Pickup Combos

[SCOTT502]

My recent post about Full Shreds as a set got me to thinking...

What are your opinions about what makes a good humbucker set? Obviously they need to be matched in power ( stronger bridge / weaker neck), but all other things being equal what about each pup's EQ makes it a good match with another?

This may be a silly question and the answer may be obvious but I'm just curious.

 

[Frebnedzo]

Re: Pickup Combos

For people who use a simple setup, guitar, cord, and set
the EQ on the amp at the begninning of the night, AND
like to use two pickups for a variety of "pretty" and
"determined" tones, then the pickup choice has to be
such that the neck doesn't mud out and the bridge
doesn't get ice-picky.

This happens to match well with vintagy neck and overwound
bridge.

The other thing nice about vintage neck / overwound bridge
in this setup is that you get instant tone/volume boost with
one switch flip on the guitar.

I had good success with a DMZ dual sound set on a fake LP,
using the parallel sound on the neck and then blasting off with
the bridge. I've also used SSH and Jazz/JB guitars for a similar
approach.

A somewhat different approach is when you want the guitar
to have a "vibe", that flipping the switch is not a change
of personailty, but more of a different side of the same
personailty. Here a big volume change is not terribly desired,
because that changes the way the guitar wants to be played.

This is the sort of behavior I would hope to get from a set,
whether 59, Seths, Phat Cat... I would be looking for one
(complex, excellent) vibe across the guitar.