Favorite humbuckers at first and now?

[Gearjoneser]

I'm curious to know which aftermarket humbucker set you first loved and used. And then, what you grew to like, and if it changed since settling there, the final set.

I'd say my first in the mid/late 80's was the JB/59.

After joining the forum around 2000, I settled on the C5/59.

Years after trying nearly all SD pickups, I came to like the Brobucker/PGn.

I have no problem using any combo listed above, and still have all those pickups, but the Custom Shop Brobucker and Pearly Gates Neck are where I landed.

You? First, after finding your favorite, and today?

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Favorite humbuckers at first and now?

Early Eighties, Gibson Dirty Fingers, neck position, MIJ Telecaster copy. (I just wanted power. The tone was pretty good too.)

Late Eighties, Tokai LP, Custom/PGn.

I have a Brobucker/PGn set in my Epiphone BB King Lucille right now.

 

[FuseG4]

Re: Favorite humbuckers at first and now?

first guitar: put a Super D in it. That was more balls than I needed as I was always to stoned to learn to play back then.

2nd guitar. got a CC for a Squier Tele Custom. Ended up sticking it in a semi-hollow and liked it better there. got a D-Activator for the tele. Sold both of those guitars. I liked both pickups a lot.

I then went on a low output kick. In '08 I had a '59n A4 w/ 59B love affair that lasted a long time. Then got hooked on the PG set. Tried A2Ps and though the were OK. Played 490r and 490t for the first time, as well as tried out the burstbuckers. All this stuff was cool but it was always hard getting a THICK and sustaining lead tone. low gain crunch tones were sweet tho.

Before I sold my SG, I had a 59b w/ JB combo in it. I dug the attitude I hadn't heard since I started getting into low output pickups. Maybe my playing had improved. So has the rest of my gear. Just got another JB for my epiphone and I like it. The JB can be rolled back to cop a good bit of that vintage-output vibe, so why not have a pickup that sounds much bigger when I need it?

 

[crusty philtrum]

Re: Favorite humbuckers at first and now?

I mostly used Duncan singles in Strats way back. The first aftermarket humbuckers i got were DiMarzios, a PAF and a Super Distortion, when they first became available. The only Duncan humbuckers i had were a JB and 59.

Since i discovered the hybrids, the only humbuckers i use now are the 59/Jazz, the Custom/59 and the JB/Custom. I have 4 humbucker guitars and all 4 have Duncan hybrids.

If anyone asks me what humbuckers i'd recommend for their guitar, i usually find myself recommending a hybrid made from Duncan coils.

 

[formula73]

Re: Favorite humbuckers at first and now?

Back when I first started swapping pickups, it was the L500L, then XL. Later on in the 90s I got into the JB/59 combo. More recently, I've been through all kinds and don't really have much of a favorite, anymore. I can find something I like in just about anything.

 

[TheLivingDead]

Re: Favorite humbuckers at first and now?

Well, my first aftermarket was a Dimebucker.

I loved it, hated it, loved it, hated it and then was just ok with it before I sold it off.

I think the first aftermarket that I was just wow'd over was The Tone Zone. Still my fave pup for 80's-esque leads.

 

[LatsMcGee]

Re: Favorite humbuckers at first and now?

The first pup swap I did on my own was throwing a lil 59 bridge in my old MIM strat; I loved it; Around that time I had just bought an MIJ Tele that the previous owner had two full sized JBs in and I fell in love with pickup upgrades after that....I had a Bassman at the time and I was very unhappy with the tones I was getting and most of it was stemming from ****ty stock pickups.......

I am pretty in love right now with the El Diablo my friend has in the bridge of his Jackson King V; I will be doing a guitar build here soon and I am leaning really hard on the Diablo as my bridge pup to be.....

 

[hamerfan]

Re: Favorite humbuckers at first and now?

My travel with the bridge pup with a Super strat is easy to tell:
JB - Custom - Custom5 - Custom8 - a shorty with a Brobucker and custom wound 11k PAF clone - modded Screaming Demon 8

The story of the Les Paul is too wicked to tell really... and not at the end.

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Favorite humbuckers at first and now?

Favorite humbuckers at first: the stock ones in my '68 SG.
Favorite humbuckers now: the stock ones in my '68 SG.

Favorite pickups of any type at first: The stock ones in my Hagstrom II
Favorite pickups of any type now: the stock ones in my '68 ES-330 or late '50's-early '60's Strat, Music Master, or Duo Sonic pickups. Also extremely partial to early '50's style Nocaster, Broadcaster, Esquire, etc. bridge pickups

Favorite bass pickups at first: the stock one in my '77 Music Man
Favorite bass pickups now: stock Fender early-'60's-style P-Bass pickup

 

[Zerberus]

Re: Favorite humbuckers at first and now?

THe First Duncan pickup I ever tried was the Duncan Custom in a guitar I made for (FUhgeddaboudit ). I really liked what I heard, and soon had one of my own.

To this day it is my go to bridge pickup.

I had always liked the ´59 at the neck, but it wasn´t creamy enough for me nor did it have the "wailing banshee" tone I was looking for. Sounded like crap split, too. At some point in the 90s however Dave Mustaines KV Pros came loaded with a TB-5 /SH-4 setup, and that just flipped a switch.... Yes, of course. essentially that pickup at the bridge compared to a ´59 was exactly the difference I wanted at the neck. And at IIRC 16k with an a-5, I expected it to split well, too.

And it did not disappoint me in the least. It was just freaking perfect.

SO to this day any 2 humbucker guitar by default starts with exactly those 2 pickups and goes from there. Some like my custom Dinky never part with them, but almost all of them have some unusual trick up their sleeve, too. Things ike the out of phase + splittable PATB-2 /Dirty Fingers in my Rhoads, or the Brobucker with series /parallel and 20dB gain boost in my Wrath.

Seeing as I will take said Dinky to my grave, it look´s like I´ll be buried with a TB-5 /SH-4 set.

 

[Gypsyblue]

Re: Favorite humbuckers at first and now?

My Hamer Studio came with a Duncan 59 neck and JB bridge. The JB was a little to loud and trebley so I swapped the JB for a Custom Custom but the Custom Custom went to far in the other direction: not enough treble. I settled on a Custom for the bridge and eventually a Pearly Gates for the neck. Used that combo for a long time. Now I have a Pearly Gates neck and Duncan 78 and that, to me, is perfect.

 

[75lespaul]

Re: Favorite humbuckers at first and now?

1980--Super Distortion bridge and Super II neck. Now--depends on the style of music I'm playing, how the guitar responds to the pickups etc... I'd say for really heavy and downtuned, EMG 81/85. For everything else, Brobucker/A2P or Jazz.

 

[LtKojak]

Re: Favorite humbuckers at first and now?

In my thirty+ years of career as a pro musician, most of the time I didn't use any aftermarket p'ups. It was when I built my studio that situation arised.

The first guitar was a vintage EKO 335 copy with a PAF Pro/Super Distortion combo. Then I got a 24-fret, 24.75" scaled Valley Arts strat copy with EMG SA/SA/89 set. After that they were too many to remember, but most of them were loaded with Duncans.

I don't have the studio no more; my two favorite guitars are 335 copies and started with a Jazz bridge in the neck / Custom 5 bridge, idea that I've borrowed from Gearjoneser. Later became '59n/C5 bridge for a couple of years and today my #1 is A4 '59n Custom 8.

My #2 is an A4/A8 modded Jazz set. My Gibson L-5 CES copy has a stock Seth Lover set. My PRS SE EG has a Custom made vintage spec'ed strat set with three different polepiece spread made by our own David Plummer, aka Zhangliqun. I've got five other guitars, I'll talk 'bout'em in another time.

HTH,

 

[ErikH]

Re: Favorite humbuckers at first and now?

My first "really good" humbucker was a Duncan Distortion SH-6. Loved that pickup. From there I used a DiMarzio X2N for a few years.

When I built my Frankenstrat in 1993 I used the CC/Jazz combo for years until after I joined this forum and then I went on a swapping frenzy.

Today, I don't really have a "go to" or "favorite" but a few of my favorite sets are Gibson '57 Classics, DiMarzio Air Classics, Duncan PGs; more in the PAF category to slightly overwound. I do like the Screamin' Demon a lot too, it's right up there.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Favorite humbuckers at first and now?

i was all about emg's. 81, 85, and sv. those three pups along with the spc and pa2 filled out most of my guitars. i had an rg550 with stock v1/s1 and a fred in the bridge which was nice too but all the rest had emgs.

then i got a rhodes with jb in the neck and distortion in the bridge and liked that alot.

now its alnico II paf type pups... pearlys, seths, antiquitys, a2 brobuckers

 

[JeffB]

Re: Favorite humbuckers at first and now?

In the Duncan lineup I used the Custom/59 combo in many Gibbo guitars BITD, and JB's in strats. I also used the SuperD on occasion,.I never have had issue with most Gibson pups, but when I was younger I wanted more output than the typical Norlin and early post Norlin pickups had. I loved my shaws & T tops tonally , but I wanted MORE GAIN, without resorting to pedals. I went back & forth every few years...PAF style...higher output....PAF style..higher output. Nowadays I'm a firm believer in Distortion is for amps, not pickups.

I've gravitated away from Duncans & DiMarzios in general over the past several years- fundamentally they just don't sound "right" to my ears. But I do love me some PGs, and I have had them in a few guitars over the past coupla years. One thing I have learned is that I much prefer A2 buckers w/ uneven winds, and regardless of pup style, little to no wax potting.

For production humbucker pickups, the Burstbucker 1/2 combo is where its at for me these days. For my Tele I have a set of custom wound hot broadcaster types from Rumpelstiltskin and I like the Fender Nocasters. I really like Fralins Blues Specials and Fender CS69s for strats.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Favorite humbuckers at first and now?

My first pup swap was with a Gibson '57 Classic in the neck of an LP. I still like that pup, but...

I think my end for the neck (so far) is either Pearly Gates or Screamin Demon.


For the bridge...I started with a Stag Mag (I liked the ability to switch to a true single coil)

But now I have so many guitars I don't need just one to do it all, so....

My end point for a bridge pup is a '59 A8 or a Screamin Demon (the SD works great in either bridge or neck).

 

[SteveAlysis]

Re: Favorite humbuckers at first and now?

Jb, distortion, then got into the Emg85. Now I dig tha phat cat I have, but for the most part ill use whatever works.

 

[Johtosotku]

Re: Favorite humbuckers at first and now?

I haven't really tried tens and tens of pickups but I've had my try of both low and high output pickups.

With humbuckers I first started with pups like the JB and the Tone Zone. They sounded really good and still do. I then tried paf alikes, the 59, Jazz, VPAF. They did sound very good when I first tried them but I soon found out that they didn't really do it for me.

At some points I tried some EMGs, 81/85/60. I really liked them but sometimes thought that I wanted passives and did some drastic changes. Later on I've found out that they really suit me the best. If I had to choose one humbucker to stay with I'd pick the 85 or the X version of it. I do like to have some versatility, so they don't and won't go in all of my guitars.

With singles I've tried much less pickups. I really like vintage spec singles and haven't really felt the need to look elsewhere. I'll probably try a hotter one in the bridge but that's about it.

It's an interesting discussion. I wonder how much the pickup changes reflect the music one played in different times instead of the tone one looked for.

 

[TheProphet]

Re: Favorite humbuckers at first and now?

Starting out: '59n/Full Shred b
Nowadays: '59n/Full Shred b, '59n/El Diablo b, '59n/JBb, Full Shred n/Full Shred b, and Full Shred n/El Diablo b

Discoveries

The JB: Awesome pickup, massive kick from the mid range. Combined with the Recto I can easily get Adam Jones style tones. Responds really well to adjustments with the volume control.
Full Shred neck: Super clear and fluid sounding. IMHO it lacks the cut and percusive nature of the bridge model, but retains the string to string definition.
El Diablo: Hot and thick. Hard to describe.