I love the '59 neck but lows are too flabby and bassy

357mag

New member
So instead of picking up a new pickup when I love the way the highs sound I was thinking maybe putting in an Alnico III or Alnico IV magnet in my '59 neck. It's in my Les Paul. What do you think? I'm trying to reduce the bass flab.
 
Re: I love the '59 neck but lows are too flabby and bassy

An A4 will do the trick.

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Re: I love the '59 neck but lows are too flabby and bassy

+1

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Re: I love the '59 neck but lows are too flabby and bassy

So instead of picking up a new pickup when I love the way the highs sound I was thinking maybe putting in an Alnico III or Alnico IV magnet in my '59 neck. It's in my Les Paul. What do you think? I'm trying to reduce the bass flab.

Have you checked to make sure you have 500k pots in your guitar?.
Try lowering the pickup and raising the polepieces. Also, lower the bass side of the pickup in relation to the treble side.
These are common tweaks for setting up a humbucker, if it sounds too muddy/bassy.
Al
 
Re: I love the '59 neck but lows are too flabby and bassy

Lower bass side, raise screw poles to compensate for volume is first thing to try to drop bass and maintain string balance.

Also, shorter polepiece screws under the wound strings gives a bit more attack and rolled off low end, too. There's also a trick of shunting the bass out with a high pass filter, search for Artie's De-Mud Mod.

If those don't do it, magnet swaps are up next. A3 will drop the pickup's volume considerably, and will give a squishier feel, but yes, much less bass. Sort of a brighter, quieter A2. A4 has a bit less highs and lows, but stronger mids. Replacing A5 with A4 doesn't have a large impact on output.

A4 is a classic PAF magnet, along with roughcast A5 (a bit smoother treble than currently more common polished A5) and A2.
 
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Re: I love the '59 neck but lows are too flabby and bassy

Have an A4 in the 59 in the neck on my Washburm MG 102. Less woolie clearer and much more balanced and articulate. If that doesn't do the trick try a Sentient in the neck or a SNS.
 
Re: I love the '59 neck but lows are too flabby and bassy

Yep, A4 in the '59 neck is the way to go.

And I'm a true fan of Jazz neck pups, but I wouldn't trade my '59 with the A4 for a Jazz. Just saying...
 
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Re: I love the '59 neck but lows are too flabby and bassy

I'm trying to reduce the bass flab.
All you need to do is to slant the bass side of the p'up farther away from the strings. It might look "funny", but It does exactly what you're asking for.

/Peter
 
Re: I love the '59 neck but lows are too flabby and bassy

Love the A4. A2/A3 are both good too, if you want to experiment. Depends on what you use the neck for.
 
Re: I love the '59 neck but lows are too flabby and bassy

I don't have much faith in this business of lowering pickups. I've tried it and I still don't like the sound. It does not change the sound in any way.
 
Re: I love the '59 neck but lows are too flabby and bassy

I don't have much faith in this business of lowering pickups. I've tried it and I still don't like the sound. It does not change the sound in any way.

Really? It won't make you love a pickup that you hate, but I find that it does change the sound a lot.
 
Re: I love the '59 neck but lows are too flabby and bassy

I don't have much faith in this business of lowering pickups. I've tried it and I still don't like the sound. It does not change the sound in any way.

I find that it definitely does change the sound, though for better or worse is entirely up to the user.
 
Re: I love the '59 neck but lows are too flabby and bassy

The Jazz has no place in a heavy metal guitar player's shopping cart.

WHAT??!!!!

You've got a '59 and you're contemplating doing a mag swap which will essentially make it sound and perform similar to a Jazz pup and you make an irrational statement like that!

You sound like a typical teenage heavy metal player who just wants to bang away at his guitar and make a lot of noise without knowing diddly squat about music or his own guitar.

Learn the basics first and you'll be a better metal player in the end.
 
Re: I love the '59 neck but lows are too flabby and bassy

I don't have much faith in this business of lowering pickups. I've tried it and I still don't like the sound. It does not change the sound in any way.

Are you sure you want guitar to be your instrument of choice?
 
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