Why no love for the '59?

gripweed

gripweed

Jolvisologist
I really don't understand it. Especially when there is a "how can I get an Angus tone" thread (or something similar), people are recommending a Seth or an Antiquity or a PG. I have a Seth and I love it. But I don't think that an a2 pickup gets the Angus tone. Is the idea that all PAF types sound the same (not true)? Or do people really dislike the '59? I can understand that it would be too boomy in the neck, but the '59b is a great pickup IMHO.

So where is all the love?
 
Re: Why no love for the '59?

I love the 59B and have a single bridge humbucker Strat set up with a 59 Trembucker. To me, nothing captures the Eric Clapton with Cream or the Blues Breakers like a 59B.

I think the reason it's not more popular is #1: hotter than vintage bridge humbuckers are better sellers than vintage output bridge humbuckers and #2: some players think the 59B sounds scooped and lacks mids...but it doesn't lack mids. The 59B has plenty of mids.

Lew
 
Re: Why no love for the '59?

Lewguitar said:
I love the 59B and have a single bridge humbucker Strat set up with a 59 Trembucker. To me, nothing captures the Eric Clapton with Cream or the Blues Breakers like a 59B.

I think the reason it's not more popular is #1: hotter than vintage bridge humbuckers are better sellers than vintage output bridge humbuckers and #2: some players think the 59B sounds scooped and lacks mids...but it doesn't lack mids. The 59B has plenty of mids.

Lew
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I agree, but I have the '59 in my LP, which might explain why I don't think it lacks mids.
 
Re: Why no love for the '59?

gripweed said:
I agree, but I have the '59 in my LP, which might explain why I don't think it lacks mids.
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I have mine in a Strat...and it still has plenty of mids too! :)

And it's not to bright and it 's not to bassy either.:laugh2:

I can plug it into my tweed Deluxes or Deluxe Reverbs with Celestion 12's and it's perfect for getting Clapton with Cream tones. I like to roll off just a little treble with the tone control to get those Clapton "woman tones". :)

Lew
 
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Re: Why no love for the '59?

I'm sure the guitar makes a huge difference. I have a Warmoth- mahogany- maple top with a maple neck-rosewood fretboard, strat style-HSS, though I only have the bridge pup installed. I've tried numerous pups in that guitar- PG, 57 classic, PRS dragon 2, JB, and the EVH, and I finally found a pup that not only works in it, but kicks major @$$. The '59 of course. Nothing else sounded worth a crap in there. It has become my fav humbucker- tied only with the Seth in my PRS cu22. the '59 sounds awesome, and in conjunction with the tone control, I can get a whole bunch of cool tones. I love the tone on around 4 or 5- sounds almost P-90 ish. It made this guitar that I hardly ever used on gigs, one of my main ones.
 
Re: Why no love for the '59?

I like the '59 and what others can get out of it, it just doesn't work for me. I like the DiMarzio PAF better. It sounds more balanced with better cut to me.
 
Re: Why no love for the '59?

The appeal of the 59B, for me, is that it's the tone of the great 60's Gibson guitars I grew up with: Larry Carlton's ES-335, BB King's ES-355, Eric Clapton's SG...and jillions of others! Can't say I was ever a Tommy Iommi/Black Sabbath fan (I kinda hated them! :laugh2: ) but it's his tone and also the tone of AC/DC...as Gripweed mentioned. Lew
 
Re: Why no love for the '59?

Lewguitar said:
The appeal of the 59B, for me, is that it's the tone of the great 60's Gibson guitars I grew up with: Larry Carlton's ES-335, BB King's ES-355, Eric Clapton's SG...and jillions of others! Can't say I was ever a Tommy Iommi/Black Sabbath fan (I kinda hated them! :laugh2: ) but it's his tone and also the tone of AC/DC...as Gripweed mentioned. Lew
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Nice thread....

What is the difference btw the '59b and an A2 like, say, the '57 bucker? Is it that the '59 will have more bottom-end?

Lew have you ever heard it teamed up with an Antiquity neck? I just bought an Ant for my SG and I'm considering the '59 for the bridge.
 
Re: Why no love for the '59?

I love my 59's. You can do jazz, blues, rock, whatever with it. I especially like it for jazz and blues though. And, I prefer it clean. But it "dirties up" just fine too.
 
Re: Why no love for the '59?

I must be in the minority loving my '59 neck bucker . . . but it's my favourite humbucker by far . . .
 
Re: Why no love for the '59?

jonnymangia said:
Nice thread....

What is the difference btw the '59b and an A2 like, say, the '57 bucker? Is it that the '59 will have more bottom-end?

Lew have you ever heard it teamed up with an Antiquity neck? I just bought an Ant for my SG and I'm considering the '59 for the bridge.
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IMO, the alnico 5 59B will have more bass and treble than most alnico 2 vintage style buckers...and the alnico 2 bucker will tend to have more mids and spongier bass and sweeter/smoother/less treble.

I tried the Antiquity neck with a Custom 5...never with a 59B.

I like the Antiquity neck and alnico 2 neck humbuckers in general. They're not as bright as an alnico 5 neck humbucker, but I get a better tone out of them anyway because they tend to have less bass than pickups like the alnico 5 59n.

I've tried alnico 2 Seth Lover necks and also alnico 2 Antiquity necks and found that I prefered the Seth...it's just a little brighter, IMO.

Lew
 
Re: Why no love for the '59?

I agree, I avoided 59s for a long time due to all the negative talk about them here and elsewhere. I finally dropped a set in a problem LP (Studio Lite, sounds like a cross between a LP and a SG) and and finally found tonal bliss with it. Beat out PGs, A2Ps w/ A2, A3 & A5, CC, C5 and likely will never come out of that guitar. Now I want to try some in my other guitars...
 
Re: Why no love for the '59?

I like it, but I don't love it. To me, anything the 59 can do, the PG+ does better.
 
Re: Why no love for the '59?

gripweed said:
I really don't understand it. Especially when there is a "how can I get an Angus tone" thread (or something similar), people are recommending a Seth or an Antiquity or a PG. I have a Seth and I love it. But I don't think that an a2 pickup gets the Angus tone. Is the idea that all PAF types sound the same (not true)? Or do people really dislike the '59? I can understand that it would be too boomy in the neck, but the '59b is a great pickup IMHO.

So where is all the love?
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There are plenty of people who love their '59s. I've seen such comments in reading through other threads. I don't know why you perceive such dislike for the '59, but I don't really see it. Beyond that, they're only opinions.
 
Re: Why no love for the '59?

Probably my least favorite Duncan. Sorry, count me in the "yeah, it does lack mids" column. Very ice-picky to me. Kudos to the Alnico 2 Pro and the Seth though.
 
Re: Why no love for the '59?

TwinReverb said:
There are plenty of people who love their '59s. I've seen such comments in reading through other threads. I don't know why you perceive such dislike for the '59, but I don't really see it. Beyond that, they're only opinions.
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I don't sense any dislike per se, but nine times out of ten people are recommending an a2 bucker, even if the '59 is the obvious answer (see the first post to clarify what I mean).
 
Re: Why no love for the '59?

gripweed said:
I don't sense any dislike per se, but nine times out of ten people are recommending an a2 bucker, even if the '59 is the obvious answer (see the first post to clarify what I mean).
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Maybe they prefer Alnico II magnet pickups. They are addicting, and their sound is beautiful. Besides, there's been a lot of PG recommendations lately, but that's ok too. That's why SD has more than one type of magnet in their pickups and more than one wind, etc. People are picky, so SD caters to everyone they possibly can.

Just my 2 cents.
 
Re: Why no love for the '59?

I'm in the not like camp as well. I can only echo that it lacks mids, has too much boom in the low end and the highs are too shrill. And I do love a vintage single coil bridge. There's just something about '59 that I don't get along with.
 
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