Has anyone tried a hybrid of the neck and bridge model of the same pickup?

[Chistopher]

I've gotten into hybrids recently, mostly cheap pickups that I can afford if things don't pan out right, but that got me thinking. What if you made a hybrid of the neck and bridge models of the same pickup? I was thinking it would sound the same but brighter and airier. Does anyone have experience with this?

 

[Artie]

Re: Has anyone tried a hybrid of the neck and bridge model of the same pickup?

I know this isn't exactly what you're asking, but there's an easier/better way to do this. Just add a toggle to give you the stud coil of the bridge pup, in series with the screw coil of the neck pup. You get a virtual hybrid while both coils remain in there "natural" position. We have a name for that. Let me think . . . oh yeah . . . Slutbucker.

 

[Masta' C]

Re: Has anyone tried a hybrid of the neck and bridge model of the same pickup?

You're going to notice a much bigger difference between, say, a Distortion Neck and Distortion Bridge, which are two VERY different pickups, than something relatively similar like a '59 Neck and a '59 Bridge when it comes to making hybrids. That said, the subtle change of a closely related hybrid might be what you're after here.

I think Artie's suggestion is a good place to start, especially if you already have a matched set.

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Has anyone tried a hybrid of the neck and bridge model of the same pickup?

I was going to attempt to try it with a pair of 59 copies to try to get a bit of the missmatched coil thing going on. I also thought of doing the same with a pair of jazz copies.

 

[LtKojak]

Re: Has anyone tried a hybrid of the neck and bridge model of the same pickup?

Does anyone have experience with this?

Blueman335 was very vocal about it. He specifically mentioned the '59 set as a good platform for making a hybrid set.

HTH,

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Has anyone tried a hybrid of the neck and bridge model of the same pickup?

Hopefully he will chime in at some point on this thread. I've been hesitant about starting this because I'm worried about damaging the pickups and wasting $30 and waiting for another set to come. I want to know if the risk is worth the reward.

 

[LtKojak]

Re: Has anyone tried a hybrid of the neck and bridge model of the same pickup?

I want to know if the risk is worth the reward.

There's only one way to know, I'm afraid.

Anyway, the dominant screw coil goes in the NECK position. For Pop, Jazz and blues, use an A3 in the neck and an A2 (or an UOA5) in the bridge.

C'mon, do it... you KNOW you want to!

 

[Davii]

Re: Has anyone tried a hybrid of the neck and bridge model of the same pickup?

I know this isn't exactly what you're asking, but there's an easier/better way to do this. Just add a toggle to give you the stud coil of the bridge pup, in series with the screw coil of the neck pup. You get a virtual hybrid while both coils remain in there "natural" position. We have a name for that. Let me think . . . oh yeah . . . Slutbucker.

I've got something like this in my HHH LP, though only for running the middle pup in series with either of the other two, and Triple Shots are extra handy when I do.

A Slash neck slug coil, with it's bridge slug counterpart makes for a very interesting saturated lead sound. Admittedly, the bridge pup is actually in the center position in that guitar though, and I still scratch my noggin' over why two slug coils sound better than the other options I flicked through

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Has anyone tried a hybrid of the neck and bridge model of the same pickup?

Gosh darn it, now I've got to try the Slash idea. Lucky for me I got a set on a used telecaster I bought a while ago. Will report back with results in a week.

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: Has anyone tried a hybrid of the neck and bridge model of the same pickup?

hybridizing neck and bridge 59's can be a waste of time. There is a tolerance of + or - 5% to DC resistance on the production pickups. A neck 59 might read as high hi as 8k while a bridge might read as low as 7.8k.

If you are going to hybridize them make sure you get a pair that have some difference between them. Really to be honest less than a 5% difference is kinda hard to hear and not worth your time. I wouldnt make a hybrid unless there was at least 10% difference between the coils and even then its going to be fairly subtle. If you think about it its possible to get one coil that reads 5% high and one that reads 5% low straight from the production line and this pickup would read perfectly on spec. Hybrids work better with more dramatic differences.

 

[Davii]

Re: Has anyone tried a hybrid of the neck and bridge model of the same pickup?

Gosh darn it, now I've got to try the Slash idea. Lucky for me I got a set on a used telecaster I bought a while ago. Will report back with results in a week.

Besides my Slash bridge being in the middle position, I should also mention that the neck one has an A3 in it, and the other has A2. I'm guessing the coils individually in different positions will have a big influence on the outcome too, as it's like putting neck and middle pickups of a Strat in series kind o' thing

 

[LtKojak]

Re: Has anyone tried a hybrid of the neck and bridge model of the same pickup?

hybridizing neck and bridge 59's can be a waste of time. There is a tolerance of + or - 5% to DC resistance on the production pickups. A neck 59 might read as high hi as 8k while a bridge might read as low as 7.8k.

If you are going to hybridize them make sure you get a pair that have some difference between them. Really to be honest less than a 5% difference is kinda hard to hear and not worth your time. I wouldnt make a hybrid unless there was at least 10% difference between the coils and even then its going to be fairly subtle. If you think about it its possible to get one coil that reads 5% high and one that reads 5% low straight from the production line and this pickup would read perfectly on spec. Hybrids work better with more dramatic differences.

You have to revise your math here. The '59n is wound to 5,000 turns of AWG#42 PE per bobbin, and the '59b 5,500 turns of the same wire per bobbin.

That's EXACTLY 10%, ergo, in your own words, that's exactly what it would work.

As your source for numbers speculation was based by only looking at the DC numbers with no other context, I can understand your confusion.

Last, but not least, even just 5% of turns is audible... it all depends on HOW the wire is laid out on each bobbin, adding to the turn count.

HTH,

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: Has anyone tried a hybrid of the neck and bridge model of the same pickup?

You have to revise your math here. The '59n is wound to 5,000 turns of AWG#42 PE per bobbin, and the '59b 5,500 turns of the same wire per bobbin.

That's EXACTLY 10%, ergo, in your own words, that's exactly what it would work.

As your source for numbers speculation was based by only looking at the DC numbers with no other context, I can understand your confusion.

Last, but not least, even just 5% of turns is audible... it all depends on HOW the wire is laid out on each bobbin, adding to the turn count.

HTH,

Unless an error is made there will never be a production variance from the turns of wire. But there will be variances of diameter along its length hence my use of DC resistance and not turn count. Because at the end of the day the extra 500 turns are laid in exactly the same turns per layer and at the same tension. And as anyone who winds knows the turns towards the center count more than the turns on the outside edge. Hence my use of the words "hard to hear" and subtle. No where did i say inaudible. Lets face it 59N's and B's dont sound that radically different anyways and hybridizing them is splitting that small difference. My comment was directed that one shouldnt expect huge tonal gains when doing this. If you want something slightly different it might be worth it. I think most would be disappointed by it.

 

[LtKojak]

Re: Has anyone tried a hybrid of the neck and bridge model of the same pickup?

I think most would be disappointed by it.

That would depend on what one is expecting to hear.

What was disappointed to you (presuming you tried and got disappointed, and the presumption of MOST are just like you, hence your statement), may not be so to another.

And, to be sure, as I've said in post #7 of this very thread, there's only ONE way to find out.

HTH,

 

[Clint 55]

Re: Has anyone tried a hybrid of the neck and bridge model of the same pickup?

You can also make hybrids of pickups that are very similar to each other like the 59 and slash or the jazz and sentient. Mine is a seth and antiquity and it did just that what you mentioned. Still sounds like a seth but more bright and airy. I love mine.

 

[dotsdad]

Re: Has anyone tried a hybrid of the neck and bridge model of the same pickup?

I think it would be fun to try this with a set of Duncan Design HB102 or 103. But with a UOA5 magnet just for the duck of it.

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

 

[LtKojak]

Re: Has anyone tried a hybrid of the neck and bridge model of the same pickup?

I think it would be fun to try this with a set of Duncan Design HB102 or 103

You can't use the SET to hybridize, as the polepiece spread is different between the neck model and the bridge model.

I've also tried with the HB102 and the HB103 neck coils, but as there's a very little mismatch between coils, it didn't make enough of a difference to care.

HTH,

 

[dotsdad]

Re: Has anyone tried a hybrid of the neck and bridge model of the same pickup?

P

You can't use the SET to hybridize, as the polepiece spread is different between the neck model and the bridge model
HTH,

Thanks..you just saved me 60 bucks ��