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What Neck Pickup?

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  • What Neck Pickup?

    I’ll be dropping an SH-5 into my LP soon and I’m not sure what to pair it with in the neck. I have a bunch of pickups on hand that I’d like to ideally use instead of buying something new.

    Here’s the choices.

    Bluesbucker(DP163)
    PAF 36th Anny(DP 103)
    PAF Classic (DP194)
    BKP Rebel Yell

    The Custom is a zebra bobbin and the others are all black bobbins. The BKP still has a nickel cover on it so I don’t know what color the bobbins are....I’d be open to checking out some of those sticker toppers if anybody knows where to get them. I see them on eBay but wasn’t sure if anybody knows a better place to get them?

    What are your thoughts on the neck pickup?

    Rock, hard rock tones. Not looking for modern metal sounds....more like what you would call “classic” high gain Marshall hard rock tones.

    The bluesbucker is interesting because it can do a pretty good p90 bluesy sound.
    The 36th, iirc was bassy and maybe too thick. But I probably could have tweaked that a bit more.
    I’ve never had the PAF Classic installed so I don’t know much about the it and the BKP was installed so long ago that I can’t recall the details. I do remember it being a good pickup though.

    Currently I have a set of Fokin pups installed. The neck pickup is his “Rocket Queen”. It’s like an A2P or Slash neck. And it sounds good...but I’m maybe looking to experiment.
    Last edited by Gtrjunior; 04-07-2020, 07:03 PM.

  • #2
    Re: What Neck Pickup?

    Duncan 59. I have it in the neck with a JB bridge and it is glorious.

    But of those I’d try the Rebel Yell.

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    • #3
      Re: What Neck Pickup?

      Give that Bluesbucker a shot.

      Comment


      • #4
        What Neck Pickup?

        Originally posted by chadd View Post
        Give that Bluesbucker a shot.
        I did have the BB in there a while back and I liked it. It has a nice round, almost “stratty” sound. It’s a front runner right now.


        The wildcard is the PAF Classic. I’ve never used it. From what I understand, it’s discontinued and a lot of people want Dimarzio to make it again.
        Last edited by Gtrjunior; 04-07-2020, 12:02 PM.

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        • #5
          Re: What Neck Pickup?

          Originally posted by David Garner View Post
          Duncan 59. I have it in the neck with a JB bridge and it is glorious.

          But of those I’d try the Rebel Yell.
          No issues with the “boominess” with the ‘59?
          I know a guy that uses it in his LP too and it does indeed sound great.

          The RY was a really good pickup too. That’s another one that’s leading the pack

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          • #6
            Re: What Neck Pickup?

            Originally posted by Gtrjunior View Post
            No issues with the “boominess” with the ‘59?
            I know a guy that uses it in his LP too and it does indeed sound great.

            The RY was a really good pickup too. That’s another one that’s leading the pack
            None at all. I have it set high on both sides too -- about 6/64 (3/32) from the strings with the E string depressed at the highest fret. If anything it has more bite than the A2 pickups I'm used to, and more even than the UOA5 490r I replaced with it. My preference is still for the A2, unpotted PAF wind. I have the Custom Shop Pearly Gates set in my Traditional and they are unpotted and sound phenomenal. In this one, with that hot bridge pickup, I wanted something with a little more cut and bite, and the 59 is exactly what I was looking for.

            I'm not sure what era this particular 59 is from other than it's 1990s onward because it has the model number and serial number on the sticker instead of the model designation and winder's initial like my JB has. It does not have the logo, but it could have been a Shop Floor Custom. It also could have the logo removed, but there is no indication of that from looking at the pickup -- it looks to me like it never had one.

            This is it (photos from the Reverb listing where I purchased it -- maybe it belonged to someone here and they can expound):

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            • #7
              Re: What Neck Pickup?

              You cannot go wrong with either of those DiMarzios in the neck. A mix of zebra and all black looks cool, IMO. My LP has the same, though opposite, look. That's a Super Distortion with the stock '57 Classic in the neck. I was going to toss a PAF 36th or Air Classic in there but I disconnected the neck tone pot and it opened up that '57 Classic in just the right way.

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              • #8
                Re: What Neck Pickup?

                Originally posted by ErikH View Post
                You cannot go wrong with either of those DiMarzios in the neck. A mix of zebra and all black looks cool, IMO. My LP has the same, though opposite, look. That's a Super Distortion with the stock '57 Classic in the neck. I was going to toss a PAF 36th or Air Classic in there but I disconnected the neck tone pot and it opened up that '57 Classic in just the right way.

                [ATTACH=CONFIG]104065[/ATTACH]
                Funny -- I love that look on your guitar. I hated it on mine and it's the same finish. The Antiquities I used to have in my other LP also didn't sound good in that particular 93 Standard, so I put the stock pickups back in and just last week swapped in a JB/59 set. But here's what it looked like with the uncovered Antiquities. Yours looks much better than mine did in my opinion.

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                • #9
                  Re: What Neck Pickup?

                  Haha. That's cool. Your finishing is a bit lighter, though it could be the lighting differences in our pics. Mine is a 2009 Traditional Pro. It's actually a buddy's but he's been letting me borrow it for quite a while now. He knows I have it and it's all good. I am planning on buying it off him when this pandemic thing ends and we have a little extra $$$ to afford to do so. The BB3 is OK but was too bright and brash in this one. I tried all sorts of adjustments with the pickup. The tone control helped but it still have this nasty cut I didn't like. Enter the Super Distortion. Problem solved. Now it sounds like a monster.

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                  • #10
                    Re: What Neck Pickup?

                    Originally posted by ErikH View Post
                    Haha. That's cool. Your finishing is a bit lighter, though it could be the lighting differences in our pics. Mine is a 2009 Traditional Pro. It's actually a buddy's but he's been letting me borrow it for quite a while now. He knows I have it and it's all good. I am planning on buying it off him when this pandemic thing ends and we have a little extra $$$ to afford to do so. The BB3 is OK but was too bright and brash in this one. I tried all sorts of adjustments with the pickup. The tone control helped but it still have this nasty cut I didn't like. Enter the Super Distortion. Problem solved. Now it sounds like a monster.
                    It's crazy to me how different guitars behave. The Antiquities in my Traditional were amazing. The Custom Shop Pearlies are better, but that's a matter of taste. Both were great pickup sets. The Standard (the one above) hated them though. They sounded plunky and artificial and just not very nice at all. I put the stock pickups back in and they just sounded huge and amazing. The 490r/498t set everyone seems to hate. It occurred to me that the "upper mids" are what everyone hates about those pickups, so I took another pickup everyone hates in Les Pauls but is known for upper mids -- the JB -- and stuck it in there. Also amazing. That guitar wants to breathe fire. My Traditional prefers to purr and growl without getting into that super hot territory. I think it's because my particular Traditional has a much stronger natural midrange tone than the Standard, which is more scooped. Boosting the mids in the Standard makes it come alive. Scooping them in the Traditional sweetens it up.

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                    • #11
                      Re: What Neck Pickup?

                      For what it's worth, it was only the bridge pickup the Standard hated -- it loves low wind unpotted pickups for the neck. I've had the Custom Shop Pearlies and the Antiquities and a set of Wolfetone Dr. Vintage in there and they all sounded sweet (the Wolfetones and Pearlies sounded great on the bridge too). For whatever reason, it still gets along with a scooped neck pickup. The 59 is about as scooped as it gets and it sounds amazing in that guitar.

                      But on the bridge? That guitar needs more punch and bite from the bridge pickup. Sweeter, scooped pickups just neuter it. Same pickups in the Traditional sound thick and full and nice.

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                      • #12
                        Re: What Neck Pickup?

                        I don't have any experience with those particular neck pickups in your arsenal. I just want to weigh in and say that you have an enviable problem on your hands.

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                        • #13
                          Re: What Neck Pickup?

                          Originally posted by ErikH View Post
                          You cannot go wrong with either of those DiMarzios in the neck. A mix of zebra and all black looks cool, IMO. My LP has the same, though opposite, look. That's a Super Distortion with the stock '57 Classic in the neck. I was going to toss a PAF 36th or Air Classic in there but I disconnected the neck tone pot and it opened up that '57 Classic in just the right way.

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                          Very pretty! Mine is a honey burst so I’m not quite sure about the black pickup but yours looks great!

                          That’s the LP I’m referring to on the left

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                          • #14
                            Re: What Neck Pickup?

                            Oh yeah, that honeyburst is gorgeous. I normally do not care for flame tops but with honeyburst it looks sweet. I see what you're saying. The double-creams looks killer. Reverse zebra bridge / zebra neck like Slash's Appetite Les Paul would look great there.

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                            • #15
                              Re: What Neck Pickup?

                              Honeybursts look fantastic with black bobbin pickups, but I agree they look better with double cremes, which is why I also have them in mine.

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