Possible replacement pickup suggestions needed.

C

Coralkong1

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Bought an Eastman SB59 a little bit ago.

I am super pleased with the guitar (actually, Im kind of in awe over it, if that makes any sense. Sometimes I find myself just staring at it on the stand...) Her name is Sally. Say hello to Sally.....

If you've never tried an Eastman, you're missing out. Look at that top. Damn!

Eastman1.jpg


In any event, it has legit SD 59 pickups in it.

I love, love, LOVE the neck pickup.
I do NOT love, love, love the bridge pickup. Just seems too thin to me.

I get it they are supposed to be a pair, and matched and all that kind of thing, BUT.......I just really don't like the tone/thin squawk out of the bridge pickup.

Does anyone have any suggestions for a more "rounded, mid scooped" HB? Obviously, it would have to play nicely with the neck pu, but you see what I'm going after. Maybe a little jazzier sound, a little more rounded, less squawky, less shrill.

Anybody out there?
 
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I'm very partial to the Seymour Duncan Custom 59, which is a hybrid pickup with one coil from the Duncan custom and one from the 59...

www.seymourduncan.com

59™ Custom Hybrid Pickup | Seymour Duncan

Harmonically rich hybrid humbucker (SH-16) that uses one coil from the 59 Model bridge and one coil from the higher output Duncan Custom model.
www.seymourduncan.com www.seymourduncan.com

It's one of the best sounding CLEAN pickups I've ever heard, and has just the right amount of cut and meat when it's dirty...
 
Coralkong1 said:
Guess it wouldn't hurt to try it. Wouldn't even have to pull the pickup......huh.
Click to expand...

The bridge pickup is always brighter with more treble on an LP type. Adjusting pickup height can help. Also, rolling off volume and/or tone can help. But, you don't even have to use the bridge pup by itself.

Here is a trick some studio musicians use. Flip the selector to the middle position. Turn all the volume and tone knobs up full. Then, as you play, roll off the volume knob for the neck pickup until you reach the sweet spot. You should end up with a sound that is similar to the bridge pup by itself, yet beefier. Some players think it's the secret sauce.

 
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jrockbridge said:
The bridge pickup is always brighter with more treble on an LP type. Adjusting pickup height can help. Also, rolling off volume and/or tone can help. But, you don't even have to use the bridge pup by itself.

Here is a trick some studio musicians use. Flip the selector to the middle position. Turn all the volume and tone knobs up full. Then, as you play, roll off the volume knob for the neck pickup until you reach the sweet spot. You should end up with a sound that is similar to the bridge pup by itself, yet beefier. Some players think it's the secret sauce.

Click to expand...

Could always make that permanent with a couple resistors wired as a voltage divider (which is what a volume control is anyway) on the switch.
 
GilmourD said:
Could always make that permanent with a couple resistors wired as a voltage divider (which is what a volume control is anyway) on the switch.
Click to expand...
I've been considering doing exactly that: adding a resistor between the neck pickup and volume pot such that the divider ratio with the pot wide open would be the same as the sweet spot.

As a bonus, one could add a small cap across that resistor to brighten the bridge pickup output.
 
GomezAddams said:
As a bonus, one could add a small cap across that resistor to brighten the bridge pickup output.
Click to expand...
Isn't that the opposite of what @Coralkong1 is looking for?

It all depends on how thin the bridge pickup sounds. It could be fixed by changing the balance of how close each coil in the bridge humbucker is to the strings. By default a covered humbucker has the screw poles closer by virtue of them going through the cover and at the bridge that makes the coil closer to the bridge with it's brighter/thinner harmonics a bit more dominant. Lowering those screws and raising the whole pickup so the slug coil is a bit closer in relation along with the bar magnet itself should shift the frequency response a bit.
 
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I craved more rounded and mid scoped for my LP too and had a set of TV Jones Classics installed. I dunno if that'd be your thing.
 
GilmourD said:
Isn't that the opposite of what @Coralkong1 is looking for?

It all depends on how thin the bridge pickup sounds. It could be fixed by changing the balance of how close each coil in the bridge humbucker is to the strings. By default a covered humbucker has the screw poles closer by virtue of them going through the cover and at the bridge that makes the coil closer to the bridge with it's brighter/thinner harmonics a bit more dominant. Lowering those screws and raising the whole pickup so the slug coil is a bit closer in relation along with the bar magnet itself should shift the frequency response a bit.
Click to expand...
I goofed up. I meant add a cap to the neck pickup voltage divider to brighten the neck pickup.

Like this
1793300289800.png
 
GomezAddams said:
I goofed up. I meant add a cap to the neck pickup voltage divider to brighten the neck pickup.

Like this
View attachment 125142
Click to expand...
That is a cool mod. I sometimes find neck HB pups a bit too dark. Personally, I don't usually have a problem with bright pups because the guitar volume and tone can tame that.

Pro guitar players are always adjusting the volume and tone knobs while they play, often for different sounds within a single song. IIRC Warren Haynes mentioned that his LP typically has the volume around 7, particularly for rhythm playing. He will roll it up to 8 or 9 for lead and 10 for more aggressive sounds. He talked about it in a "That Pedal Show" episode

Some players prefer set and forget. Nothing wrong with it.

@Coralkong1likes the neck pup but finds the bridge pup "shrill." To me that indicates too much treble. But, since a desire for a "scooped" pup was also mentioned, maybe less mids are desired as well.

I watched a session player in a YT video demonstrate LP, middle position, roll back the neck volume a bit. The sweet spot is different depending on the LP. For me it's typically close to 8 give or take. I often prefer it over bridge pup alone.

For me, there is nothing more shrill than a vintage-style SC bridge pup on a vintage-style Strat. Volume and tone can help some, but I really like a blender pot mod, so I can blend in some of the warm neck pup.
 
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