Neck Humbucker that's not glassy/hollow sounding (for strat)?

[tce44]

Need it for my strat as I only play on neck position.
Just got the SD Alnico ii Pro from suggestions here, nice sound but there's a very glassy/hollow sound to it, close to a single coil.
Looking for a more fuller sound without that. already had a Jazz and 59 in past.
Any ideas?
Thanx alot.

 

[Chistopher]

Whats in the bridge?

If you have a hotter bridge pickup, a Custom Custom in the neck would be a reasonable consideration.

 

[tce44]

I have the custom custom in bridge, that might be to much for neck spot, play alot of cleaner stuff.

 

[Chistopher]

I mostly use the neck for clean stuff and it's given me no trouble, but it's definitely a big step.

Before all that, have you fiddled with pickup height yet?

 

[beaubrummels]

If we're talking full humbuckers, try a Saturday Night Special neck, or a Whole Lotta Humbucker neck, or maybe a Seth neck.

 

[tce44]

The height is about half way up.

 

[uOpt]

Does thingie have a tremolo? That's hollowing out the sound.

Also, try the Pearly Gates.

 

[tce44]

Theres tremolo, I was thinking maybe a Pearly gates. Heres a pic of the height.

 

[Mincer]

Make sure it is wired correctly first. The Alnico II Pro shouldn't sound like that. It is a pretty warm pickup- I have it in several guitars, and it is certainly not glassy sounding. Confirm both coils are working, and confirm it isn't wired in parallel.

If you change the pickup, check out the neck Invader.

 

[tce44]

My tech wired it for me so pretty sure its wired right,he knows his stuff.
Im gonna mess with it more,Thanx.

 

[Michel347]

Make sure it is wired correctly first. The Alnico II Pro shouldn't sound like that. It is a pretty warm pickup- I have it in several guitars, and it is certainly not glassy sounding. Confirm both coils are working, and confirm it isn't wired in parallel.

If you change the pickup, check out the neck Invader.

Agree, not glassy in mine neither, almost too warm, but I keep it very low and love it splitted as well.

 

[nienturi]

As far as i understand you may need some mid-mids. So what i can suggest you is from dimarzio: Al DiMeola neck. Or DP103 PAF or Bluesbucker.

 

[Mincer]

More mids can also be the Steve Morse model, too.

 

[Binnerscot]

I say this in half jest/half serious.... put a Dimarzio in there. They always seemed mid heavy to me, as in what you're looking for. For their offerings, I've always liked the PAF Joe as it's similar to a Duncan 59/Jazz.... so don't pick that one.

Edit: seems others have suggested Dimarzio as well.... maybe I should read before I post.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

I'm thinking DiMarzio PAF 36th Anniversary.

 

[freefrog]

I'd keep in mind that if each passive pickup model has a typical sound through a typical (standard) wiring, a passive pickup has no defined sound in itself. I can imagine a normally wired (IOW: in series) A2P being "glassy" through a wireless emitter without cable compensation, for instance...

The Fender scale seems also to take in account here as it gives more harmonics vs fundamentals than a shorter (Gibson) scale.

Anyway: a wisely selected capacitor from hot to ground of any bright passive pickup would make it less "glassy" and heavier in the mids. I wouldn't change the PU itself before to have tested this easy solution - cost: a few cents and a few minutes. Start with 1nF, 1.5nF or 2.2nF (0.001, 0.0015 or 0.0022µ). Increase or diminish this value if needed. If it makes the pickup too nasal, put a 470k or 270k resistor in parallel with the cap... That's for such a use that Lindy Fralin sells what he calls a "magic cap" or .0022 components:

Tone Caps - Fralin Pickups

Lindy Fralin's Tone Caps: Dependable, Affordable Tone Capacitors for Guitar.

www.fralinpickups.com

 

[AdrianSD]

Dimarzio Gravity Storm neck is anything but glassy.

 

[tce44]

Make sure it is wired correctly first. The Alnico II Pro shouldn't sound like that. It is a pretty warm pickup- I have it in several guitars, and it is certainly not glassy sounding. Confirm both coils are working, and confirm it isn't wired in parallel.

If you change the pickup, check out the neck Invader.

Hey Mincer, do you know what wiring would look like if it is wired in parallel?
Im gonna check it for the heck of it to see.
Thanx Alot

 

[freefrog]

Hey Mincer, do you know what wiring would look like if it is wired in parallel?
Im gonna check it for the heck of it to see.

I'm not Mincer but if I can help... Parallel wiring necessarily involves two wires to hot (black and red, normally) and two wires to ground (green and white). When normally wired in series, a Duncan humbucker has black wire going to hot, green going to ground, red and white soldered to each other (and electrically insulated, by a bit of tape or something like that).
Bare wire goes to ground in any case.
Colors going respectively to hot and ground might have been swapped to avoid an OOP connection with another pickup but the principle is always the same.

 

[Mincer]

Yeah, what he said.