How do you match a pair of up's for a guitar?

R

rebel082002

New member
If you look at all the stuff on the SD site it seems they pair hums that have the same type of magnet. Like the cust cust sh 11 and and aph 2 pro and I understand that. But what are the other considerations.

Like is there a chance a sh11 would sound good with a 59 or even a phat cat?

Just looking for a good match for a new build. The body is a mahogany 2010 Fender jim root hard tail. Hum hum setup. I am not going to use active pu's. I just like the mahogany and set bridge. It's basically a small LP or and plain looking PRS.

What do you think, oh i want to be able to split the hum's so 4 connector is a requirement.

Pelli
 
Re: How do you match a pair of up's for a guitar?

I currently own a Fender Jim Root Telecaster. I did not care for the stock EMG-81/-60 pickup set so I tried a few other combinations. My favourite pickups for each position turned out to be;
Neck: EMG-HA (An SA inside a humbucker casing.)
Bridge: SD Live Wire Classic II

IMO, for what you say you require, a pair of Live Wire Classic II humbuckers would do the business.
 
Re: How do you match a pair of up's for a guitar?

you don't have to match up magnets at all. sometimes different magnets compliment each other and balance better.
 
Re: How do you match a pair of up's for a guitar?

my rule of the thumb for matching pickups is:

* neck should be 10-30% less powerful than bridge. Otherwise, it will otherwise owerpower the bridge pickup because it picks up higher signal being further from the bridge
* neck pickup should have less bass and more mids and highs than bridge. Again, that's due to the fact that the same pickup when moved from bridge to neck position sounds much warmer (and more powerful)

I don't care about construction or any other factor but the way it sounds
 
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Re: How do you match a pair of up's for a guitar?

I tend to match up the wood to the pickup based on my experiences, forum posts, and/or what the manufacturer recommends.

Go for the TB-5 Duncan Custom in the bridge, and a SH-1n 59 in the neck.
 
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