that match up w/ a custom in the bridge?

One other thing I should mention is that I would like to be able to get some decent clean tones. I would think If I went hot with the custom, I'd need something a bit less hot for the neck to help balance it for clean sounds, no?

[St_Genesius]

Re: PUP help for my new guitar; 2 humbuckers

Well, splitting either the custom or the Distortion should work well for cleans, since they're both hot as hell. But the Distortion has got a remarkably clear, articulate voice as it is (given what it is).

As for a Distortion/Custom pairing, that's pretty much the combo I'm planning for my next purchase (in an LP copy), though I'm going with the Distortion-knockoff HB103 because...well...I'm weird and actually prefer it. It's got a certain graininess to it that I dig. But I don't bother trying to reccomend it because I realize how counterintuitive my preference is.

Seriously thanx for the comments on the Distortion, how would that match up w/ a custom in the bridge?

One other thing I should mention is that I would like to be able to get some decent clean tones. I would think If I went hot with the custom, I'd need something a bit less hot for the neck to help balance it for clean sounds, no?

[Benjy_26]

Re: PUP help for my new guitar; 2 humbuckers

If all you play is balls out metal, I would not hesitate to use a Distortion at the neck. If you want to do more than that, somehting with less output might be preffered.

[St_Genesius]

Re: PUP help for my new guitar; 2 humbuckers

That's most certianly the prevailing wisdom, but it hasn't been my experience in the past at all. When I was still working in MI sales, I ended up spending a lot of time with a Samick FB-3 (a sort of half-LP/half-wolfgang) Mahogany body, maple cap. It was loaded with dual HB103s and while I found the bridge pickup to be a bit lacking in almost every setting, the neck pup worked really well for a number of things -- Slash-style leads, punk chordal fuzz, lethargic Eno-esque soundscape melodies, psychobilly riffing...it definitely prefered dirtiness, but I didn't find it limited to particularly agressive metal at all.

We eventually swapped the pickups on it in an attempt to sell it (because in a store full of Fender, it's hard to get people to buy a Samick). We put a DD in the neck and a Custom Custom in the bridge. I still wanted more sharp chunk out of the bridge and I never took to the DD as much as I did its cheaper counterpart (as I recall, the HB is actually hotter...), but the addition of the CC certainly did add more use to the middle and bridge settings. It was primarily my experience with those pickups in that setting that made me decide to try an HB103/Custom combo in my next project, since I think the Custom will give me the bridge sound that the CC couldn't quite manage.

If all you play is balls out metal, I would not hesitate to use a Distortion at the neck. If you want to do more than that, somehting with less output might be preffered.

[rspst14]

Re: PUP help for my new guitar; 2 humbuckers

I would recommend staying away from the Custom 5. I had one in my Wolfgang for a while, it was too bright, too bassy, and too scooped in the mids. Then again, you might like that type of tone if you're using it for metal, but given my experience, I typically advise Wolfgang owners against trying the C5. The Blues Trembucker is a great pickup, but it may not have enough output for you, and it does have more midrange than you might want. My recommendation would be a Demon in the bridge and a Pearly Gates or '59 in the neck. I prefer the Pearly Gates, but it does have a spike in the upper mids that you may not like. But the Demon definitely sounds like it would be the ideal bridge pickup for you.

Ryan

[JeffB]

Re: PUP help for my new guitar; 2 humbuckers

Opps..I meant SH-5 not Custom 5. Just the plain 'ol custom

Thanx everyone for the input. I've narrowed it down to 2 combos: Custom and PGn, or a pair of 59s. Now just have to flip a coin and get 'em ordered.

BTW..can I get F-spaced normal looking pups or do I have to get trembuckers (with the funny pole pieces)? I remember buying a normal looking F-space JB for my DLP strat. But I don't see that on the duncan site.

Not that it matters, but the TB's look silly.