help me pick a new bridge HB

Christopher Caruana

Christopher Caruana

New member
so i have the A2pro set in my LP classic right now and I love both the neck and bridge, but I am looking for a more powerful bridge pickup. The A2Pb just isnt hot enough for me. I am looking for a humbucker that will give me a good 80's hard rock tone. My #1 choice right now is the Gibson "Dirty Fingers." I hear the DF was THE bridge pickup to have in the 80's. I local shop near my house has one in stock and im really wanting to buy it, but im looking for feedback before I do buy it.

So........anyone love/hate the dirtyfingers in a LP for 80's stuff?

thanks
chris
 
Re: help me pick a new bridge HB

I almost for got, I am playing through either one of 2 amps.......a little Marshall MG15 or a Peavey VK 112. I know John Sykes used the DF in his #1 LPcustom in the 80's and I love his sound in his stuff he did with Whitesnake while using the DF in his LP.
 
Re: help me pick a new bridge HB

The dirty fingers is a very special type of beast, it's really a metal pickup, one of the hottest pups around, if you can handle it, by all means go for it. I sure as hell can't
If your diggin' the A2 thing i would say just go with a CC. I know that's kind of a lame answer, but I think it will work best...
 
Re: help me pick a new bridge HB

oilpit said:
The dirty fingers is a very special type of beast, it's really a metal pickup, one of the hottest pups around, if you can handle it, by all means go for it. I sure as hell can't
If your diggin' the A2 thing i would say just go with a CC. I know that's kind of a lame answer, but I think it will work best...
Click to expand...

what do you mean if I can "handle it?" It too hot??

I know the guys from scorpions used it too in the 80's.........

but is it too hot???? =( you got me thinking I dont want it now.

ok The other choices I was thinkg about were the Super Distortion or the Custom
 
Re: help me pick a new bridge HB

IMO, yeah, it's too hot. But like I said, if you can handle it (Don't care about clean tones) you should go for it.
I have always lived by the
"Low output pickups can always get dirtier, but hot pickups can not always get cleaner"
code.
gimme 8.5k in the bridge and 7.5 in the neck and I'm a happy man.

You should definitely try one out, they might blow you away, but I wouldn't count on it.
A Super Distortion in the bridge can get some KILLER tones, I would take a SD over a DF any day of the week. Pure Ace tone right there...
 
Re: help me pick a new bridge HB

oilpit said:
IMO, yeah, it's too hot. But like I said, if you can handle it (Don't care about clean tones) you should go for it.
I have always lived by the
"Low output pickups can always get dirtier, but hot pickups can not always get cleaner"
code.
gimme 8.5k in the bridge and 7.5 in the neck and I'm a happy man.

You should definitely try one out, they might blow you away, but I wouldn't count on it.
A Super Distortion in the bridge can get some KILLER tones, I would take a SD over a DF any day of the week. Pure Ace tone right there...
Click to expand...

how does the superD differ from the DF? i know mick mars used a super D in the early days of the crue and i also Love his tone with the SuperD through his LP custom
 
Re: help me pick a new bridge HB

Christopher Caruana said:
how does the superD differ from the DF? i know mick mars used a super D in the early days of the crue and i also Love his tone with the SuperD through his LP custom
Click to expand...

Super D is MUCH lower output, still hot, just not ridiculous, it's much fuller and warmer more mids. The DF is more scooped.
 
Re: help me pick a new bridge HB

Dirty Fingers is AWESOME! It's definitely got it's own personality. VERY hot. way hotter than a superD and even more so than a duncan d. It's more in line with a DiMarzio X2N - but it's nothing like that. Two rows of screws!

It's just a nasty dirty filthy hot pickup in all the best ways. Last time I played one it was in a explorer that had - gasp - double cream DF's.

It's not what I'd call the "quintessential" 80's metal pup. That would be a SuperD or a JB.

DF in the bridge of an LP = John Sykes, if that helps.
 
Re: help me pick a new bridge HB

Aceman said:
Dirty Fingers is AWESOME! It's definitely got it's own personality. VERY hot. way hotter than a superD and even more so than a duncan d. It's more in line with a DiMarzio X2N - but it's nothing like that. Two rows of screws!

It's just a nasty dirty filthy hot pickup in all the best ways. Last time I played one it was in a explorer that had - gasp - double cream DF's.

It's not what I'd call the "quintessential" 80's metal pup. That would be a SuperD or a JB.

DF in the bridge of an LP = John Sykes, if that helps.
Click to expand...

yes i was going for the John Sykes/Whitesnake "Here I Go Again" sound. Since it is SO HOT, does it work for hard rock stuff? or does strickly do metal?
 
Re: help me pick a new bridge HB

Have you looked for a used one? May get it for half price. I would lean towards a 498T myself for a hot Gibson PU, especially as that's what they used in them for years.
 
Re: help me pick a new bridge HB

Can totally do hard rock - IMO. Your version of hard rock may differ....Won't need a ton of gain from the amp for that! It's a cool tone. Do it

- good call on used B-man! MAybe even see if you can find vintage for no particular reason.
 
Re: help me pick a new bridge HB

Check out some early Night Ranger vids. The other guitarist Jeff Watson used to use em'.
 
Re: help me pick a new bridge HB

didnt the lead gtr player from scorpions use the dirty fingers in his exlporer on the early records and songs like "rock you like a hurricane" ??
 
Re: help me pick a new bridge HB

Another question......Im gonna keep the A2Pro in the neck, do you think it will be ok with the dirty fingers in the bridge? Since the dirty fingers doesnt need a bunch on gain because its so hot, but the A2Pro does because it has such a low output......do think this will be a problem?
 
Re: help me pick a new bridge HB

Christopher Caruana said:
Another question......Im gonna keep the A2Pro in the neck, do you think it will be ok with the dirty fingers in the bridge? Since the dirty fingers doesnt need a bunch on gain because its so hot, but the A2Pro does because it has such a low output......do think this will be a problem?
Click to expand...

if you plan on just flipping the pickup selector and nothing else (staying on the same amp channel and using the same EQ settings) you might have issues . . . all depends.

at a given gain setting, you might be able to get gritty cleans from the neck and hard rock distortion from the bridge, which would be cool. if you want to have a smoking metal solo on the neck pup though, you have the wrong pickup to start with. personally, I have never found a ~7k neck bucker that doesn't get mushy or sound fizzy under high gain. if I want a tight sound, I use a medium to high output pickup. 8.5-9k seems to be the cutoff with any setup I've tried.

as far as the DF goes, if you don't mind a 1-trick pony pickup, go for it. it's a cool hard rock and metal pickup. working the guitar volume knob can coax some cleaner tones but it's not a great pickup for playing clean. The Super D is more versatile and I think will be less of a shock for you when moving from an A2P bridge.

Ask yourself, does the LP need to be a "do-everything" guitar or can you set it up to be your hard rock and metal go-to guitar.
 
Re: help me pick a new bridge HB

have you tried a different mag in the A2P?
could just be the A2's lack of output?
 
Re: help me pick a new bridge HB

Getcha some Blackouts with the fancy dancy metal covers. Get the set; you'll dig the neck pup just as much as the bridge.:headbang:
 
Re: help me pick a new bridge HB

Or you could get a Blackouts AHB-2B/AHB-1N and wire it up with a push pull pot for the jumper.
 
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