Warmest, Cleanest neck humbucker EVER

TimmyPage

TimmyPage

New member
I notice most sites always advertise the overdriven sound of their pickups. What I'm looking for is the cleanest sounding neck humbucker you can even conceive of. It should generally be warm sounding, but mostly it has to be articulate (the warmth can be created the good old fashioned way, turn the tone down).

Feel free to give me some non SD suggestions too, as I have a 59 in another guitar and the character of it is warm and clean certainly, but something about it and I never connected, same actually with the Alnico II pro I tried and the Jazz. At least for this specific purpose. To be placed in an Ibanez Semihollow.
 
Re: Warmest, Cleanest neck humbucker EVER

Air Classic for std.moderate output tones
Super Distortion for ever thang else.(super high output though)
Both Dimaz's -what can I say?
 
Re: Warmest, Cleanest neck humbucker EVER

I really like 59 with an A2 mag. That seemed to be the thing that was missing in a 59 for me.

Wouldn't be a hard swap if you've still got that 59 lying around.
 
Re: Warmest, Cleanest neck humbucker EVER

TimmyPage said:
I notice most sites always advertise the overdriven sound of their pickups. What I'm looking for is the cleanest sounding neck humbucker you can even conceive of. It should generally be warm sounding, but mostly it has to be articulate (the warmth can be created the good old fashioned way, turn the tone down).

Feel free to give me some non SD suggestions too, as I have a 59 in another guitar and the character of it is warm and clean certainly, but something about it and I never connected, same actually with the Alnico II pro I tried and the Jazz. At least for this specific purpose. To be placed in an Ibanez Semihollow.
Click to expand...

If the 59, Alnico II and Jazz aren't getting you there then it may not be about the pickups, as these are all capable of doing very warm and clean. I had the same issue and then I discovered mids on the amp with the bass rolled off a bit. Big discovery - bass does not always equal warmth or depth! Also look at and where you pick - I pick just in front of the neck pickup pole pieces for depth and warmth. Please remember that tone also comes from your character and gut - quite literally. All feeling starts in the stomach and the brain interprets it. Tone comes as much from your learnings and physiology as it does pickups. I doubt that BB King, Billy Gibbons or Peter Green thought about equipment half as much as we do today.
 
Re: Warmest, Cleanest neck humbucker EVER

FBloke said:
If the 59, Alnico II and Jazz aren't getting you there then it may not be about the pickups, as these are all capable of doing very warm and clean. I had the same issue and then I discovered mids on the amp with the bass rolled off a bit. Big discovery - bass does not always equal warmth or depth! Also look at and where you pick - I pick just in front of the neck pickup pole pieces for depth and warmth. Please remember that tone also comes from your character and gut - quite literally. All feeling starts in the stomach and the brain interprets it. Tone comes as much from your learnings and physiology as it does pickups. I doubt that BB King, Billy Gibbons or Peter Green thought about equipment half as much as we do today.
Click to expand...

Very interesting post. I agree, I know for a fact some things that sound amazing to one person sounds terrible to another. I don't know, they are all very capable of doing warm and clean, but there is some sort of.. sterility or harshness to them, and to my ears, with alot of Duncans that I have played. I pick in all different places for the sound I want, and I often keep the bass and mids about neutral when playing. Mostly I've been looking for THAT jazz tone, as that's pretty much all I've been playing recently, and I don't really like that super rolled off tone of most trad jazz.
 
Re: Warmest, Cleanest neck humbucker EVER

TimmyPage said:
Very interesting post. I agree, I know for a fact some things that sound amazing to one person sounds terrible to another. I don't know, they are all very capable of doing warm and clean, but there is some sort of.. sterility or harshness to them, and to my ears, with alot of Duncans that I have played. I pick in all different places for the sound I want, and I often keep the bass and mids about neutral when playing. Mostly I've been looking for THAT jazz tone, as that's pretty much all I've been playing recently, and I don't really like that super rolled off tone of most trad jazz.
Click to expand...

Maybe a neck humbucker isn't what you're after...Have you tried a mini-humbucker? or P-90s?
 
Re: Warmest, Cleanest neck humbucker EVER

I'm new, but I'd say the '59n is pretty warm and way clean.
 
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Re: Warmest, Cleanest neck humbucker EVER

I'd vote for the Jazz neck, my favorite. Might seem too bright to some folks, but with the right pots & cap, it's a great sounding pickup.

D
 
Re: Warmest, Cleanest neck humbucker EVER

Just switch to D'Addario chrome flats. It'll smooth out the spikes in your jazz tone without rolling off your tone and getting muddy or wooly.
 
Re: Warmest, Cleanest neck humbucker EVER

drp555 said:
Maybe a neck humbucker isn't what you're after...Have you tried a mini-humbucker? or P-90s?
Click to expand...

Well I'm not the biggest fan of P-90s *ducks and hides*. Minihumbuckers sound great but they don't sound.. 'big' enough. My issue with with the sterility in the upper range.. it made the tone kind of sharp for single note runs.

I'll try the strings. I mean, the pickups in it now aren't horrifying, but they could be a little better, and if a little thing changes my problem entirely then I'm good to go.
 
Re: Warmest, Cleanest neck humbucker EVER

The best neck humbucker I've found (that works for ME) is the DiMarzio V-PAF.

Very articulate due to the fact that there's NO boom, mud of drone. Got one in my LP Standard.

Gotta go along with Jerryjg's vote for the Air Classic neck model. Got that in my swamp ash LP Studio. A bit stronger than the V-PAF but no mud in that one either.
 
Re: Warmest, Cleanest neck humbucker EVER

Dude, the cleanest neck humbucker is unquestionably something from TV Jones. Ever listen to any Setzer or Chet Atkins, or anything from the 50's? Dirty doesn't exist to them.

It does not get cleaner, and something like the TV Classic is warm too.
 
Re: Warmest, Cleanest neck humbucker EVER

Try the Air Norton. It's clean,warm,big and articulate like no other neck pup i know
 
Re: Warmest, Cleanest neck humbucker EVER

I support the VPAF. I had the Bridge model and it could even go along with a 9.0k custom rewound A2 DiMarzio PAF.
But my fav neck pup is a 7.0k Beano pup from winder David barfuss, bright and clear - as heaven!
 
Re: Warmest, Cleanest neck humbucker EVER

Seth Lover & Antiquity, or try Alnico II in your 59. I love my 59 A2, possibly the P-Rails, wired in Parallel first, and then if you need more "thick and smooth" go to Series wiring. The Pearly Gates neck is sweeter than the Alnico II Pro, so you could try that, too.

The next thing is to go with a Bartolini PBF series, or even wait for the new Livewire Classic II Humbuckers. Both of those pickups take "warm and articulate" to a new level. Tom Anderson H2? There's lots out there, but I'll agree with some others here that your quest is rather vague, and it has driven many guitarists crazy. If you can't nail it down with one or two pickup swaps, then you have to go to a bunch of stores and try out all the really expensive guitars until you find what you're looking for. Then try to adapt whatever that recipe is to your guitar.
 
Re: Warmest, Cleanest neck humbucker EVER

BigAlTheBird said:
Dude, the cleanest neck humbucker is unquestionably something from TV Jones. Ever listen to any Setzer or Chet Atkins, or anything from the 50's? Dirty doesn't exist to them.

It does not get cleaner, and something like the TV Classic is warm too.
Click to expand...


+1

If the 59, Alnico II Pro AND the Jazz aren't what you're looking for...well I'll be ****ed... not even a Jazz is articulate enough for you... are you Jimi Hendrix reborn or something?

Definitely check out some TV Jones, if that's not what you're looking for you might have to start "rollin' your own"
 
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