Alnico II Pro Humbucker - Using bridge pickup in neck position?

[orangecountycarl]

I have an Alnico II Pro bridge humbucker leftover from a previous guitar and would like to upgrade the neck pickup in my Ibanez George Benson, LGB-30...an archtop guitar.
The current pickup is the Super 58 CUSTOM which is the cheaper pickup that Ibanez offers....NOT the coveted Super 58 from the '70s.

I have zero funds to buy a new pickup and the specs for the Alnico II Pro are:

Resistance

Bridge: 8.40K

Neck: 7.5K

The magnets and other specs are the same.

How much difference would this matter? Is the bridge in neck going to be muddy sounding?
Anyone with actual experience in this type of swap?

Thanks for any input!

Carl

 

[Mincer]

This is a common substitute that might even be preferred if you have a hotter bridge pickup. I say, if you have it, try it before you end up buying anything.

 

[hamerfan]

Hi Carl, as you mentioned probably a bit muddy in the neck. If you the humbucker has a 4 conductor cable you could also wire it in parallel.
BTW Did you ever change pickups in an archtop guitar?

 

[orangecountycarl]

Hi Carl, as you mentioned probably a bit muddy in the neck. If you the humbucker has a 4 conductor cable you could also wire it in parallel.
BTW Did you ever change pickups in an archtop guitar?

Hi, hamerfan,

The rear pickup is stock. I have changed out pickups in an archtop, but I cheat. I simply cut the wire in the middle leaving the original connections at the pot(s).
I attach the new pickup half-way and then wrap in electrical tape.

My only concern is that I believe the parallel wiring would produce more highs.

I could try the standard humbucker mode first using the same strings to see how it sounds

Thanks, Mincer and hamerfan, for the input!


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[orangecountycarl]

This is a common substitute that might even be preferred if you have a hotter bridge pickup. I say, if you have it, try it before you end up buying anything.

Yes, I agree. Thanks, Mincer!

 

[ehdwuld]

If it's muddy lower it a bit

 

[Chistopher]

I think it will be fine.

 

[tce44]

I have a Jazz bridge, neck spot in my Strat,sounds incredible!

 

[freefrog]

With Ibz HB's, muddiness often comes from covers IME: they aren't magnetically transparent. So it might be interesting to try the PU without cover or with a better one.

An A2 pro B in neck position of a Gibson scale GT is something that I've already mounted. It worked and sounded nice but was a bit bassier than a Seth Lover, for instance and FWIW.

 

[GuitarDoc]

I've replaced a neck pup by a bridge model MANY times when I wanted a slightly fuller sound and a tiny bit more output. I've never heard it get muddy when I used APH-1, Jazz, Screamin Demon, or 59 bridge models in the neck. If it was a bit too hot, I just lowered the pup.

I don't think you're going to have a problem. But like I said, if it's too loud or full, just lower the pup. If it turns out that it's not too loud but a bit too full for your taste, just lower the pup and raise the screws (you could even replace the screws with higher carbon steel screws, like 1022, to brighten it up).