Any decent Fender humbuckers?

[Inflames626]

I may have already asked this once. I apologize if it's a duplicate thread.

Are there any decent mid to high output Fender humbuckers that would go well in an HSS setup? I'm thinking 12-16k if you measure by resistance.

I know there are Diamondbacks, Twinheads, Atomics, etc., but the branding and specs on these seem to change a lot from year to year. Some web pages are devoted to sorting out the good and bad years for these.

I dislike mixing pups from different manufacturers as they aren't really designed for each other. I'm sure there are great results but it just adds another layer of trial and error.

Fender often seems to introduce/market various pickups that are largely the same as previous models but with a slightly tweaked wind.

There seems to be a stable series of pickups like the Custom Shop, reissues, etc.

But every year they replace a given series, or change the specs on them, and introduce another. It gets very confusing to keep up with them. "Is this the Vintage American Series, the American Vintage Series, the American Standard Series, or the Standard American Series?"

On bass, I have 2 Original 62 pbass reissue pickups that I really like in a dual P Warlock. They are even, clear, and low enough output keep from overpowering the sound and getting blurry like two Quarterpounders might. Surprisingly, the Original 62 reissues tend to be the cheaper ones, and I prefer them to the Custom Shop pbass pickups.

Then you have the Pure Vintage, the Custom Shop, V Mod, Yosemite...

...much easier to have fewer lines oriented to a specific sound. I think Fender does this on purpose so people don't realize they're buying the same things over and over.

In recent years they seem to have reduced everything humbucker to the Shawbucker. I'm sure it's a fine pickup. However it's only 8k DCR and I prefer anything 10-12k or above. It's also Alnico II and I'm not crazy about those in the bridge.

Thanks.

 

[Chistopher]

Given that your taste in sound appears to be completely different than mine I probably won't have too many good recommendations, but pickups aren't really "designed for each other". If your two single coils sound good changing the bridge won't make them sound worse. The only issue you have when swapping brands is accidentally putting two pickups out of phase with each other, which is easily testable and fixable. You have just as much chance of finding a bridge pickup you like or don't like regardless of crossing brands. But if you do want to cross brands, bare in mind Fender has affiliate brands that are likely built on the same machines as their other pickups. My EVH humbuckers were wired the same way as Fenders. If you want something like a Custom Custom, the EVH Frankenstein is a Fender-made CC and if you don't like A2's in the bridge, you can easily swap it.

Also don't discount the Shawbucker until you've tried it, I bet they have millions of them on the wall of your local guitar center to test out.

 

[Mincer]

You could look for something like a Pearly Gates plus, which came stock in a Lone Star HSS Strat. It is in phase with Fender singles and designed to work with them. TBH, I haven't heard any Fender humbuckers that blew me away.

 

[Inflames626]

Thanks Christopher. I didn't even consider their EVH line as Fender.

Not wanting to mix brands comes from balance when toggling the selector. If I stay within a single brand or line, I know that the output and tone change won't be drastic. For example, when I built a Custom/Custom 5 Mockingbird. I'll cross lines within a single manufacturer, or even put bridge pickups in the neck sometimes if a neck version isn't matching a high output pickup well, but as I don't have a lot of experience with Fender, DiMarzio, etc., it's easier just to stay within a brand.

Other brands took experimentation. I like Gibson's approach to pickups. They don't have too few and they don't have too many. Still, it took some experimentation. I love the 498t and I consider it a baseline pickup in terms of output and EQ for Gibson. I liked the 500T a little less but it has its place.

When I couldn't find a neck match for the 498T I tried the 57 Classic. I didn't work so I tried the 57 Classic Plus and found the perfect match for me. I just wish it were four conductor.

I also stay away from mag swaps and adding conductors.

Fender just bombards me with too many options, and I don't know the winding differences from 57 to 62 or 63 beyond simply trying each one out.

Since they and Gibson seem to be a good 25-33% higher than EMG/DiMarzio/Seymour Duncan, I usually don't try Fender and Gibson out unless they make a pickup I really love. In my case this is the 498T, which I consider pretty perfectly balanced even though I usually prefer ceramics over Alnico 5s in the bridge.

 

[Inflames626]

You could look for something like a Pearly Gates plus, which came stock in a Lone Star HSS Strat. It is in phase with Fender singles and designed to work with them. TBH, I haven't heard any Fender humbuckers that blew me away.

Mincer, this was my assumption as well. Then again I didn't think I'd like the 498T as much as I did, so I'm always curious.

 

[Inflames626]

Gibson being a vintage oriented company as well means I know I won't like a lot of the variations on their usual lines, BroBuckers, Burstbuckers, etc. People tell me the 490r/490t are lackluster. That really leaves only the 498T and up, and I don't consider myself a super high output guy as I prefer to juice my preamp with a boost and moderate output pickup.

Meanwhile Seymour Duncan seems to have gone the other way to Gibson. SD has so many variations on higher output pickups.

DiMarzio has done the same but why should I buy a new Deactivator "EMG killer" when I can get a used EMG 81 and put it in 24 volts for less?

EMG is tweaking their older lines but 24 volts fixes this mostly. I've been getting more mileage out of using Triple Shots with their HZ line than by trying new active pickups modeled after passive PAFs.​

Ultimately whatever is floating around used is going to get tried out more often unless it's something I really liked and could only find new like the now defunct AHB3s.

Logically older designs are going to be more common on the used market and maybe even be priced less because they are perceived as "less desirable" than the newest releases.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

The Atomic humbucker is actually pretty good. It's just a JB-type, though. So I'm not sure how much you'll dig it.

I'm not sure if it was "designed" to go with Fender single coils. It's pretty hot and easily overpowers them.

 

[Inflames626]

The Atomic humbucker is actually pretty good. It's just a JB-type, though. So I'm not sure how much you'll dig it.

I'm not sure if it was "designed" to go with Fender single coils. It's pretty hot and easily overpowers them.

"Designed" means a given pickup was designed with an expected neck/bridge pairing from the same manufacturer in mind so that when pickups are changed the volume/tone change is not drastic.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

"Designed" means a given pickup was designed with an expected neck/bridge pairing from the same manufacturer in mind so that when pickups are changed the volume/tone change is not drastic.

Well, the neck Atomic is 7 something K. So I guess it's as "well designed" as the JB/Jazz set is, which IMO, do not pair well together like whatsoever. :/

People have different ideas of what pair well with what. And people who design pickup sets are that: People.

Personally, as much as I agree with your idea that pickup makers usually design pickup sets with "balance" in mind, "balance" means different things for everyone. So I don't think going by same brand sets completely takes the guesswork out of the equation unless you know the designer has similar tastes as you in mind.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

DiMarzio has done the same but why should I buy a new Deactivator "EMG killer" when I can get a used EMG 81 and put it in 24 volts for less?

I've got a D Activator on the way, so I'll report on that. But the impression I get is they failed miserably at getting the EMG vibe, LOL. The way I hear it in the clips is it's just a bright hot and tight Ceramic passive pickup, but hardly an EMG 81 clone. After all, there is no way of getting the hi-pass/lo-pass and clipping effects EMG's have without the active preamp.

But bright, tight, and hot Ceramic passive are kinda my thing right now, so I figured I'd give it a try.

Then again, I won't buy EMG's new nowadays. Screw that. The last 3 EMG's I bought new all sounded like shit.

 

[Inflames626]

Well, the neck Atomic is 7 something K. So I guess it's as "well designed" as the JB/Jazz set is, which IMO, do not pair well together like whatsoever. :/

People have different ideas of what pair well with what. And people who design pickup sets are that: People.

Personally, as much as I agree with your idea that pickup makers usually design pickup sets with "balance" in mind, "balance" means different things for everyone. So I don't think going by same brand sets completely takes the guesswork out of the equation unless you know the designer has similar tastes as you in mind.

I've never deviated from a 60/81 matchup. When I did, it was a 60A/85. My only other 81 is an SA/S/81.

So generally I'm looking at is it a warm neck humbucker or a bright one.

With single coils there are a lot more shades of tone, IMO. So picking out a bridge is tough.

Maybe if one wanted to be pure vintage a 498T might pair well with Fat 50s or something. I like a more 50s single coil sound juiced through the amp because the lower wind gets cleaner tones.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

I've never deviated from a 60/81 matchup. When I did, it was a 60A/85. My only other 81 is an SA/S/81.

So generally I'm looking at is it a warm neck humbucker or a bright one.

With single coils there are a lot more shades of tone, IMO. So picking out a bridge is tough.

Maybe if one wanted to be pure vintage a 498T might pair well with Fat 50s or something. I like a more 50s single coil sound juiced through the amp because the lower wind gets cleaner tones.

I can't help you there, honestly. I just have no use for vintage-voiced Single coils. I love how they sound on their own, but as soon as you start pairing them with almost any humbucker from like overwound PAF and up, they sound like they've barely got anything going when you start changing positions on the switch.

I just literally gave away a set of Texas Specials a couple of weeks ago because even a humble little Pearly Gates Plus greatly overpowered them, so there was no way I was getting any use from them with the few passives that I have kicking around right now.

I do like the duncan QP's, but I doubt that's what you're looking for.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Also, kind of OT, but funny thing about active EMG's is that the Alnico pickups tend to be hotter than the Cearmic ones.

The only exception I've found to that rule are the Hets, which are the hottest on the classic EMG line.

 

[Inflames626]

Also, kind of OT, but funny thing about active EMG's is that the Alnico pickups tend to be hotter than the Cearmic ones.

The only exception I've found to that rule are the Hets, which are the hottest on the classic EMG line.

Yeah they told me the 85 was a little hotter than the 81. Probably to give that mushy low end more cut.

I use the guitars mostly for recording and so that sounding good by themselves thing you mentioned is exactly what I'm thinking of.