Best neck pickup for fluid high-gain lead ??

T

Tone-Analyst

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I've always been paying alot more attention to bridge pickups than neck. Now lately more seriously testing neck pickups. Most of my guitars have typical A5 neck pups measuring in the 7.5k range. My earlyer conclusion was that all neck humbuckers have a too big footprint and sound all undefined and I would probably be trying a Chopper or other mini-HBs to find a narrow defined high-gain neck lead tone.
Now I picked up a used LTD Ec-256 and it's 10k + thin ceramic magnet neck pup just screams and sustains incredibly. The Jazz and Seth really don't have the gain saturation to rival.

The ceramic magnets in both pups are unusually thin, just like alnico magnets. I think they're a great idea because they give higher gain, but don't sound as stiff as other huge ceramic bars.

So my question is, what is your fav neck pup for high-gain lead, and how does it compare to your other second best models?
 
Re: Best neck pickup for fluid high-gain lead ??

My favorite for that is the EMG 89, but like you, I've been more of a bridge pickup guy most of my life . I would tend to put a bluesy, low output in the neck for cleans and a bluesy option for leads (100% of my leads to date have been recorded on a bridge pickup though). recently, getting into the idea of a hot output neck pickup and to be honest.. the way that responds to my touch, even clean, is something I really like and I don't know if I could go back to a low output neck pickup. I like the 85 too, but the 89 wins out for me cause I find it sounds better, and the single coil option is a huge plus for me.

How I would say it compares to my second favorite, which I would say is the '59.. is that it's more fluid and clean around the edges, better sustain overall but in particular, bends sustain better, at the expense of being slightly less dynamic and missing that bluesy roughness. I also enjoy the fact that I can 'split' it to a very nice single coil sound at any time

Anyhow, now that I'm into the idea I too will be trying some ceramic, higher output neck pickups cause I think they'll float my boat and suit my style much better. I've got an evolution on the way, and I'm gonna get a distortion set to throw in one of my jacksons as soon as funds allow - I think that 12k ceramic neck pickup is just what I need ...
For the record, I used to have a metal-fied Strat with triple dimarzios blade setup, chopper in the neck, and the memory is a bit fuzzy but I got some rocking tones out of that !

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Re: Best neck pickup for fluid high-gain lead ??

Isn't the EMG89 just a splittable 85?

As for my preference (which is based on my limited xp), its either the Black Winter or the Sentient, depending in which one I'm actually playing. Both are way more versatile than given credit for.
 
Re: Best neck pickup for fluid high-gain lead ??

nexion218 said:
Isn't the EMG89 just a splittable 85?

As for my preference (which is based on my limited xp), its either the Black Winter or the Sentient, depending in which one I'm actually playing. Both are way more versatile than given credit for.
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Yes but no, you're not actually splitting , and the design is slightly different than the 85. EMG's are typically designed with close aperture coils (that is, the actual humbucker underneath that cover looks more like a hot rails) . But in the 89, they're spread out like how a regular humbucker would be and then there's a hidden third coil underneath one of them. so what it does is disengage the 2 main "humbucker in series" coils, and engages ONE of those with the hidden stack coil underneath, to give it a noiseless stack single coil tone. technically it's 2 pickup designs within 1 housing. There's a picture that shows what's going on pretty well. in humbucker mode i'd say it's a lot like an 85 but maybe a bit brighter and bouncier, feels like it has more attack. single coil mode sounds a lot like an "SA" their alnico single coil. i say technically that you're not actually splitting cause emg's aren't wired in series, or paralell. the preamp takes the 2 signals and combines them together there

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Re: Best neck pickup for fluid high-gain lead ??

Well, if you are talking about boosted Marshall (not modern metal) gain levels, I love the Alnico II Pro, which is about as buttery as you can get. It sounds great until you hit it with super gain, which tends to get mushy. But up until that point it is magical.
 
Re: Best neck pickup for fluid high-gain lead ??

BeKindRewind said:
Yes but no, you're not actually splitting , and the design is slightly different than the 85. EMG's are typically designed with close aperture coils (that is, the actual humbucker underneath that cover looks more like a hot rails) . But in the 89, they're spread out like how a regular humbucker would be and then there's a hidden third coil underneath one of them. so what it does is disengage the 2 main "humbucker in series" coils, and engages ONE of those with the hidden stack coil underneath, to give it a noiseless stack single coil tone. technically it's 2 pickup designs within 1 housing. There's a picture that shows what's going on pretty well. in humbucker mode i'd say it's a lot like an 85 but maybe a bit brighter and bouncier, feels like it has more attack. single coil mode sounds a lot like an "SA" their alnico single coil. i say technically that you're not actually splitting cause emg's aren't wired in series, or paralell. the preamp takes the 2 signals and combines them together there

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That was a pretty thorough clarification! Thanks!
 
Re: Best neck pickup for fluid high-gain lead ??

Liquifire.

Also, the Liquifire is a good choice.

Oh, and if you want something a little different, I might suggest looking into a Liquifire.
 
Re: Best neck pickup for fluid high-gain lead ??

I think it also depends on how much gain you get from your amp and how much you need it to be pushed just by the pickups and and how much you are willing to use a boost in front of your amp. I have not tried many pickups really.

My favorite single coil neck so far is the YJM Fury neck, it is super tasty. I used to think I liked the DiMarzio HS-4 better but I just tried it again and now I am really regretting selling the YJM Fury neck, because I got a new strat :). I would say I like the YJM Fury neck the best it is a bit warmer, then second place comes STK-S6 Custom Stack Plus which sounds a bit closer to a normal single coil and works great in my HSS with an OEM DiMarzio PAF Pro and an SSL-1 middle, good quack from the STK-S6. You may need to use boost pedal or use an amp with lots of gain with single coils. The combo of YJM Fury Neck and JB bridge worked for me but may not work for everybody.

I only have tried 3 HBs in the neck, Jazz, Full Shred and Distortion. So far my favorite is the Full Shred and the Jazz remains second place. The FS has very nice cleans and so does Jazz but I think I like the attack of the FS better.
 
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Re: Best neck pickup for fluid high-gain lead ??

Air norton or air norton s

I love the full shred neck too with double fillisters.

My left field entry is the ibanez v7. Ceramic and 9.5k. I swapped the standard hex heads for the shorter ones from my full shred. It is in a mahogany RG that sounds awesome with practically any pickup
 
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Re: Best neck pickup for fluid high-gain lead ??

As far as humbuckers go, I've used the Air Norton, Liquifire, Jazz, 59, Sentient, and EMG 60.

For high gain lead stuff, the winner for me is the Jazz, with the 59 and Sentient tied for second. It is bright enough to bring clarity and a bit of cut up top but stays full and warm enough to sing. The Jazz IMO allows me to be sloppy with fast runs and sounds good - but still rewards more accurate picking.

The 59 and Sentient both have a nice present sound and that scoop, I feel like I find them both a tad woofy but I haven't messed with heights all that much.

As much as I want to love the two DiMarzios, they both are a bit dull sounding to me on their own but in a full band mix up loud is when I like them better

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Re: Best neck pickup for fluid high-gain lead ??

Nagisa said:
Liquifire.

Also, the Liquifire is a good choice.

Oh, and if you want something a little different, I might suggest looking into a Liquifire.
Click to expand...

How do you think the Liquifire might sound?
 
Re: Best neck pickup for fluid high-gain lead ??

Nagisa said:
Liquifire.

Also, the Liquifire is a good choice.

Oh, and if you want something a little different, I might suggest looking into a Liquifire.
Click to expand...

Had a liquifire and hated it. WAY to muddy and sloppy clean. Shockingly am liking the much hotter Deactivator set in my new DC 127 Carvin than I did the Liquifier Crunch lab set that came in my ST 300.
I'm running the Sentient neck and love it in several guitars. Big smooth sweet and defined clean and this pickup REALLY sings that stays clear and articulate under high gain. The Sentient also splits very well.
PS Like the Liquifier a LOT for a big sounding hot PAF tone in the bridge absolutely hate it in the neck!!
 
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Re: Best neck pickup for fluid high-gain lead ??

Dimarzio SuperDistortion in a Les Paul.
 
Re: Best neck pickup for fluid high-gain lead ??

The Black Winter neck has a wonderful soloing tone, too. More true mids there, and it has that singing quality I look for in most 22 fret instruments.
 
Re: Best neck pickup for fluid high-gain lead ??

My personal tip for bright and articulate neck humbuckers I have just tried and liked: I disconnect the tone knob from the bridge and use it only for the neck pickup, I like the bridge to keep crispy chunch and if the neck is too brigh for lead I just roll back the tone a bit. Then when I want some cleans from the neck I can add them back. I find this particularly useful with the Jazz but I did not need to do this with the FSn.
 
Re: Best neck pickup for fluid high-gain lead ??

GuitarDoc said:
How do you think the Liquifire might sound?
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Very fluid as OP asked - like a liquid...but hot like fire ;)

It sounds like early Dream Theater to me. I like it more than the Air Norton I replaced. AN was good but slightly underpowered and thick. Liquifire fixes this. Cleans are meh though.
 
Re: Best neck pickup for fluid high-gain lead ??

I think know if the target guitar is 24 or 22 frets can help. I can see lots of shredders may like one pickup in 24 fret guitars but the extra depth of a 22 fret neck could make it too dark/muddy maybe? Remember the close to the neck there is some extra bass picked by the pickup.
 
Re: Best neck pickup for fluid high-gain lead ??

The neck Black Winter has some really great soloing tones, too. It does the 'fluid high gain lead' thing really well.
 
Re: Best neck pickup for fluid high-gain lead ??

The liquifier and sentient pickups are great for this. The sentient seems more versatile to me. I’m awestruck by the black winter neck. It does a great singing lead sound and is surprisingly versatile too.
 
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