Can the 59 do heavy?

[Petrovsk Mizinski]

Re: Can the 59 do heavy?

we are talking bridge, right?

looking at the OP's sig, i think he can be quietly confident that he'd be able to get dirty enough with a 59b. get a couple of spare mags just in case ; ]

Petrovsk, perhaps a modded invader would be more what you're looking for? for that fast attack tightness thing, i don't think 1010 slugs and fillisters are enough. need rails or 12 short screws, i reckon.
i keep wondering if you'd like a ceramic full shred more...

Haha nah, not really looking for any new pickups, pretty content with what I have now in my 3 guitars (set of EMG 707s in one guitar, ABH-1 7 string set in one, and Dimarzio Blaze set for the other).
Was just genuinely curious as to what people think about the EMG 81 vs the Distortion.

Heavy Rock in the bridge and neck. Barely in the neck for much heavier though. Hated it in the bridge for heavy distortion; even in standard tuning.

Screw what they say about lower output pickups being better under high gain than higher output pups. That old wives tale needs to be smacked in the face.

Yep, I definitely go for higher ouput stuff for high gain on the bridge.
Don't mind lower output stuff for the neck for leads (Dimarzio Blaze neck is is only a medium/low output pickup)

 

[Jolly_Rancher]

Re: Can the 59 do heavy?

I know someone nearby with a similar guitar as my Darth H8R, but with EMG's. I have no idea what kind, 81, 85, not sure. But it would have been a good comparison if I still had the distortion in the guitar. I put a regular sized A8 in the DDn and will try it in the bridge with a PGb in the neck. Too late, sorry, would have been cool to answer your question though.

 

[DepecheMoses]

Re: Can the 59 do heavy?

I've heard if you put an Invader in parallel it sounds very PAF-ish. I haven't tried it, but it sounds about right on paper.

 

[JB6464]

Re: Can the 59 do heavy?

Put a Alnico 8 magnet in that 59B and watch it kick your ass with fatness and harmonic output tones.
That's what i did and compared it side by side with my DD in my alder body strats and it had more clarity and definition as well. Under high gain i thought it sounded better than the DD and with tighter lows and fat mids. :bigthumb:

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: Can the 59 do heavy?

good example and dont forget the large mahogany body and i am sure the MESA MKIV's help! lol I Vote for the PAtb-3 for what the OP wants. It is a 59 with more horsepower.

And don't forget also that Morton has used just about every pickup in his guitars in the last year, still searching for "his" tone. Even he doesn't know what pickup was used on what track or during which show, so if you're trying to jude anything by his tone, you're SOL.

The 59 can do whatever you want it to do as long as you understand how to work an EQ (amp, pedal, etc) to dial in just the right tone. Setting all the knobs to 10 and expecting the pickup to do it all perfectly the first time is unrealistic.

 

[JB6464]

Re: Can the 59 do heavy?

And don't forget also that Morton has used just about every pickup in his guitars in the last year, still searching for "his" tone. Even he doesn't know what pickup was used on what track or during which show, so if you're trying to jude anything by his tone, you're SOL.

The 59 can do whatever you want it to do as long as you understand how to work an EQ (amp, pedal, etc) to dial in just the right tone. Setting all the knobs to 10 and expecting the pickup to do it all perfectly the first time is unrealistic.

Depends on the amp for eq settings.
If it's a passive EQ amp like a Marshall then you want to set all the knobs on 10 then Cut what freq you don't want. If it's like Mesa,Carvin,etc with active eq then you should start at 5 on the tone knobs then Boost or Cut your freq you want.
But a stock 59B lacks midrange from the get go. That being said , an amp with alot of mid-high freq like Marshall might be just right.
The only way to know for sure is try it.
My 2 cents worth.

 

[Soulcrusher_X]

Re: Can the 59 do heavy?

It will be going in my LP Custom. I have a JB in there right now, which kicks ass for a lot of stuff, but Im looking for something that might be a little more "classic" I guess. I tried a C5, but wasnt into that one. Too blah I guess. It was really quiet too compared to the 59 I have in the neck. Ill be using it for heavy rock, but nothing like Pantera or LOG. My JSX has a good amount of gain and I use my SD1 for boost, so I have gain covered pretty well. If I put an A8 mag in the 59, would it lose definition or the ability to clean up with the volume knobs?

 

[IanBallard]

Re: Can the 59 do heavy?

The A8 will just make it stronger and give it more mids. It'll have a more balanced EQ overall and it will still clean up really well. In fact, I think it improves definition. Try it!!

 

[jhale667]

Re: Can the 59 do heavy?

The A8 will just make it stronger and give it more mids. It'll have a more balanced EQ overall and it will still clean up really well. In fact, I think it improves definition. Try it!!

Cool - looking to score a used TB 59 at some point to do just that...sounds like exactly what I'm looking for in my old 1-hum Ash Strat. :approve:


(Actually, guess I'll need more than one if I wanna try an A8 '59/Custom hybrid somewhere down the line!)

 

[metalmachine]

Re: Can the 59 do heavy?

How does the Duncan Distortion compare side by side with an 81 for tightness?
Anyone compared side by side?

i think the distortion sounds like the 81 with a bigger hairier penis.

if its not as tight then its not by a lot.

 

[Soulcrusher_X]

Re: Can the 59 do heavy?

The A8 will just make it stronger and give it more mids. It'll have a more balanced EQ overall and it will still clean up really well. In fact, I think it improves definition. Try it!!

Cool! I'll have to try that. I was thinking of trying an A8 in my C5, too.

 

[LatsMcGee]

Re: Can the 59 do heavy?

I used to play "modern metal" in my old band and I used a 59 with a ceramic mag for my bridge pup, I initially had a Custom Five in there but I think the 59 with the ceramic had a more ballsier mid range, I really liked it in the LP studio I had at the time.

The music we were doing was somewhere between Isis and Soilent Green.

 

[Soulcrusher_X]

Re: Can the 59 do heavy?

I used to play "modern metal" in my old band and I used a 59 with a ceramic mag for my bridge pup, I initially had a Custom Five in there but I think the 59 with the ceramic had a more ballsier mid range, I really liked it in the LP studio I had at the time.

The music we were doing was somewhere between Isis and Soilent Green.

This is kinda what I was thinking of doing, but using the A8 magnet.

 

[some_dude]

Re: Can the 59 do heavy?

I'm not using Duncan's, but all my guitars except one are currently loaded with PAF style humbuckers and I play through high gain the majority of the time. For me the trick is to back the guitar's tone knob off to around 7 or 8... PAFs are naturally brighter than high output pickups, and rolling the tone down knocks some edge off and cleans up any excessive sizzle you might get.

Personally, I found the switch to lower output pickups increased the definition, provided they were a tonally balanced PAF as some of them can sound too scooped.

 

[saladin]

Re: Can the 59 do heavy?

The '59 can do heavy but it doesn't have the compression of a JB or Custom to really make distortion sing. I love the 59 and C5 for more clean to classic rock sounds, not so much for anything heavier.

 

[marcello252]

Re: Can the 59 do heavy?

The '59 can do heavy but it doesn't have the compression of a JB or Custom

sometimes this could be not an issue, even in metal, it depends on the signal chain too.

 

[dominus]

Re: Can the 59 do heavy?

I got some good tight heaviness out of the Pearly Gates myself a few years back.

 

[Soulcrusher_X]

Re: Can the 59 do heavy?

I have no issues playing Megadeth with a BB2. A 59 should have more output than that.

How close is a BB to a 59?