Picked up a beater and it has 2 SD Neck humbuckers

[MojoBud]

Hi,
Newbie to the forum:
Picked up an Ibanez AX125 for little money and was about to swap in a Gibson 496T I had in a drawer, thinking the originals were still there but on opening it up it has an SD APH1N in Bridge and SH1N in neck!!
Not sure if I should just run with it, as my amp is in studio or look to replace one of them with a new SD Bridge model or the Gibson? from the SD site it looks like both are similar output about 7.5/6 ohms.

I play classic/modern Rock in a four piece

Any thoughts?

 

[Chistopher]

How does it sound?

 

[MojoBud]

Not sure as my amp is elsewhere and when I picked it up the guy had a cheap no name practice amp, but it was a pleasant surprise to find 2 SD's on it. I had a Parker a while back which I put a JB/Jazz pair in and was happy with the sound but am looking for a guitar which ain't as heavy as my LP and other guitars but with 2T/2V config and this popped up on marketplace.

 

[beaubrummels]

Welcome to the forum

That's a good set, and for classic/modern rock, I'd just live with it for a few weeks and see how it goes before deciding what to change.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

You can also swap both around if you feel you'd like a more aggressive bridge pickup and a rounder neck pickup at some point.

 

[MojoBud]

Thanks Both of you for taking the time to reply.
I am back at rehearsal next week and thinking to leave as is and take a screwdriver set to fine tune pup height and or pole pieces if needed?

 

[jeremy]

thats where id start, those are good pups, albeit a bit of an unusual pair

 

[MojoBud]

Yeah guessing like me, some previous owner had them laying around, so just put them in. I'm hoping they surprise me and sound sweet together.

 

[jeremy]

if nothing else, you have two great neck pups to choose from!

 

[freefrog]

Not sure if I should just run with it, as my amp is in studio or look to replace one of them with a new SD Bridge model or the Gibson? from the SD site it looks like both are similar output about 7.5/6 ohms.

Hi and welcome onboard.

For the record, DCR is not really indicative of output, which depends on inductance, magnetic strenght and height settings among other factors.

Also, during decades, guitars have been fitted with bridge / neck pickups of the same DCR (in some not so rare cases, the neck unit had even higher readings than the bridge one). Several of my guitars have still identical pickups in all positions.

"Neck" and "bridge" labels are just a convention for slightly undernwound or slightly overwound coils when it comes to traditional designs. Only high output humbuckers are not recommended for the neck slot - albeit my first electric guitar had a DiMarzio Super Distortion in this position and sounded fine to my ears in the early 80's...

In your case, the bridge pickup theoretically hosts an A2 magnet and the neck one, an A5. It makes sense. You can swap 'em if you want but I suppose the previous owner has done that because it was the best sounding combination (A2 giving softness to the bridge unit and A5 imparting clarity to the neck one). If the balance is not right through your rig, set the bridge PU closer to the strings and the neck one far from 'em.

Now, if trying a 496R makes you happy, try it and let us know how it sounds.

Enjoy anyway.

 

[Mincer]

I'd probably swap them around, but I could live happily with that set. Score!

 

[MojoBud]

Cheers guys, I am going to try them as is and decide later on my next steps if any.

One last question, both pups have no white Seymour Duncan print on the top plate? both have SD engraved baseplates.

Is this normal or maybe an age thing?

 

[hamerfan]

Its normal, since the vintage style pickups of Duncan don‘t have the print. Exception are the OEM‘s

 

[uOpt]

Some people also polish off the Duncan script on top.

The '59 might be too boomy in the neck of a hardtail.

 

[jeremy]

Cheers guys, I am going to try them as is and decide later on my next steps if any.

One last question, both pups have no white Seymour Duncan print on the top plate? both have SD engraved baseplates.

Is this normal or maybe an age thing?

totally normal. neither the 59 or aph typically have logos as others said.

play it as is for a while and see what you think before planning on any swaps. that set might sound great in that guitar

 

[MojoBud]

Thanks again for all the replies, yeah the prints don't look as if they have been polished off but?
Gonna play it for while and then decide what to do,
its got a shitty set of very cheap foreign locking tuners which have issues gripping the unwound strings so those may need sorting first.

 

[magillver]

FWIW I generally will replace tuners and bridges (depending on what's already on the guitar, of course) and do a good set up before I swap out pups. If I can't get the guitar to PLAY well, the sound kind of becomes secondary, to me. We can make guitar sound like almost anything, but if it doesn't feel right or play well, you're probably not going to bond with it...

 

[MojoBud]

FWIW I generally will replace tuners and bridges (depending on what's already on the guitar, of course) and do a good set up before I swap out pups. If I can't get the guitar to PLAY well, the sound kind of becomes secondary, to me. We can make guitar sound like almost anything, but if it doesn't feel right or play well, you're probably not going to bond with it...

Yup just cleaned and polished it and put a new set of EB Slinky strings on and tweaked action and intonation, its got a Wilkinson wrap-over bridge that looks reasonably new and well built?
Here's a few pics

 

[Mincer]

That looks like a fun guitar!

 

[MojoBud]

That looks like a fun guitar!

Yeah and at £80 the pups will cover the cost and it is pretty light in SG territory feels about 3kg-6/7lbs