Crank Marshalls don't like neck pups for rhythm

[No effects]

Either with my SG (490r) or Les Paul (Jazz), I can't go passed two on my plexi RI without rhythm playing going to mud on the neck pick up (leads are fine though). The bridge pups however (490t or JB) shine in either position, but especially for hard rock (read AC/DC or Skynyrd) with volume half-way. My question: do most neck pups go muddy with distortion? Note that my Marshall has no master volume.

 

[St_Genesius]

Re: Crank Marshalls don't like neck pups for rhythm

That's one reason I like to choose a noticeably bright pickup for neck positions (ot necessarily one that has a lot of highs, but one that doesn't have much in the way of lows). The combo of bright pup + neck position seems to balance out to my ears. If, by chance, it's TOO bright for a given purpose...well...that's why God gave me a tone knob.

 

[jimmy]

Re: Crank Marshalls don't like neck pups for rhythm

I have an SG with a 490 set, and I use the same amp as you do.
When I would crank the MKII, the pickups would totally fart out and sound like complete sackof****.
I got some duncans and it was like a whole new guitar!

The SH-10N in an SG really shines and works well for leads and rhythm.
you might want to look into that one.



Rock.

 

[No effects]

Re: Crank Marshalls don't like neck pups for rhythm

That's one reason I like to choose a noticeably bright pickup for neck positions (ot necessarily one that has a lot of highs, but one that doesn't have much in the way of lows). The combo of bright pup + neck position seems to balance out to my ears. If, by chance, it's TOO bright for a given purpose...well...that's why God gave me a tone knob.

That's why I went from a '59 to a Jazz in my LP. It's definitely a lot better, but still not for cranked tones. Still I do get beautiful blues and rhythm tones from it when the amp's volume is lower. Any suggestions on other suitable neck pups?

 

[some_dude]

Re: Crank Marshalls don't like neck pups for rhythm

It's for that reason I don't use the neck for gained up rhythm.

For clean to low gain rhythm, I generally use the neck. For medium to high gain rhythm, I generally use the neck.

 

[kevlar3000]

Re: Crank Marshalls don't like neck pups for rhythm

Try some A3 magnets. I generally dislike buckers in the neck position as they tend to tubby with either A5 or A2 . The A3 is lower output and brighter and made a vast improvement for the neck pickup. I general I like A3 in darker thicker toned guitars. ( Les Paul types)Another pu to try is the Humbucker from Hell or the EJ ( Eric Johnson) Custom from Dimarzio. After trying a Jazz and a 59 in my old Explorer I went to these pickups and got much closer to what I was looking for. Esp when I tossed in an A3. The change was remarkable. I generally like Fender Type type guitars and a big part of it is how much sweeter they sound in the neck position. One of the reasons I sold my Hamer .Explorer

How are you setting your RI? I have one as well. You can roll the bass back and still have fullness with it. Mine is tweaked to vintage specs but even stock you should be able to do something to help. If you take the purple neg feedback wire and move it from the 8 ohm tap to the 16 ohm tap on the speaker ohm selector you can also reduce both the overall gain and thickness of the bass. I like it best set there as the amp is also a bit quicker in its note response too.

 

[Simon_F]

Re: Crank Marshalls don't like neck pups for rhythm

My advice would be to use A2 pickups (but not the 490R!) and 500k volume pots.

A2 pickups generally have softer bass, and that really helps the neck position in a Gibson. Dump the 490R, it's allegedly A2 but the one in my LP Standard was really muddy and it had to go. Maybe try a Seth, PG or A2P.

A 500k volume pot will also give you a brighter sound.

 

[St_Genesius]

Re: Crank Marshalls don't like neck pups for rhythm

That's me as well. I like a bridge pickup with a lot of edge and weight to it for rythym work, while I almost never use my neck pickup for anything but lead.

It's for that reason I don't use the neck for gained up rhythm. /QUOTE]

 

[No effects]

Re: Crank Marshalls don't like neck pups for rhythm

Try some A3 magnets. I generally dislike buckers in the neck position as they tend to tubby with either A5 or A2 . The A3 is lower output and brighter and made a vast improvement for the neck pickup. I general I like A3 in darker thicker toned guitars. ( Les Paul types)Another pu to try is the Humbucker from Hell or the EJ ( Eric Johnson) Custom from Dimarzio. After trying a Jazz and a 59 in my old Explorer I went to these pickups and got much closer to what I was looking for. Esp when I tossed in an A3. The change was remarkable. I generally like Fender Type type guitars and a big part of it is how much sweeter they sound in the neck position. One of the reasons I sold my Hamer .Explorer

How are you setting your RI? I have one as well. You can roll the bass back and still have fullness with it. Mine is tweaked to vintage specs but even stock you should be able to do something to help. If you take the purple neg feedback wire and move it from the 8 ohm tap to the 16 ohm tap on the speaker ohm selector you can also reduce both the overall gain and thickness of the bass. I like it best set there as the amp is also a bit quicker in its note response too.

I plug in top left (no bridging channels), pres=5, bass=3, treble=7, mids=6, volume=2 for clean stuff and 5 for harder rock, and my cab is an 1960AV. The muddy neck is the only problem I'm having and it seems to be manageable since the songs in our repertoire that call for heavier distortion are also played on the bridge (this is probably not an accident). The 490 Gibson pups are OK in the SG but the Jazz/JB Les Paul is so much better that it won't be too long before I swap.

 

[hacker]

Re: Crank Marshalls don't like neck pups for rhythm

When playing with humbuckers and overdrive/distortion, I usually like the bridge or middle positions for rhythm, and the neck for occasional fat leads. I only like some neck humbuckers for clean rhythm parts that feature arpeggios, single note lines or double stops at the most.

 

[Hellion]

Re: Crank Marshalls don't like neck pups for rhythm

I seldom use the rhythm pickup for rhythm sounds, at most I'll blend in a bit with the lead pup on crunch settings, because, I agree with you, wide open Marshalls don't particularly like neck pickups on rhythm. BUT, they LOVE them on solos once you get above the 8th fret!

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Crank Marshalls don't like neck pups for rhythm

I use the alnico 2 Seth Lover, Antiquity and Pearly Gates humbuckers for the neck pickups in my humbucker guitars. Alnico 2 Duncan humbuckers seem to have a little less bass and that helps me avoid singing the Muddy Neck Humbucker Blues! I love bounce of the 59N, but it has a little to much bass for me...the Jazz N has less bass and a clearer tone, but being a Strat and Tele single coil type guy, I like even more clarity and less bass. The Seth, Antiquity and PG are beautiful, complex, lively humbucking pickups that have smooth highs and a little less bass than most alnico 5 humbuckers. They're my three favorite Duncan neck humbuckers.

 

[No effects]

Re: Crank Marshalls don't like neck pups for rhythm

I use the alnico 2 Seth Lover, Antiquity and Pearly Gates humbuckers for the neck pickups in my humbucker guitars. Alnico 2 Duncan humbuckers seem to have a little less bass and that helps me avoid singing the Muddy Neck Humbucker Blues! I love bounce of the 59N, but it has a little to much bass for me...the Jazz N has less bass and a clearer tone, but being a Strat and Tele single coil type guy, I like even more clarity and less bass. The Seth, Antiquity and PG are beautiful, complex, lively humbucking pickups that have smooth highs and a little less bass than most alnico 5 humbuckers. They're my three favorite Duncan neck humbuckers.

I'm glad to see that it's not just me who's been experiencing this. Lew, what about the Alcino II Pro for the neck? Does it compare favourably to the Seth, Antiquity and PG?

 

[Robert S.]

Re: Crank Marshalls don't like neck pups for rhythm

There is a reason that you don't hear a lot of high gain players playing rhythm parts on neck pickups and you just found it. It's not often a very flattering tone. Finding a brighter, less bottom oriented pickup may help but at the end of the day most players find that chugging along on the wound strings with a lot of gain on a neck pickup just sounds too swampy. Neck pickups can be great for gained solos but gained rhythm works sounds far better on a bridge pickup.

Unless you have an amp that you can dedicate strictly to high gain neck pickup rhythm work and then dial out the bottom and mids you're in for a hard road tonally. Even then though you lose a lot of tone dialing out your amps balls.

There are quite a few ways to make your rig sound bad and I try to avoid them as much as possible. Playing neck pickups under high gain for rhythm work is one of them.

 

[Jeffrec]

Re: Crank Marshalls don't like neck pups for rhythm

That's always been a problem with humbuckers. I've used a BOSS equalizer pedal to brighten up the neck pup. It seems to work pretty well and allows you to improve the general rhythm sound.

Jeff