Installed a '59 B today....

[RGN]

Today I installed a Sh1B in a 1 Hum basswood super strat with a Floyd... sounds super cool. I had a JB in that guitar for years but wanted to try something with a lower output. It is perfect for what I wanted. When I play old VH it sounds about perfect using the '59. That guitar is a total mutt but has always had a nice warm sound- the '59 really brings it to life. It makes me wonder if I need to reconsider my least favorite SD pickup ever- the Screamin Demon. This is the one and only Duncan I really hated but I have always wondered if i rushed to judgement. Should have I raised it closer to the strings or lowered it? Who knows but I am happy with the '59!! How close is the '59 to the '78 (or EVH)?

THANKS.

 

[tone4days]

Re: Installed a '59 B today....

hey RGN, glad it came out so well for ya ... not surprising that a 59 would sound so close to old school VH given that eddie's original striped strats had pups ripped out of old gibsons ...

enjoy!
t4d

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Installed a '59 B today....

Congrats RGN! Everyone who's a regular here knows how much I love the 59B. EVH says his tone was influenced heavily by Eric Clapton's tone with Cream and, IMO, the 59B through a Marshall or Marshall-esque amp nails that Clapton/Cream tone. Stands to reason it'd remind a player of EVH. Vintage output HB's like the 59B are like the early 60's humbuckers that guys like Clapton used to "invent" overdriven/modern guitar tone...and their lower output leaves plenty of room in the tone for a good player to inject his own touch and personality. Hot humbuckers 14K and over often fill up the tonal spectrum and ultimately sound a bit compressed to me. As for the '78, that's an alnico 2 pickup: more mids. The 59B is alnico 5. They're more similar than differant but they are differant.

 

[saladin]

Re: Installed a '59 B today....

I recently replaced a JB in the bridge of my Tele with a 59b, I already have a 59n in the neck. .While the JB sounds good(especially clean in a Tele)it was too much of a brighter sound to really blend with the 59n. The JB would sound great, I'm sure, with the Alnico II Pro neck I have in my other Tele. The 59b is the perfect pickup to capture some gibson vibes. Sounds great clean and distorted. Before getting the 59b I had tried a set of Stewmac Golden Age humbuckers in my Tele. Very nice pickups. They have the warmth of the 59's but with a little high end push. They are now in my Strat with a Big Apple pickguard assembly I traded for recently. Needless to say I haven't touched my Teles for about a week.