Muddy SD '59 neck pickup

M

metal4life69

New member
So I have a new Jackson USA custom shop guitar that I love. It has a Seymour Duncan '59 in the neck and a JB in the bridge. The JB sounds amazing both clean and on high gain. However, no matter how much I tweak my amp settings the 59 humbucker in the neck sounds like crap- too bass and muddy. I usually play bridge but for solos and cleans would be nice to fix the issue with the 59 in bridge. Any ideas?
 
Re: Muddy SD '59 neck pickup

Prediction: several guys are going to recommend an A4 magnet in the 59n to even it out and take away the boominess. That might help.

Before you try that, though, try lowering it and tweaking the polepieces, or flipping it with polepieces toward the bridge. Sometimes the littlest things make all the difference.
 
Re: Muddy SD '59 neck pickup

The usual recommendation is for a 59 is change the magnet for an A4. If you find you just don't like it I would try try a Jazz or Full Shred.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
 
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Re: Muddy SD '59 neck pickup

The first two things I'd do:
- Drop the bass side of the '59 a little
- Try raising the screws up and lowering the pickup

You can make the pickup much less bassy/more clear by doing this.
 
Re: Muddy SD '59 neck pickup

My first thought is lowering it. If that doesn't help, you can try magnet swaps, or just move to another pickup. The Jazz would be my next choice.
 
Re: Muddy SD '59 neck pickup

I tried an A4 and didn't like it. To each their own but it didn't work for me. I was much happier with an A3 or an UOA5. I have Les Pauls with both now!
 
Re: Muddy SD '59 neck pickup

Side question: some of you above talk about changing the magnet. Fine, but where does one buy guitar pickup magnets? Are there better or worse "brands"? Dos and don'ts… etcetera…
 
Re: Muddy SD '59 neck pickup

metal4life69 said:
So I have a new Jackson USA custom shop guitar that I love. It has a Seymour Duncan '59 in the neck and a JB in the bridge. The JB sounds amazing both clean and on high gain. However, no matter how much I tweak my amp settings the 59 humbucker in the neck sounds like crap- too bass and muddy. I usually play bridge but for solos and cleans would be nice to fix the issue with the 59 in bridge. Any ideas?
Click to expand...

Try shorter Pole Pieces. You can get them at Mojo Tone. What everyone said about lowering pickup and raising poles, is a good start. I would NOT recommend the Jazz neck, if your scale length is like a Gibson. What are the specs on your guitar, woods and such? For the neck, I would look at the StagMag (splitting options are a plus) & Full Shred Neck. Wondering how a Full Shred would sound with an A4 or A3, but that's another story.
 
Re: Muddy SD '59 neck pickup

It is a brand new custom shop Jackson USA Soloist 2H model with redwood top. I knew sound would be darker due to the flamed redwood top.

Neck- SD 59'
Bridge- SD JB
Floyd Rose

I run it through a Peavey 6505 amp so if you have experience with amp settings to try for the neck pickup that is cool as well before
messing with pole heights and so forth.
 
Re: Muddy SD '59 neck pickup

metal4life69 said:
It is a brand new custom shop Jackson USA Soloist 2H model with redwood top. I knew sound would be darker due to the flamed redwood top.

Neck- SD 59'
Bridge- SD JB
Floyd Rose

I run it through a Peavey 6505 amp so if you have experience with amp settings to try for the neck pickup that is cool as well before
messing with pole heights and so forth.
Click to expand...

I think I saw that one! Is it the one with the abalone stripe down the middle?
 
Re: Muddy SD '59 neck pickup

To adjust amp tone, usually what I do first is dime the treble, mids, bass, (and presence if there is one) . . . if it's too shrill back off the treble (and presence) a little bit. If it's too boomy, back off the bass a little bit. If it doesn't sound sweet enough, back off the mids a little bit.
 
Re: Muddy SD '59 neck pickup

metal4life69 said:
So I have a new Jackson USA custom shop guitar that I love. It has a Seymour Duncan '59 in the neck and a JB in the bridge. The JB sounds amazing both clean and on high gain. However, no matter how much I tweak my amp settings the 59 humbucker in the neck sounds like crap- too bass and muddy. I usually play bridge but for solos and cleans would be nice to fix the issue with the 59 in bridge. Any ideas?
Click to expand...

Lowering the pickups and raising the pokes works every time for me.
But here’s something if it’s still not enough. I did it with some alnico 2 humbuckers.
I replaced the volume and tone pots with 1k and they sparkle like P90s with a kit of bite.
But 59s are kind of bright usually, maybe your pots are out of specification?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Re: Muddy SD '59 neck pickup

Probably because it IS a bassy muddy piece of crap

For some reason, certain people seem to like that
 
Re: Muddy SD '59 neck pickup

Adieu said:
Probably because it IS a bassy muddy piece of crap

For some reason, certain people seem to like that
Click to expand...



I don't like bassy, muddy pickups and use a '59 in the neck. It might not work for some applications, but isn't a bad pickup by a long stretch.
 
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