Humbucker for grunge/alt rock

[FernandoDuarte]

Hello!
I'm building a guitar for a friend that likes grunge like Nirvana and Pearl Jam and alt rock like Queens of Stone Age, The Smiths...
I know nothing about these bands... the few songs I've heard I think had a really thick tones (the one with humbucker, I can split coils to simulate the single).
Any suggestion? I'm out of info on this one. Will be an SG shaped, all mahogany, 24.75" scale. Thickness of the body will be inbetween SG and Strat.

 

[Mincer]

Well, an easy bet is look for something in the Custom family, like the Custom or 59/Custom Hybrid. What don't you like about the pickups you have now?

 

[dave74]

I'd say Custom5.

 

[chadd]

I did a 90s cover/tribute band thing for a bunch of years (and played a lot of those covers in the 90s) and usually used low to mid output pickups. Most amps and pedals have plenty of gain that you don't need all that much output from the pickups. Honestly, anything from a 59 to APH-1 to a custom will work in conjunction with the right pedal and amp settings. Find out what he's using now and get something with similar specs.

 

[FernandoDuarte]

Well, an easy bet is look for something in the Custom family, like the Custom or 59/Custom Hybrid. What don't you like about the pickups you have now?

I will start building the guitar yet.
Will be her first guitar

 

[Mincer]

I will start building the guitar yet.
Will be her first guitar

Just throw a Custom in there and she will be happy.

 

[RevDoom73]

Yep, my first thought was a Duncan Custom. Played an SG for a while with the Duncan Custom bridge and 59 neck, and I was playing a lot of '90s stuff from Queens Of The Stone Age, Pearl Jam, Temple Of The Dog, Alice In Chains etc., and with that setup with a coil split I was able to cover all that ground pretty faithfully.

 

[FernandoDuarte]

I was thinking for alnico, but I liked the sound samples of the Custom on SD website.
Think it's settled, then.
Thanks guys!

 

[Mincer]

I was thinking for alnico, but I liked the sound samples of the Custom on SD website.
Think it's settled, then.
Thanks guys!

After you get one installed, let us know how it sounds!

 

[Securb]

Grunge is so all over the place. You look at someone like Cobain and he played through everything from low output Fender singles to a DiMarzio Super Distortion. Interesting three of the bands you mentioned play Jazzmasters or Jaguars, Nirvana, QOTSA and Johnny Marr from the Smiths.

I would go with a Pearly Gates and put a push-pull split on it. It gets pretty Fendery when split and has enough output for some of the heavier grunge stuff.

 

[pskorz]

I don’t think you’ll find a single pickup to nail such a broad range. And being a unique custom build it’s hard to say what pickups will best suit this particular guitar.

so with that said, I’d echo that a custom in the bridge (and a 59 in the neck if it’ll have a neck pickup). They’re likely to sound great, and if you or the player are dissatisfied or want a change, they’re popular enough that you could articulate what you want different and be able to mail it from there.

 

[AdrianSD]

JB bridge?

 

[SFW]

I agree with the Pearly Gates set. You can cover all of those bands and more with those pickups.


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[Mincer]

I don’t think you’ll find a single pickup to mail such a broad range.

Sure you can...just use a lower output pickup, and boost it with a pedal if you need more power.

 

[pskorz]

Sure you can...just use a lower output pickup, and boost it with a pedal if you need more power.

Yeah, I probably shouldn’t have said that so broadly and definitely. I just meant… you know how guys are always on a quest to get the SRV ‘87 tone or the Van Halen Women and children sound or something? That you could arguably narrow down to a single pickup and rig choice. But to encompass ALL 90s alt and grunge? That’s a pretty broad array of guitars and amps. So I was just trying to echo that a good classic pickup that can cover a broad array of styles nicely is the way to go.

 

[Clint 55]

Yeah, I probably shouldn’t have said that so broadly and definitely. I just meant… you know how guys are always on a quest to get the SRV ‘87 tone or the Van Halen Women and children sound or something? That you could arguably narrow down to a single pickup and rig choice. But to encompass ALL 90s alt and grunge? That’s a pretty broad array of guitars and amps. So I was just trying to echo that a good classic pickup that can cover a broad array of styles nicely is the way to go.

I agree, I was going to say something like that. Just choose a bridge humbucker that you like, but I think some of the defining factors of the choice would also be able to get some jangles in the middle and some nice strat-ish sounds out of the neck.

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Sure you can...just use a lower output pickup, and boost it with a pedal if you need more power.

Definitely. Start off with a low output pickup, then get a boost pedal to give it that Cobain with a JB or Super Distortion loaded Fender into a DS-1 and Twin sound, then another pedal to give it the Pearl Jam two guys playing a slew of vintage Gibsons and Fenders into a ton of different pedals and amps sound, then another pedal for the Jerry Cantrell G&L with a JB into a Bogner preamp pseudo-metal tone, another for the Josh Homme Super 2 in the neck position into some goofy taped up pedals and amp rig...

For grunge/alternative rock sounds, I'd recommend putting any pickup into the guitar, getting a few drive and fuzz pedals, a wah, an amp you like the sound of, then turn knobs until it sounds good.