59 neck....what in the bridge?

G

GURU1979

New member
Well...i want to change the pick ups of my PRS Santana SE II.
Experience with duncan...a 59 set in a sg...and a JB in a super strat....

i want a classic paf sound in the neck..and a paf with a little more bass and mids and possibly little less treble in the bridge...

what can you recommend?

i don't like alnico 2...only alnico 5...especially for the bridge...
the problem is that i can't use 2 different vol pot...i've only a master volume...so no jb...i find it too bright with 500k...

what about custom five?
or gibson 498T?
maybe better a Burstbucker pro with a 498?
i can't play very much with volume and tone pot..is one for both pick ups...so i need something very balanced...tonewise speaking...

the prs santana pick ups are 7k for the neck and 10k for the bridge...but they're almost double the price of duncan...
 
Re: 59 neck....what in the bridge?

If you have to stick with 500K's and want a fuller bridge sound, I'd suggest using magnets. A JB2 is a warm PU, as is a '59B8 and C8.
 
Re: 59 neck....what in the bridge?

I was gonna recommend the Alnico II Pro as it sounds like exactly what you re asking for. Why no love for the A2? A5 magnets generally have more mid scooped sound.
 
Re: 59 neck....what in the bridge?

Boy, I think I'd put a '59 in the bridge position, too, if you're after Carlos' tone.
 
Re: 59 neck....what in the bridge?

No offense but to shut down any magnets right off the bat is just plain ignorance. Just because a pickup has an A2 mag doesn't mean you will hate it. I'm saying this if you have even been like "Oh yea this pickups sounds just right!! No wait, it has an A2 mag. Never mind." Because that would be dumb.

You can use a JB if you want because you can put a 470K resistor parallel to the ground which will bleed off the highs and make it sound like a 250K volume pot. The 30K difference isn't audible. Also what someone said, the JB2 is an option. Honestly if you do have a JB either spend $1 on a resistor and get busy with a soldering iron or spend $5 and buy an A2 mag.

Just because you might have had a bad experience with an A2 before doesn't mean you should hate it. It's more about the wind than anything. I don't like ceramics but there are 2 ceramic buckers I use because it doesn't have the usual ceramic icepick that I hear. It always helps to be open minded.
 
Re: 59 neck....what in the bridge?

If you like the stock '59n, you'll LOVE either a '59b with an A8 magnet or a Custom 8 for that position.

Having said that, I too use only one volume/one tone setting, and the best balance I've found with an A4 neck p'up paired with an A8 magnet in the bridge position.
 
Re: 59 neck....what in the bridge?

My answer was going to be A2P....but that's obviously out. But it would probably be perfect. Why no A2?
 
Re: 59 neck....what in the bridge?

I can understand his feelings towards A2's. I've had a very hard time getting A2's to work for me. In the neck they can be dark & muddy in some guitars, and are famous for a loose low end. In the bridge they can be kind of weak in a PAF, and overly rounded in a CC. It's taken some patience on my part and repeated attempts to make A2's work, but I'm happy with a JB2, and have a 490T that sounds good with a neck Staple. Other than that, A2's have bombed out for me. Many more misses than hits. When I want mids, I've had much better results with A4's and A8's which keep more treble and definition than an A2.
 
Re: 59 neck....what in the bridge?

well...i don't like A2 because they don't have enough bass for me...
what i would like is to have a pick up that sounds like a 59, but when you switch to the bridge position you don't hear that lack of bass...and maybe a little more output to avoid putting the neck pick up to 5mm from strings and the bridge pick up to 1 mm from strings...(what i've to do on my sg with a 59 set...).
in 2 words, a pick up that's a bit bigger sounding...
 
Re: 59 neck....what in the bridge?

Thats odd, I've never thought an A2 lacked bass.

No matter what the neck is going to be bassy. Thats just how that area of the guitar is. Also, putting the bridge right up on the string increases output but compresses the signal too and can make it sound less open and make it sort of thin sounding.

A Custom 5 will sound thin. Yeah it will sound like a 59 but it has like no mids. There really isn't a lot of body to it. It would get you a hotter Angus Young tone but that's not a really powerful tone even if it is a badass tone. A Custom would probably fit the bill seeing how it has more mids and more body to it. Both the Custom and Custom 5 are higher output so it would allow you to bring up your neck pickup to give it a little more output and definition so its not boomy if it is. I think raising that neck will help make things match up better. My 2 cents. If a higher output bridge is needed then so be it. Raise that neck pickup.
 
Re: 59 neck....what in the bridge?

ACH91332 said:
A Custom 5 will sound thin. Yeah it will sound like a 59 but it has like no mids. There really isn't a lot of body to it. It would get you a hotter Angus Young tone but that's not a really powerful tone even if it is a badass tone. A Custom would probably fit the bill seeing how it has more mids and more body to it. Both the Custom and Custom 5 are higher output so it would allow you to bring up your neck pickup to give it a little more output and definition so its not boomy if it is.
Click to expand...

That's where an A8 comes in. Fills the middle, & takes off some treble. The C8 is getting very popular here.
 
Re: 59 neck....what in the bridge?

Yeah that's true. The C8 is a BAMF. Wymore sells the C8 so you wouldn't have to go and swap mags.
 
Re: 59 neck....what in the bridge?

What am I missing? Why not a simple '59 Bridge? It's a quality A5 PAF. You want more bass? Maybe you don't want a PAF style pup.
 
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Re: 59 neck....what in the bridge?

Hagbard Celine said:
What am I missing? Why not a simple '59 Bridge? It's a quality A5 PAF. You want more bass? Maybe you don't want a PAF style pup.
Click to expand...

+1 or maybe not a "true" vintage style PAF.....Maybe a "hot" PAF style.

Custom- good "hot" PAF on "steroids" style pickup, ceramic mag. great bottom end, fat mids and very nicely defined highs.

Suhr Aldrich- "hot" PAF style pickup, A5 mag. Tight, but still big bottome end, very high and defined mids, sweet rounded highs.

Custom8- With all the characteristics of an A2 mag, but just "hotter" and more of them.
 
Re: 59 neck....what in the bridge?

Well the A8 has a tighter bass and more upper mids. So its like an A2 but with more definition and output.
 
Re: 59 neck....what in the bridge?

498t would be perfect IMO

It's similar in output to a C5, but has a LOT more midrange
 
Re: 59 neck....what in the bridge?

But infact what i want is a hot paf...
take a A5 paf, wind it until 9.5k with 42 gauge wire...i'm looking for that sound.
A brobucker cost a little too much...and i don't mind if you have that sound with 43 gauge wire or ceramic magnet or what...

So think to a 59 wind in that way..what sound more similar?
a C5? a C? a 498T?
 
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