New Fender Duo Sonic HS & Squier Buller Mustang HH, I need new HB recommendations.

[mogwai]

New Fender Duo Sonic HS & Squier Buller Mustang HH, I need new HB recommendations.

3 weeks ago I stumbled upon a Fender Duosonic HS in pristine condition for 330 euros (costs 500+ new) and I couldn't get past it, so I bought it.

I also have a Squier Bullet Mustang HH I bought last March.

My tonal goal with both guitars is 90's grunge and alternative.
I want a good clear solid tone, not overly hot, and definitely a good response to distortion pedals (DS-1, DS-2, Rat, MXR Badass '78, new op-amp and Green Russian Muff, with the gain usually cranked).

I measured the pickups:
Duo-Sonic
HB: 8 KΩ (4 kΩ with coil split)
neck single: 6,2 kΩ

Squier Bullet HH
Bridge HB: 9,35 kΩ
Neck HB: 8,95 kΩ

I believe the Squier Bullet has ceramic humbuckers and the Duo-Sonic AlNiCos, but I might be mistaken on that, correct me if I'm wrong.

Thing is I can live with the bridge pup of the Mustang Bullet HH, both clean and distorted, but the neck one is way too muddy!

On the other hand, I don't like the clean sound of the bridge pup in the Duo Sonic, imo has too much mids and sounds honky (weird for a low wound pup?), though in split coil mode the tone is ok in all 3 positions of the switch.

Also the Duo-Sonic plays quite better with my cranked distortion pedals, than my Mustang HH.

Both guitars are short scale 24".

So I'm confused, should I look for hotter or cooler pickups?

Please help, I'd appreciate your input!

 

[Blille]

Re: New Fender Duo Sonic HS & Squier Buller Mustang HH, I need new HB recommendations

Re: New Fender Duo Sonic HS & Squier Buller Mustang HH, I need new HB recommendations

Congrats on your new acquisitions!

A few comments, hope it helps:
- the scale has a significant impact in the tone, the shorter it is, the warmer the tone will become.
- before swapping pickups try to lower the ones that sound muddy to you, that should help with clarity. Lower it to the level of the pickguard so you see the effect drastically then adjust if it’s too much.
- resistance is only helpful as a way to measure output when the pickups that are being compared are built the same way.

After you try to lower the pickup, let us know what you think and maybe we can go from there.

Also, what kind of music do you play and what tones do you like?

 

[mogwai]

Re: New Fender Duo Sonic HS & Squier Buller Mustang HH, I need new HB recommendations

Re: New Fender Duo Sonic HS & Squier Buller Mustang HH, I need new HB recommendations

Thank you for the input!

I've tried all kinds of height adjustments, I did lower the neck pickup on my Bullet Mustang HH, it kinda helped to a degree with the muddynes, but the tone became lifeless and undefined.
Still prefer it to ther muddy mess when the pup is higher though. But the tone is still lacking.

I play 90's grunge and alternative, so I mostly use the bridge pup and need a solid clear tone with good response to cranked distortion pedals.

 

[Dave Locher]

Re: New Fender Duo Sonic HS & Squier Buller Mustang HH, I need new HB recommendations

Re: New Fender Duo Sonic HS & Squier Buller Mustang HH, I need new HB recommendations

I think most neck pickups are going to sound muddy with a lot of distortion.
If you mean you are turning up the gain or distortion all the way then you need pickups that are low-ish output with a lot of clarity.

You may want to try a Wilde L500R or maybe L500L. You definitely don't need the L500XL! All the L500 pickups are wound for maximum clarity and work well clean or with a ton of gain.

Another option is a bright, clear paf-type pickup. Duncan 59 seems plausible but I will let those on this forum with more experience in the "vintage output" range pipe in.

 

[Blille]

Re: New Fender Duo Sonic HS & Squier Buller Mustang HH, I need new HB recommendations

Re: New Fender Duo Sonic HS & Squier Buller Mustang HH, I need new HB recommendations

Thank you for the input!

I've tried all kinds of height adjustments, I did lower the neck pickup on my Bullet Mustang HH, it kinda helped to a degree with the muddynes, but the tone became lifeless and undefined.
Still prefer it to ther muddy mess when the pup is higher though. But the tone is still lacking.

I play 90's grunge and alternative, so I mostly use the bridge pup and need a solid clear tone with good response to cranked distortion pedals.

My pleasure.

Then:
Jazz for neck of bullet - all the clarity you need
JB for bridge of duo Sonic - good enough for Cobain, should fit you since you also have a short scale and play grunge

#classicsforareason

 

[mogwai]

Re: New Fender Duo Sonic HS & Squier Buller Mustang HH, I need new HB recommendations

Re: New Fender Duo Sonic HS & Squier Buller Mustang HH, I need new HB recommendations

I think most neck pickups are going to sound muddy with a lot of distortion.

No, the neck pup on the Bullet Mustang sounds way muddy totaly clean, and I've lowered it quite a bit. With distortion it's unbearable.

If you mean you are turning up the gain or distortion all the way then you need pickups that are low-ish output with a lot of clarity.

That's what i'm doing, yes. I'm looking into lower output pickups now.

 

[mogwai]

Re: New Fender Duo Sonic HS & Squier Buller Mustang HH, I need new HB recommendations

Re: New Fender Duo Sonic HS & Squier Buller Mustang HH, I need new HB recommendations

My pleasure.

Then:
Jazz for neck of bullet - all the clarity you need
JB for bridge of duo Sonic - good enough for Cobain, should fit you since you also have a short scale and play grunge

#classicsforareason

Thanks for the suggestions.

In the past couple of days I've been looking for offers/deals in the classifieds and shops around me, and I've found 3 pups that are 40-50% off, all are $50-$60 new:

Dimarzio DP-258 Titan Neck
Dimarzio DP-190 Air Classic Neck
Dimarzio DP-212 EJ Custom bridge

All af the above are candidates for the bridge possition of my Bullet Mustang HH (since I don't use the neck pup much, I thought I should look for a decent bridge pup).

Any experience with any of the above pups in the bridge position of a short scale guitar?
I'm looking into ceramic humbuckers since I read that they have tighter bass which I suppose would be a plus with my Mustang's basswood body, and the shorter scale.

 

[Blille]

Re: New Fender Duo Sonic HS & Squier Buller Mustang HH, I need new HB recommendations

Re: New Fender Duo Sonic HS & Squier Buller Mustang HH, I need new HB recommendations

Sorry, I don't have experience with those or much with ceramic in general. I'm more of a SD and A2 / A5 person.

I don't think you necessarily need ceramic btw. Generations of shortscales have been equipped with alnico pickups

 

[Dave Locher]

Re: New Fender Duo Sonic HS & Squier Buller Mustang HH, I need new HB recommendations

Re: New Fender Duo Sonic HS & Squier Buller Mustang HH, I need new HB recommendations

Blille is right: Cobain played Jaguars and Mustangs, which are both short scale guitars. If he used a JB then that's what I would try. They are really easy to find used because they have been around for so long.
According to this website his main Jaguar had a Dimarzio Super Distortion before the JB http://www.kurtsequipment.com/
I would lean more toward the JB for your stated goals - the Super D is pretty thick and woolly sounding by comparison.

 

[mogwai]

Re: New Fender Duo Sonic HS & Squier Buller Mustang HH, I need new HB recommendations

Re: New Fender Duo Sonic HS & Squier Buller Mustang HH, I need new HB recommendations

Indeed he did, but he also used the Super Distortion which is a ceramic pickup.

I'm also looking at the models you suggested, problem is they are at full price and I can't find them used in the classifieds, which means I have to spend around $85-90 for one, whereas the 3 pickups I posted above cost around half that (50ish).

Thanks for the input!

 

[mogwai]

Re: New Fender Duo Sonic HS & Squier Buller Mustang HH, I need new HB recommendations

Re: New Fender Duo Sonic HS & Squier Buller Mustang HH, I need new HB recommendations

bump!

any input on these would be extremely helpful.

Dimarzio DP-258 Titan Neck
Dimarzio DP-190 Air Classic Neck
Dimarzio DP-212 EJ Custom bridge

 

[mogwai]

Re: New Fender Duo Sonic HS & Squier Buller Mustang HH, I need new HB recommendations

Re: New Fender Duo Sonic HS & Squier Buller Mustang HH, I need new HB recommendations

I went to the store today and bought the Dimarzio Titan.

So... how do I install it? I know that humbuckers with screws are installed correctly when the screws in the bridge pup face towards the bridge and the screws on the neck pup face towards the neck.

Problem is the Titan has 2 rows of hex bolts and no screws. So how do I install the pickup?

that's the pup:

 

[Dave Locher]

Re: New Fender Duo Sonic HS & Squier Buller Mustang HH, I need new HB recommendations

Re: New Fender Duo Sonic HS & Squier Buller Mustang HH, I need new HB recommendations

It probably doesn't matter since both coils are probably the same, but mount it so that the lead wire comes out toward the bottom of the guitar rather than the top.

 

[mogwai]

Re: New Fender Duo Sonic HS & Squier Buller Mustang HH, I need new HB recommendations

Re: New Fender Duo Sonic HS & Squier Buller Mustang HH, I need new HB recommendations

Thanks for the reply!

 

[Dave Locher]

Re: New Fender Duo Sonic HS & Squier Buller Mustang HH, I need new HB recommendations

Re: New Fender Duo Sonic HS & Squier Buller Mustang HH, I need new HB recommendations

You're welcome.
Just for future reference, you can mount any pickup any direction. If it has different coils OR different screws (screws vs. rail, slugs vs. screws, etc.) it will change the way it sounds bit but any pickup will work in either direction.
Some Dimarzios have one coil stronger than the other and flipping it will emphasize treble or bass, but as far as I can tell the Titan neck humbucker has "balanced" coils like the Super Distortions so upside down and right side up will sound the same.