Advice on a bright, clear sounding neck humbucker

Buddy_Arry

Buddy_Arry

New member
Hi guys! I'm looking for a neck humbucker for a Telecaster guitar. The guitar is fitted with two humbuckers, right now I'm using a Seth Lover bridge and an Antiquity neck. I love the Seth Lover, clean or dirty... it always delivers. It's bright, clear, detailed and almost has a single coil quality to it. The Antiquity neck is fine but I'm having a hard time getting a bass response that sounds good to my ears: I like the overall tone but the bass strings (specially the 6th string) sound a little too dark and generic for my taste, lacking clarity and tightness. I think I've tried all the possible adjustments and/or mods... raising the screws, using shorter screws on the lower strings, changing magnet (A2-4-5 - the one I like best is the A5 so far)... I currently have the Duncan “De-mud” mod installed and a treble bleed circuit, as well as a “No-load” tone pot (that I modified). To be clear, the issue with the dark, soft bass is always present, even when on 10 on the volume.
At this stage I think I need a different pickup: which model would you suggest? Ideally I would rather stay with a vintage style humbucker, if possible.

I know there are some threads on this very subject (that I've read already), but I would really appreciate some first-hand advice if any of you guys want to chime in, thanks!

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Re: Advice on a bright, clear sounding neck humbucker

If you need to stick with a full sized humbucker, try a Jazz. It's one of the brightest and clearest humbuckers I've played, and it's also what Seymour has in his TeleGib. Honestly I don't like full sized humbuckers in a tele for the reason you mention, so I have a SM-1 vintage firebird in mine. With the tone full up it's almost Stratty, and it does a decent impersonation of a full sized humbucker with the tone rolled off slightly.

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Re: Advice on a bright, clear sounding neck humbucker

Hi, welcome to the forum!

I am not that big of a fan of neck humbuckers in general (compared to singles), and I found the Seth to be a muddy mess in the neck.

In the Duncan line up, the Antiquity is pretty good, but if you want more clarity, I would suggest either an A5 magnet in the Ant or the Jazz neck.
 
Re: Advice on a bright, clear sounding neck humbucker

First thing to do is remove the cover. That kills some of the top end. That’s why people started taking the covers off!

There are bright humbucker on the market. First two that come to mind would be a Bill Lawrence L-500 or a DiMarzio Humbucker from Hell. Or a Bartolini. I’m sure there’s more.

You can also wire the existing humbucker in parallel for a brighter more single coil tone.


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Re: Advice on a bright, clear sounding neck humbucker

Are the Lawrence or Dimarzio pickups Vintage output? I honestly don't know.

I personally LOVE the Seth neck and find it to be plenty bright and clear, while not being piercing. The Pearly Gates neck is also on the brighter side and has a really great tone. The Jazz will be nice and bright and has been said, Seymour loves it in a Tele, so that's a good endorsement. The Full Shred is also very bright as I understand it, though I haven't tried it personally. I don't think it's too hot to go with the Seth Bridge you have.

Good luck and welcome to the forum.
 
Re: Advice on a bright, clear sounding neck humbucker

The HFH is an A5 based bright pickup (just under 6k) and IMO the closest you can get to a single coil "ish" humbucker.
 
Re: Advice on a bright, clear sounding neck humbucker

Bill Lawrence L500C would get you everything you want out of a neck pickup. The only problem with it is that you night not like the bridge pickup too much any more :).
 
Re: Advice on a bright, clear sounding neck humbucker

A Jazz will do it, and so will a Sentient. Don't be fooled by the metal description of the Sentient, either- it has a tight bass and clarity while keeping the dynamics of a vintage output humbucker.
 
Re: Advice on a bright, clear sounding neck humbucker

Thanks guys for the suggestions, I appreciate it!
The Bill Lawrence pickup and the Di Marzio sound interesting but look like a departure from the typical vintage humbucker architecture. I'm quite a traditionalist in that respect, and I would like to get (at least try to) the clarity I'm lacking now while staying with a traditional paf format.

Honestly, I'm very tempted to try a Seth neck as I really like the Seth Lover bridge I have now, it really sounds phenomenal and works great for the music styles I play (swing, country, rockabilly, classic rock). The only thing that has stopped me so far is that I don't know how different a Seth Lover neck can really be from the Antiquity I've used so far... maybe I should give the Jazz Model a chance.
 
Re: Advice on a bright, clear sounding neck humbucker

The Seth Lover has more mids, adding a slight honk to the tone that is really wonderful. It responds the same as the Antiquity, but the sonic difference is in the mids.
 
Re: Advice on a bright, clear sounding neck humbucker

I find the high end of the Seth to be more pronounced, brighter vs. the Antiquity, which I perceive to be a bit warmer and slightly softer in the highs. The Seth does have more mids too. We all perceive things slightly differently though.
 
Re: Advice on a bright, clear sounding neck humbucker

Bare knuckle riff raff neck pickup, bright, with solid bass that doesn't get out of control.
 
Re: Advice on a bright, clear sounding neck humbucker

The Seth Neck is a perfect match for the Seth Bridge. The Seth Bridge is not the most powerful pickup, so if I needed anything brighter than the Seth Neck, I would go for the Dimarzio Humbucker from Hell. I don't like the Jazz neck though, so take that with a grain of salt.
 
Re: Advice on a bright, clear sounding neck humbucker

A few things:
A Seth Lover neck and a Ant neck with a full A2 are not worlds apart.
Removing the cover helps, but only a wee bit if they are good covers like nickel plated german silver.
New pole screws help even a bit more. Look for 1022 steel screws on ebay.
Altogether it makes a audible difference.

BTW A boutique winder called Zhangbucker winds specials humbuckers for Tele necks.
 
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Re: Advice on a bright, clear sounding neck humbucker

Seconding the Sentient recommendation. The metal description on the product page might put people off, but it's got everything you need in a vintage output humbucker.
 
Re: Advice on a bright, clear sounding neck humbucker

Mincer said:
A Jazz will do it, and so will a Sentient. Don't be fooled by the metal description of the Sentient, either- it has a tight bass and clarity while keeping the dynamics of a vintage output humbucker.
Click to expand...

Agreed on the Sentient! Think that pickup is being seriously miss marketed by Duncan. One it is being marketed like it's a high output metal pickup and it's not secondly it uses the dark poll pieces and is only offered in the black matt finish without paying an upcharge as a floor custom. It's my favorite neck humbucker right now.
 
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