New Pickups for Gibson SG special

[dros91]

Hi all,

new forum member here. I recently bought a second hand faded gibson sg 2003 which has the stock 490r and t pickups installed. I want this guitar to be versatile and have been thinking about putting in some dimarzio pickups, but there are so many options that I wanted to get some opinions first.

I play mainly blues and funk based stuff, and really like edge of break up sounds on both humbuckers and single coils. Not really interested in higher gain metal sounds. I was thinking of putting a dimarzio bluesbucker in the neck position, combining that with a true humbucker in the bridge and applying split coil options to both pickups. Does anyone know if a bluesbucker will sound any good in an sg, bearing in mind the sg is a pretty bright guitar, and if so, what humbucker would you recommend in the bridge position?

Another option I was thinking of was to try out the dimarzio 36 anniversary PAF with split coils for both positions. Would these pickups sound any good split or too thin?

Thank for your help!

here's a pic of the guitar:

 

[Demanic]

Re: New Pickups for Gibson SG special

How about a set of Duncan 59's?

Sent from my Alcatel_5044C using Tapatalk

 

[Mincer]

Re: New Pickups for Gibson SG special

Welcome to the forum!

59s are my first choice (order the 4 conductor version), followed closely by a Saturday Night Special set. Both will give a great range of sounds from dead clean right up to the edge of metal.

 

[BlueSnMettle]

Re: New Pickups for Gibson SG special

Yeah, check out the SNS set.
I have AIV's in my PRS.

https://www.seymourduncan.com/pickup/saturday-night-special-set?__uuid_ref=5c4341c7df096

Good luck!

 

[Mr. B]

Re: New Pickups for Gibson SG special

59 set is awesome in an SG for exactly what you are describing.

 

[Adieu]

Re: New Pickups for Gibson SG special

PRail it!

 

[EmiAba]

Re: New Pickups for Gibson SG special

First of all beautiful guitar. Then, a couple of thoughts:
1)I have an SG special like yours and at the moment it's loaded with a pair of 59s (with stock magnets). it sounds pretty good, a rock machine, easy to clean up rolling down the volume knob, no boomy sound from the neck. I am happy with that combo. So said that I am with the other forumites if they talk about 59s (direct experience)
2) but sometimes I am tempted to put a couple of P90s or something else that sounds like a P90 in it. So if you already have the bluesbucker I would want to try it in neck (it has the sound of a P90, or rather close) and put a 59 in the bridge or a 59/custom hybrid (perfect splitted). If you need to buy both pickpus then I am with Adieu when he said PRail (again P90 sound, if splitted).

 

[beaubrummels]

Re: New Pickups for Gibson SG special

I’m surprised your SG is bright, but it’s possible.

For me, the combos that worked well for what you are doing are:

Pearly Gates bridge, Jazz neck (use the tone controls)
Whole Lotta Humbucker set
59/Custom hybrid bridge, Seth neck
78 model bridge, Jazz neck
59 Bridge, Seth neck

 

[smitty302]

Re: New Pickups for Gibson SG special


I have a WLH neck in mine with a custom bridge. The WLH neck sounds awesome, but I kinda wish I went with a 59/custom hybrid for the bridge. I like the custom it's just that I find myself always using the neck because it sounds so good.

 

[dros91]

Re: New Pickups for Gibson SG special

Thanks for all of the suggestions.

I've had a listen to the different humbuckers mentioned. I'm relying on youtube so not the best situation but better than nothing.

The humbucker which impressed me the most would have to be the whole lotta humbucker. So happy I'e learned about it! A fantastic sound, especially in the middle position. However I'm unsure if its split coils will be very usable.

The other humbucker which I really liked was the 50/custom. This will make a great bridge pickup no doubt and seems to be designed to split better.

The p-rails seem super cool, I love the idea of having a 3-in-one pickup. From listening to it, however, I prefer the P90 and single coil tones of the bluesbucker, which sound a bit fatter to me.

I actually like pretty much all the pickups suggested, but the ones that stood out the most had to be whole lotta humbucker and 59/classic. So I've now got two choices:

1. whole lotta humbuckers set - great humbucking tone, possibly my favourite humbucker already

2. 59/custom in the brisge + bluesbucker in the neck - solid array of tones, probably splits better than whl humbuckers, so a more versatile choice.

What do you guys think, and what would you go with between these two? Does anyone have experience hearing the whole lotta humbucker split?

 

[dros91]

Re: New Pickups for Gibson SG special

And thanks again for all the input. It's been really helpful !!

 

[smitty302]

Re: New Pickups for Gibson SG special

And thanks again for all the input. It's been really helpful !!

WLH neck and a 59/Custom bridge.

 

[beaubrummels]

Re: New Pickups for Gibson SG special

I had the WLH in my SG with Jimmy Page wiring (full splits, parallel coils, phase reverse) and they stayed in there for a year. Very versatile. Splits worked well, they could get Fendery when using the phase invert with series at the same time, but obviously not true single coil sound.

 

[stevie_bees]

Re: New Pickups for Gibson SG special

Welcome to the forum. I have the WLH set in my McCarty and can say that the split tones are fantastic. I also have a Fret-King Esprit 5 which is kind of a cross between a Firebird and Jaguar shapewise, but is all mahogany with a rosewood board and pretty much sounds like a fat SG. I have the '59/Custom Hybrid in the bridge of that, with a Jazz in the neck with the option to split both humbuckers via a push-push pot. I'm pretty sure the '59/C will never leave that guitar! It has an absolutely smoking tone that's fat and articulate, and cuts through nicely plus it splits well too.

 

[blueman335]

Re: New Pickups for Gibson SG special

Can't go wrong with the WLH. A2P's or Slash are another good choice for the bridge. All are on the warm side and a good fit for you.

For your guitar the '59/Custom is going in the wrong direction. Both of the parents are bright thin pickups, and being a hybrid (unbalanced coils) adds more high end and thins out mids. I like hybrids in the neck slot for this reason, but not in the bridge unless they have a warm magnet (A2, UOA5, or A8). In fact, that's how DiMarzio gets the Bluesbucker, HFH, and Fred to be bright: very unbalanced coils.

BTW, I don't blame you with the 490's; they're okay, but nothing to get excited about. Kind of lackluster.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: New Pickups for Gibson SG special

I totally agree with Blueman here. I couldn't believe there were so many suggestions for bright sounding pups (59, 59/custom, WLH, etc) for the bridge, and most of them fairly low output...NOT "on the edge of breakup" like you said you wanted in your first post.

In talking about the P-Rails, you said that you "prefer the P90 and single coil tones of the bluesbucker, which sound a bit fatter to me". Are you kidding?! The P-90 tone in the P-Rail (and I'm even talking about the neck model) is really fat. I haven't found a stock P-90 that sounds fatter. The P-Rail in humbucker mode is almost unusably fat. The P-Rail would be an excellent choice for you for the tones you want from your SG and about the most versatile you can get.

Another suggestion would be for a C8 (any of the Customs with an A8 magnet) in the bridge. This is one of the best sounding, most versatile bridge pups for an SG...it should come stock in most SG models.

There are many really great neck pups for your SG...Demon, Jazz, 59/custom, Pearly Gates, WLH, Slash, even the 59.

 

[GibSG]

Re: New Pickups for Gibson SG special

How about a set of Duncan 59's?

Sent from my Alcatel_5044C using Tapatalk

Seymour Duncan '59 SH-1 are fantastic humbuckers ! :14: :14:

SG Specal + S. Duncan '59 SH-1 + open covers,

 

[Drunken Bowling]

Re: New Pickups for Gibson SG special

WLH's are a bit bright in SG's IMHO. They sounded okay in mine, just a little brighter than I would have liked. They're more at home in a LP.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: New Pickups for Gibson SG special

Seymour Duncan '59 SH-1 are fantastic humbuckers ! :14: :14:

SG Specal + S. Duncan '59 SH-1 + open covers,

Those open covers on a large pickguard SG look perfect. Gives it a more finished appearance...real elegant look.

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: New Pickups for Gibson SG special

I threw in a PG/Ant hybrid in the neck of my bro's Epi faded SG along with a Custom Shop Iommi humbucker (the one with the rails). It is a surprisingly versatile set up. The cleans are fantastic from the neck AND bridge and the bridge does really great edge-of-break up sounds despite it being a relatively high output pickup.