Sweeten up SG

[alex1fly]

Tone conundrum, hoping for some perspective on the neck pickup of this 24-fret SG. I want woody, jazzy, warm, sweet, but still with clarity for clean chords - is this doable?

Stock 57 Classic (alnico 2) did everything I listed for lead lines, but was muddy for chords.
JB just came out, it had clarity and sweetness but not the other qualities.
PAF Pro is in there now, it has the clarity even less of the other qualities than the JB did.

The bridge pickup is also a PAF Pro which nails the woodiness/jazziness/warmth/sweetness/clarity right out of the box and is just dynamite. So I'm optimistic it can be done, just need to put the right pieces together. What do y'all think?

[ErikH]

Put the '57 Classic back in, disconnect the neck tone pot.

[piblock]

Wolfetone Dr Vintage fits the bill. I haven't used Seth Lovers, but in the Duncan line they may as well. If you want to mix it up a little and don't require a humbucker, look into Harmonic Design Z90s.

[TVFV]

Air classic might work here

[beaubrummels]

Parallel Axis neck? Roll the tone for warmth.

Full disclosure - I haven't tried the neck one myself, going by descriptions.

[eclecticsynergy]

Neck pickup choices for 24-fret guitars can be difficult because they're brighter there than in 22-fret guitars.

I concur with ErikH - put the 57 Classic back in.
My advice would be to add a PRS-style 180pF treble bleed cap on the neck volume pot.
This doesn't just preserve highs, but actually changes the resonant peak for more of a quasi-singlecoil vibe when you roll back.

You could also try a bass-cut network like ArtieToo's wonderful De-Mud Mod.
This will clarify chords, but leave your pickup's lead voice virtually unchanged.

I believe the factory 57C is old school single wire / braided shield, yes?
You can wire the bass-cut network between the pickup's hot lead and the volume pot.

Alternatively you could just use a plain 0.075uF or .068uF cap there - not quite as elegant but simple and easy.
The rule of thumb is, you want a bass cut cap larger than your tone cap (typically .022uF on recent Gibsons).
Some recommend putting a series cap downstream from where the tone control attaches, some technical info here:

[Rick330man]

I've got a few SG Specials, a pair of SG Deluxes (3 mini-humbuckers) and a 1979 SG Standard, so you could say I'm a bit of an SG fanatic. One of the Specials has had various pick-up swaps - including a set of Gibson P94s and a set of Harmonic Design Z90s.

The best pick-up to my ears for achieving what you are looking for is the DeArmond Gold Tone. It is a PAF voiced humbucker. The Z90 and P94 get woody tone, but the Gold Tone also delivers a level of warmth that the Z90 and P94 just can't.

Just my opinion.

[skelt101]

To get more clarity out of a stock Gibson, it has been my experience that they respond well to lowering the pickup body and raising (perhaps more than one might think) the adjustable polepieces. It might look a little out of place at first, but it works. You might also try swapping to an Alnico 3 magnet.

[alex1fly]

So on a lark last night I threw an Air Norton in the neck position. It's hot but when I lowered it to be equal volume to the bridge pickup, holy smokes. All the extra frequency content, sweetness, chimeyness, and personality I was looking for. Sounded great this morning too, go figure!

[eclecticsynergy]

So on a lark last night I threw an Air Norton in the neck position. It's hot but when I lowered it to be equal volume to the bridge pickup, holy smokes. All the extra frequency content, sweetness, chimeyness, and personality I was looking for. Sounded great this morning too, go figure!

I don't know if you're interested in push-pulls, but the AN in neck position does nicely in parallel too.

[LLL]

neck pickup... I want woody, jazzy, warm, sweet, but still with clarity for clean chords - is this doable?

Seth Lover neck (SH-55n)