Neck humbucker to pair w JB in Bridge

[Jack_TriPpEr]

Looking for recommendations for a neck humbucker for liquid lead playing tone and also good parallel and splitcoil tones for clean passages.

Will be paired (probably ) with a JB in the bridge of a Les Paul style guitar for metal & rock in standard tuning. After listening to a number of youtube videos comparing the JB to the SD Distortion, SD Thrash Factor, and SD Custom Custom, I'm liking the JB the best for the bridge so far.

I'm curious about the SD Distortion Neck as a candidate for the Neck, but haven't had success finding any Youtube audio demos. So I would appreciate some feedback about it.

Here is a Youtube example of some lead playing that has that "liquidy" type tone to it that I'm looking for. It appears at the very end of the clip of the H1 pickup.

 

[Mincer]

What do you want out of a neck pickup? What kind of EQ does the guitar need? Lotsa stuff goes with the JB, from the Distortion, to Jazz, to PG and more.

 

[esandes]

The 59

 

[Hsb]

I have a JB 59 set in an LTD, realy good combo

 

[Jack_TriPpEr]

What do you want out of a neck pickup?

Covered in first setence of my original post, lol

 

[Artie]

I gotta admit, that H1 clean sounds pretty good. I might suggest a PATB-1n for that, but it won't pair cosmetically with a traditional humbucker.

 

[Clint 55]

59 is liquid plus it has a great clean tone and matches well with the JB. I think it should be in the hot rodded set, not the Jazz.

 

[David Garner]

59 is liquid plus it has a great clean tone and matches well with the JB. I think it should be in the hot rodded set, not the Jazz.

Agree. I’ve never tried to split one or use parallel wiring, but the 59 is perfect with the JB in my estimation.

 

[Aceman]

59 is liquid plus it has a great clean tone and matches well with the JB. I think it should be in the hot rodded set, not the Jazz.

The 'Hot Rodded' set refers to a very specific hot rod owned by a very specific person.

But I agree - JB/59 > JB/Jazz for my tastes.

The JB/59 is ESP LTD-1000's is excellent.

 

[Mincer]

Covered in first setence of my original post, lol

True, but that still leaves a lot open. Most neck pickups can do that. What kind of EQ do you want?

 

[elelpe]

Never had it with JB, but Screamin' Demon gets my vote.

 

[Mikelamury]

Is the JB loud enough to balance with the distortion neck? I was under the impression that the distortion neck was meant for the distortion bridge because it(the neck) is so high output. I thought most pickups wouldn't have enough output to balance with the distortion neck is this not true?

 

[Aceman]

Is the JB loud enough to balance with the distortion neck? I was under the impression that the distortion neck was meant for the distortion bridge because it(the neck) is so high output. I thought most pickups wouldn't have enough output to balance with the distortion neck is this not true?

With a little height adjust - easily. Yes the Distortion neck is "loud" but not obnoxiously so.

It would easily work with a JB, a Custom, an Invader, and of course a Distortion.

 

[PFDarkside]

We all know the answer, Distortion neck with an A5.

*Its (mostly) a joke as I’ve never used one

 

[Aceman]

We all know the answer, Distortion neck with an A5.

*Its (mostly) a joke as I’ve never used one

I almost went there.....

(And still believe it is a good answer...)

 

[Ascension]

59 is liquid plus it has a great clean tone and matches well with the JB. I think it should be in the hot rodded set, not the Jazz.

Agree 100% with this on the 59 is a better match than the Jazz for the JB.
Have a 59 with a A4 mag in the neck of my Washburn MG 102 and it kills. However for what you are looking for in fluid solo tone and the rest would run the Sentient. It defines a great fluid solo tone with gain in a Duncan neck humbucker. Have 2 in play right now one with a Alt 8 in the bridge of my KOA Carvin DC127 and one with a Hybrid and the factory active passive system in my mahogany neck and body Carvin DC 400.
Here is the Sentient split with a Hybrid in my KOA DC 127 doing some clean country style stuff through my little unmiced Mesa Subway Rocket.
.

 

[ehdwuld]

jazz or a 59
i prefer the jazz it sounds great split as well

 

[Mincer]

Is the JB loud enough to balance with the distortion neck? I was under the impression that the distortion neck was meant for the distortion bridge because it(the neck) is so high output. I thought most pickups wouldn't have enough output to balance with the distortion neck is this not true?

Yes, no issues with balance at all.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

I would personally go for a Jazz Bridge or '59 Bridge in the neck to match a JB in the bridge. I've personally never gotten to work the neck versions of those pickups with a hot bridge pickup.

 

[Bowtomecha]

The 59 is a classic choice. It can get a bit tubby on the low end sometimes. The sentient has a somewhat tighter sound but still being smooth for lead playing. I see it used a lot like that. It’s one pickup that I find to be enough for everything. Its full sounding but not too busy sounding. If a full shred neck is skim, and a 59 is whole milk, I consider a jazz to be 1 percent, and a sentient to be 2 percent, which is my preference lol.