Bridge pickup recommendation?

T

tcsmusicman

New member
I currently have a '59 in the neck of my SG and I love it to death; nice and clean and warm, plus it can overdrive pretty well. I also have a Pearly Gates in the bridge, but I'm not totally happy with it. It does "classic" distortion pretty well, but I feel that it sounds a little too thin or brittle to me. It also doesn't sound very good when played clean, and forget about splitting the coils. I like having a really great range of sounds, but primarily I play blues or my own funky/jazzy indie thing.

So I'm looking for something that sounds pretty clear when clean, but can still overdrive or distort for rock. I also wanted something with a bit of twang or spank, so I was really thinking about some Tv Jones Magna'trons or Classics. If anyone has some recommendations I would love to hear them!
 
Re: Bridge pickup recommendation?

tcsmusicman said:
I also have a Pearly Gates in the bridge, but I'm not totally happy with it. It does "classic" distortion pretty well, but I feel that it sounds a little too thin or brittle to me.
So I'm looking for... something with a bit of twang or spank
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Explain how 'thin and brittle' is so different from 'twang or spank.' I was going to suggest a warmer bridge PU (like an A2P or Seth), but you won't get 'twang' from them. TV Jones are going to be bright and thin, and that doesn't seem like a solution for you.
 
Re: Bridge pickup recommendation?

You want to get away from the thin and brittle sound of a PG, but you want twang and spank?! A contradiction at least.

I think the Custom8 in the bridge of your SG will give you what you want if you wire it with options to split or run the coils in parallel.

A P-Rail is also a very good suggestion, but I don't think you want the "hot" version...it tends to sound a bit muddy in series due to its hotter wind and the A8 mag. The regular P-Rail is a better option if you want good cleans ("twang and spank").

Use a Triple Shot ring with whatever pup you choose and you can get series, parallel, or split to either coil.
 
Re: Bridge pickup recommendation?

GuitarDoc said:
You want to get away from the thin and brittle sound of a PG, but you want twang and spank?! A contradiction at least.
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Total contradiction. Twang and spank are treble and upper midrange qualities... not many humbuckers have more twang and spank than a PG.

How about a Phat Cat? They sound GREAT clean, are twangy, spanky and don't sound thin or brittle.
 
Re: Bridge pickup recommendation?

I think that if you put some detailed effort into setting up the PG, and make your tone pot so that it behaves in a more useful manner, you'll love it. They are tremendously versatile pickups.

My first thoughts would be to raise the pickup for a bigger bottom end, and to try a .01 or .0047 uF cap with a linear pot to make your tone control (i.e. your treble roll-off control) more fine. Your guitar might already have linear pots, but the caps are likely .022 uF. A lower value of capacitor will keep more of your midrange when you have the pot in the bottom end of its range. A linear pot will spread out the rolloff more evenly across the pot's range, making slight treble reduction easier to dial in. With an audio pot, most of the action happens within the first 1/4 turn, which can make fine tuning the treble roll-off anywhere from kind of annoying to just plain difficult.
 
Re: Bridge pickup recommendation?

The Custom 8 would be too hot for your application, in my opinion.

I'd try a 59 bridge (with maybe an a8 magnet) or a GFS Mean 90, which is what I'm buying soon for my SG.
 
Re: Bridge pickup recommendation?

Edgecrusher said:
What!? No way! havent you heard C8's can cure cancer around here. :outahere:
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I have an SG with a C8. But people around here seems to recommend it to every SG, despite the kind of music that is going to be played with the guitar.
 
Re: Bridge pickup recommendation?

^, good suggestion. Cheapest and easiest and may do what you want.

Also good suggestions from ItsaBass.
 
Re: Bridge pickup recommendation?

blueman335 said:
Explain how 'thin and brittle' is so different from 'twang or spank.' I was going to suggest a warmer bridge PU (like an A2P or Seth), but you won't get 'twang' from them. TV Jones are going to be bright and thin, and that doesn't seem like a solution for you.
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This is a great question.

The obvious anti-thin/brittle is an A2P. But that doesn't seem like it will work. Not a twangy/spanky pup.

MAybe a DiMarzio...what is that thing? Humbucker from Hell?
 
Re: Bridge pickup recommendation?

4 conductor 59 bridge
I get decent twang out of a 59set, selector switch in the middle position plus bridge 59 coil split :D
 
Re: Bridge pickup recommendation?

bungalowbill said:
Try a 250K tone pot for the PG......5 bucks might fix your problem.
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All the electronics have been swapped out already. It has 250k pots and oil film caps in it. The biggest problem is that any settings on my amp or pedals that work for the PG, make the '59 sound like garbage. And I guess I was confusing when I said I wanted it to be spanky, but complained about the thinness of the sound haha. I don't really know of a good way to say it, but it just sounds thin without having the magic of a single coil, even when it is split. I've tried running it in parallel, and that sort of helps, but then the output is simply too low. I may try putting in a phat cat like someone said.
 
Re: Bridge pickup recommendation?

tcsmusicman said:
I may try putting in a phat cat like someone said.
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In the neck slot, Phat Cats are very warm, sometimes even dark; in the bridge slot they're weak and thin, and often overpowered by whatever's in the neck. A2's are tough magnets to get right in a P-90. I have 9 Phat Cats and have taken out all 18 of the A2's and given them away to forum members. In my experince any magnet sounds better in a Phat Cat than an A2, bridge or neck.
 
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