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Reviews of the 59 Model

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  • darren
    replied
    Re: Reviews of the 59 Model

    My main guitar these days is a Dean EVO Special 7. It's a Les Paul-ish 7-string with a mahogany body and maple top.

    I only had the guitar a couple of weeks when i decided that the stock OEM pickups just weren't adequate. They didn't sound all that bad, but they were horribly microphonic, and just didn't have the right "voice".

    I immediately ordered a JB-7 for the bridge, and agonized over getting either a Jazz-7 for the neck, or the '59-7. Since i'm mostly playing heavier music these days, i opted for the '59-7, as it would give me a bit more versatility.

    Both pickups were ordered in 4-conductor configurations. My preferred setup is humbuckers at the bridge and neck positions, with series/parallel switching on each. This gives me 8 unique tonal options, every one of them hum-cancelling.

    The '59 is an awesome pickup. It is very balanced, without sounding generic or "sterile". It has loads of depth and warmth, though the lower-mid and bass frequencies can dominate a little bit in a mahogany-bodied guitar. If you're used to boosting your mids and bass at the amp, you might have to roll them back a bit, as the '59 handles them nicely on its own. In fact, this pickup sounds amazing with very flat EQ. Very little tinkering is required, but it responds nicely when you do tweak. It sits back nicely for rhythm work, but can easily be made to roar.

    The clean sound is percussive and lush, with a deep, warm voice. When switched into parallel mode, the lows and low-mids get rolled off just a touch, and it gains more high-end sparkle, with just a touch of "glass" and twang. Surprisingly, it does not lose very much volume in this configuration, making it a very useful tonal option! It can add just a hint of single-coil vibe without getting thin and nasal. Very nice.

    Cranking the gain gives you punchy, thick sounds well suited to almost any style, depending on your amp and signal chain. It can give you a super-heavy wall of sound, or can do classic rock grit equally well.

    The '59 also complements the JB in the bridge very nicely. They're almost the tonal opposite of one another, giving me loads of versatility without having to get into fussy switching or active electronics. Just a three-way toggle and two push-pulls.

    I'm currently running my guitar into a Boss GT-6, where i'm using several amp models, mainly JC-120, Twin, Vox, Matchless and Rectifier. The GT-6 then runs out (in stereo) through a BBE 482 and then into a Peavey Classic 50/50 power amp, driving a Genz Benz G-Flex 212 cabinet.

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  • 59paul
    replied
    Re: Reviews of the 59 Model

    I Totally agree with everything Lew has said on this thread. Lew, ya NAILED it !!!!

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  • Lewguitar
    Guest replied
    Re: Reviews of the 59 Model

    Originally posted by aroman
    I thought I liked my C5 on my LP bridge. I am happier now with a 59b for the reasons mentioned above.
    That's great! When I hear my favorite rock players who use humbuckers (Vai, Satch, Van Halen, Eric Johnson, etc.) they all leave a little room for some space in thier tone...it's not all filled up, squeezed, compressed and artificial sounding. There's an organic human quality to thier tone. Humbuckers under 10K, like the 59B, Seth Lover and Antiquity, have more of that quality. I like the C5 and the JB and the CC too...but for a change of pace, not for my everyday tone. For my everyday tone, I prefer pickups like 59B or 59TB. Lew

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  • aroman
    replied
    Re: Reviews of the 59 Model

    Originally posted by Lewguitar

    Kids might think they have to have a 14K or 16K to get a great modern lead tone but nothing could be further from the truth. The 59B or 59TB will start to push any Marshall or Fender into overdrive at about volume 4 or 5 and your tone will not be that stuffy, overly hot tone of an overwound humbucker: you'll have some breath and sense of space.

    Lew

    I thought I liked my C5 on my LP bridge. I am happier now with a 59b for the reasons mentioned above.

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  • Scott_F
    replied
    Re: Reviews of the 59 Model

    I found the 59 to be a tight focused PAF tone, ballsy for sure. People say it's not a high output pup, but to my ears it sounded higher output than most of what else I play.

    Classic Rock tones and a tight bottom.

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  • Lewguitar
    Guest replied
    Re: Reviews of the 59 Model

    I love the 59B and 59TB...esecially as the bridge pickup in a super-Strat with two vintage style single coils for the neck and middle. But I also use the 59TB as the only pickup in my single pickup "EVH" style Strat.

    Personally, if I could only have one Duncan bridge humbucker it'd be the '59. Fat bass, fat mids and snappy, not to glassy, highs.

    Great EVH style tones through a cranked Marshall or vintage Fender amp.

    Also dynamite in a SG or 335 style guitar.

    Kids might think they have to have a 14K or 16K to get a great modern lead tone but nothing could be further from the truth. The 59B or 59TB will start to push any Marshall or Fender into overdrive at about volume 4 or 5 and your tone will not be that stuffy, overly hot tone of an overwound humbucker: you'll have some breath and sense of space.

    I think the 59B nails the Clapton with Cream tone...my favorite humbucking tone of all time.

    I have always found the neck version, the 59N, to be agreat pickup but one with more bass than I want from a neck bucker.

    For that reason for a neck bucker, I prefer the alnico 2 Seth Lover, over the '59 N when it comes to a neck humbucker.

    But for a bridge humbucker: the 59B or 59TB is probably my favorite Duncan bridge humbucker all in all.

    Lew
    Last edited by Guest; 05-15-2004, 10:20 PM.

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  • Reckless Abandon
    replied
    Re: Reviews of the 59 Model

    Very Articulate and smooth with the right amount of grit. Bright with enough bass and mids. Great vintage sound.

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  • motorhead
    replied
    Re: Reviews of the 59 Model

    Average and affordable.

    Much better PAFabbes out there.

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  • mrfjones
    replied
    Re: Reviews of the 59 Model

    i've got a set in my bluesbird and they are great. nice and clean but can get really dirty if needed. They can do great led zep, and other classic rock sounds and they are also hot enough for some newer styles and even some jazz. The set is nice warm and full sounding. great all around and versitile PAF pickup.

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  • Spoonman
    replied
    Re: Reviews of the 59 Model

    The '59 has great bass and high end, and it does classic rock as well as it can do metal. It also has a really nice clean sound, very clear.

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  • BluesNRock87
    replied
    Re: Reviews of the 59 Model

    59n is one of the best PAF type pups out there IMO, great for that classicrock sound, can do blues, and others. not as versatile, but excellent at what it does. i have mine in the neck of an all maple H-S-H guitar (godin sdxt) and use it for rythm work primarily, but for some lead. it can do all sorts of classic rock tones, and through just about any tube amp it really sounds amazing.

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  • xerxes
    replied
    Re: Reviews of the 59 Model

    i have it in the neck position of the ltd ec-1000, and i use it for soling a lot. it sounds killer for soloing....and with the volume rolled back or the amp on a lower gain setting, it sounds killer for allman bro's type sound. also, it sounds great distorted, very bassy which i like for a few songs i do.

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  • MCG
    replied
    Re: Reviews of the 59 Model

    In the ballpark of the PAF sound, all though a tad hotter.
    A nice in-between classic and contempary tones.

    MCG

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  • Vasshu the humanoid typhoon
    replied
    Re: Reviews of the 59 Model

    Great pickups for those who likes classic rocksounds.
    Very good versatile pickup with lots of breath and openness.
    Sounds good in most guitars that has a good sound on their own.
    As Stevo pointed out, if your amp is of less quality the sound will suffer, otherwise a very complimenting pickup.
    The neck can also be applied as a bridge pu, if you want a clear sound and wants balance with your singlecoils, works well with SSL-1's.

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  • Stevo
    replied
    Re: Reviews of the 59 Model

    59b
    This pickup has transparency, where the supporting factors, guitar and amp, your fingers, have more freedom of expression. It does not seem to narrowly focus on one definitive frequency. It sounds natural to the guitar that it is in. It is typically bright and somewhat twangy when clean. It is very "open" (not compressed sounding), when used with distortion. In one word I would call it "pure".

    59n
    This pickup is "fat and glassy". It is pretty sensetive to pick attack, therefore lending lots of expression and style, depending on the player.
    This neck version is not as transparent as the 59b. It has a certain lower midrange edge that gives it a specific personality.
    When it's tone is distorted, it seems to demand quality of amplification. It does not sound that great with cheap distortion, especially at low volumes.

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