Neck pickup to match my CS bridge humbucker.

gsammo79

New member
I have a custom shop bridge humbucker I am gonna install in an epiphone Les Paul with a stock probucker neck pickup. The bridge is an A5 pickup wound to 12.0 dc and it's moderately scooped.

I like the probucker neck humbucker, but I don't think it's a keeper.

Any recommendations ?
 
Re: Neck pickup to match my CS bridge humbucker.

Why not reach out to the CS person who wound it and ask their opinion. Specs are almost meaningless when it comes to the nuances of pickups.
 
Re: Neck pickup to match my CS bridge humbucker.

Why not reach out to the CS person who wound it and ask their opinion. Specs are almost meaningless when it comes to the nuances of pickups.

Because this board is super helpful with basically any other pickup related question or issue.
 
Re: Neck pickup to match my CS bridge humbucker.

Wat sound do you want.

I've had the '59 Model in the neck of a Les Paul before and I thought it was too muddy. If it had been clearer i'd have been cool with it.

The '59N is the only Duncan neck I've owned and played.
 
Re: Neck pickup to match my CS bridge humbucker.

I've had the '59 Model in the neck of a Les Paul before and I thought it was too muddy. If it had been clearer i'd have been cool with it.

The '59N is the only Duncan neck I've owned and played.

Do you have favorite recorded neck pickup tones or players that might help us guide you to your choice? And what were the other details of your bridge pickup in terms of the voicing?
 
Re: Neck pickup to match my CS bridge humbucker.

Do you have favorite recorded neck pickup tones or players that might help us guide you to your choice? And what were the other details of your bridge pickup in terms of the voicing?

I like Slash's neck pickup tone. So many of the players I listen to don't use the neck position, honestly.

The bridge humbucker is basically the PG+ that's wound to 12 dc. It's dark and sings
 
Re: Neck pickup to match my CS bridge humbucker.

Oh well, I would say the Alnico II pro slash model would be perfect then, it really does capture that very vocal, juicy and fluid lead tone super well and it should be hot enough to make for a great pairing with a hotter 12k PAF type pickup

http://www.seymourduncan.com/pickup/slash-neck
 
Re: Neck pickup to match my CS bridge humbucker.

Oh well, I would say the Alnico II pro slash model would be perfect then, it really does capture that very vocal, juicy and fluid lead tone super well and it should be hot enough to make for a great pairing with a hotter 12k PAF type pickup

http://www.seymourduncan.com/pickup/slash-neck

Thanks. The pairing issue was the question I was most unsure about.

Slash's tone can be a little mid-heavy, but it still sounds great. I like a scooped EQ-- just my preference for some reason.
 
Re: Neck pickup to match my CS bridge humbucker.

the Slash neck pickup definitely is pretty mid-rich for a PAF type pickup, but that is a key part of getting that vocal quality on your leads
 
Re: Neck pickup to match my CS bridge humbucker.

Thanks. The pairing issue was the question I was most unsure about.

Slash's tone can be a little mid-heavy, but it still sounds great. I like a scooped EQ-- just my preference for some reason.


For a quick fix, I'd try an A4 or A5 in the neck Probucker and see how that sounds. That'll thin out some mids. I wire most of my neck HB's with spin-a-split, which is basically a variable control for treble/midrange/volume. That way, if a neck HB is a little warm or thick, you can dial it to the way you want, all the way down to single coil.
 
Re: Neck pickup to match my CS bridge humbucker.

If you do go the CS route, you could suggest an underwound version of the Slash neck that is perhaps still in the general ball park as the bridge pickup you've already had done.

That said, I've had two CS neck pickups recently, both of which I was disappointed with, so make sure you're able to be focused one what you want before heading in that direction :)
 
Re: Neck pickup to match my CS bridge humbucker.

i hear the 59 as more scooped than the jazz but im sure it depends on the amp as well. i feel like the scoop of the 59 and the natural scoop of bf style fenders is in a similar range
 
Re: Neck pickup to match my CS bridge humbucker.

I'm a big fan of the A459n for situations where a standard 59n is too boomy.

Sent from my MotoE2(4G-LTE) using Tapatalk
 
Re: Neck pickup to match my CS bridge humbucker.

Sreamin' Demon would probably work pretty well in the neck with that bridge pickup.
 
Re: Neck pickup to match my CS bridge humbucker.

I have a custom shop bridge humbucker I am gonna install in an epiphone Les Paul The bridge is an A5 pickup wound to 12.0 dc and it's moderately scooped.
So, you basically ordered an A5-modded Distortion neck. Or an underwound Custom 5.

I like the probucker neck humbucker, but I don't think it's a keeper.
What Probucker is it? The Alnico Classic Pro or the Probucker 2? I had experience with both and I found'em to have different tone-footprint.

I currently own an ES-339 w/ an A3n/A2b-modded Alnico Classic Pro set, which I replaced the keeper bar, polepiece screws and slugs with the ones used by boutique winders and they perform just as well, it not better, than their American-made counterparts.

Depending on what kind of music you wanna play, you could use the one you have with small mods, or get a new p'up altogether.

Well?
 
Re: Neck pickup to match my CS bridge humbucker.

So, you basically ordered an A5-modded Distortion neck. Or an underwound Custom 5.


What Probucker is it? The Alnico Classic Pro or the Probucker 2? I had experience with both and I found'em to have different tone-footprint.

I currently own an ES-339 w/ an A3n/A2b-modded Alnico Classic Pro set, which I replaced the keeper bar, polepiece screws and slugs with the ones used by boutique winders and they perform just as well, it not better, than their American-made counterparts.


Depending on what kind of music you wanna play, you could use the one you have with small mods, or get a new p'up altogether.

Well?

I wanted a pickup with a more moderate EQ scoop than the Custom 5. I like that humbucker, but it's extremely scooped.

It's a probucker 2
 
Re: Neck pickup to match my CS bridge humbucker.

With neck pickups, it comes down to scooped or not:
Scooped: Jazz, '59
Not Scooped: APH-1, or -2

Yes, there are others, but these are the beginning of the search, and might give you everything you need. Do you need tight lows? Do you use the neck pickup for soloing, rhythm or both? What level of gain?
 
Re: Neck pickup to match my CS bridge humbucker.

I love the APH-1n pickup, I have put this in both of my Yamaha AES620s and left the stock JB in the bridge (which has A5 magnets). I love this setup, I play mostly Jazz and blues and this pretty much covers it. Great LP tone.
 
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