Bridge Pickup for SG

[vintagecrunch]

I have a 61 RI SG that I recently pulled out of the closet and noticed the neck pickup is extremely dark and muffled. I dont remeber it sounding that way and it is almost unusable for me.
I took it to my tech and he checked it out and all pots read fine so I am going to pull it out and move the bridge 57' to the neck spot and put something else in the bridge.
Any suggestions?

I want something classic rock and smooth with a touch of bite that will balance nicely with 57' in the neck. Maybe a Seth or an Ant? 59 maybe?

 

[Blue_Fingers_Jay]

Re: Bridge Pickup for SG

Is the neck pickup a 57 too?
I might be wrong here, but if a bridge pickup (in a balanced set) has more output than the neck pickup, won't the bridge pickup in the neck position sound even darker?

 

[vintagecrunch]

Re: Bridge Pickup for SG

Um thanks for that... pretty sure the strings are fine and the pick up is too dark.

From what I have been told 57 classics are not matched in sets much like old Gibson pickups and can work in neck or bridge if you balance the hieght. I feel very sure that the 57 in the bridge will be just fine in the neck. I am not really a fan of matched sets and have had much success with "bridge" pickups in a neck spot.

 

[blueman335]

Re: Bridge Pickup for SG

Is the neck pickup a 57 too?
I might be wrong here, but if a bridge pickup (in a balanced set) has more output than the neck pickup, won't the bridge pickup in the neck position sound even darker?

You're right; why make it darker. My solution would be to leave the bridge PU where it is (he seemed happy with that, right?), and put an A5 magnet in the neck PU. Every Gibson neck HB that I have sounded too dark & muffled (those darn A2's), and I've put A5's in all of them. Big improvement. Clarity! Definition!

And new strings would be a good idea too.

 

[vintagecrunch]

Re: Bridge Pickup for SG

For what it is worth the guitar strings have been changed....

 

[LtKojak]

Re: Bridge Pickup for SG

I took it to my tech and he checked it out and all pots read fine

I really don't know what he meant with "reading out fine"... Was he reading 250k, 300k or 500k?

Change the pots. They're probably 300K, so get a good 500k. It could be just what the doctor ordered!

I have a 61 RI SG that I recently pulled out of the closet and noticed the neck pickup is extremely dark and muffled.

As Blueman335 said, change the magnet on that neck p'up with a AlNiCo 5 one. Then you'll really be getting out of Mud City!

Pepe aka Lt. Kojak
Milano, Italy

 

[Blue_Fingers_Jay]

Re: Bridge Pickup for SG

I really don't know what he meant with "reading out fine"... Was he reading 250k, 300k or 500k?

Change the pots. They're probably 300K, so get a good 500k. It could be just what the doctor ordered!




As Blueman335 said, change the magnet on that neck p'up with a AlNiCo 5 one. Then you'll really be getting out of Mud City!

Pepe aka Lt. Kojak
Milano, Italy

+1
Changing pots and magnets is easy and cheap and can solve your problem, and you can trust Blueman335s word the dude knows his magnets, you can learn alot just from reading his posts, and he has Peter Green in his avatar for gods sake.

 

[vintagecrunch]

Re: Bridge Pickup for SG

By fine I mean they are an RS kit and they all read at the 500k they are supposed to be...I am not looking for reasons the 57 classic in the neck might be dark, It is just a very dark example of a otherwise nice neck bucker.

Okay maybe I took the wrong route for this, but what I want is a bridge pickup to match a 57' classic in the neck. I have never been a fan of the 57's in the bridge because of their "klank" on the high strings, but I find they work well in SG's and Pauls in the neck and since the neck pickup in that SG was very dark( not a typical sounding 57' classic out of the 20 or so sets ive heard ) I thought I would move the 8.35K bridge to the neck and ask for a good match in the bridge...

 

[TattooedCarrot]

Re: Bridge Pickup for SG

Change the pots. They're probably 300K, so get a good 500k. It could be just what the doctor ordered!

+2

I have 57's in my SG and they have plenty of bite with 500k pots. Change those first, 57's are nice sounding pickups and you might be putting the cart before the horse.

Also, to address the bridge neck thing, regular 57's only come in one kind. They are not matched. It's just one pickup they grab two of and install. The 57+ is a little hotter (and brighter) though.

 

[vintagecrunch]

Re: Bridge Pickup for SG

nobody has a suggestion for a bridge to match with a 57 classic in the neck?

 

[Mark Cearlock]

Re: Bridge Pickup for SG

nobody has a suggestion for a bridge to match with a 57 classic in the neck?

cant go wrong with a 59, imo

 

[Johtosotku]

Re: Bridge Pickup for SG

In my experience there is no cure for the "klank" of the high strings of an SG. It's just the way the instrument is toned. I put a dmz Tone Zone in mine and it still did it.

 

[DonP]

Re: Bridge Pickup for SG

nobody has a suggestion for a bridge to match with a 57 classic in the neck?

How about a 57 Classic Plus?

 

[jimijames]

Re: Bridge Pickup for SG

nobody has a suggestion for a bridge to match with a 57 classic in the neck?

I'd like to hear an EVH in an SG, so that'll be my first reccomendation. After that, I'd go with a 59/custom - fantastic pickup in whatever I've put it in.

 

[anewdefguitarist]

Re: Bridge Pickup for SG

do you want something just to match it? depending on how much you want out of it, id say go the '59 or Custom 5 route....

 

[blueman335]

Re: Bridge Pickup for SG

do you want something just to match it? depending on how much you want out of it, id say go the '59 or Custom 5 route....

Two excellent choices.

 

[Jeffrec]

Re: Bridge Pickup for SG

nobody has a suggestion for a bridge to match with a 57 classic in the neck?

I had Seths in my '61 reissue for a long time. They're real nice sounding. I recently put a CC in the bridge and love it.

 

[CenterStaqeSilver]

Re: Bridge Pickup for SG

I've read several times that with the muddy SG neck, to either change the pots to 500 or take the metal cover off the pickup. Both work to brighten and clean up the tone. Apparently the pickup itself isn't really the source of mud. Gibson would not be using those pickups so extensively if they were indeed muddy on their own.

 

[hamerfan]

Re: Bridge Pickup for SG

Gibson would not be using those pickups so extensively if they were indeed muddy on their own.

:chairfall

 

[blueman335]

Re: Bridge Pickup for SG

I've read several times that with the muddy SG neck, to either change the pots to 500 or take the metal cover off the pickup. Both work to brighten and clean up the tone. Apparently the pickup itself isn't really the source of mud. Gibson would not be using those pickups so extensively if they were indeed muddy on their own.

But if you wind up with mud too often, then you have to ask why are the components (PU's, magnets, pots, etc) used together in their neck PU's? Certainly someone in Gibson has to take responsibility for that, and the fact that a disproportionately high number of Gibson customers swap out their PU's for other after-market brands. There have been many posts on this forum from players dissatisfied with their stock Gibson PU's. This is not an imaginery problem.

While their PU's work exceptionally well in some pieces of wood, in others they don't. In this price range, the hit-or-miss ratio should be more favorable (like in the high 90 percentile). Duncan has some PU's that have a very high satisfaction rate, and seem to be more forgiving in a wider variety of woods and guitar designs. The company that invented humbuckers should be taking the lead on this, & not be back in the pack.

As far as the "Gibson would not..." aspect: they persist in making triple humbucker guitars, while the rest of teh world went to HSS & HSH, which have been proven to produce much better tones.