Good humbucker for Alternative

[borgercat]

Hi, i’m new to the site and i wanted to get advice for a good bridge humbucker.
The tone i’m looking for is similar to Nirvana, Smashing Pumkins and Qotsa.
I’m aware that these pickups aren’t gonna make my guitar sound exactly like them, but you get the idea of the sound i’m after.
I also know that what might sound good for the tone of one band might not sound as good for another band tone
I’ve done my research and i narrowed down my pickups to these:
•TB-4 (the classic JB)
•TB-6 (liked the demos, but not sure about the ceramic magnet’s lack of warmth)
•TB-11 (heard Josh Homme uses it, but i’m not sure it’ll be right for me because of the low output Alnico II and it has a low bass)
•TB-15 (it says it has the output of ceramic and the warmth of Alnico, overall really nice)
•TB-14 (also Troy Van Leewen uses this one, but it has ‘scooped mids’ and apparently that’s bad?)
One of these is going to be in the bridge position of my squier strat with poplar body and rosewood fingerboard.
Any advice and experience about the pickups is welcome!

 

[Mincer]

Re: Good humbucker for Alternative

Welcome to the forum!

Honestly I'd look at the Duncan Custom, which is a ceramic-magnet pickup with a great open tone. I hear at least some scooped mids in all those tones you described. Keep in mind, a Squier Strat is fairly bright, too.

 

[Zheddar]

Re: Good humbucker for Alternative

If you want to stay alnico I would suggest the Perpetual Burn. It's like an open hotter sounding PAF that isn't really a PAF and takes the best of the Custom, Custom 5, and JB, but has better cleans and great dynamics. I like all the pickups you listed and if I could only ever choose one bridge pickup to do everything from blues, to grunge, and even shred/thrash (occasionally), I would for sure choose the Perpetual Burn. The JB and Custom 5 are also great but pretty different from each other. The Custom is a great pickup as well. You really couldn't go wrong with any of those. But the Custom can be good if you want to do magnet swaps, because those magnets really do change its character quite a bit, giving one quite a few options if they go magnet shopping.

 

[Masta' C]

Re: Good humbucker for Alternative

Nirvana = JB or Super Distortion (DiMarzio)
Smashing Pumpkins = Strat single coils (early stuff), vintage-spec humbuckers (throughout), P-90 voiced humbuckers (newer stuff)
QUOTSA = Custom and Custom Custom

I'd suggest a JB with coil split (decent single-coil like tones) or a Custom for max versatility

 

[Zheddar]

Re: Good humbucker for Alternative

I agree with Masta'c on the JB for split. I think that it has the best split tone out of all of those, the next best split tone imho is either the Custom or Perpetual Burn. I never cared for the Custom 5's split tone, to me it sounds super generic and boring.

 

[borgercat]

Re: Good humbucker for Alternative

Thanks to everyone for the quick responses and feedback!

Smashing Pumpkins = Strat single coils (early stuff), vintage-spec humbuckers (throughout), P-90 voiced humbuckers (newer stuff)

When you say “early stuff” which albums do you mean? I’d like the tone of their first three.
And i’m not sure about sticking to alnico, the stock pickups of the squier are ceramic and they dont sound very shrill.

 

[chadd]

Re: Good humbucker for Alternative

I play in a band that does 90s rock and use a 59/custom in the bridge of my strat. The split tones are really good and the full humbucker tones can cover almost anything. Having the right amp or pedals will make the most difference. You can always boost a mid output pickup, but turning the volume down on a high output pickup won't always work.

 

[borgercat]

Re: Good humbucker for Alternative

Thanks. I also play some indie rock (The strokes, Arctic monkeys) and i was wondering how are the split coil tones for these sounds. I’ll probably get a middle pickup for that sound anyway, but i’d like to know if the split coils are at least usable in that genre
EDIT: ive searched and the smashing pumpkins did use single coils in the first albums. Would a TB-5 (Duncan Custom) sound like them? (I liked the pickup and it has very positive reviews in split coil tone)

 

[chadd]

Re: Good humbucker for Alternative

Thanks. I also play some indie rock (The strokes, Arctic monkeys) and i was wondering how are the split coil tones for these sounds. I’ll probably get a middle pickup for that sound anyway, but i’d like to know if the split coils are at least usable in that genre
EDIT: ive searched and the smashing pumpkins did use single coils in the first albums. Would a TB-5 (Duncan Custom) sound like them? (I liked the pickup and it has very positive reviews in split coil tone)

I use APS1 neck and middle, the split of the 59/custom is the same coil as on the regular custom and it sounds great for Cherub Rock and the other single coil stuff that we do.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Good humbucker for Alternative

I think the split tone of the Custom is one of the best split humbucker tones you can possibly get. I use that sound for lots of things, especially since I don't use any single coil-equipped guitars with the band. The split Custom handles that tone for me.

 

[astrozombie]

Re: Good humbucker for Alternative

I get many good tones for all sorts of rock with the slash pickups in my les Paul. It honestly does everything. From Siamese dream goo to Paranoid Android insanity.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Zheddar]

Re: Good humbucker for Alternative

I almost forgot about the Pegasus, it's also a great pickup for many styles and I think it would be pretty great for alternaitve. The Pegasus has a very good split to slug sound, and I usually swear that I am actually using a real single coil. The 59/custom when split is just a custom 5 split sound, so I didn't like it's split sound either. I love the Custom 5 so I really wanted to like the split tone, but it didn't work out for me. Many do like that split tone though, so it's all relative. I've never tried the Slash pickups, but I believe Astrozombie about the tones. Heck I pretty much believe everyone when they say stuff is good, all Duncans are pretty awesome and they have the 21 day policy if you buy new, so it's hard to go wrong. Have you tried any Duncan pickups Borgercat?

 

[borgercat]

Re: Good humbucker for Alternative

I havent used duncan pickups, i just got started on guitar (about 5 months ago). I was thinking a SSL-2 in the neck and a SSL-6 as a middle. Albert Hammond of the strokes uses mainly strats and almost always the middle pickup. What pickup would you reccomend for his tone?
Quick edit: what coil do i use for the split coil? Slug or Screw? And which one is rw/rp? Would you recommend a rw/rp pickup in the middle for this setup or nah?
Another edit (sorry for so many edits): What are the differences between APS-2 and SSL-2 (besides the magnets) I was going for the SSL-2 because John Frusciante uses the very similar SSL-1

 

[Zheddar]

Re: Good humbucker for Alternative

For the Strokes Albert Hammond Jr. thing, your probably looking at vintage voiced single coil pickups like the SSL-1 or SSL-2. The SSL-1 has a vintage correct radius on the pole pieces and most only use it if they have a 7 1/2 inch type of radius, I still use them on 9 1/2 inch though. SSL-2's have a flat pole radius and most use them on 9 !/2 inch and flatter radius'. If one splits to the slug or screw coil depends on preference, I prefer slug especially at the bridge, to me it sounds more like a single coil pickup. Which side of the humbucker one splits to can also depend on if there is a middle single coil pickup and what its wind and magnetic polarity are like. With SSL-1's and SSl-2's one can get a regular middle pickup and use the common split to slug wiring on Duncan humbuckers for hum canceling when the slug split humbucker and the middle single coil are selected. Then of course the neck ends up being reverse wind and polarity if you want the middle and neck to be hum canceling. The APS-2 is a vintage wound alnico 2 single coil pickup that has less bass, less treble, and a smother tone with more mids then the SSL-1 and SSL-2. I've never spent enough time on the APS-1 to commit it's tone to memory, so that's all I can tell you about it. I'm not sure if all Duncan single coils have the same polarity for the regular and RWRP single coils, I'm a humbucker fanatic. I am sure others here know far more about that then I do.

 

[chadd]

Re: Good humbucker for Alternative

I get many good tones for all sorts of rock with the slash pickups in my les Paul. It honestly does everything. From Siamese dream goo to Paranoid Android insanity.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I use my R7 Les Paul with a slash set for almost all of my non single coil stuff. As soon as I can find a spot to swap away from my strat, I grab my LP

 

[borgercat]

Re: Good humbucker for Alternative

Nice! Do you think a 500K pot will go well with the split Custom?

 

[Gtrjunior]

Re: Good humbucker for Alternative

Others will give you better suggestions than I can but I will say...
Don’t shy away from a ceramic magnet because the internet says they aren’t warm.
I’ve used both ceramic and A5 pups and ceramic sound just as good.
Of course JMO.

I actually prefer my Super Distortion ceramic pickup to my BKP Rebel Yell. And the Rebel Yell is a phenomenal pickup.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Good humbucker for Alternative

Nice! Do you think a 500K pot will go well with the split Custom?

Yes, it seems to work well.

 

[borgercat]

Re: Good humbucker for Alternative

Nice! Last question (i hope so): do plastic covers like the lace sensor ones affect tone? I love that aesthetic, Lace Sensor was my second option bc i love Jonny Greenwood and Billy Corgan. And is it possible to cover the humbucker like a Dually? e.g with “single” pickup covers in both coils

 

[Silence Kid]

Re: Good humbucker for Alternative

Plastic covers (like Mustang) don't affect tone, but might affect maximum height adjustment on some guitars; though it probably won't matter.

You can buy a rectangular plastic humbucker cover, but not one that separates each coil; not really feasible.

Also- Frusciante didn't use SSL-1s, that was apparently a rumor. But you will still get a tone very much like him by using them. I think sensors are a good choice for you.