Does 59/Custom Hybrid work well in B-standard tuning?

[Chris Magnus]

Im looking for new passive pickups for my Jackson guitar, and Ive read so much positive about the 59/Custom Hybrid. I wonder one thing though, my guitar is tuned in B standard. Will the pickup work well with it?

I don´t play djent.

 

[Lampy H]

Re: Does 59/Custom Hybrid work well in B-standard tuning?

Depends on the exact tone you're going for, but I'd wager that it would sound great.

 

[Aceman]

Re: Does 59/Custom Hybrid work well in B-standard tuning?

B ????

Have you considered these...

 

[Chris Magnus]

Re: Does 59/Custom Hybrid work well in B-standard tuning?

Depends on the exact tone you're going for, but I'd wager that it would sound great.

As far as all the videos Ive seen its the sound Im looking for, I just wanna be sure that the pickup can pickup the Low B string well.

 

[Chris Magnus]

Re: Does 59/Custom Hybrid work well in B-standard tuning?

B ????

Have you considered these...

No, what are those?

 

[jonsick]

Re: Does 59/Custom Hybrid work well in B-standard tuning?

Heya, fellow Jackson 7 string player here. A quick rundown of what I've used so far (Peavey 6505+, various pedals, I do not djent).

Black Winter Set: A great passive pickup. The neck solo tones are really fluid, clean up nicely and are exceptional with a coil tap. The bridge position does sound good, well rounded tone and responds well to the mid control on my amp. I just found for whatever reason the output was just a little lacking. While it's one of the highest output bridge humbuckers, I'm assuming that the specs don't necessarily match performance as with most things. I just wanted the pinch harmonics a little bit cleaner and the riffing on the low B to be a little more grindy.

Invader bridge humbucker (used with black winter neck): A big improvement over the black winter bridge for me. The guitar played itself but I was never too happy with the hump in the high end when used with the 6505+. That said, it's my favourite 7 string bridge pickup

EMG 81-7/85-7: Great active pickups. Super tight, really defined, but the compression seemed to matter more to me on my guitar on the higher registers. Even with teh 85-7 in the neck, my solo tones sounded a little too sterile for me. Shame, as the rhythm tones and clean tones were perfect for me.

Seymour Duncan JB-7/59-7: A good overall effort but, like their 6 string counterparts, they're too muddy sounding for that low B. The rest of the guitar is fine, but unless you take all the low end out of your signal on the amp controls you are basically in mud city with a mahogany bodied guitar (mine is the Broderick import 7 string). Shame as the clean tones were great.

DiMarzio ToneZone-7/PAF-7: A lot better than the JB/59 set, a lot more clarity. I like the mid hump on the tone zone 7. There is still a good amount of sludge on the B that I couldn't seem to dial out. But overall they're a good set.

The set I'm running now is the Black Winter set. I want to order a Full Shred 7 set as I have a set in a detuned 6 string which I like. My Black Winters are a particular colour so I didn't like the visual mismatch between the neck Black Winter and the Invader. If the Full Shreds don't work out, I'll find a neck counterpart for my Invader and go with that.

 

[Aceman]

Re: Does 59/Custom Hybrid work well in B-standard tuning?

Bass pickups

Just joking. You never said what guitar, so I assumed Six String. That made me think you might as well think about getting a bass....

 

[Mincer]

Re: Does 59/Custom Hybrid work well in B-standard tuning?

The Hybrid can do low tunings well. I think there is a video on YouTube of Keith Merrow playing in drop Bb...and it is really heavy. Plus, it has a really amazing clean tone too, which isn't the case for a lot of pickups designed for tons of distortion.

 

[Chris Magnus]

Re: Does 59/Custom Hybrid work well in B-standard tuning?

The Hybrid can do low tunings well. I think there is a video on YouTube of Keith Merrow playing in drop Bb...and it is really heavy. Plus, it has a really amazing clean tone too, which isn't the case for a lot of pickups designed for tons of distortion.

I saw it! Thanks. So I suppose the Hybrid should be able to do the trick on my guitar as well.

 

[Chris Magnus]

Re: Does 59/Custom Hybrid work well in B-standard tuning?

Heya, fellow Jackson 7 string player here. A quick rundown of what I've used so far (Peavey 6505+, various pedals, I do not djent).

Black Winter Set: A great passive pickup. The neck solo tones are really fluid, clean up nicely and are exceptional with a coil tap. The bridge position does sound good, well rounded tone and responds well to the mid control on my amp. I just found for whatever reason the output was just a little lacking. While it's one of the highest output bridge humbuckers, I'm assuming that the specs don't necessarily match performance as with most things. I just wanted the pinch harmonics a little bit cleaner and the riffing on the low B to be a little more grindy.

Interesting to read your different results on your journey for the perfect tone. Ive been recommended the Black Winters several times, but I gotta admit Im a little afraid of them. From the description on seymour duncan they are perfect for anything from hard rock to the blackest black metal, and very clean sounding, however im more into the spectrum Hendrixy psychedelic rock, up to harmonic thrashy metal. I currently have the Duncan distortion, which is amazing for heavy riffs, but too honky and hot for clean.

I generally love single coils for alot of stuff, except when Im riffing, so I split my humbuckers with push-pull. I also like a bright sound, so I thought maybe the Alnico 5 magnets in the Hybrid will brighten up my guitars warm alder body.

Heres what I was thinking though; Hybrid pups in bridge ----> Engl powerball II. Since hybrid has alnico 5 magnets it should be fairly responsive and tight for heavy riffing - at the same time its medium output, so it will sound nicer when clean, yet I can get all the distortion I need from my amp.

 

[Chris Magnus]

Re: Does 59/Custom Hybrid work well in B-standard tuning?

Bass pickups

Just joking. You never said what guitar, so I assumed Six String. That made me think you might as well think about getting a bass....

Haha Yeah I stick to six strings, cause I get as high notes as I want by moving up the frets anyway.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Does 59/Custom Hybrid work well in B-standard tuning?

I saw it! Thanks. So I suppose the Hybrid should be able to do the trick on my guitar as well.

I would think so. The low end is certainly tight enough.

 

[jonsick]

Re: Does 59/Custom Hybrid work well in B-standard tuning?

Interesting to read your different results on your journey for the perfect tone. Ive been recommended the Black Winters several times, but I gotta admit Im a little afraid of them. From the description on seymour duncan they are perfect for anything from hard rock to the blackest black metal, and very clean sounding, however im more into the spectrum Hendrixy psychedelic rock, up to harmonic thrashy metal.

I was a little concerned with the BWs before they arrived too. They are miles ahead of the DiMarzio DActivators that the guitar came with. In fact, it's safe to say I seriously hated the DActivators. When you say harmonics, do you mean a good dollop of midrange? The BWs do have a good amount of midrange which I really like. If I could find something between the Invader and the BW for my bridge, I would be a happy laddy.

I currently have the Duncan distortion, which is amazing for heavy riffs, but too honky and hot for clean.

I have never liked the Duncan Distortion 6 stringer. I can't put my finger on why, it's just always sounded too mean for me, if that makes sense. Which it doesn't since I play metal... I can't think why, it just sounds a bit sterile. I prefer the Dimarzio Super Distortion.

I generally love single coils for alot of stuff, except when Im riffing, so I split my humbuckers with push-pull. I also like a bright sound, so I thought maybe the Alnico 5 magnets in the Hybrid will brighten up my guitars warm alder body.

I wouldn't have said alder was a warm sounding tonewood compared to say mahogany. But then definitions of "warm" etc. aside, if the guitar is quite low-endy sounding, maybe the black winter would do you well given the natural spark in the mid and high-end of the pickup. I think even SD rate it as having a higher midrage and treble than low end.

Heres what I was thinking though; Hybrid pups in bridge ----> Engl powerball II. Since hybrid has alnico 5 magnets it should be fairly responsive and tight for heavy riffing - at the same time its medium output, so it will sound nicer when clean, yet I can get all the distortion I need from my amp.

I'm back and forth on this one almost constantly. To me, high output usually means compressed. Low output means things like pinch harmonics and fluid solo runs or sweeps are a little more difficult to get out. OK sure, it's easy to say work on your technique, but frankly, I find that sort of thing much easier on something like a Dimarzio Super D or Duncan Custom than a Pearly Gates for example.

I really can't comment on the custom/59 hybrid as I have never owned it. But with pickups, guitars and amps, there's plenty of ways to skin that cat! It's a little annoying as "just try it" is a lot of effort. Hopefully my experiences will help you out as from a player's perspective we sound pretty similar. I'm a cross between Hendrix and early Skid Row when it comes to my soloing ability/taste and pretty much straight up 90s groove metal for rhythm tones.

I use the Custom and JB Antiquity in my standard tuned 6 strings, but for detuned 6 strings I rely pretty much entirely on EMG's offerings. They just work really well for all of that.

For my 7 string, while my quest isn't completely over, I'm happy with the BWs. Though I do sometimes swap in the Invader 7 string as well as I just cannot decide which I like more.

 

[mjsmanahan35]

Re: Does 59/Custom Hybrid work well in B-standard tuning?

Seymour Duncan Invader less treble

Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk

 

[Ascension]

Re: Does 59/Custom Hybrid work well in B-standard tuning?

Im looking for new passive pickups for my Jackson guitar, and Ive read so much positive about the 59/Custom Hybrid. I wonder one thing though, my guitar is tuned in B standard. Will the pickup work well with it?

I don´t play djent.

Would think it would do quite well. I was reluctant to try the 59 Cust hybrid at 1st out f fear it would lack punch and in particular would not punch through on solos. Boy was i WRONG makes my JB equipped guitar sound for lack of a better term constipated! Super clear tight and with explosive harmonics it should do quite well in below standard tuning.

 

[Chris Magnus]

Re: Does 59/Custom Hybrid work well in B-standard tuning?

When you say harmonics, do you mean a good dollop of midrange?

Not harmonics, harmonic riffing. Think two, three or four string chords with intervals of sixths, thirds, etc instead of just fifths (powerchords). But yeah, guitar is a mid instrument, and I love mids cause it makes my guitar sing. Also helps with getting a bright sound.

I have never liked the Duncan Distortion 6 stringer. I can't put my finger on why, it's just always sounded too mean for me, if that makes sense. Which it doesn't since I play metal... I can't think why, it just sounds a bit sterile. I prefer the Dimarzio Super Distortion.

It makes a lot of sense actually. Distortion is, after all, a kind of noise. I can really relate to that thinking,, I love metal, but it needs to be musical. If its just `mean´ then its just annoying. Its worked well for my rig though.

I'm back and forth on this one almost constantly. To me, high output usually means compressed. Low output means things like pinch harmonics and fluid solo runs or sweeps are a little more difficult to get out. OK sure, it's easy to say work on your technique, but frankly, I find that sort of thing much easier on something like a Dimarzio Super D or Duncan Custom than a Pearly Gates for example.

Thats interesting. Ive been thinking that if I swap my Duncan distortion for a medium output pup I will still get the same amount of punch if I just turn up the gain on my amp. I didnt know it would be harder to do pinch harmonics though.

 

[jonsick]

Re: Does 59/Custom Hybrid work well in B-standard tuning?

Not harmonics, harmonic riffing. Think two, three or four string chords with intervals of sixths, thirds, etc instead of just fifths (powerchords). But yeah, guitar is a mid instrument, and I love mids cause it makes my guitar sing. Also helps with getting a bright sound.

I'm with you! Usually to get those tones out, you need the guitar tones fairly similar enough to get that harmony out (if going early In Flames type) or if you want things a little less widdly and deeper, very different tones so one guitar is bright and middly and the other is quite bassy almost muddy (if going Dissection style).

It makes a lot of sense actually. Distortion is, after all, a kind of noise. I can really relate to that thinking,, I love metal, but it needs to be musical. If its just `mean´ then its just annoying. Its worked well for my rig though.

Aye. For some reason, the Duncan D has just never done it for me.

Thats interesting. Ive been thinking that if I swap my Duncan distortion for a medium output pup I will still get the same amount of punch if I just turn up the gain on my amp. I didnt know it would be harder to do pinch harmonics though.

The pickups that work the best for me in standard tuning at least is the EMG 81. I can roll the volume back a touch for rhythm tones and for pinchy widdly solos, wind it up full and it retains almost the same character as near enough as it'll do. Though more often than not, I'll just leave it on full for live and just carry on.

While some of my mid-output pickups, e.g. Alnico II Pro, Custom Custom, JB Antiquity, it's allowed me to wind the gain up on the 6505+ but I've occasionally found getting those pinch harmonics out a little more challenging depending on the guitar. I still use the JB Antiquity in my Jackson KV2 simply because I nailed the set up on it to allow that to happen. I do find I'm reliant on using a drive pedal though - that guitar is for another band where I use a Marshall TSL100 with an always-on TC Spark and a Maxon OD808 for solos. Without those two, no bueno. I like the JB Antiquity though to the point where I have no idea why the regular JB exists. But there you go.

Possibly my favorite pickup that SD mark as medium output is the full shred. But it doesn't work in alder bodied guitars IMO. It needs mahogany or basswood. Great pickup though.

 

[Chris Magnus]

Re: Does 59/Custom Hybrid work well in B-standard tuning?

I agree. I never liked EMGs, I used to have it on my Jackson. It was very nice for soloing, especially in the neck because the tones were very smooth and even. But its not generally the sound I prefer even then. For me its pickups on steroids