Best positions for some pickups?

[Halfapizza]

I've got a handful of pickups here and a swimming pool routed partscaster.
Any recommendations for best positions for each of the following pickups? I like Steely Dan, Jeff Beck, Van Halen too lol. I mostly finger pick and want maximum dynamic range and range of EQ.

Alnico 2 trembucker, 8.2K
Duncan designed HB103n, ceramic, 7.5K
JB bridge, alnico 5, 16.4K
Iron gear Rolling Mill neck, alnico 5, 42awg, 7.7K
Matsumoku MMK45 from an old Westone, ceramic, roughly 11K
A couple of cheap Wilkinson P90's, currently with ceramic magnets... I haven't been able to open them yet.

I tried the JB in the bridge, but it was missing some sparkle.
I put the HB103n in the bridge today and it's quite fun to play with.
I currently have the APH in the neck, but it doesn't shine through as well as I'd like.
I was wondering if I should swap the magnets and positions a bit. Like:
Aph2 coils with A5 magnet in bridge?
Hb103n coils with A2 magnet in neck?
My theory is that A2 magnet for neck reduces magnetic string pull, and the lower wound HB103n coils will give it more treble.

Edited for multimeter readings
Thanks

 

[Mincer]

Welcome to the forum!

Magnet swapping is easy and in some pickups makes a radical difference. The A2 for an A5 in the APH-1 makes it a Jazz pickup with lots of highs, little mids and bass. You'd probably like it in the neck or bridge.
The JB is a really hot pickup that probably won't give you the dynamics you want. If you want big power chords and sustainy 80s solos, it is a good fit, but not great for cleaner styles.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

I personally normally hate sub-8K pickups in the bridge position, but everyone is different.

I do, however, prefer A5 bridge pickups match with A2 neck pickups.

 

[marcello252]

I do, however, prefer A5 bridge pickups match with A2 neck pickups.

...but you need it for the "chugga chugga" of metal, I'm more on classic rock (I bet you'd say Boring rock ), A2 is the best magnet for me if the HB stays on 8-9k and A5 is better suited for higher impedance, matter of tastes , as ever

 

[Mincer]

Yeah, I generally hate any 8k+ pickups in the bridge, but I barely use any distortion at all.

 

[Halfapizza]

Yeah, I generally hate any 8k+ pickups in the bridge, but I barely use any distortion at all.

Thank you all for the warm welcome and the great feedback.
What do you go for in the neck Mincer? Rough DC resistance? Magnet? In the past I've always used single coils in the neck, but I thought I'd try to see what a humbucker could offer for this project.
I was surprised that I didn't hate the ceramic hb103n. Today I might try swapping around a few things

 

[Mincer]

Honestly, my fav neck pickup is a stock APH-1. And I use the neck pickup about 75% of the time. But I like warm sounds with mids. I don't use a lot of gain (maybe Tube Screamer levels) into a clean Deluxe.

 

[Halfapizza]

Honestly, my fav neck pickup is a stock APH-1. And I use the neck pickup about 75% of the time. But I like warm sounds with mids. I don't use a lot of gain (maybe Tube Screamer levels) into a clean Deluxe.

Is that the neck version? The SD website says that that has a DCR of 7.5k. Mine is the trembucker, which is 8.8k, but I have it in the neck position right now. I wonder if those extra winds are giving me a little bit too much bass.

 

[Mincer]

Yeah, I use the neck version in the neck. You might be able to get rid of some of the bass in yours by pulling it away from the strings.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Yeah, I generally hate any 8k+ pickups in the bridge, but I barely use any distortion at all.

Don't you love the Custom Custom?

 

[Mincer]

Don't you love the Custom Custom?

That's about as hot as I will go. It doesn't feel as hot as something like the C5 or regular Custom because of the muted highs. I can deal with that.

 

[ehdwuld]

Trembucker is traditionally for the Bridge position

I do love the low wind in the neck
less than 8k

I have the JB/Jazz set in most of my guitars or something very similar
I have to try the A2 mag swap in the neck pickups

I have one guitar with the A2 Probucker set, and Its sounds great to me

I like the higher winds and A5 or ceramic mags in the bridge

you know I have some with the lower wind and a ceramic mag and they sound good as well

I have some with the higher wind and ceramic mag from Ibanez
those sound great in their respective guitars as well

bahhh!! if you use the tone controls on the Amp
they all will sound good

play em!!!

EDIT
the JB is very particular on where it sits under the strings
raise it to about 1/8 inch (3 mm) that's where the magic is

 

[Halfapizza]

Thank you all for your help. I played around with magnet swapping and all that. While moving bits around my cheapy switch came apart and I lost a bearing, so I went ahead and upgraded to a super switch and copied Fender's "Big Apple strat wiring". It's almost 3am here and it was the only time I had free for wiring, so I couldn't play very loud, but this guitar has some really cool sounds available now! I also added a coil split for the bridge pickup, so it covers a lot of ground now I think.

In the end I went with:

Bridge: Alnico 2 pro coils with alnico 5 magnet from the JB

Neck: Duncan Designed HB103N coils with alnico 2 magnet
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I'll have to test it out at a proper volume soon. But thank you all for helping me with ideas!

Edit: I have a couple more project guitars that will need pickups soon. For a flying V like project, I might try out a ceramic magnet in the JB, I've read here that the Duncan Distortion is similar, but with a thicker magnet. Maybe I'll try with a 1M pot to bring back some brightness? On that note, I've been wondering about using 1M pots, and just leaving it set half way, then turning it up if needed. Would this affect a fuzz face in a weird way?