Does SD make a low/moderate output ceramic neck pickup for clean tones?

[Inflames626]

One of my favorite neck pickups is the EMG 60. I like using it for "cold," bright, articulate cleans such as with a Roland JC120. Fenders are used for warmer sounds.

If I remember correctly, the 60 is ceramic (with the far less popular 60A being Alnico 5).

I was wondering if SD has an equivalent to the 60.

I ask because to my ears the Jazz is warmer than the 60. The 59 only gets warmer from there. And so on.

Using the SD pickup screener, I couldn't find a low to moderate output ceramic neck pickup, which seems to me to be a curious gap in the regular production lineup. My thinking here is a ceramic neck pickup will tend to be brighter if wound for a clean sound.

Although they are excellent pickups, neither the Jazz nor the Full Shred neck pickup get me close to the 60. I haven't tried the Distortion neck pickup but I doubt it will. I thought the Screamin' Demon in the neck might work, or perhaps a Pearly Gates if not turned up too much or played too hard.

The closest I've found of what I've tried is, surprisingly, a JB in the neck split using the coil closest to the neck. To me, that is brighter than a Jazz if not as clean. And you get the benefit of a really warm, hot neck humbucker when you use both coils.

Why not just use a 60? I want a passive pickup with more wiring options than the 60.

I thought maybe the Seth Lover could do this but it doesn't split. Alnico Pro II might be a bit too warm. Sentient to my understanding is supposed to be a 59/Jazz hybrid, so too warm.

Possibly a Black Winter neck?

If that doesn't work, I thought I'd try a Benedetto. And if that doesn't work I thought an Eclair from the Custom Shop might work.

Four conductor pickup is a requirement.

Thanks as always for all feedback.

[Mincer]

You could get that sound with active pickups, or you can put a ceramic magnet into a Jazz or Full Shred and see how that sounds.

[veil]

Invader neck, apparently! I just made a thread about it

[alex1fly]

Distortion neck? Just speculation.

You can also nudge the warmth out of a humbucker by lowering it a ton and then raising polepieces significantly.

Or go with a single coil which are much less warm by design.

[Hsb]

I put a ceramic in a Jazz for chits and giggles, Ill just say, it was not pleasing to the ear.

[Blille]

How about a high output HB in parallel?

[Inflames626]

Invader neck, apparently! I just made a thread about it

I wasn't pleased with the Duncan Designed version of the Invaders as I found them way too dark. I would be very pleasantly surprised if an Invader neck was bright and clean to compensate. When I tried the DDs, the neck pickup became a p bass pickup when the tone was turned down fully.


Distortion neck? Just speculation.


I thought perhaps it might be wound too hot to match the Distortion bridge pickup. This might be the case with the Black Winter as well.

I seem to remember an SD blog post talking about a "Seymourizer" bridge pickup prototype from the 1970s that eventually became the Distortion neck. I think some people do use the Distortion neck in the bridge. Maybe I will try that someday, too.

[Inflames626]

How about a high output HB in parallel?

According to DiMarzio, Paul Gilbert did this with Super Distortions on the first Racer X record. I can't imagine why but to make the distortion less thick and the pickup more articulate for his fast alternate picking runs?

I would think this would make the guitar sound too weak by notching out certain frequencies.

[bigcupholder]

Distortion neck? Just speculation.

You can also nudge the warmth out of a humbucker by lowering it a ton and then raising polepieces significantly.

Or go with a single coil which are much less warm by design.

The Distortion neck is not bright at all.

I agree with lowering the pickup and raising the pole pieces on either the Jazz or Full Shred neck, but it's not going to turn a dark neck pickup into something it's not. If something is close but not quite there, it might be enough though.

Otherwise Dimarzio has a lot of medium output ceramic neck pickups, so maybe check out their options. Or, if you want to go even brighter/thinner than the 60, you could get a Kiesel Lithium neck pickup used. They're more like a single coil in terms of EQ but still hum cancelling and medium output.

Sent from my SM-G970W using Tapatalk

[veil]

I wasn't pleased with the Duncan Designed version of the Invaders as I found them way too dark. I would be very pleasantly surprised if an Invader neck was bright and clean to compensate. When I tried the DDs, the neck pickup became a p bass pickup when the tone was turned down fully.


Distortion neck? Just speculation.


I thought perhaps it might be wound too hot to match the Distortion bridge pickup. This might be the case with the Black Winter as well.

I seem to remember an SD blog post talking about a "Seymourizer" bridge pickup prototype from the 1970s that eventually became the Distortion neck. I think some people do use the Distortion neck in the bridge. Maybe I will try that someday, too.

Distortion neck is indeed the Seymourizer, and is not as hot as its bridge counterpart. I bet it would be cool in the bridge.

Here’s a video comparing the DD Invader (“Detonators”). He doesn’t give the neck pickup much time, so skip to the end to hear them clean: https://youtu.be/Fs6HqbEn0u8

To my ears, the Detonators sound decidedly bassier and a smidge less trebly. I think the Invader neck has some treble sparkle that the Detonator doesn’t Still, this demo has A LOT of bass, and he’s tuned pretty low. Most Invader demos I’ve see illustrate its beefy lower mids, not so much these huge sub frequencies. I’ve never tried one though, so idk!

the neck has half the inductance, less than half the DC resistence, and 8kHz resonant peak vs the bridge’s 5kHz, which makes it a lot brighter. Plus, as other forum members taught me, it has a mild low cut cap wired in the pickup circuit itself! sorry to harp on it, I just happen to be fascinated with it right now

[ArtieToo]

PAT-B1. A little more money, but worth every cent.

[Inflames626]

PAT-B1. A little more money, but worth every cent.

ArtieToo , I have all 3--the neck, bridge, and Distortion bridge. I look forward to trying them out and swapping out the Distortion for the PATB Distortion in a Sustainiac equipped Dinky I have that I use exclusively for bridge soloing. I liked how the regular Distortion sounded in that guitar but it needed some mild compression in post to tame those scratchy, ice-picky highs.

[weepingminotaur]

Voting for Black Winter neck. I know it's not moderate output, but man it splits really well and has all the articulation you could want.

[Clint 55]

Put 1 or 2 ceramic spacers in a Jazz. That would get you there to the cold and clear but it wouldn't clank it out too much.

[Rex_Rocker]

Isn't that exactly what the Alpha is?

Neither the Distortion Neck nor the Black Winter neck are brighter than the Jazz, BTW. At all.

They do split much better, though.