Pick-ups for a mid-heavy guitar

[lp_gem]

www.belmanguitars.com

check out these guitars from melbourne, awesome instruments!

the bass player in my band just got the Hornet model and it's really mid-heavy
it's got a chambered queensland maple body, set neck 22 frets, ebony fretboard

queensland maple is an australian tonewood which does resembles mahogany in tone and grain, except it registers more in the upper mids with its bottom end coming from lower mids

anyway so my bass player wants more bottom end out of this guitar, especially for the bridge pickup,, i was initially thinking of either a custom or custom5

Neck pickup wise, i was leaning towards a 59' or a Jazz bridge. I want chords to be articulate, and ive read that the 59 can get boomy. but for a guitar with less bottom end and more upper mids than a mahogany guitar, would this boominess be a problem?
would the Jazz have too many highs and mids for a guitar thats already prominent in this frequency range?

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Pick-ups for a mid-heavy guitar

You are thinking the right way...a Custom 5 has lots of lows and highs and IMO lacks good solid mids, the Custom has more mids that the C5...you might have to just grab one and give it a shot. For the neck a 59 can be a bit bottom heavy to some guys in some settings...the Jazz might be better based on what you said you are looking for.

 

[lp_gem]

Re: Pick-ups for a mid-heavy guitar

How does the Custom5 do metal?

What kind of sound does it have, and what is it good for?

I've read through the forum that it can sound a bit "dead" which is definately the type of thing i am trying to avoid

is this deadness due to the lack of mids?

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Pick-ups for a mid-heavy guitar

I do not have a lot of time with the C5...I tend to favor low output PAF style pickups. I wouldn't call it dead...the lack of mids can sometimes make it lack punch in some guitars.

 

[theodie]

Re: Pick-ups for a mid-heavy guitar

How does the Custom5 do metal?

What kind of sound does it have, and what is it good for?

I've read through the forum that it can sound a bit "dead" which is definately the type of thing i am trying to avoid

is this deadness due to the lack of mids?

If the guitar its going in has good mids on its own, the C5 can do metal well IMO. It has to be a darker guitar or a guitar chocked full of mid range to sound good in my opinion.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Pick-ups for a mid-heavy guitar

i think the c5 would work great in that guitar, i played with a c5 in my mid heavy sg for a while and loved it. strong bottom and good clarity that worked great with the natural mid hump of the guitar.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Pick-ups for a mid-heavy guitar

I used a C5 in a nice Hamer double cutaway Studio Custom. Like a double cutaway Les Paul basically.

What I notice in double cutaway Les Paul type guitars is a lack of lower mids, whereas the single cutaway Les Paul style guitars have more lower mids and depth in general.

I also notice a lack of lower mids when I compare a guitar with a wraparound bridge/tailpiece to a guitar with a separate tuneomaric bridge and a stop tailpiece. I like the fuller tone of a TOM bridge and separate stop tailpiece.

I think it's because the neck is shorter and stiffer in a single cutaway guitar and longer and more flexable in double cutaway guitar.

In any case, I felt the C5 lacked mids and sounded to trebley in my double cutaway Hamer. But the guitar lacked deep mids and was a little bright.

So in theory, the midrange lite tone of the C5 should compliment your guitar.

As for a neck pickup, I'd go with a Pearly Gates neck or Jazz neck.

The Jazz will have a clearer tone with more highs and less woof to the bass than a 59N...and the Jazz will have more bass than the PG neck.

The PG neck sounds great in almost any guitar and with your guitar being so similar to a Les Paul, I think it'd sound great.

But the Jazz neck and Custom 5 are both alnico 5 pickups so they will complement each other very well and have similar bass and treble and midrange characteristics.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Pick-ups for a mid-heavy guitar

i think the c5 would work great in that guitar, i played with a c5 in my mid heavy sg for a while and loved it. strong bottom and good clarity that worked great with the natural mid hump of the guitar.

The C-5 is a great pickup because it's very versatile and it lets your amp and wood dictate the mids. You'll get a lot of varying opinions on it, but it's one of the best all around Duncan bridge humbuckers IMO. Some may say scooped, but so is most sets of A5 strat pickups, the 59, and a lot of other great pickups.
That just means you don't have your pickup adding mids you don't need. The less mids you have, the better your cleans will sound too......less honky and more open. The C-5 sounds best in mahogany guitars, and it's got the best and tightest low end of almost any Duncan humbucker, making it superb for clarity under gain, and nice palm mutes.

I like the general tone of the 59N, especially for soloing up on the neck. The only time it can be boomy is when you're playing rhythm with it on the low notes. The Jazz neck may be what you'd like, and the C-5/Jazz is a great set. Personally, I think it sounds more like a "set" than the JB/Jazz.

 

[lp_gem]

Re: Pick-ups for a mid-heavy guitar

Hmm it looks the custom5 is the way to go

I think definately a jazz bridge in the neck,, ive got a jazz neck in LP and love it but would like just a touch more output and complexity and it seems the jazz bridge give that extra something

what about a full shred in the bridge? ive heard theyve got a chunky bottom end too? does the C5 still have more bottom end???