Battle of the 10K bridge pickups!

[Dave Z]

OK this is for the Mahogany Super Strat Project. I have a mahogany guitar with '59s & like it but want a setup with more modern tones: a bigger but cleaner PAF sound with a bit more output. Less snarl than the 59s, more roar. This is an all mahogany 25-inch scale strat shape w/ a wilkinson trem.

I play through a couple AX84 amps - one high gain, one Fender clean. Mostly blues & old rock, AC/DC etc.

I'm looking at 10K pickups as I find the overwound stuff to lose some clarity in the upper register when clean. They just sound muffled to me. And anyway the AX84 HO has enough gain even my Tele sounds heavy.

This is what I have in hand or coming in the next week, to be run though my Test Axe (SG) in the bridge:

Dimarzio FRED - 10K, 305 mv, (in the test axe now) a bit more balls than a '59, cleaner, smooth but with some chime, great split, the current front runner

Dimarzio Breed Neck - 10K, 325 mv, EQ more on the bottom end than FRED, that's right-the neck version in the bridge, supposed to make a nice 'PAF+' and said to work well in the bridge

Seymour Duncan PATB3 - Blues - 10K, ??mv, a scooped EQ like the '59. Big bad & plaid? We'll see what THAT means. The Dark Horse as I already know I like the FRED and expect the breed to be a heavier FRED.

NOT present - the Demon...tried 2 times before with the test guitar & did not like it either time.

 

[Frebnedzo]

Re: Battle of the 10K bridge pickups!

I haven't tried it, but an SD in the mythical 10K range that looks
interesting is the neck pickup of the distortion set. I've been
ponderring it as a bridge pickup....

 

[jeremy]

Re: Battle of the 10K bridge pickups!

try the patb3, its a great pup!!
i have a 10k antiquity that is the mutts nuts, its custom shop so isnt cheap but its one of the best sounding pups ive ever heard.

i used the fred for years and its a good pup, one of dimarzios best imo

 

[fusion101]

Re: Battle of the 10K bridge pickups!

theres also the 10k s-deco that you can get with a alnico 2 and alnico 5. Its from the custom shop

 

[Akrin]

Re: Battle of the 10K bridge pickups!

Dimarzio Breed Neck - 10K, 325 mv, EQ more on the bottom end than FRED, that's right-the neck version in the bridge, supposed to make a nice 'PAF+' and said to work well in the bridge

I've been looking at this myself. From the specs it seems like it'd be kind of like a lower-output Tone Zone of sorts. :headbang:

 

[gripweed]

Re: Battle of the 10K bridge pickups!

I haven't tried it, but an SD in the mythical 10K range that looks
interesting is the neck pickup of the distortion set. I've been
ponderring it as a bridge pickup....

I think I'd change the magnet though. I suspect ceramic would be harsh in that range...

 

[Dave Z]

Re: Battle of the 10K bridge pickups!

Yeah I *had* a SEY-J neck (DD neck) and didn't even try it as a bridge pup, as someone else on the board had posted that it SUCKED. So anyway..not a ceramic fan anyway but still I should have tried that. (Sold it to finance the Breed purchase).

As for custom shop, ain't going that route, got 3 kids a wife & a house to support. I'd buy a winder & do my own before i went that route.

Yeah Jeremy I am liking the FRED - even the *wife* likes it, imagine that, a significant other even NOTICING a pickup. But the PATB3 is an interesting beast as well....it is on the way.

I'll do some recordings (nothin fancy - I use my iRiver line-in & a nanoverb to record) and post them on my website as I go.

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Battle of the 10K bridge pickups!

Yeah I *had* a SEY-J neck (DD neck) and didn't even try it as a bridge pup, as someone else on the board had posted that it SUCKED. So anyway..not a ceramic fan anyway but still I should have tried that. (Sold it to finance the Breed purchase).

As for custom shop, ain't going that route, got 3 kids a wife & a house to support. I'd buy a winder & do my own before i went that route.

Yeah Jeremy I am liking the FRED - even the *wife* likes it, imagine that, a significant other even NOTICING a pickup. But the PATB3 is an interesting beast as well....it is on the way.

I'll do some recordings (nothin fancy - I use my iRiver line-in & a nanoverb to record) and post them on my website as I go.

I've been using the Dimarzio Fred pickup ever since it came out(93 or so)and it is a great pickup...It's a bit toppy like a Demon,but it's tight,crunches real well,and cleans up real nice on the volume roll back....It's a very note articulate pickup also....It's only negative if there is one,is maybe a slight weakness in it's lows....

 

[Dave Z]

Re: Battle of the 10K bridge pickups!

I've been using the Dimarzio Fred pickup ever since it came out(93 or so)and it is a great pickup...It's a bit toppy like a Demon,but it's tight,crunches real well,and cleans up real nice on the volume roll back....It's a very note articulate pickup also....It's only negative if there is one,is maybe a slight weakness in it's lows....

Yup, that is why I'm trying the Breed Neck...the FRED is nice but I was looking for something with a bit more low end thunk, without losing its versatility.

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Battle of the 10K bridge pickups!

Yup, that is why I'm trying the Breed Neck...the FRED is nice but I was looking for something with a bit more low end thunk, without losing its versatility.

Are you talking neck position? I use the Fred in the bridge of my Gibson SG and I had one in one of my strats for several years also in the bridge.

 

[Dave Z]

Re: Battle of the 10K bridge pickups!

Are you talking neck position? I use the Fred in the bridge of my Gibson SG and I had one in one of my strats for several years also in the bridge.

Nope, planning the bridge pickup here (Battle of the 10K bridge pickups) the Breed "Neck" pickup is a 10K ohm Dimarzio that balances with a breed bridge model but they say it's a good bridge pickup in its own right.

 

[BachToRock]

Re: Battle of the 10K bridge pickups!

I like the one that goes to 11.25...:wink:

Alnico 59/Custom Hybrid