New Strat bridge humbucker: Alnico II Pro vs. Seth Lover?

Chrismo

Chrismo

New member
So I've decided that I can't deal with a Strat single coil bridge pickup anymore and a humbucker has to go in its spot.

I'd like an Alnico 2 humbucker, so the answer was obviously Duncan. I have a DiMarzio Area 67 in the neck and middle, so between the Alnico II Pro and Seth Lover, which is the better pairing? I've had issues with the A2P neck pickup being muddy so I'm hoping that's not the case with the bridge pickup as well (maybe I need to consider the Slash version as well?)

What I'm after - something that blends well with Strat single coils but can give me a nice vintage tone in the bridge, clean or dirty. Something as organic and open as the Area 67s that works well with various settings.

Also - any ideas on the pots I should use? It's currently using 250K for all controls. It's a maple neck, alder body Strat with a tremolo, so I'm going to need a trembucker.

Thanks guys - enjoy the Sunday!
 
Re: New Strat bridge humbucker: Alnico II Pro vs. Seth Lover?

I spoke to someone at Seymour Duncan that said the A2P would be too weak for a Strat bridge pickup - but Pro Guitar Shop used one in their run of HSS custom Strats...

I was suggested the Custom Custom with a 500K volume pot and 250K tone pots. Anyone have an opinion on any of this at all? Will the Custom Custom be too hot?
 
Re: New Strat bridge humbucker: Alnico II Pro vs. Seth Lover?

Why not try a SD Twangbanger bridge position single coil? Imagine a combination of Strat, Tele and P90 qualities all rolled into one pickup.
 
Re: New Strat bridge humbucker: Alnico II Pro vs. Seth Lover?

You put a 500K volume pot on those Dimarzio's and you'll regret it.

I'm surprised they gave you that advice.. did they ask what other pickups you've got ?

If you want a nice Duncan, try a Pearly Gates and maintain the 250K pots all round... plus if you want to have a more usable tone pot, try a .01 Cap.
I'd also highly recommend this treble bleed from Kinman.. I have it on my strat and it's superb.

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Re: New Strat bridge humbucker: Alnico II Pro vs. Seth Lover?

Yeah I mentioned I had the two single coils in the neck and middle. I appreciate the PG recommendation - I'll look into that.
 
Re: New Strat bridge humbucker: Alnico II Pro vs. Seth Lover?

Chrismo said:
Any other suggestions? :)
Click to expand...

Yes, I would NOT go with an A2 pro full sized HB in the bridge of a strat. Did that one time. Extremely thin and weak - definitely not the way to go.

I would recommend the Pearly Gates and keep the 250 K pots, as wolf5150 suggested. Lots of people like the CC in the bridge of a strat, and it has great distorted tone but cleans that were too muddy for my tastes.

Another option is the PATB-3, but it will look different from the other pickups.

Another choice is a 59 trembucker. The 250k pot will prevent the highs from being too shrill. If the tone isn't what you want, you could switch magnets from A5 to A2, having something close to a seth.
 
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Re: New Strat bridge humbucker: Alnico II Pro vs. Seth Lover?

wolf5150 said:
You put a 500K volume pot on those Dimarzio's and you'll regret it.

I'm surprised they gave you that advice.. did they ask what other pickups you've got ?

If you want a nice Duncan, try a Pearly Gates and maintain the 250K pots all round... plus if you want to have a more usable tone pot, try a .01 Cap.
I'd also highly recommend this treble bleed from Kinman.. I have it on my strat and it's superb.

Bypass-filter.png
Click to expand...

They said, 250k tone pots for the singles, if his guitar is wired like a normal HSS, where the humbucker is not wired to the tone pots. I think it's pretty conventional advice. A 250k volume would make most A2 pups sound muddy since treble is already at a premium with those.

I'd say a Custom Custom will give you a thick, midrange-full tone with nice growl and the A2 mag keeps the output moderate. It's a very "Van Halen" kind of tone in a Strat if that's of interest to you.

I also had a nice experience with a '59 in the bridge but if you go that way, you should do 250k pots all around. The Seth sounds great, but is unpotted, so you will likely have some squeal if you play with high-gain or high volume.
 
Re: New Strat bridge humbucker: Alnico II Pro vs. Seth Lover?

Why in a HSS is the tone pot for the humbucker not connected ??

It is in every guitar I've ever owned or played

The A2 PG is quite bright and 250K pots tames it nicely.. that's exactly what I have in my Strat with Kinmans.
 
Re: New Strat bridge humbucker: Alnico II Pro vs. Seth Lover?

In a traditional VTT Stratocaster circuit, the selector switch position for the bridge pickup makes no connection to a tone control. Present day Am Std Stratocasters remedy this by adding a jumper connection between two adjacent terminals on the five-way selector switch. The Eric Johnson sig Strat circuit offers tone controls for the neck and bridge pickups, leaving the centre PU out of the circuit.
 
Re: New Strat bridge humbucker: Alnico II Pro vs. Seth Lover?

wolf5150 said:
Why in a HSS is the tone pot for the humbucker not connected ??

It is in every guitar I've ever owned or played

The A2 PG is quite bright and 250K pots tames it nicely.. that's exactly what I have in my Strat with Kinmans.
Click to expand...

I've never played a stock Fender HSS guitar with the 'bucker connected to a tone pot, nor did I know they existed, aside from custom shop models or other brands. My Squier was devoid a tone control to the bucker as well.

I don't see the point anyway. Most humbuckers don't really need one and I've never liked to use them. Yngwie's is one example of a Strat where the tone pots are totally disconnected and just there to keep the look.
 
Re: New Strat bridge humbucker: Alnico II Pro vs. Seth Lover?

My stock MIA Texas Special Fat Strat has the PG+ in the bridge & it has the tone control on the bucker.
 
Re: New Strat bridge humbucker: Alnico II Pro vs. Seth Lover?

To me, it's just more junk in the way of the pure tone going to the amp. But I have a single bucker straight to the 500k volume pot Strat anyway so....
 
Re: New Strat bridge humbucker: Alnico II Pro vs. Seth Lover?

I love the CC in the bridge of a strat, and I find the clean tones to be clear without being muddy, but every guitar will be different. However, the PATB pickups are without a doubt (IMO) the best sounding pickups in a strat or superstrat guitar. The PATB-3 is great for a more PAFish tone. The PATB-1 is a fantastic all around rock, hard rock and 80's/old school metal pickup. It has great crunch and clarity while really beefing up the tone of a strat. IMO it also does very decent cleans, even though the DC resistance is higher....your amp and settings will make a difference though. I can get perfectly decent clean tones out of mine.

If you could get them in Zebra or Double Cream, I would put either the PATB-1 or 3 in most of the strat type guitars I own or would ever buy. To me they are that good.
 
Re: New Strat bridge humbucker: Alnico II Pro vs. Seth Lover?

Jeff_H said:
I love the CC in the bridge of a strat, and I find the clean tones to be clear without being muddy, but every guitar will be different. However, the PATB pickups are without a doubt (IMO) the best sounding pickups in a strat or superstrat guitar. The PATB-3 is great for a more PAFish tone. The PATB-1 is a fantastic all around rock, hard rock and 80's/old school metal pickup. It has great crunch and clarity while really beefing up the tone of a strat. IMO it also does very decent cleans, even though the DC resistance is higher....your amp and settings will make a difference though. I can get perfectly decent clean tones out of mine.

If you could get them in Zebra or Double Cream, I would put either the PATB-1 or 3 in most of the strat type guitars I own or would ever buy. To me they are that good.
Click to expand...

I agree the clean tones were clear in the CC, but I found them a bit nasally and that makes sense being somewhat hot and mid-range heavy. When I did the first iteration of my 59/Custom hybrid, I used the A2 from the CC and the cleans were a bit rounder and crisper, but still a bit nasally. That might just be an A2/bridge position thing. The A8 fixed all that. Now it almost has a neck-like clean tone.

So maybe the poster could so a 59-8 and get everything he wants! It won't be too hot for the singles, but would have a bit of thunder in a gainy situation.
 
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Re: New Strat bridge humbucker: Alnico II Pro vs. Seth Lover?

Never mind all this magnet swapping nonsense.. with 250k pots, either a JB if you love to rock out, or a PG if you want to get back into Strat territory with a bit more beef, will do the job.
I've had a JB in my Silhouette Special for the past year and only recently got the tone I wanted from it by lowering it a LOT. ( the guitar has 250k vol and tone pots with the exact cap and bleed values I posted earlier )

Then concentrate on playing the guitar, you'll be surprised how much your "tone" improves !!

You've never heard any really talented/famous guitarist talk about swapping magnets and crap like that.. they may swap pickups untill they get in the ballpark and the rest is in the hands.

I know that's an inflammatory statement but it's what I truly believe.... the greatest improvement you'll ever tonally make is by PRACTICING.
 
Re: New Strat bridge humbucker: Alnico II Pro vs. Seth Lover?

Thanks Captain Obvious. Of course, being a better player will result in better sounds coming from your instrument. However, this is pickup forum and considering mag-swapping can be done by a half-retarded monkey and it results in a LITERALLY different pickup for a tiny fraction of the cost of a new one, I think it's a valid consideration.

Plus, this guy could be a badass player, as it is. I mean, when Yngwie came to Seymour Duncan wanting to change/improve his tone, I highly doubt Frank, Evan or Seymour said, "Hey man, maybe if you just worked on your technique, you wouldn't need new pickups".
 
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Re: New Strat bridge humbucker: Alnico II Pro vs. Seth Lover?

The guy's not looking to mod an existing pickup, he's looking for recommendations.
If he buys a 59 and mods it , as per your suggestion, and doesn't like it,.... he's voided his warranty.

As per my point about practicing.. how many pro/famous players post on here at all, let alone go on about modding pickups ????

As far as I'm concerned, if you're sitting there worrying about how a magnet sounds, you need to get out there and do a few more gigs !!
Pretty soon you'll stop worrying about minutia like that and you'll find yourself enjoying your playing like never before.
 
Re: New Strat bridge humbucker: Alnico II Pro vs. Seth Lover?

In regards to your YJM comment, do you honestly think he spent .0001 sec of his early learning years worrying about crap like magnets and fillisters vs screws etc ??

THAT's the reason he's so great... he concentrated on PLAYING !

Now after all these years and experience, he simply knows what he's looking for from his pickup and how it works with the rest of his rig.

He used the same Dimarzio's for YEARS, decided he wanted a slightly different flavour and Seymour Duncan offered to help him find it.
At that point he obviously needed to research how each element contributed to his tone.
It's ears like his and many other monster players like him we have to thank for the existing range of ready made pickups.
 
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Re: New Strat bridge humbucker: Alnico II Pro vs. Seth Lover?

This guy's Stratbucker ( Charliehorse ? ) humbucker sounds really nice... killer player too.
very curious about this one.

http://www.smitspickups.com/
 
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