Ordered a Bluesbucker to replace the 57 Classic (neck) in my SG

Dr. Lo

Dr. Lo

New member
Didn't like how smooth and wooly the 57 Classic was in the neck of my SG. It's great in the bridge though. I'm hoping the Bluesbucker will significantly tighten and brighten things up. Steve Blucher at DiMarzio recommended that I put it in backwards (screw poles facing bridge). I'm also going to replace the 300k volume pot with a 500k one.
 
Re: Ordered a Bluesbucker to replace the 57 Classic (neck) in my SG

Being a blues player, I bought a Bluesbucker thinking the same thing. But it's a 10K neck PU with a high-output ceramic magnet. Whoa! That's really hot, and powerful, which means it's not very bright-sounding in the neck slot. I put an A3 in mine to get more treble and clarity, & dial down the output, so it doesn't overpower the bridge PU. 'Bluesbucker' is the wrong name for that PU. It has nothing to do with PAF's or vintage sounds, and it may dominate your '57, which has a much lower resistance (ohms) and a low output A2 magnet.

If I was you, I'd change that order to one of their neck PAF's, or if you still want a Bluesbucker, see what it sounds like and swap mags if its too hot and dark for you.
 
Re: Ordered a Bluesbucker to replace the 57 Classic (neck) in my SG

blueman335 said:
Being a blues player, I bought a Bluesbucker thinking the same thing. But it's a 10K neck PU with a high-output ceramic magnet. Whoa! That's really hot, and powerful, which means it's not very bright-sounding in the neck slot. I put an A3 in mine to get more treble and clarity, & dial down the output, so it doesn't overpower the bridge PU. 'Bluesbucker' is the wrong name for that PU. It has nothing to do with PAF's or vintage sounds, and it may dominate your '57, which has a much lower resistance (ohms) and a low output A2 magnet.

If I was you, I'd change that order to one of their neck PAF's, or if you still want a Bluesbucker, see what it sounds like and swap mags if its too hot and dark for you.
Click to expand...

Too late - it's been shipped. I hope I like it.
 
Re: Ordered a Bluesbucker to replace the 57 Classic (neck) in my SG

It may work out for you. But if you don't have much experience buying PU's, it's always a good idea to run something like that by the forum and get some ideas and opinins before you make a final decision. Let us know what you think of it when you get it.
 
Re: Ordered a Bluesbucker to replace the 57 Classic (neck) in my SG

I don't have any experience with the Bluesbucker, but like blueman said, if it's too hot and not bright enough swap an A3 in it. If you're using the '57 in the bridge, and you find that the Bluesbucker is too dominant over the '57, try an A5 or A8 in it to beef it up.
 
Re: Ordered a Bluesbucker to replace the 57 Classic (neck) in my SG

if youre talking about the dimarzio bluesbucker the design is kinda interesting. it has two double thickness have depth ceramic magnets, like you see alot of times on cheap import single coils, that are on either side of the screws. the way it works as a bucker is that the slug coil is still in series with the screw coil, and it still is influenced about 1/3 to 1/2 by the magnetic field as a normal humbucker. it splits pretty good, and i personally do prefer it to be in the reverse position. i did find that in my Ibanez rt450 (alder rg) it had a bit too wooly sounding and less woody, i lucked out and a guy on here who at this moment his name escapes me, sent me some AlNiCo 5 mags of the same size and now the thing is a different beast. it sounds great split and full... a friend of mine even called it the most perfect neck pickup... whether or not i agree doesnt matter, but it defiantly is a versatile pickup
 
Re: Ordered a Bluesbucker to replace the 57 Classic (neck) in my SG

Guys,

If I find the Bluesbucker too hot and thick for my liking, I'm considering wiring its coils in parallel instead of in series. Some posts on another discussion forum suggest this sounds like something in between a Strat-style single-coil and a P-90. Any thoughts on this?
 
Re: Ordered a Bluesbucker to replace the 57 Classic (neck) in my SG

Dr. Lo said:
If I find the Bluesbucker too hot and thick for my liking, I'm considering wiring its coils in parallel instead of in series. Some posts on another discussion forum suggest this sounds like something in between a Strat-style single-coil and a P-90. Any thoughts on this?
Click to expand...

That makes sense. As an HB in series, it's 'too hot and thick' for the neck slot for many players, but should be nice in parallel. I wonder how a Bluesbucker would sound in the bridge slot with an alnico, like an A8 or UOA5. Hmmm...
 
Re: Ordered a Bluesbucker to replace the 57 Classic (neck) in my SG

I've always heard they are supposed to be very P90-ish in tone rather than a typical humbucker voicing. And that split the tone is very close to that of a stratty sound. Installing the pickup the wrong way is supposed to make it brighter and closer to a tele-ish sound.

I don't know because I've never had one in any of my guitars but if I were to get a set of dimarzios the bluesbucker, eric johnson sig, air classic, and 36th anniversary paf set are definitely on the list of to try humbuckers for me.
 
Re: Ordered a Bluesbucker to replace the 57 Classic (neck) in my SG

PRSfan nym 1985 said:
I've always heard they are supposed to be very P90-ish in tone rather than a typical humbucker voicing.
Click to expand...

There's no way a 10K ceramic neck HB is going to sound like a P-90, at least not in series. DMz has another HB or two they claim sound like P-90's...no, they don't. HB's sound like HB's. P-90's have a more open tone without the midrange focus of an HB, more cut and sparkle in the neck slot. That comes from a single coil.
 
Re: Ordered a Bluesbucker to replace the 57 Classic (neck) in my SG

like I said I hadn't tried them I was always a little skeptical but you never know with technology and all that. I figured there's no substitute for a good set of P90's and I've played some real P90's from the 50's.
 
Re: Ordered a Bluesbucker to replace the 57 Classic (neck) in my SG

PRSfan nym 1985 said:
like I said I hadn't tried them I was always a little skeptical but you never know with technology and all that. I figured there's no substitute for a good set of P90's and I've played some real P90's from the 50's.
Click to expand...

I like the idea of real, plain old P-90's. If you want them in series, which works well, just add a push-pull for that. You can also wire them for phase. That's plenty of options for a guitar, I think 6 PU cominations. That's why I haven't tried a P-Rails.
 
Re: Ordered a Bluesbucker to replace the 57 Classic (neck) in my SG

yeah my favorite modes are straight up rails in the middle position (very tele-ish but unique) and the straight up P90 tones in all positions. The parallel mode and series modes are fun but they aren't exactly the humbucker vibe I'm usually after but I have a another guitar loaded with fralin pure pafs for that.
 
Re: Ordered a Bluesbucker to replace the 57 Classic (neck) in my SG

Next time, I would suggest trying an RS Kit, first--before replacing the pickups. Those 500K pots and GOOD caps can make a world of difference in removing the mud from some pickups.

But good luck with the new pickup--be sure to give us a review!

Bill
 
Re: Ordered a Bluesbucker to replace the 57 Classic (neck) in my SG

Boogie Bill said:
Next time, I would suggest trying an RS Kit, first--before replacing the pickups. Those 500K pots and GOOD caps can make a world of difference in removing the mud from some pickups.

But good luck with the new pickup--be sure to give us a review!

Bill
Click to expand...
I has actually planned to replace the volume pot with a 500k super pot from RS.
 
Re: Ordered a Bluesbucker to replace the 57 Classic (neck) in my SG

Now, correct me if im wrong, but doesnt the technology on some Dmarz stuff transcend the mag strength? I heard the 36th anniv PAF "oooh!PAF" used an Alnico 5 "5?!" BUT also uses Airbucker tech, so it doesnt actually touch the poles, thus letting strings vibe, blah blah yada yada... So isnt that why they use stronger mags? Somethin abt not touching..?
 
Re: Ordered a Bluesbucker to replace the 57 Classic (neck) in my SG

Khriss Bliss said:
Now, correct me if im wrong, but doesnt the technology on some Dmarz stuff transcend the mag strength? I heard the 36th anniv PAF "oooh!PAF" used an Alnico 5 "5?!" BUT also uses Airbucker tech, so it doesnt actually touch the poles, thus letting strings vibe, blah blah yada yada... So isnt that why they use stronger mags? Somethin abt not touching..?
Click to expand...

the mags do touch the poles but only on one coil. the other coil is only affected by the magnetic field like in an airbucker. looks somthing like this with the baseplate taken off.
bluesbucker.png
 
Re: Ordered a Bluesbucker to replace the 57 Classic (neck) in my SG

Well guys, I installed the Bluesbucker in my 61 SG's neck slot. I wired it up three different ways:
  1. Standard parallel operation, screw coil toward neck: Much too brittle sounding for my taste, and too weak compared to 57 Classic in the bridge
  2. Standard series operation, screw coil toward neck: Much too thick sounding - just muddy really, but not too "loud" relative to bridge pickup.
  3. Split wiring (screw coil "on"), screw coil toward neck: Convincing single-coil tone. Not as crisp as the Area 67 in my Strat's neck slot (which could be due to several factors), but not weak like a when splitting a PAF-style humbucker with matched coils. Volume matches well with the bridge pickup.
So, I've left the Bluesbucker split for now.
 
Re: Ordered a Bluesbucker to replace the 57 Classic (neck) in my SG

Hey Dr. Lo, did you try switching the screw coil so it's towards bridge?

I have two Bluesbuckers in my modded Jazzmaster. I haven't found the neck pickup too muddy in series, and I have the screws toward neck, but maybe it's the particulars of the Jazzmaser vs. SG that accounts for the different sound perception. Also, in my case, there's actually not much volume drop when I switch either pickup into single coil mode - one of the nice things about this pickup actually.

But I'm still trying different pickup combinations. Next up is a Catswhisker S-Bucker in the bridge, because I'm looking for a more traditional A5 humbucker sound with the ability to switch to single coil mode without volume drop. The S-Bucker design seems ingenious and accomplishes this pretty well it seems.

The Bluesbucker in bridge is nice, though, but I did find that I needed to put screw coils toward neck to have better output match with neck Bluesbucker. It's a pretty cool sound, but I'm not done tinkering...

A
 
Last edited:
Re: Ordered a Bluesbucker to replace the 57 Classic (neck) in my SG

Hey Aviavi,

No, I haven't tried any type of wiring with the screw coil toward the bridge. Steve Blucher (DiMarzio) said it would just make any wiring configuration brighter than when the screw coil is toward the neck. Makes total sense. I just don't feel the need yet.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top