Warmest, Cleanest neck humbucker EVER

[aloha]

Re: Warmest, Cleanest neck humbucker EVER

Sorry for having disappeared for so long...

I would suggest that your idea of changing strings was fantastic. Jazz strings make a huge shift in the sound of an instrument.

After that, I would also say that the Phat Cat idea was excellent as it has more articulation than a humbucker IMHO. I didn't think that it sounded too P90-ish (which I love/hate, as well).

Perhaps the combination of the two, strings and Phat Cat, would be an excellent combo in a semi hollow. Does anyone have any experience with exactly this formula?

Good luck in your search.

 

[fab.regnaut]

Re: Warmest, Cleanest neck humbucker EVER

The Screaming Demon in the neck is very GOOD for jazz .
It has a warm tone , round attack , full EQ with no mud .

Plus it split very well for strat tones ,
and is smooth with gain with still no mud .

 

[TimmyPage]

Re: Warmest, Cleanest neck humbucker EVER

+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?

Oh they are quite articulate, no issue there. They just tend to be.. very bright.. and they seem to have some harshness in the upper midrange. I love it in a rock pickup but its not quite my thing with jazz ones.

 

[dr.barlo]

Re: Warmest, Cleanest neck humbucker EVER

Definitely an antiquity neck HB. It is clean, it is soft and spongy, and 3d. It is almost unbelievable.

B

 

[Snake Aces]

Re: Warmest, Cleanest neck humbucker EVER

Oh they are quite articulate, no issue there. They just tend to be.. very bright.. and they seem to have some harshness in the upper midrange. I love it in a rock pickup but its not quite my thing with jazz ones.

Heard. Noted.

Right on, you SHOULD try an Antiquity though.

 

[alex1fly]

Re: Warmest, Cleanest neck humbucker EVER

I 3rd the vote for VPAF. With the polepieces lowered slightly below the bobbin, I can get very close to "that" jazz tone. And I know what you mean about the previously mentioned HBs having too much going on in the upper register. To my unexperienced and biased ears, the VPAF has enough treble to sparkle, but not too much.

But doesn't "clean" come more from the right amp?

 

[TimmyPage]

Re: Warmest, Cleanest neck humbucker EVER

But doesn't "clean" come more from the right amp?

Oh definitely, but you have to understand, when I gig I don't carry an amp with me, I just use what the club provides, which can be anything from a shoddy 15 watt solid state amp to a Jazz chorus or Fender Twin Reverb.

 

[Butch Snyder]

Re: Warmest, Cleanest neck humbucker EVER

It sounds to me like your pickups are a very small part of this issue. All of the suggestions given will yield you a very warm and clean tone. That said, how high do you set your pickups? Do you have an aggressive picking style? Those are factors that play an important role in the tone chain.

You mentioned a few amps you might be using given whatever the situation. I bet I could get a clean tone with an X2N, Dimebucker, or Livewire in a JC120 or Twin Reverb. It's very hard to get those amps to break up. Now using a Vibrochamp or something smaller and maybe not having a PA and having to crank the volume, you'll probably get breakup with even the cleanest, lowest-output pickup.

 

[TimmyPage]

Re: Warmest, Cleanest neck humbucker EVER

Oh believe me, its not that I'm having any trouble namely getting a warm clean tone, its just a matter of being your typical gear tweaker and wanting even better. Hell I am playing a semihollow with really low output pickups, its pretty warm and clean.

As for picking, i'm a dynamic picker.. I don't always pick hard or soft, though I find on smaller tube amps (eg Fender Blues Jr, which I've had to use once or twice) I need to pick softly, or even roll the volume down a little bit more to stop the breakup.

 

[Kosh Naranek]

Re: Warmest, Cleanest neck humbucker EVER

Oh they are quite articulate, no issue there. They just tend to be.. very bright.. and they seem to have some harshness in the upper midrange.

If the 59 and Jazz neck still sound harsh and bright to you, and they can, then I'd recommend a Seth Lover. I had a Hamer semi-hollowbody with Seth Lovers. The tone is divine. Even if a bright tone is dialed in, it's never harsh.

I have Dimarzio Air Classics and Virt PAF's installed on a couple of my guitars. While they are exceptionally clean, I'm not sure I'd say they're the warmest I've heard. They sound very hi-fi. Almost an acoustic sort of tone. But with that, you can lose a bit of smoothness and warmth.

 

[arellanon]

Re: Warmest, Cleanest neck humbucker EVER

I am a bit ashamed to admit that I have yet to try out any of the Seymour Duncan full-sized humbuckers but I do know this: DiMarzio's Humbucker From Hell and PAF Pro will sound great in the neck! That being said I am dying to try out a Full Shred as well!

 

[LtKojak]

Re: Warmest, Cleanest neck humbucker EVER

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

Get a JazzB in the neck wired with the '50 mod, 500k pot and .47 cap. You can't beat this combination. A PG neck comes as a second option.

HTH,

Pepe aka Lt. Kojak
Milano, Italy

 

[vinterland]

Re: Warmest, Cleanest neck humbucker EVER

Lollar Emperials are probably the most pure (read clean) sounding pickups I've ever heard but they're complex in tone at the same time. Roll back the tone knob and you're there.

 

[Snake Aces]

Re: Warmest, Cleanest neck humbucker EVER

Get a JazzB in the neck wired with the '50 mod, 500k pot and .47 cap. You can't beat this combination. A PG neck comes as a second option.

HTH,

Pepe aka Lt. Kojak
Milano, Italy

Wouldn't a PG have slightly too much mids to get super clean? I've found they have a slightly edgy break-up to them when compared to the 59 and Jazz...