Re: Studio LP pups
In the bridge I am thinking that I want some muscle for good palm mute chunk, and also a stronger fatter lead tone. I could be thinking about this too much and not really have an idea of how to express myself properly.
You're doing okay, you need to think this stuff through. Don't apologize. Too many guys jump into this & buy PU's on the spur of the moment that turn out to be very poor fits for what they want (some choices are terrible). Some players get caught in the cycle of buying & selling (at a loss) and can spends hundreds of dollars in a quest for an elusive ideal tone. Better to make a calculated move or two, than to be like a waterbug, zig-zagging all over, scattering dollar bills behind you.
Here's what it boils down to: In HB guitars, neck PU's are usually 7,000 to 8,500 ohms to maintain brightness, clarity, & definition. When combined with 500K pots & a .022 cap, this works very well for most guitars & most genres of music. It is
always a good choice. Hot neck PU's have more mids & less treble, and would be too dark & muffled to be of much use to most of us. PAF style neck HB's dominate the field, for good reason.
The big questions come with the bridge PU; there are
so many ways to go. The classic rock/blues guys (like me) want some warmth & color, so alnico magnets are favored. Metal heads need something to cut through mounds of distortion and effects, so ceramic magnets & active PU's are preferred, both of which are bright, sterile, & powerful, and don't get muddy as easily as alnicos.
The next question is how powerful a bridge PU. More windings means more resistence (ohms), more volume, more mids, with gradually less treble & clarity. Bridge PAF HB output is usually 8,000 to 8,500 ohms, so they're bright & clear, and great clean. Medium output HB's are in the 10,000 to 12,000 range & usually have a thicker tone. At 14,000 ohms you're into high output territory, and most are warm (the JB is an exception), and distort easily. You can get a thick, warm tone with any of these three output levels.
To get warmth on a bridge PU, you need to reduce treble, add mids, or both. How much, depends on your body's wood tone, and your style of music. Using a 250K pot or two (volume and/or tone) takes off some of the worst high end and bleeds it to ground. In conjunction with warm pots, a .100 cap is a good idea to help things along in that direction. As for magnets:
A2's have strong mids & little treble and a notorious flabby low end, making them very good for bridge PU's, and sometimes for neck PU's (in certain guitars).
A3's are similar but with a little more treble (that adds a dash of sparkle).
A4's have a balanced EQ, making them very versatile, good for the neck, and especially the bridge.
A5's have scooped mids, with ample treble & bass. They are often the best choice for neck HB's (although they can be too bassy in some guitars), and work well for many bridge PU's.
These magnets, pots, and caps are your tool kit to dial in your tone. So if you get a PU that doesn't do what you thought it would, don't sell it until you try a few low-cost mods. Remember, no matter what PU someone on this forum recommends, your wood may make it sound very different from theirs, and odds are you use a different amp & play a different style of music.
One man's ideal tone is another man's "nails on a chalkbord." Get a soldering iron, a variety of alnico magnets, and some 250K pots (most HB guitars have 500K's on both PU's), and some .100 MF caps. You'll be able to shape a PU's EQ and output, and get closer to what you want. We'll guide you through the process, and before you know it, you'll be as opinionated as the rest of us.
