Pickup recommendations - clean rhythm guitar

M

mileshewitt

New member
Hi all,

Last week I was able to grab a new (2017) MIK D’Angelico Excel EX-DC semi-hollow for a steal. I love it — now I’m trying to figure out how to make some subtle tone changes.

This is going to be my go-to electric guitar for clean, delicate, shimmering, often fingerstyle, rhythm guitar parts. Think Radiohead, Grizzly Bear, Fleet Foxes, Jeff Buckley — lots of reverb and sparkle without getting too harsh or sacrificing warmth. (To be clear: not interested in macho riffy blues-rawk tone.)

I’ve put flatwounds on it which soften the sound nicely; now I’m looking into the pickups. The stock pickups are Kent Armstrong humbuckers and they’re pretty muddy, especially the neck pickup, and have kind of a filtered sound to them — like a big chunk is missing from the mid-highs, no matter where the tone knob is.

I’d really appreciate any recs for some pickups that’ll put me in that delicate folk-rock landscape.

My amplifier is a 1971 Fender Pro Reverb.

Thanks in advance and be well,
Miles
 
Re: Pickup recommendations - clean rhythm guitar

Welcome to the forum!

Well the cleanest clean cleans is the A5 Jazz or the Alnico 2 Pro - same pickup, different magnet. For the bridge, you can use the bridge model. Or for a fuller sound you can use a higher output A5 Custom 5 or A2 Custom Custom - again same pickup, different magnet.
 
Re: Pickup recommendations - clean rhythm guitar

I agree that a Jazz set is a modern choice. You might also look into an Antiquity set, which is a little more touch-sensitive due to it being non-potted. It seems to pick up every picking nuance in a really good way.
 
Re: Pickup recommendations - clean rhythm guitar

This may be a bit more radical a change from what you have now, but have you considered a humbucker sized P90 for the neck? Or maybe even a full set of them.
 
Re: Pickup recommendations - clean rhythm guitar

A P90 is somewhere between a humbucker and Strat single coil tonally. A P90 has a more focused midrange "bark" to it than a humbucker, but less treble than a single coil. They also aren't too bassy for the most part (none of that mud you were having problems with), so they make a good candidate for the neck position. They work really good for the bridge position as well, but I find most people prefer them in the neck. P90s also have less output than a humbucker and aren't noiseless.

A cool combination I love is a A3/A5 Phat Cat in the neck mixed with a 59/Custom Hybrid in the bridge. I usually have it wired so that the bridge pickup splits to the Custom coil when both pickups are on and it create a perfect rythmn tone.

Edit: One thing I forgot to mention is that often times a P90 that tries to replicate a vintage model is often hotter and louder than a vintage correct PAF. A P90 was usually ~9K with two Alnico 5s while a PAF could be anywhere from 6k-9k (usually between 7k and 8k) with a simgle Alnico 2,3,4 or 5 magnet. Both used 42 AWG plain enamel.
 
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Re: Pickup recommendations - clean rhythm guitar

I threw a pair of TV Jones pickups in my Sheraton for clean, sparkly tones. I used a Magna'tron in the neck and a Xlassic Plus in the bridge. It sounds very clean, sweet, and detailed now.
 
Re: Pickup recommendations - clean rhythm guitar

Though much of what I do is macho blues rawk guy stuff, I’d recommend starting by lowering the pickups and raising the pole pieces to match the string radius.

Additionally, I second the idea of going to single coils. The only name you mentioned that I’m familiar with is Radiohead, but most of their cleans are single coils. A PAF would get you there, too.
 
Re: Pickup recommendations - clean rhythm guitar

You could also try P-Rails with Triple Shots. There are plenty of good clean sounds between the parallel, rail and P90 modes.
 
Re: Pickup recommendations - clean rhythm guitar

Thanks, everybody. Does anyone have any experience with Telecaster pickups (like say finding some early '80s single-coils online) on a semi-hollow?

The jazz pickups sound like a great option too - I could potentially go with one Tele pickup and one jazz pickup (or a P-90) and be able to blend the two in middle position - just thinking out loud...

More suggestions / totally different approaches most welcome!
 
Re: Pickup recommendations - clean rhythm guitar

mileshewitt said:
Thanks, everybody. Does anyone have any experience with Telecaster pickups (like say finding some early '80s single-coils online) on a semi-hollow?

The jazz pickups sound like a great option too - I could potentially go with one Tele pickup and one jazz pickup (or a P-90) and be able to blend the two in middle position - just thinking out loud...

More suggestions / totally different approaches most welcome!
Click to expand...

I've got a MIJ '69 Thinline RI. I do play bluesrawk with it, but it also sounds lovwly when played clean. It has a pair of zhangbucker singles in it. Both are alnico 5 and overwound (bridge is near the 9k mark), but they are wound to retain as much clarity as possible.
 
Re: Pickup recommendations - clean rhythm guitar

I believe a Wilde L500-C may fit what you are looking for in the neck position? The "C" stands for clear and they are: full, clean, articulate as heck. Kind of a pain to buy, though: you have to call Becky Lawrence to order them. Nice price, though, about $65 iirc. http://www.wildepickups.com
Correction: it looks like as of this week they are back to Shannon doing orders by email, which is easier.

The nice thing about their pickups is if you decide you don't like it you can get most or all of your money back reselling them.
 
Re: Pickup recommendations - clean rhythm guitar

Dave Locher said:
I believe a Wilde L500-C may fit what you are looking for in the neck position? The "C" stands for clear and they are: full, clean, articulate as heck.
Click to expand...

The C stands for "Clean", and all that means is that it is the lowest output version of the L500. The C, R, L, and XL all get progressively louder but have almost no difference in tone.

Another thing, if you got a L500-C, you might stop liking your bridge pickup. :)
 
Re: Pickup recommendations - clean rhythm guitar

I may have mistyped clear for clean but they do not all have the same tone. The two L500-C pickups I have are snappier and brighter and more open than the L500-L and L500-XL.
 
Re: Pickup recommendations - clean rhythm guitar

It depends what you want for clean.
Many of the suggestions seem to clean and uncoloured/flat. These seem to be the best for jazz or metal as they don't want any depth to the tone nor note bloom.
Clean where you have a bit more character would be the Seth neck or a p90 neck pickup.
 
Re: Pickup recommendations - clean rhythm guitar

AlexR said:
It depends what you want for clean.
Many of the suggestions seem to clean and uncoloured/flat. These seem to be the best for jazz or metal as they don't want any depth to the tone nor note bloom.
Clean where you have a bit more character would be the Seth neck or a p90 neck pickup.
Click to expand...

Good point and good recs.
 
Re: Pickup recommendations - clean rhythm guitar

Neck P90's tend to be muddier than the average neck humbucker because even though there's only one row of poles, there are two full-size (1/2" wide) bar mags laying side by side so it reads the longer wavelengths of the low freq's even better. If you go with a bucker-sized 90, get one with narrower bar mags. Or maybe even a rod magnet version.
 
Re: Pickup recommendations - clean rhythm guitar

^ I find them fuller and a bit smoother. But only by degree. The worst of the muddy neck pickups tend to be woofy too, which I've not had from the p90's I've tried so far.
 
Re: Pickup recommendations - clean rhythm guitar

Zhangliqun said:
Neck P90's tend to be muddier than the average neck humbucker because even though there's only one row of poles, there are two full-size (1/2" wide) bar mags laying side by side so it reads the longer wavelengths of the low freq's even better. If you go with a bucker-sized 90, get one with narrower bar mags. Or maybe even a rod magnet version.
Click to expand...

A bit off topic, but I've been meaning to ask you this, but I've tried your Lollipop Soapbars for Tele and they are killer. That got me thinking, do you ever plan to revamp the old Charlie Christian pickups that always seem to find their way in Teles? I think you could a good job with that concept.
 
Re: Pickup recommendations - clean rhythm guitar

Jazz ftw.
So nice and balanced and clear. I put one in my es175 and used it for a lot of that stuff (I use flatties too). Even played the 175 for many classical gigs too when the real classical guitar was causing inflammation in my joints. Noone ever told me i was doing it wrong but a lot of people liked my playing.
Or if it turns out to be too clean clear and modern, put in an a2 magnet and turn it into an APH.
 
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