WLH neck

M

madsschaarup

New member
Hi there.
I've got a Gibson LP studio that's fairly dark sounding. Or at least it lacks some bite. I don't generally go for high output pickups, but thought I'd try a DDn in the bridge position to get it going. That helped an awful lot and I really like it now.
Now I need a neck pickup with a good bite to match the bridge. Been thinking about a WLH neck. How are the highs in that one? A 59 was not what I needed. Any suggestions? Keep em coming:)

Thanks!!

Mads.


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Re: WLH neck

what didnt you like about the 59 in the neck? getting bite out of a neck pup can be challenging
 
Re: WLH neck

Compared to the '59 neck, the WLH has a bit more mids which makes the bass less prominent. Pick articulation is great and the balance from low E to the high E is better. I wouldn't say it's brighter, but it definitely doesn't have that mud you can get with a '59 neck in a Les Paul.
 
Re: WLH neck

Do you have the stock pots still? I believe they are 300k volume and 500k tone, correct?

What was your impression of the 59 in the neck? I've been thinking about sticking one in my studio, but still need to buy pots and caps before I put one in.
 
Re: WLH neck

ericmeyer4 said:
Do you have the stock pots still? I believe they are 300k volume and 500k tone, correct?

What was your impression of the 59 in the neck? I've been thinking about sticking one in my studio, but still need to buy pots and caps before I put one in.
Click to expand...

I've had a 59 neck in Les Pauls before. IMO, the best way to get the best tone out of a 59 in a LP is to use 500k volume and tone pots but use a no-load 500k tone pot so it bypasses the capacitor when turned up to 10 but gives you normal tone control from 9 to 0. I would almost always use a .010uf capacitor on the neck pickup of any Les Paul. Every now and then I come across a LP that can get away with a .015uf or even a .022uf cap but that is pretty rare.
 
Re: WLH neck

SnakeAces said:
I've had a 59 neck in Les Pauls before. IMO, the best way to get the best tone out of a 59 in a LP is to use 500k volume and tone pots but use a no-load 500k tone pot so it bypasses the capacitor when turned up to 10 but gives you normal tone control from 9 to 0. I would almost always use a .010uf capacitor on the neck pickup of any Les Paul. Every now and then I come across a LP that can get away with a .015uf or even a .022uf cap but that is pretty rare.
Click to expand...

I was thinking about putting in a 1meg pot so it would let a little more high end through. 500k vol, 1meg tone, .022 cap?
 
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WLH neck

Oh, well... The pots have been changed to 500 k all round. I do not know the cap values but I guess they may be stock value. I maybe owe to say that I stripped it down to the bare wood and refinished it with twelve layers (or so) of tru-oil.

The 59 was too dull and bassy in this guitar. The PGn, tried it in another guitar, was woofy and boomy. Could be different here, but as this guitar is quite dark sounding I guess it won't be a success. Other forum members have the same issue with the PG. The bridge version, though, is one of the best pups I ever tried.

It seems I should be playing a bit around with different caps and tone pots. Sounds like good suggestions you guys came up with here. Thanks for taking your time!

Will still be listening to suggestions regarding pickups.



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Re: WLH neck

madsschaarup said:
Oh, well... The pots have been changed to 500 k all round. I do not know the cap values but I guess they may be stock value. I maybe owe to say that I stripped it down to the bare wood and refinished it with twelve layers (or so) of tru-oil.

The 59 was too dull and bassy in this guitar. The PGn, tried it in another guitar, was woofy and boomy. Could be different here, but as this guitar is quite dark sounding I guess it won't be a success. Other forum members have the same issue with the PG. The bridge version, though, is one of the best pups I ever tried.

It seems I should be playing a bit around with different caps and tone pots. Sounds like good suggestions you guys came up with here. Thanks for taking your time!

Will still be listening to suggestions regarding pickups.



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Click to expand...

If it's a really dark guitar it's hard to go wrong with a Jazz neck humbucker. I have a Jazz in one of my darkest LP's and it's a perfect match. I highly recommend it. It works great with a 500k no load tone pot and a .010uf cap in a dark guitar. You might even like a .015uf or .022uf cap as long as you are using it with a no load pot! To my knowledge, there are no neck humbuckers on the market with as much articulation and clarity as the Seymour Duncan Jazz. Sure, it does not have much mids, but your LP has a lot of natural mids to help balance it out (hence why you are searching for a solution).
 
Re: WLH neck

Black Winter maybe? They are flat and clear, and not bassy/boomy.

The WLH has some chime to it, but it also has buzzy/fuzzy/spongy character under gain that I wonder if it would really match a Distortion.

I have a Jazz but haven't installed it yet, so I can't confirm that one. I've heard many people say it's a great neck pickup.
 
Re: WLH neck

How could I forget about the existence of the Jazz? BW? Maybe but didn't check it out as I suspected it would be too hot. Have heard a lot of people praising the BW neck, so I'd definitely like to try it out some day.


Anyways, decided to swap a 59 I've had laying around for some time for a DDb. Well aware that these are high gain monsters, I'll be buying a set of Duncan's Triple Shot pickup rings and see where that's gonna take me. Had a Dimarzio Super Distortion in another LP some time ago with a series/parallel switch. Really liked it in parallel and I recommend parallel over split to anyone asking.

I'll be having the triple shots next week. If they're not the cure I'll stamp in again.

Again thanks for your suggestions. Have a nice weekend :)


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Re: WLH neck

The Jazz is perhaps the least 'dark', but it does lack some character in some guitars. Keep the 59 about, and if the jazz doesn't quite cut it then make a Jazz/59 hybrid......clarity and some character.
 
Re: WLH neck

I've had the whole lotta humbucker in the neck of my 1990 LP studio for about a year. It's not dark and wooly, but it's not what I would call bright like a jazz or BB PRO. It's well balanced and can actually do some riff work under gain without falling apart. I thought it sang more like an A2 pickup under a lot of gain, but retained more treble than they typically do when you rolled off the volume. My guitar is not dark sounding though. Its got an ebony fretboard and is actually sort of snappy/hard sounding in the attack. A jazz was bright and crisp in there, a 59 A4 was decent, the regular 59 was pretty good if you adjust it down pretty far. I tried the pearly gates and it was great clean, but a little too much low mids and top sizzle in this guitar. Had the slash neck too, just too rounded off and soft on the bass notes. My favorite? The regular Alnico II pro. It's fairly bright for an a2 pickup, sings like no other under gain, and has a great mix of bass and mids that lets you actually use it for rhythm work with some gain or combine it with the bridge and get some fat tones.
 
Re: WLH neck

ericmeyer4 said:
I was thinking about putting in a 1meg pot so it would let a little more high end through. 500k vol, 1meg tone, .022 cap?
Click to expand...

The 1 meg as a tone pot won't noticeably increase the high end. But it will make a difference if used as a vol pot.

I would recommend just the opposite of what you recommended...1 meg vol, 500k tone. The cap value is fine, but he may want to try a .015 or even .010 uf cap.
 
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