Brightest neck pickup for a Les Paul?

JohnnyGuitarCA

JohnnyGuitarCA

New member
The guitar is an Epiphone Les Paul Traditional Pro IV, Mahogany neck and body, Indian Laurel fretboard, solid maple cap. (Not a veneer.)

Brightest neck pickup for a Les Paul? I like neck HB's that are bright with scooped mids and very little bass. I'd appreciate your opinions. Thank you!
 
The '59 is bright and has scooped mids. It can be boomy if you put it too close to the strings, but if you back it off pretty low it has a lovely almost acoustic vibe going on clean and takes gain like a champ.
 
I love the 59N in a Les Paul, yet it has fairly big lows.
Jazz neck is even brighter and similarly scooped in the mids.
I'd suggest one of those with a cap inline to cut the bass if necessary.

Never tried out the Green Magic neck myself.
 
Last edited:
Another vote for the jazz. What do you have there now? If I it has an A2 magnet you may be happy just changing the magnet to A5 in the same pickup.
 
GuitarStv said:
The '59 is bright and has scooped mids. It can be boomy if you put it too close to the strings, but if you back it off pretty low it has a lovely almost acoustic vibe going on clean and takes gain like a champ.
Click to expand...

I was playing my D’angelico this week (it’s loaded with 59’s) and was thinking man that sounds like an acoustic guitar. And I agree, those pickups sound great with gain. The 59’s and the SSL 1s I think often get overlooked
 
JohnnyGuitarCA said:
What value cap(s) do you suggest I try?
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In this situation, a smaller cap will cut more bass - the opposite of how it works in a tone control.
I'd probably start with .047uF, then try .033 or .022, or even smaller depending on how you like it.
I've never gone lower than .022 myself, but I wasn't looking for a really skinny sound.

Caps are inexpensive; it's worth getting a handful of different values.
You can get a hundred cheap ceramics in assorted useful values for a couple of dollars on Amazon or eBay.
100 assorted mylar chiclets are only about $10 (for a buck or two more you can 350).
https://www.amazon.com/Tnisesm-Metalized-Polyester-Capacitors-Assortment/dp/B08F52JC22?th=1
Unless you're a builder or repair tech, that's a lifetime supply of tone caps.

A subtler option is ArtieToo's "De-Mud" mod, which clears the lows gently without changing the overall sound much.
It's a cap and resistor in parallel that just trims some of the deep boom. More of a feel-at-gain mod than an actual revoicing.
In your situation I think a straight cap is more what you're looking for, but I felt obliged mention the de-mud as well.

 
I'm interested to see what you go for, op.

The Full Shred neck is without a doubt the brightest neck hum. The hexz emphasize the treble focus more than any other neck hum. It's a cool crunchy sound. If you want the regular pole pieces, there are some other options that were mentioned.

Definitely go for 1 meg volume and 250k no load tone to maximize treble.

Cap in line or de-mud could work for you too.
 
I briefly had a dimarzio super 2 in the neck of an sg. When i think of a bright neck pickup, I think of the Dimarzio Super 2.
 
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