Blues pickup

F

Fndrfreek69

New member
hey there i'm looking for a new bridge pickup for my G&L legacy it has a maple neck and swamp ash body i was just wondering what the best bluesy sounding pickup would be? any suggestipns would be very helpful to me....i'm wanting something warm sounding too by the way....thanks for the help
 
Re: Blues pickup

The possibilities are pretty much endless. My recommendations would be either Duckbucker, Lil 59, or Quarter Pound, depending on the exact sound you are looking for, but I also think it's ok to use a Dimebucker for blues.
 
Re: Blues pickup

It all depends on what you want. If you want a traditional single with more beef and a warmer than average tone, the Texas Hot Custom is hard to beat. If you need a humbucker, the APHb fits the bill, as does the CC.
 
Re: Blues pickup

Blues is so subjective...

I, personally, don't usually think of Blues soloing as a Strat bridge pickup's duty. I tend to go for the quack sound for riffs and neck or middle for solos. I use the bridge for staccato type riffs that I want to have a popping quality to them.

...but that's just me. Good luck with your experiments. Blues is what you make it. That's what makes it so fun...
 
Re: Blues pickup

single coil? hard to beat the texas hot custom bridge
single coil size bucker? lil 59 gets my vote
full size bucker? pearly gates or patb3

i dont like my blues with too hot a bridge bucker (like the distortion) or too fat a bucker (like the cc) you end up losing the some of the personality and expressiveness imo
 
Re: Blues pickup

I'd like to add my +1 to Jeremy's clear post above.

For Blues, lower output seems to work better...for me as well...
 
Re: Blues pickup

i was leaning toward a mini bucker like a jb jr. or a 59 at one point but i don't want to give up the sound of the neck/bridge out of phase sound as i'll use that more than just the bridge alone.....does the lil 59 coil tap well or not? by the way thanks for all the help everyone has given me
 
Re: Blues pickup

I would leave the guitar alone and use you neck pickup for blues--like Stevie Ray did. Most of the other Strat Slingers who do blues never use that bridge pickup. The exceptions are EC and Robert Cray--and the Legacy will nail their tone in Position #2 while totally stock.

Bill

My G&Ls
Eight Legacys
Two Comanches
Two S-500s
Two Legacy Specials
 
Re: Blues pickup

The only single coil bridge I've tried from Seymour Duncan is the Alnico II Pro Staggered, but if you look at my soundclick page I've got a bunch of random sound clips. Don't know if it will be what you want in the bridge since it's still a bit glassy (but not as much as alnico V pickups would be), but it's pretty warm too.
 
Re: Blues pickup

The JBjr and lil'59 are good for humbucker blues. The HSS is a great setup to get both Strat & LP type tones. There will be a volume jump when you flip the switch to the bridge pup unless you have pretty hot single coils.
 
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Re: Blues pickup

Simple stock stuff from Fender and Gibson can be pretty darn good for blues of course. Texas Specials, Dirty Fingers, etc... have been used for blues for a long time. Several Duncans have already been mentioned, so I'll suggest a few different options like the Dimarzio Virtual series. EMG makes some passive alnico singles that sound very similar to the Classic Stacks. They're very glassy and warm sounding like vintage Strat pups. You can pick them up new for around $45 ea.

A friend bought a loaded pickguard with these EMG S1 pickups and I was blown away by the sound. Let me tell you my friend, these pickups will amaze you with real classy tone. Plus, they're EMG's, so you can get them inexpensive and sell them quickly if you don't like them. They use the 5-wire Quick Connect like the actives do. They're extremely quiet and have a superb midrange.
 
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Re: Blues pickup

you know i've always wondered about EMG's single coil pickups....has anyone use the active ones? how do they sound... really in the end im going to go through every pickup in existence to get the sound that i want...i hear it in my head but not exactly out of my guitar which angers me but im close...thanks for the help again though
 
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