What's that sound???

[jeromey127]

Hi all kind of a long-ish post, but i'm eager to learn!

This has been bugging me for ages!! I'm looking for a great neck pickup (humbucker), however i'm not sure how to describe the characteristics of the sound i'm hearing in my head, or what it is in a pickup that I would need to look for/have modified to achieve this sound?

I apologize if a similar thread has been posted before, deeming my post unnecessary.

Anyways, the best way of explaining it would be the attack (in terms of the envelope of the sound, so when the note is hit) of the notes heard at the start of Sweet Child O' Mine (I know, SD sells Slash's pickups, however they're not quite what i'm after), or the next best example I can think of would be Flor d'Luna by Carlos Santana, or maybe even Europa also by Santana (heard best roughly around 1:00) with that kind of output from the pickups. Is this because they're playing their guitars above the 12th frets in these parts? I'm not sure.

So to wrap up;
a) What's in a pickup that might give these qualities?
b) How do I describe this sound, if possible?

Thanks!

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: What's that sound???

The sound at the beginning of the sweet child of mine has more to do with it being the neck pickup and the tone knob setting than anything else.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: What's that sound???

Short replies.
a) A full-size humbucker of similar characteristics to a Gibson P.A.F. e.g. The SD Slash model, Pearly Gates or, for my tastes, the SH-1n '59 model with an A4 magnet substitution.
b) One frequent journalistic expression is "tubular".

 

[dotsdad]

Re: What's that sound???

You want a low output humbucker with an Alnico 2 magnet. If you cant afford a Slash set, start with an Alnico Ii Pro neck pickup.