Well after much deliberation I decided to swap the stock 57 Classics in my 2013 Gibson SG Standard for a set of SD 59/Custom Hybrid (B) and 59 (N)
I have never really been an SG guy, at least not in my serious guitar playing years (Who of us didn't want to be as cool as Angus or Tony rocking an SG when we were younger!?) but I found a good deal on a 2013 Natural Burst and had to have it. I love Les Pauls but the SG is a very versatile and lead friendly axe to have around, so I snagged it up.
The stock 57s were, well, extemely lacking in this guitar. The bridge was thin and shrill with no amount of bottom no matter how I dialed it. I did some research and found not alot of concrete info on pickups that go well with SGs in particular. I did however find alot of "Don't use this pickup, and that pickup is too mushy and mid heavy for an SG" but noone really stated what they they really liked, instead throwing around alot of assumptions without and real evidence. So to my displeasure I decided to bite the bullet and took the plunge.
I swapped out the stock electronics for BKP 550K pots and Jensen Paper-in-oil .015 cap for the rhythm circuit and .022 for the lead, executed with a 50's wiring schematic. This has been my preferred setup for a few years and works great with most all humbuckers I have come across. I cant help but feel the gibson stock electronics are somewhat lacking... (I mean 440K could be as low as 396k and who has time for that!?)
On ward...
My first impressions:
With some quick tinkering of pole adjustment and pickup heigh on both pickups, I found a spot that everything sounded full and clean. Dialing up the clean channel, the 59/C was immediately noticably fuller and more articulate, notes bloomed and jangled with a well balanced timber similar to a 59 bridge with more harmonic overtones. A little more front end push from the pickup could send even the cleanest of amps into a natural overdrive with harder pick attack alone, but ease up and it remains beautifully clean. Big chords and even some chick'n-pick'n all translated extremely well. The 59 neck, being more centrally located than a neck pickup placed right up against the end of the fingerboard, had a more articulate and bright characteristic than I am use to on a Les Paul. This is particularly nice given that I do like to ride my tone control from time to time. Again, the notes bloomed on the clean channel and had a very nice warmth about them that was never muddy, perhaps even a touch brighter than I like. Of course the 59 is a staple pickup and most of us know that it is great for so many applications, but it really seems at home in the neck of an SG, no question.
With varying levels of gain the 59/C never became muddy. It took the extra gain in stride and stayed nice and tight, always offering ample low end, and prominent mids, but never too dark. More so on the knife edge between being "somewhat bright" when clean, or "somewhat dark" when driven, which is no big deal for those of us with independent EQ on the gain channel. The 59 neck, again was nice and articulate but warm and fluid just the same. No real surprises with the 59 going from clean to crunch to overdrive. Both pickups excelled when rolling off the volume and cleaned up nicely, offering a large array of tones for those with a single channel amp, or wanting to cover more ground from country to blues, to rock and even metal (throw an overdrive in front if you need more gain) A truly versatile set that really makes you feel at ease if you need to tackle a vast array of tones.
For point of reference my pickups in particular are chrome covered for aesthetic appeal. This does add a bit more politeness to the tone, removing some treble, and that bite or hair that an open coil can give you when adjusted just right. My signal chain is Guitar -> Soldano Decatone (3 channels, shared EQ, independant Preamp and volume controls)
I have never really been an SG guy, at least not in my serious guitar playing years (Who of us didn't want to be as cool as Angus or Tony rocking an SG when we were younger!?) but I found a good deal on a 2013 Natural Burst and had to have it. I love Les Pauls but the SG is a very versatile and lead friendly axe to have around, so I snagged it up.
The stock 57s were, well, extemely lacking in this guitar. The bridge was thin and shrill with no amount of bottom no matter how I dialed it. I did some research and found not alot of concrete info on pickups that go well with SGs in particular. I did however find alot of "Don't use this pickup, and that pickup is too mushy and mid heavy for an SG" but noone really stated what they they really liked, instead throwing around alot of assumptions without and real evidence. So to my displeasure I decided to bite the bullet and took the plunge.
I swapped out the stock electronics for BKP 550K pots and Jensen Paper-in-oil .015 cap for the rhythm circuit and .022 for the lead, executed with a 50's wiring schematic. This has been my preferred setup for a few years and works great with most all humbuckers I have come across. I cant help but feel the gibson stock electronics are somewhat lacking... (I mean 440K could be as low as 396k and who has time for that!?)
On ward...
My first impressions:
With some quick tinkering of pole adjustment and pickup heigh on both pickups, I found a spot that everything sounded full and clean. Dialing up the clean channel, the 59/C was immediately noticably fuller and more articulate, notes bloomed and jangled with a well balanced timber similar to a 59 bridge with more harmonic overtones. A little more front end push from the pickup could send even the cleanest of amps into a natural overdrive with harder pick attack alone, but ease up and it remains beautifully clean. Big chords and even some chick'n-pick'n all translated extremely well. The 59 neck, being more centrally located than a neck pickup placed right up against the end of the fingerboard, had a more articulate and bright characteristic than I am use to on a Les Paul. This is particularly nice given that I do like to ride my tone control from time to time. Again, the notes bloomed on the clean channel and had a very nice warmth about them that was never muddy, perhaps even a touch brighter than I like. Of course the 59 is a staple pickup and most of us know that it is great for so many applications, but it really seems at home in the neck of an SG, no question.
With varying levels of gain the 59/C never became muddy. It took the extra gain in stride and stayed nice and tight, always offering ample low end, and prominent mids, but never too dark. More so on the knife edge between being "somewhat bright" when clean, or "somewhat dark" when driven, which is no big deal for those of us with independent EQ on the gain channel. The 59 neck, again was nice and articulate but warm and fluid just the same. No real surprises with the 59 going from clean to crunch to overdrive. Both pickups excelled when rolling off the volume and cleaned up nicely, offering a large array of tones for those with a single channel amp, or wanting to cover more ground from country to blues, to rock and even metal (throw an overdrive in front if you need more gain) A truly versatile set that really makes you feel at ease if you need to tackle a vast array of tones.
For point of reference my pickups in particular are chrome covered for aesthetic appeal. This does add a bit more politeness to the tone, removing some treble, and that bite or hair that an open coil can give you when adjusted just right. My signal chain is Guitar -> Soldano Decatone (3 channels, shared EQ, independant Preamp and volume controls)
