2015 Gibson SG Pickup Upgrades?

[ThreeChordWonder]

Completely standard 2015 SG, mahogany body, mahogany and rosewood neck.

It currently has the original "57 Classic" Alnico 2 pickups with nickel covers. I find them too muddy and want more "bite".

I have a SD Little 59 / Custom Hybrid (zebra) regulat size humbucker sitting in a drawer doing nothing after I swapped it out for the Trembucker equivalent on my HSS Strat.

Wondering if pairing this with a Jazz in the neck would suit the SG. I'd keep the zebra colors because (a) it would keep the costs down and (b) if you've got it flaunt it, right?

Plan B - possibly P-Rails but double the outlay.

Plan C - open to suggestions.

What I want are pickups that don't sound as muddy as the originals. More bite, less gentle chewing. Classic rock.
Thanks in advance for suggestions.

 

[gsammo79]

I'd say your Plan B could work really well.

A '59 bridge or a Pearly Gates bridge would work too. The '59 is gonna have a little more low end and more scooped mids than the PG.

 

[ThreeChordWonder]

Want MORE mids and high end though...

 

[Benjy_26]

First, I'd make sure you have 500k pots all around. If you do, or if you swap to 500k's and still want more clarity, I'd try that hybrid paired with a PGn.

 

[alex1fly]

I have a 2013 and am working through similar issues. Hex head polepieces and magnets are en route. We shall see!

Does your SG have regular wiring or the PCB in the cavity?

 

[ThreeChordWonder]

SG has all 500k pots as standard, no circuit board thank heavens.

Jazz is $30 cheaper than the Pearly Gates...

 

[Benjy_26]

Jazz is $30 cheaper than the Pearly Gates...

It isn't half as cool, though.

 

[ThreeChordWonder]

^Yeah but my beard never gets past the "prairie" (full of wide open spaces) stage...

 

[ICTGoober]

For classic rock, I'd install a pair of Saturday Night Specials. A pal has an older SG loaded with them and they sound awesome through his Marshall or Twin.

 

[Mincer]

Pearly Gates or SNS set for sure here. Either are worth tracking down at a price you want to pay.

 

[ThreeChordWonder]

P-Rails if I'm buying a pair?

 

[pskorz]

I’d echo the Saturday night special set. The vibe won’t be a world of difference from the stock pickups, but the neck will have a great clarity and character to it, and the SNS bridge is definitely a good match.

the p rails will give you a lot of versatility, with the p90 and full humbucker sounds, you’ll have a guitar to be reckoned with.

but if keeping costs low is a concern, I think the 59/hybrid you already have is a wonderful pickup. I love it in my Les Paul, and have it paired with a 59 neck. I think a jazz in the neck would give you the clarity that you seek.

You’ve set yourself up with 2 options that I think are sure winners whichever you choose. Hybrid and jazz combo will be awesome and lower cost. The p rail set will give you the most variety, but I bet you’ll be spending a lot of time in P90 mode because they’re so awesome. Or if you’re willing to take a gamble on Saturday night specials, I bet you’ll fall in love with them as I have

 

[alex1fly]

Want MORE mids and high end though...

IMO part of the muddiness of the 57 Classics comes from the excessive mids. I get massive clarity by doing a hard cut at 500 kHz and soft cuts at 250 kHz and 125 khz. It's a completely different sound when I suck out those frequencies - tons of chirp, bite, great clarity with high gain and complex chords. Those are the frequencies on my 10 band EQ pedal, so I'm sort of married to them, but I'll tell ya the difference is night and day when I scoop out that 500 kHz as much as possible and massage 250 and 125 a bit.

Feel you on the high end though. I want more of it. Even with treble maxed out, it's just barely enough. So, no load pots are on the way and I'll try Alnico 5 in there too.

 

[ThreeChordWonder]

Pushed the button on the P-Rails. Credit card creaking under the strain, but there you go.

Have to check my inventory of pots next.

Can anyone tell me if I need short shorts, long shorts or longs?

Also, the toggle switch is a bit flaky, so I'm going to replace that while I'm at it. Any suggestions?

 

[ICTGoober]

Switchcraft for the switch and jack. CTS for the pots.

 

[alex1fly]

Pushed the button on the P-Rails. Credit card creaking under the strain, but there you go.

Have to check my inventory of pots next.

Can anyone tell me if I need short shorts, long shorts or longs?

Also, the toggle switch is a bit flaky, so I'm going to replace that while I'm at it. Any suggestions?

Please put your SG in short shorts and post a photo

I recently measured my pots and cavity depth in my 2013 SG. 1" cavity depth. Short shaft pots are the only thing that'll fit. Check your switch too - the long shaft ones are straight, while the one in my not-too-deep cavity makes a hard right angle. Mounting depth is apparently an issue with this thin guitar. I used photos and dimensions from Philadelphia Luthier Supply to help me visualize things.

Curious to hear about your P Rails experience and how it compares to the 57 Classics. How are you doing the switching for P90/Hum/Rails?

 

[ThreeChordWonder]

So far so good. Wiring looks like the back of the average stereo, mainly because I put in too much slack like usual.

Long short (or short long), you know the ones that are supposedly "short" but not that short wored well. Necks long enough to go through the wood but not too long.

I had the push-pulls already and they're not so deep I can't get the plastic back plate back onto the body properly. Cutting off little ground lugs on the tops (bottoms, depending on how you look at things) helped.

I switched the volume pot connections around for, hopefully,, independent volume controls,, and added treble bleeds.

All pots are 500k nominal, the tone caps are 0.047UF.

The disconnected green wire is the previously uninsulated bridge ground I slipped some heat shrink over.

The little yellow square is tape I added so I can remember which side is the bridge side.

The dirty yellow stuff is heat shrink I shrunk with my shockingly dirty soldering iron.

Thee new output jack is a Pure Tone dual contact one I use on all my guitars.

The switch is the original.

Just waiting for the pickups to arrive mid week now...

 

[ThreeChordWonder]

 

[ThreeChordWonder]

SD wiring here:

https://forum.seymourduncan.com/file...1&d=1476895059


As I said, I swapped the volume pot connections around so (hopefully) I get independent volumes in P2.

All you have to do is to swap the "in" and "out" wires over, make sure there's no direct ground between the volume pots.

 

[ThreeChordWonder]

FWIW the original Gison push-pulls fitted at the factory for coil splits are single pole double throws or regular on-offs. No good for what I'm doing. I've put all the original Gibson stuff in a box for safe keeping.