Custom 59 - Too Bassy for my tastes. Suggestions?

[H13]

YO!

...

See above!

I've got a Hybrid 59 in the bridge of my Les Paul. I want this Les Paul to cover a lot of ground tonally but for chugs, it's just a bit too flubby down the bottom end. I also keep trying to get a bit more "fizz" and attack out of it. Nickel Covers are required.

Overall the tone is great when not doing chugs and I like how the pickup behaves, but I am after something a bit tighter and more aggressive for a bridge pickup. I don't want to go completely balls-out and having enough dynamic range to clean up well is important to me.

Thinking of dropping in a classic Duncan Distortion? A JB? Or maybe a Custom 5? Thoughts?

EDIT:
I think it might help if I was a bit more specific about my guitar.

It's a big chunky Les Paul. Typical Mahogany\Maple woods, and pretty heavy. Overall, I'd describe the sound as pretty damn thick.

The Neck pickup (A2Pro) is basically spot on in this Les Paul. It's thick sounding, but real liquidy and it's got a nice bite to it. Love the dynamics and how it cleans up, and the best way I can describe it as smooth. I can almost BB King with it. REAL pretty and awesome for leads.

On Low\Medium Gain, I quite like the 59 Hybrid. The overall tone is pretty great, and doing a big upstroke with my Marshall on mid-gain gives off a suitable beefy AC\DC-ish kerraannngg which is very fun. I like the upper half of the response.

But as I increase the gain, the bottom end goes out of control. Instead of going "chug chug chug" it starts sorta going "blug blug blug". Also with my Marshall JVM on high gain, it gets super thuddy, but in a way that when recorded, you'll filter all that thuddyness out and just end up with a murky sorta bottom end. I'm tending to push up the treble\presence a bit as well to try to compensate for the slow\excess bass. That way I get a bit of extra attack. Also bumping up treble\presence always gives an illusion of more drive, which is good 'cos I'm often tempted to reach for an OD pedal to boost the chugs properly.

(Extra note: I'm not exactly playing Death metal here, but I do enjoy Thrashy vibes)

The bass is my main concern 'cos I reckon I can tweak the amp to get everything else I want to happen, but the bass I haven't been able to out-tweak.

[Mincer]

You might consider the Pegasus, which will do everything you mention.

[skelt101]

Shorter polepiece screws might tame the bottom end a bit.

[Masta' C]

Tighter and more aggressive, but with a similar feel using covers? The regular Custom might be a great choice. Full Shred might be another option. The Pegasus Mincer mentioned could be a good choice, as well.

Once you get into the "Distortion" class pickups, it's hard not to recommend the Black Winter and I say that as a fan of both the regular Distortion and the JB.

[GuitarDoc]

A9 magnet, lower the pup and raise the poles.
Could also try a Fender TBX tone control with bass cut.

[H13]

Thanks for all those suggesting that I modify the pickup itself.

I'm not terribly keen on doing that.

From what I can see online, I suspect that the Duncan Distortion will probably give me the chug I'm looking for. However I do a lot of volume pot ****ery with my playing. How well does a Duncan Distortion clean up?

Edit:

Also worth keeping in mind, I've got an A2 Pro in the neck. LOVE that pickup. That's not going anywhere.

[Mincer]

The Distortion is a pretty high output pickup, so clean ain't its thing. There is too much compression there, and the voicing isn't great for a great clean sound. But that isn't what people buy it for.

[gsammo79]

You might consider the Pegasus, which will do everything you mention.

Do you think the Pegasus will be less bassy? Sounds like a pup that's monstrous on the low end

[beaubrummels]

When you say Custom 59, do you mean 59/Custom Hybrid? You're saying a 59/Custom Hybrid is too flubby/bassy?

I think that leaves the Full Shred, Screamin' Demon or the 78 Model in my mind. (I haven't tried a Pegasus, so I can't comment on that one.). A Custom, a Custom 5, Distortion, Black Winter all have some bass to them, more than a 59/Custom Hybrid IME. You could put hex screws in a Custom 5, that kind of makes it sound like a Screamin' Demon or Full Shred, maybe a little louder, but still can clean up.

[H13]

HA! Yeah sorry for the stuff up.

I meant a Hybrid 59.

Is a Duncan Distortion THAT much hotter than a Hybrid 59?

[Overlord]

Custom 5, or if you want even less/tighter bass and more modern sounding, get a Full Shred.
Next steps up would be the Nazgul, Parallel Axis PTB1, Distortion, or Black Winter.
If you want something tight on the low end that is.

[Overlord]

HA! Yeah sorry for the stuff up.

I meant a Hybrid 59.

Is a Duncan Distortion THAT much hotter than a Hybrid 59?

Or get a Duncan Distortion neck, or Black Winter neck and put it in the bridge if you want something not as hot.

[beaubrummels]

HA! Yeah sorry for the stuff up.

I meant a Hybrid 59.

Is a Duncan Distortion THAT much hotter than a Hybrid 59?

In my Les Paul, my Duncan Distortion was thick. It was similar to a Gibson 500T, but nicer, more articulate, but did have some flubby bottom in mine. It didn't really clean up with the volume so much (you could turn it way down and get clean, but it wouldn't be my first choice for that range of sounds).

The 59/Custom Hybrid in the same Les Paul was pretty even and reasonably tight for me and cleaned up well. But to get less flubby/bass than a 59/Custom Hybrid, in my mind it would take a thin bright pickup, like a '78 Model or Full Shred maybe. (There are other choices, I just haven't used them all so I can't say/recommend others.)

It's worth noting, the same Duncan Distortion in my Jackson was tight from bottom to top, very even and a little bright; almost sounded like a different pickup.

[Mincer]

Do you think the Pegasus will be less bassy? Sounds like a pup that's monstrous on the low end

Well, it is more tight and chuggy than bassy, if that makes sense.

[H13]

I think it might help if I was a bit more specific about my guitar...(Note: I'll add this to the first post. Like what a helpful person would have done at the start!)

It's a big chunky Les Paul. Typical Mahogany\Maple woods, and pretty heavy. Overall, I'd describe the sound as pretty damn thick.

The Neck pickup (A2Pro) is basically spot on in this Les Paul. It's thick sounding, but real liquidy and it's got a nice bite to it. Love the dynamics and how it cleans up, and the best way I can describe it as smooth. I can almost BB King with it. REAL pretty and awesome for leads.

On Low\Medium Gain, I quite like the 59 Hybrid. The overall tone is pretty great, and doing a big upstroke with my Marshall on mid-gain gives off a suitable beefy AC\DC-ish kerraannngg which is very fun. I like the upper half of the response.

But as I increase the gain, the bottom end goes out of control. Instead of going "chug chug chug" it starts sorta going "blug blug blug". Also with my Marshall JVM on high gain, it gets super thuddy, but in a way that when recorded, you'll filter all that thuddyness out and just end up with a murky sorta bottom end. I'm tending to push up the treble\presence a bit as well to try to compensate for the slow\excess bass. That way I get a bit of extra attack. Also bumping up treble\presence always gives an illusion of more drive, which is good 'cos I'm often tempted to reach for an OD pedal to boost the chugs properly.

(Extra note: I'm not exactly playing Death metal here, but I do enjoy Thrashy vibes)

The bass is my main concern 'cos I reckon I can tweak the amp to get everything else I want to happen, but the bass I haven't been able to out-tweak.

IN SUMMARY:

I think I like the mids, but need to roll off the bass and boost the top end and add a bit of extra output. That's kinda why I keep looking at the Duncan Distortion. The Full Shred might be the go if I really need something bright to cut above the "thickness" of the guitar, but I don't want to lose the mids just yet. I also don't want to go too far out, which is why something like a Nazgul or Pegasus doesn't seem right. I've also heard some Customs be a bit brash in the upper mids? Which kinda makes things sound "open" but I don't find that helpful when trying to be chuggy and percussive.

I think my plan to try is:
1) Duncan Distortion (Neck)
2) Custom
3) Full Shred

Is there a big tonal difference between the neck Duncan Distortion and the Bridge? They look the same on the SD Website, but the Neck has less output (albeit more than the 59 Hybrid). I mean if the neck pickup sounds and plays the same as the bridge, but with less output, it seems pretty much perfect for what I'm looking for.

Is there any reason why a Neck Duncan Distortion in the Bridge of an LP, paired with an A2-Pro in the neck of said LP would not work?