Bridge humbucker Opinions! Fender+Mohogany+Mesa

[fender101punk]

Need opinions for a bridge humbucker! Want a crunchy / big / fat sounding pickup with nice chunky sounding palm mutes (if possible) and it will be going into a Fender guitar made out of mohogany. I play punk rock/pop punk/ska/rock, etc. and I play through a Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier halfstack. I have the Invader in my current guitar but dislike the clean tone so this bridge pup that is going into my new guitar needs to have a better clean tone also.

This might be helpful:
-I'm the only guitarist in my band, and this is why I want a crunchy / big / fat sounding pickup (so my sound stands out)
-I like the tone of LP's. (I'm not buying one because I like the feel of Fenders much better!)
-Looking for MY own sound

Any opinions are appreciated! It's really hard to settle on pickups! This is going to be my main guitar so it needs to be perfect and that is why I am thinking long and hard about it.

 

[Empty Pockets]

Re: Bridge humbucker Opinions! Fender+Mohogany+Mesa

Try a P90 man, a Phat Cat or a P-Rails. They sound huge and roar like beasts.

Maybe a Custom 5 too...people like those in Gibson SG's.

 

[fender101punk]

Re: Bridge humbucker Opinions! Fender+Mohogany+Mesa

I like the phat cat and the custom 5. But I'm worried about the noise with the phat cat.

The custom 5 sounds nice and big, and has a better clean tone then the invader.

Does anyone have any experience with the Alternative 8? It says "output is enhanced with a huge, punchy sound, full of fat mids and present upper-mids." When I read this I became interested in it. I wish SD would put up some sound clips!

How would you compare any of these pickups to the Invader?

 

[Johtosotku]

Re: Bridge humbucker Opinions! Fender+Mohogany+Mesa

Are you sure you want the bridge pickup to have that good a clean tone? I've always tried to get the best dirt from the bridge and the best clean from the neck pickup. I've also found that good clean tones do not often equal good dirty tones, you may not get both in the same package.

 

[fender101punk]

Re: Bridge humbucker Opinions! Fender+Mohogany+Mesa

Are you sure you want the bridge pickup to have that good a clean tone? I've always tried to get the best dirt from the bridge and the best clean from the neck pickup. I've also found that good clean tones do not often equal good dirty tones, you may not get both in the same package.

I mostly play with the bridge pickup and with distortion, so if it doesn't have great cleans then it's ok. But, I would like the cleans to be atleast slightly better then the Invader if possible.

But most importantly, I would like the crunchy / big / fat sound im looking for.

The phat cat sounds good, but worried about the noise and if it has enough output. Custom 5 sounds good and has better cleans then the invader, and I can't say much about the alternate 8.

anymore suggestions?

 

[Johtosotku]

Re: Bridge humbucker Opinions! Fender+Mohogany+Mesa

Well for a bridge humbucker I've liked the JB cleans the best. It's pretty hot as well so it should deliver the crunch you're looking for as well. Nothing like the Invader I presume but it's always been big, fat and loud enough for me.

 

[fender101punk]

Re: Bridge humbucker Opinions! Fender+Mohogany+Mesa

yeah, it seems to be a popular pickup, but I think I'm looking for something different

either a custom 5/Jazz combo or maybe a set of phat cats? the output of the stock single coils in my peavey falcon strat are fine it's just the single coils don't have that UMPH that the invader has in my other strat (Fender tom delonge strat)

crunchy / big / fat with good palm mutes for bridge pup. Brdge will probably be used mostly for strumming chords, and the neck pup could be used for soloing. The cleans on the custom 5 seem like they are what I am looking for

some bands I like are (in no order) sum 41, blink-182, greenday, NOFX (just to name a few) and some guitar tones I like come from Les Pauls and PRS guitars. They are nice guitars, but I'm not buying one of those because it's a combination of not liking the feel and too expensive.

maybe this info can shed some light into what I want. any more opinions?

 

[Empty Pockets]

Re: Bridge humbucker Opinions! Fender+Mohogany+Mesa

I just installed a Phat Cat in the bridge of my SG-X and it sounds great man. Big, fat and crunchy are definitely the words I would use to describe it -- I was even able to dial in "twangy" with the bass side lowered down and the treble cranked on my Fender amp.

That super-crunchy punk tone you're lookin for should be pretty easy to cop with the amps and guitars you have but I've never heard a humbucker sound as thick and crunchy as a P90 does. Humbuckers sound heavy in a different way -- more bass and highs I guess. Most P90's i've tried have been nothing but mids -- crunch and roar.

It's not like a Strat single coil at all...the Phat Cat is like a lion, Strat singles are like house cats.

 

[fender101punk]

Re: Bridge humbucker Opinions! Fender+Mohogany+Mesa

I just installed a Phat Cat in the bridge of my SG-X and it sounds great man. Big, fat and crunchy are definitely the words I would use to describe it -- I was even able to dial in "twangy" with the bass side lowered down and the treble cranked on my Fender amp.

That super-crunchy punk tone you're lookin for should be pretty easy to cop with the amps and guitars you have but I've never heard a humbucker sound as thick and crunchy as a P90 does. Humbuckers sound heavy in a different way -- more bass and highs I guess. Most P90's i've tried have been nothing but mids -- crunch and roar.

It's not like a Strat single coil at all...the Phat Cat is like a lion, Strat singles are like house cats.

awesome, thanks! this helps me out alot!

I think I'm going to go with a set of phat cats. they come with nickel plated covers so I think that would look awesome on my totally custom Warmoth "Jagster" that is going to have a white body and black pickguard with a chrome jaguar control plate.

I'm going to make a parts list, add up all the prices and see where I'm at. I just bought a camcorder so it will set me back a little but no worries as I have 2 guitars to play in the time being and I'm going to be getting a job very shortly.

I will keep you guys posted on this build when it happends, and let you know if I have any more problems or need opinions.

Thanks for the help!

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: Bridge humbucker Opinions! Fender+Mohogany+Mesa

You dig the way LP's sound but you like the way Fenders play?

Get a PATB-1 set.

They're specifically designed to make shredder guitars sound like Les Pauls.

 

[alex1fly]

Re: Bridge humbucker Opinions! Fender+Mohogany+Mesa

Try wiring a push/pull to run the Invader in parallel. It's supposed to be have an awesome clean tone, and be one of Seymour's "best kept secrets." Cheaper than buying a new (or a string of new) pickups!

 

[alex1fly]

Re: Bridge humbucker Opinions! Fender+Mohogany+Mesa

But P 90s are punky, chunky, and cut through nicely. Another trick for cutting through and having a good live sound is to run an EQ pedal between your guitar and amp. Cutting some frequencies will reduce mud, and boosting some will increase the presence of your pick attack.

 

[jimijames]

Re: Bridge humbucker Opinions! Fender+Mohogany+Mesa

Maybe PATB-3? Theodie really seems to like that one in shredder guitars. Either that or a custom shop '78 (or a Dimarzio VHPAF with A2 in it, I wouldn't bother with it with A5, but maybe in mahogany...

 

[Empty Pockets]

Re: Bridge humbucker Opinions! Fender+Mohogany+Mesa

awesome, thanks! this helps me out alot!

I think I'm going to go with a set of phat cats. they come with nickel plated covers so I think that would look awesome on my totally custom Warmoth "Jagster" that is going to have a white body and black pickguard with a chrome jaguar control plate.

I'm going to make a parts list, add up all the prices and see where I'm at. I just bought a camcorder so it will set me back a little but no worries as I have 2 guitars to play in the time being and I'm going to be getting a job very shortly.

I will keep you guys posted on this build when it happends, and let you know if I have any more problems or need opinions.

Thanks for the help!

Sounds like a sweet idea man. Good luck with that.

 

[fender101punk]

Re: Bridge humbucker Opinions! Fender+Mohogany+Mesa

If I have to buy a few pedals to keep noise down (heard that they aren't really noisy though) I will. I just want a sick tone.

Listening to the sound clips on the SD site, almost all of the pickups sound like they don't have any balls until you listen to the phat cat.

I think this is a good choice for me.

 

[alex1fly]

Re: Bridge humbucker Opinions! Fender+Mohogany+Mesa

The Phat Cat isn't too noisy, at least in my LP, only a tad more noise than the VPAF in the neck.

I run my Phat Cat through a 500k volume and 250k tone.With a strat, you may like the 250k tone. On 10 it is still way bright and cutting, so no problem there. A 500k tone pot would be way too ice-picky with my setup, and I can get a lot of cool "in between" tones.

 

[Empty Pockets]

Re: Bridge humbucker Opinions! Fender+Mohogany+Mesa

As far as hum is concerned, I noticed way more hum from my Gibson 500T humbucker in split mode than I do from the Phat Cat...and punk rock is supposed to be noisy anyway man!!

Worse comes to worst you can turn the ****in volume knob down between songs :smokin:

What you said about balls is definitely true tho. Going from a hot-as-hell ceramic humbucker to a 8k P90 was like trimming all the fat off my guitar and leaving nothing but a no-bull**** rock-n-roll deathouse.

 

[fender101punk]

Re: Bridge humbucker Opinions! Fender+Mohogany+Mesa

Thats another thing I could use opinions on

I will be having 1 volume and 1 tone knob. Should I have a 500k volume and 250k tone? I don't want it to sound really bright. I want it to sound similar to a humbucker, and then the cleans are brighter so I might need to turn the tone knob down slightly

 

[lousy_player]

Re: Bridge humbucker Opinions! Fender+Mohogany+Mesa

Generally, I think a 250k is a little warmer sounding than a 500k.

 

[fender101punk]

Re: Bridge humbucker Opinions! Fender+Mohogany+Mesa

ok, so what should I go with here?