Boomy Neck Pickup
- Thread starter MB89
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Snake Aces
Singlecut Slut
Re: Boomy Neck Pickup
Back it away from the strings a hair or two. Start there, obviously back it away on the side of the 5 and 6 string, where it is booming. Start there and report back, a boomy neck is not as common in SG guitars that I've played when compared to Les Pauls, so tweaking the pickup height should be enough.
Back it away from the strings a hair or two. Start there, obviously back it away on the side of the 5 and 6 string, where it is booming. Start there and report back, a boomy neck is not as common in SG guitars that I've played when compared to Les Pauls, so tweaking the pickup height should be enough.
Re: Boomy Neck Pickup
All of the above options work well
In order, I'd recommend them as follows:
1) lower the pickup. Quickest / easiest to do, reversible, etc. etc.
if that doesn't work...
2) magnet swap. Cheap, reversible, lets you hone your tone. CON: you may not be comfortable doing these kinds of mods (though they are easy to learn!), and this will void your warranty on your pickup
if that doesn't work...
3) demud mod. Also cheap and reversible. Also less time consuming than a magnet swap and doesn't void your warranty, I've done this before and liked it, and I think I've even posted about it on the forum. However, the reason why I would say that a magnet swap is better is that your tone will probably be better with a magnet swap than with a cap (in my opinion... as all things tone related are opinions....). A cap will cut certain frequencies out entirely; a magnet swap will still allow a full frequency response, but will just alter the emphasis.
That's my 2 cents.
All of the above options work well
In order, I'd recommend them as follows:
1) lower the pickup. Quickest / easiest to do, reversible, etc. etc.
if that doesn't work...
2) magnet swap. Cheap, reversible, lets you hone your tone. CON: you may not be comfortable doing these kinds of mods (though they are easy to learn!), and this will void your warranty on your pickup
if that doesn't work...
3) demud mod. Also cheap and reversible. Also less time consuming than a magnet swap and doesn't void your warranty, I've done this before and liked it, and I think I've even posted about it on the forum. However, the reason why I would say that a magnet swap is better is that your tone will probably be better with a magnet swap than with a cap (in my opinion... as all things tone related are opinions....). A cap will cut certain frequencies out entirely; a magnet swap will still allow a full frequency response, but will just alter the emphasis.
That's my 2 cents.
Artie
Peaveyologist
Re: Boomy Neck Pickup
It's unique to each situation. You have to try it, to see if you like it. But, it is simple to do. And fairly inexpensive.
It's unique to each situation. You have to try it, to see if you like it. But, it is simple to do. And fairly inexpensive.
720Guitars
New member
Re: Boomy Neck Pickup
A suggestion if you are feeling really adventurous, move the pickup 3/4" towards the middle. Okay, maybe not so practical, but sometimes I think that's where neck pickups really belong.
A suggestion if you are feeling really adventurous, move the pickup 3/4" towards the middle. Okay, maybe not so practical, but sometimes I think that's where neck pickups really belong.
vinta9e
New member
Re: Boomy Neck Pickup
SG's already have their neck pickups as if they were 24 fretters and they should not be boomy by nature, especially with Black Winters which are the polar opposite of boomy. At this point it's difficult to say whether getting a satisfactory result would take a setup tweak, extended customizing or even flipping the guitar.
SG's already have their neck pickups as if they were 24 fretters and they should not be boomy by nature, especially with Black Winters which are the polar opposite of boomy. At this point it's difficult to say whether getting a satisfactory result would take a setup tweak, extended customizing or even flipping the guitar.
720Guitars
New member
Re: Boomy Neck Pickup
Ah yes so they do, guess I was thinking of the LP Specials that have the pickup right up against the neck.
Ah yes so they do, guess I was thinking of the LP Specials that have the pickup right up against the neck.
ItsaBass
New member
Re: Boomy Neck Pickup
First, adjust your pole pieces so you have even string to string volume. Unadjusted ('flat-poled") humbuckers have overly loud low E and A, an overly weak D, and an overly loud G. Balancing the string volume in chords can improve muddiness and boominess.
Next, adjust pickup height until the low midrange sounds good to you. If you need more treble, raise the pole pieces equally across the board. If you have too much low end, take care of it at the amp by running your bass knob lower. Each adjustment will affect other things on the pickup's tone as well, so you will have to go through this process a few times to dial it in precisely.
First, adjust your pole pieces so you have even string to string volume. Unadjusted ('flat-poled") humbuckers have overly loud low E and A, an overly weak D, and an overly loud G. Balancing the string volume in chords can improve muddiness and boominess.
Next, adjust pickup height until the low midrange sounds good to you. If you need more treble, raise the pole pieces equally across the board. If you have too much low end, take care of it at the amp by running your bass knob lower. Each adjustment will affect other things on the pickup's tone as well, so you will have to go through this process a few times to dial it in precisely.
720Guitars
New member
Re: Boomy Neck Pickup
I wonder if you might just have a problem with one of the pots or a bad connection somewhere and are bleeding some of the good frequencies. It would be interesting to disconnect the neck pick up and come straight out to the amp, bypassing all the electronics, and see if that fixes it.
I wonder if you might just have a problem with one of the pots or a bad connection somewhere and are bleeding some of the good frequencies. It would be interesting to disconnect the neck pick up and come straight out to the amp, bypassing all the electronics, and see if that fixes it.
Jack_TriPpEr
New member
Re: Boomy Neck Pickup
You wouldn't happen to be using an amp that has Celestion G12T-75 speakers in it, would you? Or another type speaker that has similiar accentuated low end
voicing?
A couple years back I had a Dean Icon guitar that had a very boomy sounding low E string, and I tried many of the methods above to try and resolve it. Including the Demud Mod and even replacing the stock passive pickups with active pickups. And running the guitar through a EQ pedal where i cut the low frequencies a lot. None of these actions fully resolved that boomy Low E problem. (The Demud Mod and then later changing to active pickups did help a lot, but neither resolved it 100%)
Months later, I decided to sell the guitar - partly for that reason. So before listing it for sale, I returned it back to stock condition. And so after rewiring all the electronics back to stock condition, I had to naturally plug the guitar into an amp to listen and test that my wiring work had no issues. And I discovered that the boomy low E problem was gone. I thought about it and realized that I had recently replaced the G12T-75 speakers in my amp with different speakers. That was the only difference. So apparently the speakers were the cause of the problem.
EDIT: I should have mentioned that the Neck pickup was a PAF style humbucker with an A5 magnet.
Hi
Does any off you have some tips to tveak a boomy neck pickup,
i have a sg with black winter set, the bridge i have dialed in to my liking, but the neck i cant get right, it is the 5 and 6 string that is boomy
any help will be great
You wouldn't happen to be using an amp that has Celestion G12T-75 speakers in it, would you? Or another type speaker that has similiar accentuated low end
voicing?
A couple years back I had a Dean Icon guitar that had a very boomy sounding low E string, and I tried many of the methods above to try and resolve it. Including the Demud Mod and even replacing the stock passive pickups with active pickups. And running the guitar through a EQ pedal where i cut the low frequencies a lot. None of these actions fully resolved that boomy Low E problem. (The Demud Mod and then later changing to active pickups did help a lot, but neither resolved it 100%)
Months later, I decided to sell the guitar - partly for that reason. So before listing it for sale, I returned it back to stock condition. And so after rewiring all the electronics back to stock condition, I had to naturally plug the guitar into an amp to listen and test that my wiring work had no issues. And I discovered that the boomy low E problem was gone. I thought about it and realized that I had recently replaced the G12T-75 speakers in my amp with different speakers. That was the only difference. So apparently the speakers were the cause of the problem.
EDIT: I should have mentioned that the Neck pickup was a PAF style humbucker with an A5 magnet.
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Clint 55
OH THE DOUBLE THICK GLAZE!
Re: Boomy Neck Pickup
I think that still would be a solution in this instance. If he swapped out the 3 double thick ceramics and replaced them with 1 regular thickness cermaic, it absolutely would be less boomy. (And balance better volume wise.)
I think that still would be a solution in this instance. If he swapped out the 3 double thick ceramics and replaced them with 1 regular thickness cermaic, it absolutely would be less boomy. (And balance better volume wise.)
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