Neck Humbucker that isn't woofy or flubby or overbearing in the bass.

[orpheo]

Re: Neck Humbucker that isn't woofy or flubby or overbearing in the bass.

the jazz neck with an alnico 4 has sweetness but so, so much clarity and lacks any woofiness. the alnico 5 that's standard has a fair amount of low end. the a4 is almost entirely flat in its eq. i'd go with that.

 

[OsvyRock]

Re: Neck Humbucker that isn't woofy or flubby or overbearing in the bass.

At the moment I have the Duncan Slash in the bridge, before that the Ibanez super 58.

I would go with the Pearly Gates neck.
It's an Alnico II pickup with the bass tamed.
I don't know how that Alnico V + Alnico II in the bridge combination will balance. I read about some people doing it. I would stick to same magnets in your case.

Pearly Gates or Dimarzio PAF Master (even if it's an Alnico V pickup). The bad thing about the Master, no smooth creamy tones. You could get them with some edge out of the PGn.
Good luck!

 

[majewsky]

Re: Neck Humbucker that isn't woofy or flubby or overbearing in the bass.

AlNiCo 3

 

[AZ Picker]

Re: Neck Humbucker that isn't woofy or flubby or overbearing in the bass.

I'd go for the Saturday Night Special neck pickup. It's the most balanced neck humbucker I've played from Seymour Duncan. Solid bass but not woofy, and more clarity than the other paf types (the Seth is pretty amazing though, but a little light on the bass for me personally) . I loved the whole lotta Humbucker neck for single note leads , but it's too powerful and dark for me for other rhythm/clean stuff. The pearly is good too, but a little mushy down low. The Jazz cures that issue too, but I've never liked it's extreme scoop (although I'm sure that's responsible for its clarity). Just my 2 cents worth, and all of these findings were in Gibson Les Paul's, or USA PRS guitars.

 

[Van Noord]

Re: Neck Humbucker that isn't woofy or flubby or overbearing in the bass.

DiMarzio Humbucker from Hell will do what you want.

This!

 

[Davii]

Re: Neck Humbucker that isn't woofy or flubby or overbearing in the bass.

I ended up with an Jazz/A2Pro with a polished A3 mag after trying many other pickups for the neck spot of a 12 string with similar issues.

 

[fingerstyle]

Re: Neck Humbucker that isn't woofy or flubby or overbearing in the bass.

No, I have not tried the Seth, and would like to someday. UPDATE: I hated the Slash set. Neck wasn't clear enough and had too much woofy low end. The bridge pickup always sounded harsh to me, with heavy overdrive or just a clean setting. I've never owned a Guns & Roses album, but I've heard enough of their songs to know that Slash always has a great overdriven tone on recordings, always supple, juicy, articulate and expressive and nuanced, not woofy or harsh.
So, with the Slash set, I disliked the way my guitar sounded immediately after plugging in and after a week of messing with pickup height and pole adjustments I knew I had to get rid of them (If you own these pickups and like them, great, this is my personal experience with my personal guitar).
I exchanged the Slash set for the Saturday Night Special set and I must say, I LOVE THESE PICKUPS! Very clear, very sweet and supple and expressive when I play finger style blues/jazz lead or heavy overdriven rock fusion lead. Airy, etc. Definitely less woofy and flubby in the low end of the neck pickup.
Three days ago I decided to also try a Hot rodded set in my other semi hollow ibanez (the JB bridge and Jazz neck set). Sounds good also. The JB definitely has more upper mids, resulting in a more aggressive, or fuller in the high mids sound when used with overdrive/distortion. I love the Sat Night bridge, it is a bit cleaner and flatter, meaning clear and uncolored, not to much of anything... the pure sound of the guitar and strings, where as the JB has more upper mids etc.
In all the decades of buying pickups, this is the third time I've purchased the JB/Jazz set. What I'd like to try next is; exchanging the JB's polished A5 magnet for a raw, unpolished A5... which, from reading, is how they were made decades ago and results in a less harsh, smoother top end.
Thanks everyone for the great comments and ideas!

 

[BluesIsBlood12]

Re: Neck Humbucker that isn't woofy or flubby or overbearing in the bass.

No new info here, but I 2nd a Phat Cat for this purpose. A Seth or Ant would be better too. You can also clear up a 59 by using different magnet types. I hated 59s with the stock A5, but I really like them with A2 or A4. $5 and 10 minutes may solve your problem, rather than dropping $100+ on a new pickup.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Neck Humbucker that isn't woofy or flubby or overbearing in the bass.

I'd like to add that Allan Holdsworth rarely used neck pickups, except when he used a 59 neck pickup in the bridge position for the last decade of his life.

 

[Juanhanglo]

Re: Neck Humbucker that isn't woofy or flubby or overbearing in the bass.

Artie's demud mod works great.

Check out the carvin holdsworth h22n. 7.5k with 22 adjustable pole pieces. It is a heck of a neck pickup.

 

[justFred]

Re: Neck Humbucker that isn't woofy or flubby or overbearing in the bass.

use a bridge pickup...

 

[beaubrummels]

Re: Neck Humbucker that isn't woofy or flubby or overbearing in the bass.

I use Jazz, Seth, Pearly Gates or Black Winter stock to solve this problem. Or put an A4 in a 59.

 

[eclecticsynergy]

Re: Neck Humbucker that isn't woofy or flubby or overbearing in the bass.

My rec would be the Jazz also. If it turns out to be too fat, swap in an A4 mag.

One other totally different option might be a Railhammer. They have slugs under the plain strings and rails under the wound strings. The HyperVintage neck is a great sounding low output humbucker. For something hotter & fatter yet still super tight, the Chisel neck, which has a ceramic mag.

 

[Tone Meister]

Re: Neck Humbucker that isn't woofy or flubby or overbearing in the bass.

Wonder what the OP did to resolve this? Fingerstyle, let us know what you did if anything.

 

[fingerstyle]

Re: Neck Humbucker that isn't woofy or flubby or overbearing in the bass.

No, I have not tried the Seth, and would like to someday. UPDATE: I hated the Slash set. Neck wasn't clear enough and had too much woofy low end. The bridge pickup always sounded harsh to me, with heavy overdrive or just a clean setting. I've never owned a Guns & Roses album, but I've heard enough of their songs to know that Slash always has a great overdriven tone on recordings, always supple, juicy, articulate and expressive and nuanced, not woofy or harsh.
So, with the Slash set, I disliked the way my guitar sounded immediately after plugging in and after a week of messing with pickup height and pole adjustments I knew I had to get rid of them (If you own these pickups and like them, great, this is my personal experience with my personal guitar).
I exchanged the Slash set for the Saturday Night Special set and I must say, I LOVE THESE PICKUPS! Very clear, very sweet and supple and expressive when I play finger style blues/jazz lead or heavy overdriven rock fusion lead. Airy, etc. Definitely less woofy and flubby in the low end of the neck pickup.
Three days ago I decided to also try a Hot rodded set in my other semi hollow ibanez (the JB bridge and Jazz neck set). Sounds good also. The JB definitely has more upper mids, resulting in a more aggressive, or fuller in the high mids sound when used with overdrive/distortion. I love the Sat Night bridge, it is a bit cleaner and flatter, meaning clear and uncolored, not to much of anything... the pure sound of the guitar and strings, where as the JB has more upper mids etc.
In all the decades of buying pickups, this is the third time I've purchased the JB/Jazz set. What I'd like to try next is; exchanging the JB's polished A5 magnet for a raw, unpolished A5... which, from reading, is how they were made decades ago and results in a less harsh, smoother top end.
Thanks everyone for the great comments and ideas!