neck pickup to pair with hot bridge

[Hot Octopus]

Happy Halloween!

My Gibson SG has a DMT (Dean) Baker Act in the bridge and I love it! It has a Pearly Gates in the neck and its just not hot enough/ too low output to be paired with the Baker Act. When I switch from bridge to neck positions, there's a very noticeable drop in output and volume. They're both running 500k pots. What would be a better neck pickup? I'm not a fan of the Duncan 59' btw. Also, in case you're unaware, the Baker Act sounds similar to a Dimarzio Fred, but its hotter and doesn't have that muffled tone commonly associated with Dimarzio pickups.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: neck pickup to pair with hot bridge

Have you tried playing with the pup heights?

If you've already done that, you could try putting an A8 in the PG to boost the output and upper tones.

 

[formula73]

Re: neck pickup to pair with hot bridge

Baker Act is a really great pickup. I have one in a box I intend to put in something...sometime.

I agree...mess with pickup heights. Are you sure there’s nothing wrong with your switch? They can get crapped up over time and not make proper contact.

 

[Hot Octopus]

Re: neck pickup to pair with hot bridge

Baker Act is a really great pickup. I have one in a box I intend to put in something...sometime.

I agree...mess with pickup heights. Are you sure there’s nothing wrong with your switch? They can get crapped up over time and not make proper contact.

Oddly enough, I discovered the Baker Act while looking for a JB-ish alternative. I have one in a Charvel SoCal, another in my SG and a third just sitting around, waiting for my next guitar.

its a really great "off the radar" pickup. Probably because its made by a guitar company and not a pickup company. But man, does it scream! And its got harmonics and feel. Currently my favourite bridge pickup. It had me interested in a possible USA dean custom guitar- then I saw how a guitar spec'd the way I'd want it, would cost $5k. So, I just put the PU in all my new guitars. But I wholeheartedly recommend this PU to anyone. Its my fav!!!

 

[Jeff_H]

Re: neck pickup to pair with hot bridge

The Slash neck is hotter than the PG at a little over 8k vs. the PG being in the low 7's. I was really leery of a neck pickup that hot, but it is sublime. It's brighter than the original APH, but not drastically. It still has that sweet A2 character and gets rich and creamy if you roll the tone off some. For an A5 neck pickup, the WLH neck is a nice hotter neck pickup, also over 8k. More crunchy and brighter than the Slash, but nice clarity. Last, the SNS neck is A4 based and also has a higher DCR, though I don't know that one off the top of my head. I can tell you, based on the SD demo video, the SNS sounds killer in an SG.

My pick would be the Slash, but I am an A2 fan. Next would be the SNS and then the WLH, but I rarely use A5 pickups, but especially in the neck. However, all of these will sound great, it just depends on what flavor you like.

Good luck and let us know what you decide.

 

[eclecticsynergy]

Re: neck pickup to pair with hot bridge

Screamin' Demon makes a very good neck pickup. Medium output, definitely stronger than vintage.
Should pair well with a hot bridge and it sounds great.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: neck pickup to pair with hot bridge

It's funny to me how people will set the bridge pickup 2 inches higher than the neck pickup to get them to balance but won't even think to put the neck pickup higher than the bridge pickup.

 

[STLMTLHD79]

Re: neck pickup to pair with hot bridge

its strange-i actually prefer a medium-low output neck pickup with a hot bridge pickup, especially in a Gibson. one of my favorite combos i have been running for over 20 years is my Gibson 500T bridge and MJ wound late 80s Alnico II pro in the neck. I dont notice that big of volume drop off actually between the two. Another combo i really dig is in one of my MIJ les pauls: DDJ bridge and an old Jazz Neck (single conductor) in the neck. Sounds amazing! With that said, I am quite surprised how good the DDn sounds. I pulled one out of my Edwards John Sykes Les Paul (along with the bridge DD) and stuck it in an old MIJ Charvel. Damn, works well in that guitar since it was overly bright.

 

[Jeff_H]

Re: neck pickup to pair with hot bridge

It's funny to me how people will set the bridge pickup 2 inches higher than the neck pickup to get them to balance but won't even think to put the neck pickup higher than the bridge pickup.

With a lot of guitars, you can't put the neck pickup as high or higher than the bridge pickup, due to the downward angle of the strings from the bridge to the nut. Plus, a bridge pickup low enough for the neck to be higher wouldn't be close enough to the strings for optimal performance and sound.

Not saying that it's impossible, but certainly not normal.

 

[Demanic]

Re: neck pickup to pair with hot bridge

Funny, no one seems to have yet mentioned the SH-6n. It should have no problem keeping up with a Baker Act.

 

[Shooweri]

Re: neck pickup to pair with hot bridge

Slash and Whole Lotta neck are both solid choices, although I would pick the Slash for SG.

 

[Mincer]

Re: neck pickup to pair with hot bridge

The Whole Lotta Humbucker bridge pickup would be a good choice in the neck here.

 

[Ascension]

Re: neck pickup to pair with hot bridge

Oddly enough, I discovered the Baker Act while looking for a JB-ish alternative. I have one in a Charvel SoCal, another in my SG and a third just sitting around, waiting for my next guitar.

its a really great "off the radar" pickup. Probably because its made by a guitar company and not a pickup company. But man, does it scream! And its got harmonics and feel. Currently my favourite bridge pickup. It had me interested in a possible USA dean custom guitar- then I saw how a guitar spec'd the way I'd want it, would cost $5k. So, I just put the PU in all my new guitars. But I wholeheartedly recommend this PU to anyone. Its my fav!!!

I'm running a Sentient in the neck with a Alt 8 Bridge in my 93 KOA Carvin DC 127 and that combo works well. The Sentient feels hotter than the specs show and is very rich big and clear. Might want to take a look at it it's surprisingly good.

 

[Adieu]

Re: neck pickup to pair with hot bridge

It's funny to me how people will set the bridge pickup 2 inches higher than the neck pickup to get them to balance but won't even think to put the neck pickup higher than the bridge pickup.

Jack it up too high and it'll kill sustain... and snag or crash strings into the last fret/fretboard edge on dives, for Floyded guitars

 

[Hot Octopus]

Re: neck pickup to pair with hot bridge

Will a Jazz keep up with the baker act?

Have you tried playing with the pup heights?

Yea I have. Its jacked up as high as it will go, without touching the strings.

Screamin' Demon makes a very good neck pickup. Medium output, definitely stronger than vintage.
Should pair well with a hot bridge and it sounds great.

Ya' know, I do have a TB12 laying around. I never thought of it as a neck pickup. hmm...

 

[STLMTLHD79]

Re: neck pickup to pair with hot bridge

Funny, no one seems to have yet mentioned the SH-6n. It should have no problem keeping up with a Baker Act.

Yea i mentioned it as the DDn. I was very surprised it was not a muddy mess. Actually very articulate and slightly chirpy so to say