What is SD's best humbucker?

Re: What is SD's best humbucker?

wildstar said:
I think you're asking for the impossible... IMHO there isn't a pickup that will sound great in any guitar, no matter what style, or amp.

Others may disagree...

Cheers
Click to expand...

OK, let's frame the question like this...let's say you are mass producing LP clones (LP shape but SG thickness) and made of alder...you decide to put SD HH's in your guitars. What one SD HB can you install in those alder bodied guitars so that when whoever walks through the door of you shop to buy one of your guitars, when they plug it into the demo Bogner Shiva in you showroom, at the stroke of the first power chord the are immediately in love with the guitar.

We may have to assume that your customer is a pop to blues to hard to rock player. Metal players are way too hard to please.

What SD HB can you buy in mass quantity for your guitars that will make them sound awesome?
 
Re: What is SD's best humbucker?

wildstar said:
I think you're asking for the impossible... IMHO there isn't a pickup that will sound great in any guitar, no matter what style, or amp.

Others may disagree...

Cheers
Click to expand...
Or if you want to frame the question like this....we can simplify this as follows...
Most appropriate SD HB's for ...

Les Paul
SG
HH Strat
HH Tele

What pickups will make each of these guitar shine?

Is it the elusive 10K PAF?:chairfall
 
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Re: What is SD's best humbucker?

With those preferences, I think you were right the first time with the Seth Lover. I have Seth Lovers in a 77 Gibson doubleneck and that guitar is my favorite sounding guitar. Just too heavy, lol. I have Antiquites in one of my two Les Pauls but the Seth is just a smoother and more classic sounding pickup, although the Ant sounds fantastic as well. The Antiquity I think would do that job with the Bogner as well but IMHO the Seth would do it better.
 
Re: What is SD's best humbucker?

according to all the guitar players that use em and guitars that come stock with a duncan in the bridge spot
i have to say the JB
it MUST be his best?
i will bet it is his favorite:laugh2:
 
Re: What is SD's best humbucker?

Guitar Toad said:
Sorry for using that terrible word best. Focus on the crown jewel part.

What SD HB could be installed into any HH guitar and that pickup would sound great whatever guitar in gets installed in?
Click to expand...

My favorites are Custom 5, 59B, CC, and Seth Lover. Hi and low output A5's, and hi and low output A2's. The pickup that sounds the best as my 'go to' pickup for choosing in any guitar would be the C-5. It's powerful, but let's the character of the guitar shine through, since it's a naturally EQ'd pickup, like a soft U on a stereo equalizer.
 
Re: What is SD's best humbucker?

I will say the Alnico 2 Pro has the sweetest balance and feel of any SD pickup. It works well in sooo many guitars and soo many styles. I am partial to the C5 and CC, but I really would prefer them custom wound with the C5 a little hotter and the CC a little cooler.

I am not highly familiar with the Seths and Pearly's. Pearly's seemed a tad bitey without the bass for me. I know the 59 is a great basic pickup, but I am not thrilled with it in the bridge.

The JB is pretty cool, but I like the A2Pro and CC so much, that I rarely give the JB a chance lonbg enough to see where it takes me.
 
Re: What is SD's best humbucker?

I figured this question was aimed at the best for any situation without knowing specifics.
 
Re: What is SD's best humbucker?

Obviously there can be many answers to this question, but lately I've prefered the '78 EVH to all others. I heard that the CC was very similar to it, so I got one of those too, but they a VERY different and I like the EVH more.

Rock On ~ Kac
 
Re: What is SD's best humbucker?

Gearjoneser said:
My favorites are Custom 5, 59B, CC, and Seth Lover. Hi and low output A5's, and hi and low output A2's. The pickup that sounds the best as my 'go to' pickup for choosing in any guitar would be the C-5. It's powerful, but let's the character of the guitar shine through, since it's a naturally EQ'd pickup, like a soft U on a stereo equalizer.
Click to expand...

Joe, that's beautiful response. Terrific. Custom 5, got it.

OlinMusic said:
I figured this question was aimed at the best for any situation without knowing specifics.
Click to expand...

That's exactly right. Thanks for stepping up to tha plate at taking a swing at this one...I know that specifics are important, but I think that sometimes guitarists get a bit lost in the specifics. The A2Pro and CC are certainly pickups that have won the ears of many Slash and EVH fans.

I wanted to thow out this knuckle ball and see who would swing at it. I don't have the experince that most of you guys do, but it's hard for me to believe that there isn't at least a couple SD humbuckers designed for general rock guitar usage. It's crazy to me to think that most of the pickup are designed with such a high degree of specificity that they would truly have a limited application. Certainly some are designed very specifically, but not all.

As Lew, Joe, and Olin have pointed out. There are at least a couple that could be go to pups, generally speaking.
Thanks guys.
 
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Re: What is SD's best humbucker?

OlinMusic said:
I am partial to the C5 and CC, but I really would prefer them custom wound with the C5 a little hotter and the CC a little cooler.
Click to expand...

That's exactly what I always thought about the C-5 and CC. That's why I made my UGD pickup a regular nickel C-5 wound a bit hotter at 15.3, just to add some mids. It worked out nicely, and made the mids a little fuller, and the top a little less airy. I'd presume that the underwound CC would fall in the range of the APH and 78. Even still, the regular C-5 and CC sometimes sound even better than the hot C-5 and others. They both sound good as is.
 
Re: What is SD's best humbucker?

Tele HotRails is my favourite Duncan pickup.

I like the Full Shred alot too, but I don't spend a lot of time with Duncan buckers, the DD and JB left a bad taste in my mouth, so Duncans are picked after DiMarzios...

That being said, I am looking forward to hering the C5 that I got recently (Traded a JB!) in my mutt Strat...
 
Re: What is SD's best humbucker?

I don't think there's one "best" humbucker at all. However, you can see that the Jazz and JB combo is his favorite, as it is stamped on all those Hot Rodded (JB+Jazz) combos. Mine came saying that on the label:

SH-4 JB Bridge & SH-2n Jazz Neck
Hot Rodded Humbucker Set
This set contains Seymour's favorite humbucker combination........
 
Re: What is SD's best humbucker?

You know, I never can decide if I like the C5 airy tone or not. I say this because in a pop rock setting I would eat it up, but over a loud and rude Marshall toting rock band, I need some extra sauce. The C5 is class in a glass, but I think the CC has something nice and rude about it. I have NOT recorded with the CC much so it's hard to say. I prefer a balanced tone so I can post EQ. I really would love a cross between the C5 and CC

So here is a new question -

CC or VHOTPAF from Dimarzio?

BTW if you HAVEN't TRIED a NORDSTRAND - I WAS AMAZINGLY IMPRESSED!
 
Re: What is SD's best humbucker?

I would say the APII or Seth Lover Neck and CC bridge if I had to guess what the most versitile would be - as that seems to be the goal.
 
Re: What is SD's best humbucker?

I'm really starting to fall in love with the JB again. I may go through spells where it doesnt work for me...but I keep coming back.
 
Re: What is SD's best humbucker?

OlinMusic said:
Ok you all are making want the SETHS
are they the same thing as the APH1's or not?
Click to expand...

They are close but not the same to me. I would describe my APII's as a bit darker, and not quite as articulate but still pretty even bucker comapted to a Seth. The APII is wax potted and 4 conductor (standard). The Seth is a bit brighter and more articulate but not wax potted and has uneven winding so there is that vibe to it as well.

I like both compared to nearly everything else. I am currently on a Seth kick. Previously I was on the APII kick.

This recording is the Seth neck, pretty clean to just break in a 1 3/4" mahog back, 5/8" maple top, hollow, 24 3/4" scale guitar through an El Diablo Clean on max gain hit hard with an SD-1 as boost. It is a rather large file (6K). I think it is a fair representation.

http://www.usd.edu/~dpietrza/Music/Blues in C.mp3
 
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