Not the most obvious of comparisons
any reason why these 2?
Kinda falls back into my want to have a clearer neck with a somewhat similar but thicker bridge tone. I know there's a lot more factors that go into it, but I've been kinda curious about these two pickups and how they meld if anyone has tried them.
In a loose comparison, I could see it being a reason why Dimarzio has the Humbucker from Hell. I'm not necessarily opposed to how the bridge pickup sounds but I think the neck could be thinned out a bit.
I don't think a 59 is too bassy, but it is a very differently EQ'd pickup than the FS. You might like the EQ difference, and hate the bass of a neck position humbucker, but like it in the bridge. Personally, I like more balanced pickups. You may also consider the Jazz set for 'single coil clarity' without the compression of a higher output pickup like the FS.
The Jazz is probably the one Duncan humbucker I am the most familiar with, in regards to my experience with the other humbuckers. It was the neck pickup for the first pickup swap I ever did, and I just had a Hot Rodded set in an ESP Eclipse for the last couple years before I sold the guitar. The Jazz was one of those "almost there" kind of pickups but I still felt like the low end was coming through a little too much. What I've read about the full shred, in a general sense, is a "tighter sounding Jazz" so that's why I wanted to give it a try.
I think the Full Shred's comparison to the Jazz Neck made me curious about the combo of a 59 in the bridge with a full shred neck. On paper it sounds like the outputs would work with each other along with having similar EQ characteristics.
That's where the Duncan website somewhat contradicts what you said, as their tone chart graphic shows pretty similar EQ spectrums, with the full shred having less bass as the most prominent difference. I have tried pickups like the Sentient as well, and I seemed to perceive more of a mid focus even though it doesn't come across on paper as such. It's been a while since I've used one though, and it was in a seven string.
Could be cool. One option gives you modern neck, vintage bridge. The other is modern for both positions. I don't think there will be a huge difference especially if you are playing with dirt.
One will sound like your guitar with the two positions, the other will sound a little more like two guitars. Could be great, could be not great. Given the two choices I'd say go with the matched set and then adjust from there if you don't dig it. Just a more cohesive solution.
I definitely agree with the approach of the matched set first and then experiment from there. That was going to be my most likely course of action.
I don't mean this as any sort of attack but more as a personal rant, I suppose: I feel like the "vintage" tone thing tends to get thrown around easily when it's about pickups with lower output and less mids versus higher output and more mids. I don't necessarily see where it would deviate too far from the Full Shred, in regards to the EQ graphic that's provided for both pickups. The 59 is also marketed as a "modern PAF" so where is the line drawn between that being a vintage or a modern pickup?
If the Full Shred is basically a Jazz with allen poles (I could totally be wrong, but this is the general consensus I see about the Full Shred vs Jazz necks, at least), and the Jazz is typically thrown into the same vein with the 59, then I don't necessarily understand the taboo of mixing a full shred neck with something like a 59 bridge. It's an a = b and b = c, so a = c thought process for me.
My opinion is coming from a place of naivety of the complexities of the actual construction of pickups. I understand that certain gauges of wire and screw types are able to affect the string/magnetic field relationship with the guitar, but it's all way over my head at this current date. I'm just trying to make sense of it for my sake.
