Pickup suggestion. Humbucker to go with lipstick tubes.

[Cme]

Hello. I'm new around here. But have been playing SD pickups for years. Always really like them. Anyway I just got a Godin Belmont. Great guitar. But the bridge pick-up needs help. The guitar itself is a HSS guitar. It has two SD lipsticks for the singles and a SD '59 for the bridge.

I'm using an avid eleven rack for my "amp". I mostly use a box based preset I built. Works well with my other guitars. Both Godins. One with dual p90's and one with humbuckers.

Anyway I plugged it in and the lipsticks sound fantastic. They're lower output than my other guitars but just so full and jangly. Love it. But once I switch to the bridge, it's like a blanket is out over my speakers. I lose the high end. I can tweak my tone to match but then the lipsticks are too bright.

So what's a good bright low output humbucker? I see that SD makes a dual lipstick pickup. As do some others. And I may go that way. Just trying to get some options first.

Thanks in advance.

Matt

 

[idsnowdog]

Re: Pickup suggestion. Humbucker to go with lipstick tubes.

I see that SD makes a dual lipstick pickup. As do some others. And I may go that way.

That's really your best option because there's no humbucker that sounds much like a lipstick tube.

 

[Cme]

Pickup suggestion. Humbucker to go with lipstick tubes.

Kind of what I was thinking. I know I've picked up some newer les Paul's that seemed pretty bright. And the 59 isn't way off. Just like someone turned my tone knob down when I switched to the bridge. If I could reach down and turn my tone knob up to 15 or so I'd be good to go lol.

 

[jtougas]

Re: Pickup suggestion. Humbucker to go with lipstick tubes.

[video]http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/electric/humbucker/high-output/sh3_stag_mag/[/video]

Worth a check... I'm considering that setup for a silver Yamaha...

 

[HALENisking]

Re: Pickup suggestion. Humbucker to go with lipstick tubes.

wait what is the dual lipstick model called?

 

[Demanic]

Re: Pickup suggestion. Humbucker to go with lipstick tubes.

******, just shell out the bucks for a Custom shop S-Deco!

 

[Cme]

Re: Pickup suggestion. Humbucker to go with lipstick tubes.

Here's the dual lipstick. Doesn't seem to have a name or model number.

http://customshop.seymourduncan.com/lipstick-tube-humbucker/

And will look into the S-Deco and sh-3.

 

[Cme]

Re: Pickup suggestion. Humbucker to go with lipstick tubes.

Been doing some more research. The s-deco intrigues me. As does the idea of a humbucker sized p-90, and my latest idea. A filtertron style pickup. So with that in mind. What other suggestions do you guys have?

I'm going to try and record some samples with the current pickups so you can get an idea of what the 59 sounds like compared to the lipsticks. Maybe that will help with some suggestions.

And it doesn't have to be humbuckers only. I'm open to any suggestions.

 

[frankfalbo]

Re: Pickup suggestion. Humbucker to go with lipstick tubes.

Phat Cat, Seth Lover, and yeah a Filtertron style build in a HB route could all be cool options. I've played the lipsticks with a Seth in the bridge and it was a good match.

 

[Cme]

Pickup suggestion. Humbucker to go with lipstick tubes.

K. Been doing some thinking and reading. Before I run out and buy a new pickup. Maybe I can try some wiring options. Which I might want to do with another pickup anyway.

First thing. Is there a way to wire it up where I get series instead of parallel wiring between the two lipstick pickups? I've found diagrams to add a switch to do that. But I think I would use series all the time. These are low output already and parallel is all but unusable IMO. If not I may just use a 3-way switch. Really 4 would be ideal if I could do series. And series is an improvement over parallel. It may not be. But if it was, then neck, neck + middle series, middle, and bridge would be the only combos I would use. Unless maybe there was an all coils position. But that might be a bad idea too lol. But it at worst would be as useable is middle + bridge is to me.

Then the second thought is to give the bridge it's own volume control. Or bypassing volume and/or tone controls when I have it selected. Bridge pickups for me are always on 10 for both volume and tone. So I don't really need them. And my thought was if I could get it wired with its own volume I could use a 500k/1 Meg pot for it. That might be enough to give me the extra top end I want from it. But I really want to leave the lipsticks as they are. Even if I don't use the tone or volume much, they sound quiet nice right now.

My next step is to see what values they are using on the current pots and go from there. They may already be using 500k pots. I will know in the morning. Anyway if someone wants to share some diagrams or point me in the direction of some feel free.

Fwiw I am quite handy with a soldering iron. Just having trouble finding a diagram that does what I want. And if there's not one out there I can figure it out. But if there is one, I would be grateful for it.

Thanks again.

 

[Cme]

Re: Pickup suggestion. Humbucker to go with lipstick tubes.

Just checked. It has alpha controls. Looks like your basic strat 5-way switch, 500k pots, and a .033 cap.

 

[Cme]

Pickup suggestion. Humbucker to go with lipstick tubes.

Okay. Long time no reply. Sorry about that. I never did pull the trigger and change anything. But still want to. Have almost decided on a p-rail. I've unsuccessfully been looking for diagrams. At least for what I would like. Would it be feasible to wire up a 5-way switch to do

1. Neck sc
2. Middle sc
3. Bridge rail
4. Bridge p90
5. Bridge humbucker

I think that would be a killer set up with all positions useful. Icing on the cake would be putting a push-pull pot that switches between series and parallel on the humbucker. But that might overly complicate things. And I realize this could take a special switch. But I'm game. I'm going to keep looking. Thanks in advance.