Warmest humbuckers

veil

veil

New member
I have a guitar with Filtertrons, one with P-90s, and another with tele pickups; they're all very bright and clear. I'm starting to miss the rich, creamy sound of humbuckers, so I was thinking about getting a cheap guitar and putting nice pickups in it to fill that void. If I wanted to go to the other end of the bright pickup spectrum and get a pair of humbuckers with a thick but harmonically complex midrange, what would be the best thing to get? My amp is also very brightly voiced, so I would want something that really focuses on warmth and fullness, ideally without sounding dull and congested. What do you think?
 
Re: Warmest humbuckers

If it's a cheap-sounding guitar, you might like DiMarzios more (they color the tone a lot). In this case, I recommend the Breed set. Haven't personally tried them myself yet, but everyone's description of it is always a variation of "warm and creamy"
 
Re: Warmest humbuckers

Is that the Alnico II Pro one? I've never looked into it before. I play mostly in that just breaking up gain range, does it if the bill for cleaner sounds? Thanks the help. :)
 
Re: Warmest humbuckers

veil said:
Is that the Alnico II Pro one? I've never looked into it before. I play mostly in that just breaking up gain range, does it if the bill for cleaner sounds? Thanks the help. :)
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It's a fairly low output bucker so you should be fine. The A2P has a bell-like high end thing, and the Seth has a PAF quack... It just depends what you like.
 
Re: Warmest humbuckers

blueman335 said:
Rio Grande BBQ set.
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I have the Texas BBQ set and I love it. Warm, thick, and dynamically responsive. A very good choice for rich creamy tones with detail. These absolutely deserve their excellent reputation.

The Breed (bridge; haven't used the neck) is a good solid sound too, especially for a skinny sounding guitar. Big and fat but not loose, still has nice bite, and it can sing. But without the dimension of the Rio Grande. A little less graceful, more of a brute. In terms of nuance and midrange complexity it's far short of the BBQ. It's also about half the price.
 
Re: Warmest humbuckers

Luke Duke said:
and the Seth has a PAF quack...
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I'm slanting toward ^this^ impression of the Setha. I don't really find the Seths to be "warm". the neck might be a little flutey and vocal or even woody, and the bridge can have a sweet airy brightness.



still, it'd be warmer than what you've been used to, but I'm not hearing what I would trust blueman to consider the BBQ in this instance.

if you want to avoid congested, take the CC off the list.
 
Re: Warmest humbuckers

Great notes guys, thank you. Listening to clips on studio headphones I can hear the open, bright airiness of the Lovers, which in ordinary circumstances I love, but for my needs is too similar to the tone I get with my other guitars. I used a 59 neck humbucker for many years, so I compared with the clips of that. Interestingly, I found the neck position 59 and APH to be very similar, with maybe a touch more treble snap on the 59. The bridge positions were very different, there's an apparent upper midrange spike in the 59 that the APH doesn't have.

I also used a 36th anniversary bridge pickup for a while, and it looks like that's still the most warmth-focused vintage output humbucker Dimarzio offers. Does anyone know how the 36th compares to the APH?

That BBQ set looks amazing, but sadly it's out of my budget for this project.
 
Re: Warmest humbuckers

Use a pickup set with Alnico 2 magnets for a start.

The Custom Custom is the warmest bridge humbucker I've ever owned.

Had a Hamer Monoco that came stock with one as the neck pickup!

The Custom Shop Pearly Gates are wound a little hotter than stock PG's and have a fatter, thicker, slightly warmer tone than regular PG's.

They're also nickel covered which also warms the tone a bit.

I dunno. If you want warm maybe a nickel covered Custom Custom in the bridge and a nickel covered PGn as the neck pickup?

For warmer still, you could change 500K pots to 250K...and a .02 tone cap to .047.
 
Re: Warmest humbuckers

That's a hard call. I'm not sure I'd consider the DiMarzio 36th Bridge to be the warmest they offer...at least of the ones I've tried from their catalog. I know that their tech support guy, Eric, is pretty good at matching up pickups for people. They usually let calls go back to him at 12 EST.
 
Re: Warmest humbuckers

darthphineas said:
That's a hard call. I'm not sure I'd consider the DiMarzio 36th Bridge to be the warmest they offer...at least of the ones I've tried from their catalog. I know that their tech support guy, Eric, is pretty good at matching up pickups for people. They usually let calls go back to him at 12 EST.
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Cool, that's okay. Regardless of how they much up, I'm really liking how the APH seems to sound, especially in the neck position. Would love to hear more.
 
Re: Warmest humbuckers

As for the highs - I think the Custom Custom is the fattest, creamiest thing Duncan makes. But it has serious kids.

Overall, I think the A2P is more of a great all around fat/smooth pup

and DiMarzio breed is pretty fat/creamy too. Haven't dealt with one of those in forever.
 
Re: Warmest humbuckers

Warm would be low to moderate output, moderate bass, high midrange, & super low treble- that is how I interpret it.
 
Re: Warmest humbuckers

veil said:
Listening to clips on studio headphones.
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You can't go by clips. If you're not using the same guitar/wood/amp/speakers as the clip, you're not likely to get the same tones yourself. Even if you could somehow match all that, individual pieces of wood vary and have different tonal qualities depending on growing conditions and the part of the tree they were cut from.
 
Re: Warmest humbuckers

The CC is super-fat and warm. Should be tested. Not for everybody.

APH1 neck.

The aph1 bridge is actually a very cutting humbucker. Sure, it doesn't have anything piercing but there is a very even response with not much bass added.
 
Re: Warmest humbuckers

Lewguitar said:
Use a pickup set with Alnico 2 magnets for a start.
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Not necessarily. Depending on how much they're degaussed, A5's can be pretty warm, which may be part of the Rio Grande BBQ set sounding like it does. WLH's are on the warm side & I think the A5's are degaussed too.
 
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