Please help: Chick in need of advice for a bridge pickup :)

[Jena]

Hey

I've recently started a project to put my own guitar together for a school thing. Ive got a Warmoth VIP Mahogany Body with a purple flamed Maple top, the neck is bolt on mahogany with a brazilian rosewood fret board (24 frets). Got a Gotoh Wilkinson trem coming some time soon and I've got a Jazz ready to put in the neck, so I just need choose a bridge pickup... I mainly play Hard rock stuff, some metal, some nu-metal, grunge and then some mellow stuff aswell so i need to have a fair good clean. I'll probably use this for down tuned originals (heavey but mellow half the time) and being the only guitarist in my band i balance lead and rythm tone. Ive been heading towards the Custom, JB or distortion. My concerns are that Ithink the JB will not have enough bass, the distortion wont have a decent clean and that the custom wont hadle leads to good...I'm new to this whole pickup thing usually i stick to stocks so any advice and any other pickup recomendations would be much appreciated.

Cheers,

Jen

 

[DracoAran]

Re: Please help: Chick in need of advice for a bridge pickup

How about a 59 bridge. Very versatile and balanced in a guitar with such specs. It'll do cleans, leads, and rhythm, as long as you let the amp do the rest, as far as gain goes.

 

[man-in-moon]

Re: Please help: Chick in need of advice for a bridge pickup

if you are not stuck on duncans. I would try a tom anderson H3. i see you have a mesa amp and from what i understand mesa uses the anderson H3 to test all of their amps. i have heard alot of good things about them.

 

[Johtosotku]

Re: Please help: Chick in need of advice for a bridge pickup

I think that a JB could be a good choice, I don't find it lacking it bass.

If you want to try a bit calmer and more open pickup that does IMO heavy stuff just as well, the '59 could be nice.

Do you really use the bridge pickup for clean?

 

[OlinMusic]

Re: Please help: Chick in need of advice for a bridge pickup

The Custom will work in many guitars, esp Mahogany. It has a nice crunch and great bass, but will have that ceramic sizzle. I think the JB works well.

Most people find the JB/59 works for dark toned guitars.
If you want some sizzle and more bass (which I do), go for the Custom/59.

 

[Jena]

Re: Please help: Chick in need of advice for a bridge pickup

thanx for the suggestions, i'm still really uncertain on what to get though, with the bridge pickups would a custom or other ceramic pickup when split still sound harsh on the cleans?

 

[DracoAran]

Re: Please help: Chick in need of advice for a bridge pickup

For a ridiculous good split, and Mesa amps, I'll throw another vote for the Anderson H3. Works extremely well on similarly spec'd Cobras and S Cobras.

 

[Jena]

Re: Please help: Chick in need of advice for a bridge pickup

the H3 sounds good,but im not sure on the availability coz i live in Australia, Adelaide...I'll have a look around thanks for the replys....any other duncans or even dimarzios that might work well (these are easy to get hold of)?? I guess the bridges clean is'nt really that important as long as it it can pull off ok cleans.

 

[MattPete]

Re: Please help: Chick in need of advice for a bridge pickup

I have that same guitar, and a Custom sounds great in it. The cleans are kinda meh, but I suppose you could use the Jazz neck for cleans.

 

[Pierre]

Re: Please help: Chick in need of advice for a bridge pickup

The Custom works decently split. However if you want something a little better, maybe you could try the Custom 8? It's a SH5 with an Alnico 8 magnet. I have one of these in my FullShred and it really makes the difference. But yeah you want to stick to stock...

A FullShred would do you good I think:
It's a little less hot than a Custom
But you get an A5 magnet so it'd have a decent split sound
Furthermore it's a bright pickup that'd gain in overall thickness in the kind of guitar you're putting it

 

[claytonc]

Re: Please help: Chick in need of advice for a bridge pickup

If you are looking to split the pickups and use both the neck and bridge as single coils as well as humbuckers, then I vote for the JB/Jazz combo. Both split surprisingly well.

 

[jajones480]

Re: Please help: Chick in need of advice for a bridge pickup

I have a the Jazz/JB setup in my alder body/maple top/mahagony neck/rosewood fretboard and it sounds really sweet. I find that the JB has great bass, even in an alder body. It will probably sound really good in the mahagony body. I believe SD recommends that you use a 250K pot for the JB.

I also split the coils and you get a really good single coil sound out of them. If you have two knobs that you can replace with push-pulls, I recommend you split each pup separately. You can get some neat tele-like sounds out if the guitar then.

Good luck!:bigok:

 

[Dills]

Re: Please help: Chick in need of advice for a bridge pickup

The custom sounds pretty good split when you combine it with the neck pickup, its useable clean but thats what the neck buckers for. It excells with any sort of overdrive (very thick and chunky) with rtyhm parts the leads definetly cut through but are not as vocal or smooth as say an alnico 2 magnet (custom custom). Good luck

 

[J Moose]

Re: Please help: Chick in need of advice for a bridge pickup

thanx for the suggestions, i'm still really uncertain on what to get though, with the bridge pickups would a custom or other ceramic pickup when split still sound harsh on the cleans?

If cleans are that important to you, skip the high output pickups like the Customs & Distortion.

They'll clip a Fender Twin or Hitwatt before you play the first chord.

Something like a '59, Alnico II or Seth Lover would be great and you'd probably be a LOT happier. There isn't a huge difference in output and you can always add MORE gain. You can't always subract it, and really...stuff like the Boogies & POD's have more on tap then most people ever need.

I've got a Custom 5 in the bridge of my PRS and an Alnico II in the Paul, and the Paul stays cleaner longer and doesn't immeditatly distort the AC30 or '63 Bandmaster with open chords.

YMMV, but mine's been farily regular and predictable.

Best,

 

[Colma]

Re: Please help: Chick in need of advice for a bridge pickup

<whisper>
tonezone
</whisper>

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Please help: Chick in need of advice for a bridge pickup

Custom 5/Jazz. The C-5 can cover more ground than most other Duncans because it sounds equally great on cleans, midgain, and highgain. It's like a 59 with deep tight low end, and neutral mids that let the mahogany dictate the midrange, with open and natural highs. Even though it's a high output pickup, it still retains all the sweetness of lower output pickups. It goes very nice with the Jazz neck too, since they're both A5 and have a similar EQ.

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: Please help: Chick in need of advice for a bridge pickup

Custom 5/Jazz. The C-5 can cover more ground than most other Duncans because it sounds equally great on cleans, midgain, and highgain. It's like a 59 with deep tight low end, and neutral mids that let the mahogany dictate the midrange, with open and natural highs. Even though it's a high output pickup, it still retains all the sweetness of lower output pickups. It goes very nice with the Jazz neck too, since they're both A5 and have a similar EQ.

I'm with Joe. A C5 will give you a very very similiar tonality to a 59, but with an extended low and high end. Mahogany body and maple+24 frets makes me think 59 in the neck for sure, if not the A2P. But maybe this could help you it's my generic pup breakdown.
The 59---The 59 is the quintessential A5 PAF (patent applied for) pup. Imagine getting in a time machine and going back to 1959 and swiping a brand new A5 pup from the Gibson factory in Kalamazoo and bringing it forward to today. They have found most homes in many neck slots. It has symetrical coils and lots of quack. It has thumping bass, a scooped mid, and cutting highs. Vintage 2 Conductor Wire

The Seth Lover---This pup is as true to the original as can be. This pup is unpotted and comes standard with a gold, or nickel pup cover. It has an A2 magnet and has good quack and fair mids. For this pup imagine going back in time to 1955 and grabbing one of the very first PAF's before they debuted in the LP's. This pup is warm and creamy, but can also get bright with the tone knob on 10. Vintage 2 Conductor Wire

The Alnico 2 Pro---The warmest of the Duncan PAF line. It has symetrical coils and is a modern take on the A2 PAFs. It has round bass and smooth treble, it also has lots of mids to make the guitar really sing. It will warm up the coldest or shrillest of guitars. The most well known Alnico 2 Pro user is Slash of Velvet Revolver and GNR. Standard 4 Conductor Wire

Pearly Gates---The PG is the hottest of the Duncan PAF line. It has asymetrical (mismatched) coils and an A2 magnet. The mismatched coils give this particular pup its rude personality. It has a frequency push in the Presence/Cut knob frequency band. This is the "Sizzle" PG owner talk about. It has the most mids of the Ducan PAF line and is also the hottest. Its patron is Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top. Standard 4 conductor Wire

The Jazz---The jazz is the pup that bridges the gap between Vintage and Modern pups. Its output is at or around the vintage level. Don't let the name fool you this pup is very versatile and smooth. It has an A5 magnet and is very widely used in the neck slot. It is articulate regardless of the tuning as well. This pup negociates cleans or overdrive very well. Standard 4 Conductor Wire

The Custom Series---The Custom Series is all on pup configuration but with different magnets. The coils are symmetrical and the pups come with Standard 4 Conductor wire

Custom---The Custom is a PAF kicked up a few notches. This pup gets its aggressive edge from its Ceramic magnet. This pup has lots of grind with good treble and midrange. It also has ample bass for palm mute playing.

Custom Custom---The Custom Custom is a midrange heavy pup that lends itself to leads and warming bright guitars. This pup gets its huge midrange from the Alnico 2 magnet. I has smooth bass and treble. Essentially it is an overwound A2 PAF.

Custom 5---The Custom 5 is a pup with an EQ very identical to The 59. It has thumping bass, scooped mids, and cutting treble. Like the 59 it is a bright pup that will liven up dark guitar, but the bass can be overwhelming in a bassy guitar, or the the treble overwhelming in a trebly guitar.

<continued>

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Please help: Chick in need of advice for a bridge pickup

The PGn and Custom is my favorite pickup combo right now.

Great humbucker tone and great single coil tone when split.

Perfect!

Lew

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: Please help: Chick in need of advice for a bridge pickup

JB---The JB is in a class of its own. There is really no other pup like it. It has fair bass and lots of treble. This particular pup has a large upper mids spike that allow it to cut through the mix like no other. It can be heard on countless recording especially throughout the 80's. Lots of people like to pair it with a Jazz or 59 in the neck. In bright guitars it is usually soldered to a 250k pot just like the original Seymour made 30 years ago.

Another thing to remember is that pots make a big difference as well. 250Ks will give you a warmer sound where 500K will be brighter.

Luke

 

[Jena]

Re: Please help: Chick in need of advice for a bridge pickup

thanks for all the input i think i'll go with the custom as soon as my wilkinson bridge arrives and if it's too much i'll switch to either a JB with 250 k pots or a C-5, once again thanks for the replys and any further suggestions would be great