Little 59 strat or duckbuckers strat neck with 59 custom bridge?

[Shibui]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking at doing a custom build with a humbucker bridge and single coil humbucker at the neck. I play styles from blues to rock to good old 80's hair metal from time to time to I'm looking for versatility. I am not looking for a high output pickup as I find most of them sound harsh, or at least they do to my aging ears. If the listening/reading I've been doing, I'm sold on the 59 custom for the bridge but I am torn between the little 59 and duckbuckers for the neck. I love the sound of the crunchy sample with the little 59 but prefer the clean and dirty sound of the duckbuckers.

Does anyone have any experience with these pickups? Will there be a large volume drop from the bridge to the neck if i use the duckbuckers? I'll be using a vintage style tremolo and direct mount the pickups on a strat/ibanez RG shape body. And I plan on tapping both pickups.

Any advice would be great. Thanks!

Shibui

 

[Mincer]

Re: Little 59 strat or duckbuckers strat neck with 59 custom bridge?

Welcome to the forum!


Well, these are very different sounding pickups. The Little 59 approximates a clear, open but powerful humbucker sound, while the Duckbucker is a pickup that is like an ideal noise-free single coil. It really comes alive if you have a middle pickup to pair it with (you get the quack). I think the first thing to decide is if you'd like the sound of a humbucker or a single coil.

 

[Shibui]

Re: Little 59 strat or duckbuckers strat neck with 59 custom bridge?

Welcome to the forum!


Well, these are very different sounding pickups. The Little 59 approximates a clear, open but powerful humbucker sound, while the Duckbucker is a pickup that is like an ideal noise-free single coil. It really comes alive if you have a middle pickup to pair it with (you get the quack). I think the first thing to decide is if you'd like the sound of a humbucker or a single coil.

That's the problem. I like both! I have a George Lynch Kamikaze with a stock ESP hum and a ESP single coil at the neck. I love the sound of it. The single has the quack/snap of a strat but I'd like to get a like more kick out of it from time to time, like the drive you get from a LEs Paul neck pickup but I only want that sound about 20-30% of the time. That's why I was going with the single coil hum and I'd tap it to get the single coil sounds. or am I approaching this wrong?

Sorry, I'm a newbie at picking custom stuff.. but I've owned enough guitars in my time that I know what I like and I'm trying to make one guitar that is a fusion of my fav things from all my guitar, well as many that make sense. I don't want to build the "Simpson's Homer car" of a guitar!

 

[Mincer]

Re: Little 59 strat or duckbuckers strat neck with 59 custom bridge?

That's the problem. I like both! I have a George Lynch Kamikaze with a stock ESP hum and a ESP single coil at the neck. I love the sound of it. The single has the quack/snap of a strat but I'd like to get a like more kick out of it from time to time, like the drive you get from a LEs Paul neck pickup but I only want that sound about 20-30% of the time. That's why I was going with the single coil hum and I'd tap it to get the single coil sounds. or am I approaching this wrong?

Sorry, I'm a newbie at picking custom stuff.. but I've owned enough guitars in my time that I know what I like and I'm trying to make one guitar that is a fusion of my fav things from all my guitar, well as many that make sense. I don't want to build the "Simpson's Homer car" of a guitar!

Well, then I'd say go for something like the Little 59, and wire a switch (push/pull or another kind) that can run it in parallel for cleaner sounds.

 

[gregory]

Re: Little 59 strat or duckbuckers strat neck with 59 custom bridge?

Why not put both side by side, but use a conventional single (true or noiseless)? Duckbuckers sound like garbage to me. They're good for getting quack but that's about it. A Little 59 neck will likely disappoint in parallel.

For Strat tones with a single-sized side-by-side in the neck I'd go with a DiMarzio Cruiser. The neck model might pair best with the 59/Custom, but the bridge model works well too (just fills out the bottom a tad bit more without affecting the beautifully bright top-end). The attack is a bit different than a true single but the EQ is very convincing. Combine with a treble bleed and it thins out nicely. This is especially the case with the bridge model in the neck. Listen to Andy Timmons's Electric Gypsy or any track where he uses the Cruiser Bridge in the neck and you'll hear what I'm talking about. He does it with some overdrive, but straight cleans are awesome too. It also works really well for higher-gain lead work (again, listen to Andy Timmons).

A Fast Track 1 will split the difference between a humbucker and a single coil. It will also work well with a treble bleed. I'd think that would be the best compromise in a single-sized package.

...but yeah, an SSL-1, STK-S4, or something similar nearest the neck flanked by a Little 59 neck will give you the very best of both worlds.

 

[Shibui]

Re: Little 59 strat or duckbuckers strat neck with 59 custom bridge?

Why not put both side by side, but use a conventional single (true or noiseless)? Duckbuckers sound like garbage to me. They're good for getting quack but that's about it. A Little 59 neck will likely disappoint in parallel.

For Strat tones with a single-sized side-by-side in the neck I'd go with a DiMarzio Cruiser. The neck model might pair best with the 59/Custom, but the bridge model works well too (just fills out the bottom a tad bit more without affecting the beautifully bright top-end). The attack is a bit different than a true single but the EQ is very convincing. Combine with a treble bleed and it thins out nicely. This is especially the case with the bridge model in the neck. Listen to Andy Timmons's Electric Gypsy or any track where he uses the Cruiser Bridge in the neck and you'll hear what I'm talking about. He does it with some overdrive, but straight cleans are awesome too. It also works really well for higher-gain lead work (again, listen to Andy Timmons).

A Fast Track 1 will split the difference between a humbucker and a single coil. It will also work well with a treble bleed. I'd think that would be the best compromise in a single-sized package.

...but yeah, an SSL-1, STK-S4, or something similar nearest the neck flanked by a Little 59 neck will give you the very best of both worlds.

Thanks for the info. I haven't listened to Timmons in a long time so i'll be sure to check that out.Thanks again!