Tell me about the SH-6N Distortion Neck/Seymourizer in the bridge

[Rex_Rocker]

... please.

Who uses it? How does it compare to the Custom, Distortion, and maybe to the JB? I would suspect it's around the same output as the Custom because the wind is lighter, but the magnet is stronger. Is my assumption correct? What's the EQ like?

Thank you.

 

[jeremy]

ive been a while, but i remember it being about the same output as the custom but with a more aggressive and cutting tone

 

[Seashore]

I had one for a short while and liked it. I only tried it in one guitar, and only against a Pegasus and Distortion, so I don't have the clearest mental picture of it. Compared to the ceramic Pegasus it was more of what I wanted. It had a decent amount of bite and aggression, but the guitar I was working on needed something more extreme, so I traded it back for a bridge DD through the exchange program. I would have been happy to keep it for something else if I could have. I recall it having a firm feel with moderately strong attack, clear in the mids, a bit raspy, not scooped, not as much high end sizzle as the bridge DD. Output seemed to be about what you'd expect from the specs. No real surprises.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Yeah, I'm thinking about dropping one on my Strat.

Right now, I have a Custom in there, and I like it for the most part, but it has my usual gripe with the Custom: Too thuddy low-end. I wouldn't mind if the DD-N had a tad more midrange aggression either. So will the DD-N be lighter in the lows and fuller in the mids compared to the Custom? How about the sizzle? Similar to the Custom?

I actually have a no-logo DD-N lying around, I just don't wanna go to the trouble of removing pickguards, soldering, and desoldering stuff if it's going to be a completely different thing than what I want.

 

[Masta' C]

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Thanks, I saw that vid, and that is a pretty cool tone, but it's hard to tell what the pickup is actually doing if there is no other pickup to compare it to fo reference. At least to me.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

OK... I tried it, LOL.

It's around the same output as the Custom, maybe slightly higher. It's brighter too, but it's a different kind of bright compared to the Custom or the Distortion. It's not raspy and rough around the edges. It's bright, but the clear kind of open bright. It is less bassy than the Custom too. Kind of almost seems like a Nazgul Lite.

I'm not sure it's what I want... but it was a cool pickup to try for sure.

I kinda want to try it with a 500K pot. I feel 1M is a bit too much for this pickup.

 

[Seashore]

I did hear some rasp from it, but maybe that's down to the guitar. It wasn't super aggressive in any case.

​​​​​​Have you put the 500T in the Fender yet?

 

[Rex_Rocker]

I did hear some rasp from it, but maybe that's down to the guitar. It wasn't super aggressive in any case.

​​​​​​Have you put the 500T in the Fender yet?

Yeah, the Fender tends to smooth out pickups a lot. That's kind of its thing. That's why I can't seem to fall in love with any pickup in it, TBH.

Yes, I did have the 500T briefly in there. But since the 500T has the taller magnet and the long legs, there is very little range of adjustability in the Fender with the low profile bridge (compared to a Tune-O). I had to have the 500T super close to the strings, or else, it would just start hitting the bottom of the route.

 

[Masta' C]

You should try the Keisel M12SD (i.e. updated Carvin M22SD).

 

[orpheo]

I really dig the pickup. I think the Pegasus is very close to the DDn but with an alnico5 instead of the DDn's double thick ceramic. It's got a bit of a buzzsaw character, but not nearly as much as the DD-b. It grinds instead of sizzles, if that makes sense. I loved the pickup. Great tone.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Spending some time with it... it's not bad! It's not perfect, though, but I'm starting to think no pickup will ever be in this guitar.

I kinda want to try something, though... it's currently running on a 1M volume pot... I wonder if I lower the value to 500K and swap the magnet for a regular ceramic... will that tighten it up and focus the pickup a tad more?

 

[orpheo]

Spending some time with it... it's not bad! It's not perfect, though, but I'm starting to think no pickup will ever be in this guitar.

I kinda want to try something, though... it's currently running on a 1M volume pot... I wonder if I lower the value to 500K and swap the magnet for a regular ceramic... will that tighten it up and focus the pickup a tad more?

Can you help me in reminding me what is 'wrong' with that guitar, and what you already have tried? I'm a bit at a loss to be honest.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Can you help me in reminding me what is 'wrong' with that guitar, and what you already have tried? I'm a bit at a loss to be honest.

The bridge pickup is further away from the bridge itself compared to my other guitars. Whatever pickup I try in it, sounds too smooth and not as aggressive as my other guitars.

 

[Teleplayer]

The bridge pickup is further away from the bridge itself compared to my other guitars. Whatever pickup I try in it, sounds too smooth and not as aggressive as my other guitars.

I think Fender designed their humbucker guitars like that for vintage style humbuckers. High output humbuckers tend to be thick and bassy, so moving the pickup by between 3 to 4mm towards the bridge can help IMO. A custom pickguard is a good option for a strat, obviously being a top-routed guitar.

 

[Mincer]

The bridge pickup is further away from the bridge itself compared to my other guitars. Whatever pickup I try in it, sounds too smooth and not as aggressive as my other guitars.

Some routing and a new pickguard and it is all fixed.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Still haven't decided if I wanna keep it to actually go all out and start chopping at some wood.

Plus it's got a trem very close to that route. There's only so much I can take out.

I've measured. There is a 7mm difference between the Strat and the Les Paul. There is a 2mm difference between my LTD and the Les Paul. I think at most, I can get it 3mm closer to the bridge without actually running into some issues. Is 3mm worth it?

It used to be worse. With the Tom Delonge-style pickguard, it was like over a full cm further away from the bridge compared to the LP than with the current pickguard.

 

[Seashore]

Better question is, if you get the perfect tone out of it, will you really love playing it, or will the feel of the neck keep bothering you? I'm not into selling stuff off but this guitar seems like a bad fit for you, from what you say about it.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Better question is, if you get the perfect tone out of it, will you really love playing it, or will the feel of the neck keep bothering you? I'm not into selling stuff off but this guitar seems like a bad fit for you, from what you say about it.

If the sound is there, I can look past the neck no problem. I do with my Les Paul. The 50's neck with the tiny frets is Boomer-tastic (J/K), yet I can play it no problem because I feel motivated because it sounds killer.

But the problem is I suspect it will never sound right because I keep comparing it to my Les Paul... and well, even with humbuckers, it's honeslty kinda the polar opposite in so many ways, LOL.

The thing that kind of gets to me is, well, it's a Strat, right? It's supposed to sound bright and jangly and wiry compared to a Les Paul, no? Yet it sounds so blunt and bloated by comparison.

The only way I suspect I can look past it is if I tune it to like Drop Z or E Standard or something completely different than my Les Paul. Because when I was doing silly Punk Rock covers with it in Eb, it was doing just fine.

 

[Teleplayer]

Plus it's got a trem very close to that route. There's only so much I can take out.

I've measured. There is a 7mm difference between the Strat and the Les Paul. There is a 2mm difference between my LTD and the Les Paul. I think at most, I can get it 3mm closer to the bridge without actually running into some issues. Is 3mm worth it?

It’s common that HSS strats have enough space for moving the humbucker 3mm closer to the bridge. It will be a noticable change, but short of sounding like a completely different pickup. I expect it will slightly revoice the tone of the pickup. So I think it’s a good thing to try, especially if it only requires a custom pickguard.